I always thought the sampler was done by the daughters' of the upper classes to prove their skill as needle women in readiness for marriage. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bonnie Ostler" <[email protected]> To: "Nivard Ovington" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 25, 2014 11:33 PM Subject: Re: [NFK] Literacy of the population 1841 > The whole idea of samplers done by girls was to complete them under the > tutelage of their mother or some other adult female. It was a learning > exercise. If she was capable of doing it without instruction there would > not have been much reason for having her do it. > > Bonnie > > > On Fri, Jul 25, 2014 at 6:05 PM, Nivard Ovington via > <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Hi Mike >> >> No I don't there is any misunderstanding in the context & period we are >> talking about it >> >> In the period, literate would mean having the ability to read and write >> to some very basic level, enough to read basic words and write a small >> amount >> >> I am not suggesting they would be proficient enough to write a thesis or >> dissertation but just the bare basics >> >> The schedules left with the household were not particularly difficult to >> understand but many people (and enumerators) misunderstood them and >> entered the wrong things in the wrong places or in some cases entered >> people that were not there on the night or omitted others >> >> But they still do that today >> >> I shall not repeat what I have said on the subject of signing the >> register as I have already said it in previous posts >> >> As to my great grandmother, no I credit her with more intelligence, she >> completed a full sampler with alphabet included when aged ten, I suspect >> that not many ten year olds today could do the same, and back then a >> fair portion would have been by candle light to boot >> >> Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) >> >> >> >> On 25/07/2014 20:15, Mike Fry via wrote: >> > Overall, an interesting discussion. What's getting lost here, or >> > glossed >> over to >> > a large extent, is the varying definitions of what constituted literacy >> at >> > various times through the ages. >> > >> > Nowadays, we have a modern definition, largely based on the good-old >> > 3Rs >> that I >> > fondly remember from my childhood. Those were the days before >> sociologists were >> > invented and started mucking around with society! [Personal Opinion] >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > >