Figure 1.-- This was the morning break at the Desmond Boys School. It looks to have been taken in the early-1970s just before the school closed. |
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The Leicester School Board built the Desford Boys School. It was an industrial school. An industrial school was a boarding school for juvenile delinquents who had not yet got into serious trouble. The schools were provided for by the Industrial Schools Act (1857). The idea was to provide a place for problem youths other than sending them to an adult prison. The children were generally poor and neglected. The act authorized magistrates to remove disorderly children from their home environment and placed in a boarding school. They were called industrial schools because the curriculum focused on providing the boys a trade. Desford was one of these schools. Over time it was also called an approved school.
Thomas Adcock began working as superintendent at the newly built Desford Industrial School at Botcheston (January 1881). The matron was Mrs. Adcock. The other staff included Mr. Gamble (schoolmaster), Mr. Lee (farm bailiff), Mr. Willet (mechanic), Mr. Underwood (a tailor). The first few boys (aged 10 and 14) arrived a few days after the staff arrived. They were sent by the Leicester School Board, The school officially opened a few days later. After the official opening, the boys began arriving a few at the time. Gradually the school grew 192 boys (1886). While the school was opened by the Leicester School Board, it took boys from all over the country. One report indictes, "Many boys passed through the school over the years and their experiences varied from good to bad. Some boys enjoyed their time there and others hated it." The school was closed (1978).
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