PODCAST · arts

Plea for Ragged Schools; or, Prevention Better than Cure

by Thomas Guthrie

The Reverend Thomas Guthrie was first introduced to the idea of ragged schools in 1841, while acting as the Parish Minister of St. John's Church in Edinburgh. On a visit to Portsmouth, he saw a picture of John Pounds and felt inspired and humbled by the crippled cobbler's work. Pounds had been injured in a shipbuilding accident at the age of 15. He later became a shoemaker and, in 1818, he began teaching poor children without charging fees. He actively recruited children and young people to his school, spending time on the streets and quays making contact and even bribing them to come with the offer of baked potatoes. He began teaching local children reading, writing, and arithmetic. He also gave lessons in cooking, carpentry and shoe making until his death in 1839. Pounds became an inspiration for others seeking to address the needs of impoverished children. Guthrie opened his first ragged school in 1847. Although this was not the first ragged school in Scotland, Guthrie was later ack