‘MOUNT EDGCUMBE.’—(Saltash, Cornwall.)
Established June, 1877.
An Industrial School Ship for boys from Devonshire and Cornwall. The boys admitted up to July, 1878, were 201; 1 had been discharged, 6 transferred, and 2 died. The number of “voluntary cases” (from 12 to 14 years old) was 3, and the number of all on board 195. Half of these could read “fairly.”
‘SHAFTESBURY.’—(Grays, Thames.)
Established 1878.
The School Board for London has found it necessary to have a training ship of its own. More than 500 boys sent at the instance of the Board were in training on board the ‘Formidable,’ ‘Wellesley,’ ‘Southampton,’ &c., at distant ports, where visitation and supervision could not be readily exercised. After more than six years of experience in regard to training boys for sea, the Board decided to establish their own ship in the Thames. The Admiralty was unable or at least declined to lend one of the few old hulks at their disposal, so the School Board purchased for £7000 the P. and O. iron steamship ‘Nubia,’ and at an additional expense of more than £30,000, she was fitted up and moored in a berth prepared for her in July, 1878, close to the Poor Law ship ‘Exmouth,’ so as to accommodate 450 boys to be sent under the Industrial Schools Act at the instance of the Board. She is ‘certified’ for 350 boys, of whom 70 may be Roman Catholics. The first 6 boys were sent on board her on August 15, 1878. The vessel was rechristened with the name of ‘Shaftesbury,’ in honour of one who is everywhere known as the friend of the hapless and the patron of everything good. The vessel is longer and narrower than those of the old “man-of-war” type, and her four decks are lofty, giving plenty of light and air for educational and sanitary purposes, although the wider space for drill above all is necessarily curtailed. The cost of the vessel (including purchase) is repayable in 50 years by annual instalments, with interest at 3½ per cent.
The Shaftesbury has now her full number of 500 boys (May 1880.)
‘SOUTHAMPTON.’—(The Humber.)
Established 1868.
The management is amalgamated with that of “The Hull Ragged and Industrial Schools.” At the beginning of 1877, 234 boys were on board (all of them under the Industrial Schools Act), and 62 were admitted during the year (30 from 10 to 12, and 32 from 12 to 14 years of age), while 56 were discharged, of whom 27 went to sea, and 23 were returned to friends. Up to the end of that year 426 boys had been finally discharged from the ship. Half of these on entry could not read, write, or cipher, but all learned to do so. Many of the boys were sent at the instance of the School Board for London and eight other School Boards. The expenditure for the year was £6000.