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Question:Researching some people in the 19th century in England I have found people noted as 'scholar' or 'at school' up until the age of 12 or 13. The same people subsequently sign marriage and birth certificates 'x the mark of....'
My question is how did children (especially girls) go to school for this long and come out of the system unable to write their name?!


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Researching some people in the 19th century in England I have found people noted as 'scholar' or 'at school' up until the age of 12 or 13. The same people subsequently sign marriage and birth certificates 'x the mark of....'
My question is how did children (especially girls) go to school for this long and come out of the system unable to write their name?!

Depending when in the 19th C it was, they could have been nominally "at school" to satisfy a requirement for schooling but in fact not attending (kept home, at work). Anyone who actually attended school to the age of 12 or 13 certainly knew how to read and write and in fact very probably did so better than many high school seniors today.

they were following logographic writing systems and did not find it necessary to write the way we do today. also, they used ink wells which is harder to manipulate.
also, the girls had to do housework not work/write/office work

Women were very much subjugated in the 19th C in England therefore their school lessons would be things like needlepoint, French (if lucky) kitchen skills - things like that! Very little in the way of academics or sciences as they were thought not to have the brains to understand !!

Women were not treated as they are today. Of course, women back then lied too; as their posteriors didn't stick out as much as they consciously dolled them up to be. So, I guess that as a woman, you kind of get what you deserve in this world; no matter what era you come from . . . After all, look at Eve, from the Book of Genesis. Today's women need to try to instill in their minds that they are NOT men. The main reason that I like women so much is because they aren't men. It is a mystery to me as to why today’s woman wants to avoid becoming too close to her own personal femininity. Girls of the 19th Century were a lot more confused than their modern-day counter-parts. Yet, they “acted female” from sunup to sundown. It was as if the men in their lives instructed them “to just be a woman” and don’t worry about anything else. Of course, in today’s society, it’s actually against the law for men to treat women like women. Women of the 22nd Century will be treated much differently; I’m sure. They will probably totally lose their place in society. I’m pretty sure that by then, man will have figured out a way to get pregnant without the use of a woman. History will sort of repeat itself . . . But more in a “backwards manner” . . . I suspect.

Just speculation on my part, but I don't think writing was
important in day-to-day life then like it is now. Working 12 hours on a farm or in a factory doesn't require reading and writing.

All you really needed to know was how to do sums, be able to count money accurately, be able to memorize lists and instructions, and work with your hands. Most people didn't have to keep written records, couldn't afford the postage or paper to write a letter (if they knew someone far enough away to make it necessary). The only time they would have to write their name would be on a marriage license or other legal document. So, once or twice in a lifetime.