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By now all schools will have welcomed their pupils back after the long summer holiday. Let’s hope they have a better experience at meal times than that of the boys at Aldenham School in the nineteenth century. 

According to a grievance letter our Archivist spotted recently in the Brewers’ Scrapbook:

Sir,

Permit me to inform you of a grievance at the Aldenham School (Mr Leeman) – the Boys have dry bread for breakfast and tea & at neither meal do they have tea. This is not in accordance with the liberal spirit of the Brewers Company & only wants to be known to be rectified. And should you as Master kindly interfere & order them ale, tea & butter they will all think of you in their Prayers.

The Brewers’ Company scrapbook is a large leatherbound volume containing 800 pages of bills, menus, letters, notes and memoranda of all kinds, mostly from the 17th to 19th centuries, and it is assumed it was compiled by the Clerk in the late 19th century. Items have featured in previous news stories, and this letter is just one of hundreds of items pasted in, generally with no explanation or context (or date in this case). The letter is not signed; perhaps it was sent anonymously and it is not clear whether it is from an unhappy pupil, parent or member of staff. However, The Rev. Alfred Leeman, who is mentioned in the letter, was Head Master between 1843 and 1876.

The grievance is borne out in a set of notes by a former pupil, with the title “Some Reminiscences of Life at Aldenham in the [eighteen] ’Sixties” and reproduced in The History and Register of Aldenham School, 7th edition, 1938:

Our meals were spartan in their simplicity. When I first went, the sixth only, who sat at a table by themselves had bread and butter and tea; we others had “blocks” and milk; the bread cut into square chunks, known as “blocks”, was placed in wicker baskets at intervals down the tables, and each boy was provided with a bowl of milk; to this fare you might add anything which had been sent you from home, or which you had bought.

Lunch comprised meat and pudding and included beer. The beer was brewed on the premises and was served in white earthenware mugs; my recollection is that it was very dark in colour and frequently sour.

Tea was a repetition of breakfast.