was there any support for blind people?

[renton-worldchamps]

My grandfather was blind from birth. After leaving the Blind School, he lived with his mother in Peebles. The next thing I find is that at age 29 he is marries in Alloa (to a blind woman). When she dies, he moves to Dumbartonshire, aged 44 and marries another blind woman.

His first wife was over 40 when he married. His second wife was 25 when he married her.

Does anyone know of any national organisation that helped blind people. It seems odd that he moved about so much. His occupation was piano tuner.

[fifer1947]

It depends what date we are talking about.  I take it he was in the Royal Blind founded in 1793?  One department is listed as providing training for "The department for printing, typing, piano tuning".  Most importantly this training was to allow inmates to support themselves  "Handcrafts were taught so that the trainees could support themselves."

http://www.royalblind.org/index/25/History.html

[renton-worldchamps]

Thanks for the link. Yes, he was in the Blind School at Craigmillar. He was taken in in 1877 with his blind brother when he was 3 1/2. I have contacted the Royal blind school and they told me that they have a note in the admissions book that he was taken in under the normal age of entry (5) as the Board in Peebles agreed to pay towards nurses attendance.

I understand how the Blind Society helped with training etc but I wondered what, if any, connections they would have had to make my Grandfather move to Alloa and then to Dumbartonshire. It's not as if these moves are just to the next parish.

[fifer1947]

To offer training they must have had good contacts within that line, certainly through tutors etc. 

So I imagine the trainer/tutor helped find them a "place" possibly in a music or piano shop after their training was complete, most piano shops had their own tuner or used one particular self employed tuner to service pianos they sold.