Record Number: 5130
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
"A young handloom weaver in Carlisle was able to develop both his literacy skills and his political consciousness as his workshop responded with keen interest to the mounting Reform Bill crisis: "'I well remember how the weavers at Newtown used to club their pennies together to obtain the London newspapers ... The Weekly Dispatch was a great favourite ... Bell's Life kept us fully informed of the doings of the 'Fancy'. Our great paper, however, was the tri-weekly Evening Mail ... At the height of the reform agitation it was common for the men in our shop to gather round the fire about nine, and with me in the middle as reader, go through the debates until long after midnight. Thus with corrections from one and another, I learned to read, and thus likewise, at fourteen, I became somewhat of an advanced politician, known among my playmates as the Chancellor of the Exchequer.'"
Century:1800-1849
Date:unknown
Country:England
Timeevening: 9pm-12am
Place:city: Newtown
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Child (0-17)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:n/a
Socio-Economic Group:Labourer (non-agricultural)
Occupation:handloom weaver
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:newspapers
Genre:Politics, Reference / General works
Form of Text:Print: Newspaper
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:5130
Source:David Vincent
Editor:n/a
Title:The Rise of Mass Literacy: Reading and Writing in Moderrn Europe
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:2000
Vol:n/a
Page:95
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
David Vincent, The Rise of Mass Literacy: Reading and Writing in Moderrn Europe, (Oxford, 2000), p. 95, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=5130, accessed: 27 September 2024
Additional Comments:
Quotation from William Farish, The Autobiography of William Farish: The Struggles of a Handloom Weaver (privately printed, 1889) 11-12.