Needlework instruction was offered under the name ‘Plain Needlework’ in NLCS under Miss Buss. First, Plain Needlework was one of the required knowledge and skills listed in the ‘Qualification for Admission’. All girls entering the school, those from ages 12 to 16, needed to show their ability to sew. M. V. Hughes’s (Molly’s) recollection of her entrance exam for NLCS in 1882 well describes this point.
‘Now, dear, just make a buttonhole before you go.’
This was a quite unexpected blow. I confessed that I hadn’t the faintest ideas how to set about it, and thought that buttonholes just ‘came’. Up went Miss Begbie’s hands in shocked surprise.
‘What! A girl of sixteen not know how to make a buttonhole!’ ‘Can’t I come to the school then?’ I asked in dismay.
‘Well, possibly dear. We shall see. But you must go home, learn to make a buttonhole, and come again this day week to make it.’…On the appointed day I appeared, was given a piece of calico, made my buttonhole, and went home. It seemed absurd to take the railway journey just for that, but it was a rule of the school that no girl should enter who couldn’t make a buttonhole (Hughes, 1991 [1936], pp.154-155).
The last sentence in the above quotation proves the rigorousness of the rule for when Molly entered NLCS, she was 16 and had already sat for the Oxford Senior Local Examination of 1882. However, an academic girl like her could not escape taking the entrance examination, which she found the academic subjects ‘piffling easy’, including Plain Needlework to enter NLCS.
Plain Needlework was listed in ‘The Course of Study’ in the school prospectuses from 1867 to 1894 (Prospectus, 1867, 1871, 1872-1894).
Compulsory Plain Needlework classes were taken only by girls in the Lower School. According to the Inspector’s report in 1876, the subject was taught to girls belonging to the Lower School, Class III (ages of pupils vary from 12 to 16) to Class VIII (ages of pupils vary from 7 to 9), once a week (1876 Report). The timetables of 1889 noted in the previous
105 section also prove this fact for one Needlework lesson is listed in Friday afternoon for Class III girls (Album 1).
The prospectuses also show that a Special Prize for Needlework was given during 1867 and 1894 constantly under the name of Mrs. David Laing or Miss Ridley among other academic subjects. In addition, they were given especially to girls in Class I from 1874 to 1876 (Prospectus, 1867, 1871, 1872-1894). However, some Needlework instruction was included in Domestic Economy classes offered to girls in Upper School as M. V. Hughes recall her days in NLCS in Upper Forth Form in 1883.
Girls in NLCS were, however, more engaged in Plain Needlework in the way of voluntary work. First, the Dorcas Society founded in the 1850 had a long tradition of encouraging NLCS girls into voluntary Plain Needlework to serve the local poor. The first volume of OM published in December 1875 explained the character of this society briefly. The Dorcas Society connected with the School has been successfully working during more than twenty years. It has been entirely supported by subscriptions from former and present pupils, and by small donations from friends. The Dorcas Meetings, which are held the last Wednesday of every month, are the means of forming a pleasant bond of union between pupils and teachers, besides being useful in the practice of needlework. It is earnestly hoped that all pupils will become annual subscribers, as funds are needed for the purchase of material. The Treasurer will gladly receive the annual subscription, which is half-a-crown, on the last Wednesday in January, 1876.
Articles of clothing, amounting to nearly 550 made during the past year, will be distributed among the neighbourhood clergy and among friends- The Rev. J. Back, of St. George the Martyr; the Rev. R.P. Clemenger, of St. Thomas’s; the Rev. E.L. Cutts, of Holy Trinity; the Rev. H.J. Carter-Smith, of St. Andrew’s; the Rev. J. Fitzgerald, of St. Stephen’s; Mrs Storrar, Mrs. Laing, Mrs. Edward White, &c.
The thanks of the Society are offered to Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Sheppard, and many other friends for gifts of list, pieces, flannel, remnants, &c (OM December, 1875, pp.60-70).
The voluntary purpose and the pleasant bond between girls and staff are also shown inMolly’s memory of the jolly Dorcas afternoons in the mid-1880s. The Dorcas activity seemed to be more of an enjoyment for a girl like her because they were relieved from the strict daily disciplines in those hours, allowed to chat with each other a little while the form
106 mistress read aloud some jolly books to them..
Whether Miss Buss, like my mother, had been so overdosed with it herself that she did not care to inflict it on the young, or whether she considered it a feminine and feeble pursuit, easily picked up at home, the result was a joyful enough for me. And yet, much as I hated the sight of a needle, sewing was the cause of some of my pleasantest memories of the school. Turning her back on the frivolities of embroidery, Miss Buss encouraged both plain sewing and Christianity by ordaining a Dorcas meeting once a month. To most of us it was a treat, providing a change from the usual routine.
(Hughes, 1991 [1936], pp.187-188. See Appendix 5).
Then, girls were also required to make toys and doll dresses for the Founder’s Day Bazaar held every spring. According to the Prize Day Reports written by Miss Buss, the Hall or the Gymnasium were carefully decorated using flowers by girls for this purpose, and hundreds of toys, doll dresses and articles of clothing were displayed on the tables. The earnings gained from their sales, some 18 to 30 pounds, were sent through the local clergies and societies to help the unfortunate children in hospitals or workhouse schools (PDR 1870-1880, 1881-1894; HR II).
The 4th of April of the present year was our 31st Anniversary. On honour of the occasions, the girls took great trouble to decorate the Hall, which looked very pretty indeed. Miss Marshall kindly gave a Lecture on “acting, reciting & reading” in the morning, and in the afternoon a large number of the parents were present at an exhibition of toys, made by the girls at home, for the purpose of being distributed amongst the various children’s hospitals(‘29th June 1881’, PDR, pp.15-16).
Girls in Sixth Forms, not studying Plain Needlework nor Domestic Economy, also contributed in this voluntary work.
A large amount of needlework was contributed in honour of our 36th Anniversary. The toys were more various and ingenious than in preceding years. Besides plain needlework, there was a large number of dolls. The dolls dressed as peasants by girls in the 6th Form were especially interesting. (‘July 6th, 1886’, PDR, pp.105-106).
107 The Foundation Day was celebrated on the 16th of April. The gymnasium had stalls filled with toys & useful articles, which were afterwards sent away to the various institutions for children in London…
The VI Form devoted its efforts mainly to providing outfits of clothes for poor girls, to be sent to the women’s University Settlement in Southwark. The Upper VI specially made one complete outfit with several changes of each garment (‘June 25th, 1891’, PDR, pp.228-229. See Appendix 5).
Such results of the Dorcas activities and Founder’s Day sales were noted in Prize Day Reports and Head Mistress’s report to governors annually, which shows the constant interest of Miss Buss into their voluntary work (PDR; HR).
As it is shown, under Miss Buss, Plain Needlework was a knowledge and skill required to all girls in NLCS. It was taught as a part of the compulsory curriculum to girls in Lower School and Upper School. Moreover, Plain Needlework was strongly encouraged to all girls including university aspirants in the Six Form as a means to serve the neighbouring poor in various voluntary activities.