« Reply #10 on: Thursday 08 November 18 13:58 GMT (UK) »
I think he could even have been a bit younger in that century.
I've got a 19th century Norfolk census showing a shoemaker's daughter was a "Pupil Teacher", aged just 12.
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This is from Wikipedia:-
"In the early years of the Industrial Revolution entrepreneurs began to resist the restrictions of the apprenticeship system, and a legal ruling established that the Statute of Apprentices did not apply to trades that were not in existence when it was passed in 1563, thus excluding many new 18th century industries.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge founded many charity schools for poor students in the 7 to 11 age group. These schools were the basis for the development of modern concepts of primary and secondary education. The Society also was an early provider of teacher education"
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By the 1880s education was compulsory for children aged 5 to 10
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