Figure 1.-- The Old Britannia Schoolhouse, was built as a Common School in 1852. There was not yet a public school system in Canada. Parents interested in educating their children paid a fee. The school replaced an earlier wooden school building originally put up in the 1830s which had fallen into poor repair. It was located in Mississauga, Ontario. Here we have a photogrph of the children at Old Britannia School in 1917.

The Old Britannia Schoolhouse, was built as a Common School in 1852. There was not yet a public school system in Canada. Parents interested in educating their children paid a fee. The school replaced an earlier wooden school building originally put up in the 1830s which had fallen into poor repair. It was located in Mississauga, Ontario. The Canadian Government in 1871 designatd "Common Schools" as "Public Schools". The Government abolished fees and attendance was made compulsory for children aged 7 to 12 years of age during at least 4 months a year. At that time, however, the schools were usually open for 11 ½ months and many children attended for more than 4 months. The Government in 1919 raised the age for compulsory attendance to 16 years with certain exceptions. Here we have a photogrph of the children at Old Britannia School in 1917. The boys wear white shirts and knee pantsa, many held up with suspenders. Notice the variety of headwear. For some reason the boys do not have flat caps. The girls wear simple dresses and skirts. A Canadian reader writes, "Do you notice that most of the children in this Canadian picture are barefoot? This picture was probably taken in the early or late summer." Yes that is certainly the case. Of course, living in Canada, the children must all have had shoes. The question is why are they barefoot. Did parents want to save money, or did the children find it more comfortable to go barefoot in the warm weather?

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Created: 11:19 PM 4/8/2005
Last updated: 9:42 PM 8/7/2005