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“Her countenance was full of intelligence”…

By H Dominic W Stiles, on 20 June 2014

The General Institution for the Instruction of Deaf & Dumb Children at Edgbaston eventually became the ROYAL SCHOOL FOR DEAF CHILDREN, Birmingham. 

Edgbaston

Established in 1812, it was the first provincial institution founded in England.  The school opened in 1814 as the General Institution for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Children, with Thomas Braidwood (grandson of Thomas Braidwood, the pioneer of deaf education in the UK) as its first headmaster.  In the first report for 1814, we read of its origins;

In the autumn of 1812, a Lecture was delivered in the Rooms of the Birmingham Philosophical Institution of the Deaf and Dumb. To illustrate some of the principles of this art, and, at the same time, afford an example of their efficacy in practice, the Lecturer introduced a deaf and dumb child*, to whose instruction his friend, Mr. Alex. Blair, and himself, had given considerable attention.

The audience at the lecture were much interested by this little child. Her appearance, indeed, was remarkably engaging. Her countenance was full of intelligence, and all her actions and attitudes, in the highest degree, animated and expressive; while the eagerness with which she watched the countenances of her instructors, and the delight with which she sprang forward to execute, or rather to anticipate their wishes, afforded a most affecting spectacle.

[…]  The great obstacles to her improvement were now, in some degree, removed.  She could read and write,; and, by the use of signs, she could communicate her own sentiments, and comprehend those of others.  […]  the Lecture excited a very general desire, that some means should be found of completing what had been so ably begun […]

*The name of the child is Jane Williams.  She was, at that time, eight years old, and has been deaf and dumb from her birth.

The Institution was founded as a result of meetings that followed this lecture.

I have scanned a list of the pupils from the 1828 annual report – it is always fascinating to see if one can find out what became of them.

Pupil list 1828

Annual reports for 1814, 1829, 1831, 1832, 1834, 1838 -1844, 1847, 1850-1858, 1860-1863, 1865-1887, 1888/89-1994/95, 1896/97, 1898, 1900-1905, 1907-1914, 1916-1921, 1923-1935, 1936/37-1962/63

Historical notes of our institutions. III. The Birmingham Institution. Quarterly Review of Deaf-Mute Education, 1888, 1, 307-314.

British Deaf Monthly, 1901, 11, 293, 295, 297. (photos of classes – these photos, and others, also appear in the annual reports for the 1900s, which also include illustrations of the school buildings))

Birmingham tragedy. British Deaf News, 1984, 15(6), 1.

TOBIN, M. The Royal School for Deaf Children, Edgbaston. Talking Sense, 1985, 31(2), 6-7. (History and photos)

Edgbaston classroom rebellion, 1826.  British Deaf News, 1998, Mar, 7.

2 Responses to ““Her countenance was full of intelligence”…”

  • 1
    mrs sue ireland wrote on 3 April 2018:

    i would like to buy the old post card bec my husband went school there .

  • 2
    mrs sue ireland wrote on 3 April 2018:

    pls let me know .
    both are deaf