Blind Piano tuners

[chafox]

 I was fascinated to see the Who Do You Think You Are the other week, where Martin Freeman went into his ancestor's family.
Like that ancestor, I have an ancestor, who went to a school for the blind, became a piano tuner, was wealthy enough to have a house at one point, and had several children in succession die ( of V.D. too perhaps)
The parallel was very close.
His name was James Duffey. He moved around a lot, went to Brighton, ( as opposed to Worthing, where Martin's ancestor went) and Richmond in Surrey, but sadly ended his days in the workhouse, in Marylebone.

I  had always assumed that being a piano tuner wouldn't be a profitable occupation, and was surprised to see how it was for the educated blind.

I would  be interested to see if anyone else has anny parallels to Martin's story in their trees. 

The point is that I have another blind ancestor in my family,  and I couldn't help wondering if the source of the blindness was the same.  I wonder if anyone has done any studies on blindness in Victorian England that might throw some light on it in those days,

Terry

[stanmapstone]

The number of Blind people in the various censuses was
1851 18,306 or 1,021 per million of population
1861 19,352 or 964 per million of population
1871 21,590 or  951 per million of population
1881 22,832 or 879 per million of population
1891 23,467  or 809 per million of population
1901 25,317 or 778 per million of population

General Report England and Wales 1901 www.histpop.org

Stan

[chafox]

I think that's interesting, Stan.

It certainly suggests that something was being done to reduce blindness in the general population. You would expect the number of blind people, as a percentage,  in the increasing population, to rise over fifty years, but this looks like it was actually going down .
I wonder if that reduction could have anything to do with the medical profession improving treatments for some cures of blindness, (e.g. V.D.?)

Terry

[stanmapstone]

The figure in the 1911 Census was 26,336 or 730 per million of population.
You can read the details at  http://www.rootschat.com/links/06zv/   the following pages also give details of the occupations of the blind in 1901 and 1911.

Stan

[chafox]

 I shall have to sit down and study the pages you pinpointed.
I did notice something on a quick first look about increasing numbers of young blind children.

That would be consistent with the theory perhaps that better treatments for illness-based congenital blindness could have made an impact on survival.

Terry

[adf]

I suspect one of my ancestors was a blind piano tuner. I remember someone in the family saying he was. Is there anywhere which has a list of piano tuners in the 1880s?

FURLONG, John Head Married M 32 1849 School Master Sheston Pembrokeshire Wales
FURLONG, Elizabeth F Wife Married F 32 1849 Manorbier Pembrokeshire Wales
FURLONG, Kelly T B Son Single M 5 1876 Slough Buckinghamshire
FURLONG, Albert E Son Single M 3 1878 Blind Slough Buckinghamshire
FURLONG, Elizabeth A Daughter Single F 2 1879 Cardiff Glamorganshire Wales
FURLONG, James L Son Single M 0 1881 Cardiff Glamorganshire
LEWIS, Ann Servant Single F 64 1817 General Serv Walsall Warwickshire

Address: 11, Leaf Square, Pendleton County: Lancashire

[Jeuel]

My husband's gt gt uncle Richard was blind and went to the School for the Indigent Blind in Southwark in the 1880s.  His wife Emma also went there.  The school gave blind children a trade so they could earn a living.  Richard was a basket maker and Emma made chair seats.

My gt gt grandfather was blind in one eye as a result of an infection caught in the army in the 1850s.  I've no idea what started it, but I do know that I found eye infections spread rapidly in the army (as with other diseases).  Gt x 2 grandfather got a Chelsea pension as a result.

[mercybuttons]

Where might I find archive records for the blind schools that trained piano tuners?

I have a piano tuner ancestor who is shown on the census as sighted but his wife was blind and I did wonder if their romance grew that way.

[adf]

RNIB would be a good place to start. They'll point you in the right direction.