Edinburgh Industrial Brigade and Home, Portraits

Category

Library Item

Item no

21040

Title

Edinburgh Industrial Brigade and Home, portraits of No.s 8 and 9 on Register.

Description

The portraits of two boys are mounted on a page. Both boys have short fair hair combed into side partings. They wear blazers.
The oval portraits are framed by a rectangular border. Above the border the page is titled 'Home for Destitute and Homeless Boys' in stencilled lettering with flourishes. Below the portrait a biblical motto is printed in gothic script.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1870

Size

22.2 x 16.4 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Accompanying text from the Edinburgh Industrial Brigade and Home for the Rescue of Destitute & Homeless Boys: "Both my Father and Mother are alive, but they are not able to help me. My father is a mason... and makes very small wages and drinks it all... and my Mother suffered so much that she went out of her mind and was in Morningside Asylum for a long time-and now that she is out we might starve for all the help she can give us... while my Father spends most of his time in the Poorhouse.

We were regularly starving when I first heard of the Brigade. So after I got myself in I went to let my Brother come also... and we have both been in it for more than a year and are earning a little and hope to earn more."

The Edinburgh Industrial School and Home for the Rescue of Destitute & Homeless Boys was on Grove Street in Fountainbridge. The school took in homeless boys, provided them with education, and found them positions training as apprentices in various trades.

This image comes from a bound volume that contains a photograph and transcription of the life story of each boy.

This item was digitised as part of the Whose Town? project, an educational resource for schools. Unique archival material was gathered together to create a snapshot of a person's life at a particular point in Edinburgh's history.

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Related subjects

Education > Educational facilities > Schools

People > Children > Boys

Places > Edinburgh areas > Fountainbridge

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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