Penny Reading in Eversley

Charles Kingsley had just returned in 1870 from a trip to the West Indies, and his son from elsewhere abroad. Father and son now proceeded to enliven the lives of the people of Eversley with Penny Readings about their foreign adventures. It is hard now to imagine the dullness of the life of an English agricultural labourer in the last century. For men and women the day was a period of unremitting drudgery to supply the food for a meagre evening meal which was, as often as not, followed by bed, either from sheer exhaustion or from boredom. Most of them could not read, and if they could, they had only the glimmer of a farthing dip candle to read by. Many of them had not travelled beyond the next village so that subjects for conversation were limited. For such people the sight of a well-lighted schoolroom alone was worth a two-mile walk on a wet night. Kingsley was one of the first to institute those fortnightly readings which became so popular in the mid-Victorian period. At them his daughters and their London friends played the piano and sang to 'a low hum of appreciation', and he himself told tales of heroism and gave simple lectures on hygiene.

From "The Beast and the Monk - a Life of Charles Kingsley" - Susan Chitty. 1974 Chapter 8, p.268

Back to 2003 Exhibition Main Page

The Yateley Society's 2003 Exhibition: Adult Education in Yateley was mounted in Yateley Library during Local History Month, for which the theme was Adult Education. This exhibition was held in conjunction with Yateley Workers Education Association (WEA) -- now in 2008 defunct. Pages may have been updated as a result of recent research.