Ackworth School - A Quaker School for those "not in affluence".

Dress.

1779-1804 - "In the early days of the school its juvenile groups might have reminded us of the pictures of olden time, when the cocked hat, the long-tailed coat, the leather breeches, and the buckled shoe, were the dress even of boys; the girls figure in white caps, the hair turned back under them or combed straight down upon the forehead, checked aprons with bibs, and white neck handkerchiefs, folded neatly over their stuff gowns in front." - Thomas Pumphrey.

1820 -  'an old institution passed away in the disuse of leather breeches. The Committee, apprehending that the substitution of trousers of velveteen or some other durable material would not seriously increase the cost of the boys' clothing, resolved to make the experiment. Whether the whistling corduroys, which succeeded the leathern garment, were better liked, we are not told. One specimen of the latter was long retained for temporary penal use by boys of all sizes who inked or otherwise abused their trousers.' - History of Ackworth School - Henry Thompson.

Page updated 8th September, 2015.