CAPTION: Peasant. Ah! I'd like to be cared for half as well as thee be!" The Pig and the Peasant Punch 1863 CAPTION: Mr. Punch (to landlord). Your stable arrangements are excellent! Suppose you try something of the sort here! Eh?" The Stable/The Cottage Punch 1861 Cartoons A B

Mr. Fox, medical officer of the Romsey Union, says: There is not only a great shortage of cottages, but also of room in those which now stand. In the parish of Mottisfont I have known fourteen individuals of one family together in a small room, the mother being in labour at the time, and in the next room, seven other persons sleeping, making twenty-one persons, in a space which should be occupied by six persons only at most. Here are the young man and young woman of eighteen or twenty years of age, lying alongside the father or mother, and the latter actually in labour. What is the condition of these people? - just as might be expected. A view of the low moral and physical condition of the agricultural labourer by Lord Sidney Godolphin Osborne, 1844, page 20 A Wiltshire Cottager's Fireside Illustrated London News 1853 Different Opinions C D

Reports of Special Assistant Poor Law Commissioners on the employment of women and children in agriculture, 1843, pages Did country children go to school? E F G

What work did women and children do? Reports of Special Assistant Poor Law Commissioners on the employment of women and children in agriculture, 1843, pages H I J K

Reports of Special Assistant Poor Law Commissioners on the employment of women and children in agriculture, 1843, pages 216-7, and 233 Hours and Wages L M N O P Q

What was life like in the countryside? These tasks are based on the information cards, so study them carefully first. All of the information, together with your answers, should help you decide what life was really like. Cartoons Look at A 1. Why is the peasant (farm worker) so unhappy? Look at B 2. What is the problem with the farm worker’s cottage? Different opinions Read C 3. What does Mr Fox think of these cottages? Explain. Look at D 4. What is the cottage like? 5. How cosy does the family seem to be? 6. Does D have the same opinion of country life as A, B and C? Did country children go to school? Read E, F and G 7. Did country children go to school in 1843? 8. If not, why did they stay away? What work did women and children do? Read H, I, J and K 9. What jobs did (a) women, (b) children do? 10. What did they do when there was no work in the fields? 11. Do you think they were pleased when there was no work? Explain. Hours and Wages Read L, M, N, O, and P 12. How long was the working day? 13. At what age did children start work? 14. How hard was the work? 15. How much did they get paid? Look at Q (what the Crick family earned and spent each week) 16. What did the Crick family not have, which you would expect to have? 17. What different meals could the Cricks have looked forward to? 18. If the three boys had not worked, what would the Cricks have had to give up?

Agricultural Conditions – teachers notes Aim: to judge how pleasant life in the countryside was for people in the 19th Century. Resources: - Agricultural display in museum - Activity sheets -Laminated source cards Suggested scheme of work: Introduction - Pupils asked for their impressions of life in the countryside nowadays – better or worse than the town? -Does it depend on who you are? Research - Divide class into two halves of 15 each (max), and then into smaller groups of One half looks at display and considers activity sheet - Other half looks at evidence cards. (Make clear that the aim is to find out how pleasant life was. There is no need for much writing. The questions are there as guides, rather than for formal written answers, but points should be jotted down in the pleasant/unpleasant table.) -After minutes, the two halves swap round. Debate Groups prepare for debate on how pleasant life was. (To create conditions for a debate, teachers could tell groups which side of the argument they were putting forward, either before the research or after. Or teachers could ensure that no group sees all the information. Or children could be given role cards and told to gather evidence from their point of view). Conclusion Why did some people show life in the countryside to be idyllic if it wasn’t?