Literacy in London versus the north

[Rena]

I started work in the 1950s and it was noticeable that men who worked with their hands had trouble bending their fingers to hold the pen in order to sign their names.

Injuries to fingers and hands were common in textile mills.
I was surprised about one great-grandmother not signing marriage register in 1892. She worked in a cotton mill.  I assume she'd attended school when a child. Her father was a mill overlooker. Her GF & GGF were styled "gentleman" in 1830s but family fortunes declined since. Parish register from her GF's village/small town in Lancashire showed a high percentage of people signing marriage register late 18th-early 19thC. The town had a school.  An illegal Catholic school was rumoured to exist.
 
Writing with pen & ink is a different skill to being able to read, spell and write.  I'd been literate for 4 years before starting to learn to use pen and ink. Several years of practice, sore, inky fingers, broken nibs, scrawly writing on pages covered in blots and changes of style of pen followed.
An 1820's account of education at a church-run school in Preston, Lancashire reported that the pupils wrote neatly on slates but when given pen and paper, made a dreadful mess. The school later opened a senior department and charged a penny extra per week towards cost of paper and books.

We were still writing with chalk on little personal black slates at my Yorkshire school 

[andrewalston]

The presence of a mark rather than a signature often depended on the attitude of the clergyman. Some seemed to assume that anyone who had not been to university was illiterate. I have come across people who were witnesses at one marriage "making their mark" and managing to sign confidently for themselves at their own marriage on the same day, presumably having complained.

[Top-of-the-hill]

   Stan's reply on page 1 mentioned rural areas. As that is what I mostly have dealings with, I had a quick check of my village marriage register 1813 to 1837, (later one not on line). Of 90 people marrying, 52 signed and 38 made a mark. Not up to making that into a percentage, but about 56%?
I would guess that some of the signatures were about all they could manage. (Rural Kent)

[karen8]

Many thanks for your responses, particularly your points about the difference between being able to read and  able to write, which is very pertinent.  In fact I have an aunt in her eighties who would probably be diagnosed now with dyslexia, she can read perfectly well but is totally unable to write.  Also the different skills required being able to write with pen and ink versus pencil or chalk - I don't think I would manage too well writing in old fashioned pen and ink! 

Stan's link looks very interesting and I am going to have a read in more detail when I have time over the weekend!

Karen

[Maiden Stone]

Many thanks for your responses, particularly your points about the difference between being able to read and  able to write, which is very pertinent.  In fact I have an aunt in her eighties who would probably be diagnosed now with dyslexia, she can read perfectly well but is totally unable to write.  Also the different skills required being able to write with pen and ink versus pencil or chalk - I don't think I would manage too well writing in old fashioned pen and ink! 

Stan's link looks very interesting and I am going to have a read in more detail when I have time over the weekend!

Karen

There was a question about literacy on Irish Census.  Only those from 1901 and 1911 survive. Census returns had seperate columns for ability to read or write. I wasn't surprised that my GGM could neither read nor write. However, a revelation was that her eldest daughter could read, although the transcript states her as illiterate. My family believed her to have been illiterate.  3 younger children could read & write. We knew this because 2 wrote letters to each other. A much older son, who died before 1901 census may not have been able to write. They lived in the countryside. Contemporaries in a nearby town had a higher level of literacy. One bridegroom (English by birth) made his mark in marriage register; a few years later he was a postman so he must have been able to read.

My class was taught to write with pen & ink, using pens which had to be dipped in an inkwell. Pressing too hard when writing split the nib. Paper in exercise book was thick and cheap, not easy to write on. Ink was cheap, bought in bulk and cloggy. Lowest mark on my school report was always for handwriting. Top marks were always for spelling and English, essays, comprehension etc. First fountain pen I was given was a cheap brand. Eventually (last year at Junior school?) I owned a good pen and bought quality ink and my writing began to improve. It had only taken 3-4 years of full-time education and daily practice!