John Riches – teacher at Wicklewood Workhouse

Contents

Introduction

This page tells the story of how a Deopham resident came to be the Schoolmaster at Wicklewood Workhouse despite opposition to him on account of his lack of experience.

August 9th 1853 – Shortcomings of the Schoolmaster

The following report was circulated on August 9^th 1853 following an inspection by Mr. H. G. Bowyer of the school in the Workhouse:

I have this day inspected the Schools which I find much in their usual Condition.
The Boys, however, shewed themselves very imperfect in spelling on Slates, and should write much from memory.
I have again examined the Schoolmaster, who has improved in Scriptural Knowledge but his Spelling is very defective and his skill as a teacher is still very middling. I must consequently still consider it necessary that he should go to the Norwich Training School for as long a time as the Board can spare him.

October 17th 1860 – Appointment of John Riches

On October 17^th 1860 the Jesse White, the Clerk to the Wicklewood Workhouse wrote to the Assistant Secretary of the Poor Law Board in London to tell him that the Schoolmaster vacancy had been filled:

I beg to report to you for the information of the Poor Law Board that at the Meeting of the Board of Directors and Acting Guardians of the Forehoe Incorporation held on Monday last, Mr. John Riches of Deopham in Norfolk was elected to fill the Office of Schoolmaster at the Workhouse in the room of Mr. William Norton – resigned.
The particulars of the appointment are communicated in the enclosed form as requested.

The application form referred to in the letter above contained the following information:

Question No	Question	Response
1	Name & Surname	John Riches
2	Place of residence immediately previous to his appointment	Deopham
3	His Age	17 years
4	Married/single	Single
5	His Religious Persuasion	Church of England¹
6	Previous Occupation	Assistant to his Father, a small Farmer
7	Whether he has before held any paid Office in any Union or Parish	No
8	Whether he has had any Experience in Teaching	Has assisted a little in teaching in a National School
9	Whether he holds a Certificate from the Committee of Council on Education	No
10	Whether his whole time is given up to the Service of the Union	Yes
11	The day on which he was elected by the Guardians	15^th October 1860
12	The day on which his Duties commence	16^th October 1860
13	Whether he is to reside in the Workhouse	Yes
14	Amount of Salary proposed	£20 per annum
	Whether any Rations or other Emoluments are allowed	Board and apartments
15	Whether he agrees to give the Guardians one month’s notice previous to resigning his Office	Yes
16	What testimonials the Guardians have received	A satisfactory Testimonial from the clergyman of the Parish of Deopham²
17	The cause of the Vacancy on account of which the Appointment is made	On account of the Resignation of William Norton who is elected Master of the Workhouse School at Ipswich, and resigned his appointment here on the 13^th Inst.

Craven’s 1856 directory and Harrod’s 1877 directory both list a John Riches as being a farmer in Deopham, the latter directory placing him in South Hill. The 1851 census confirmed that both father and son were called “John”. At the time of this census, the father was 38 years old and farming 40 acres at Southill, Morley Road. This would have been Hill Farm. The son was 8 years old: this is consistent with the him being 17 at the time of his appointment as a schoolmaster. The 1861 census, a year after John Riches had taken up his schoolmaster role, recorded his father still farming 40 acres at South Hill, but his son (as expected) was no longer residing with him.
On December 29^th 1860, the same year that John took up his schoolmaster post, his younger sister Mary-Ann died and was then buried on January 5^th 1861 in Deopham churchyard – location A25.

October 19th 1860 – Comments from Sir John Waltham

Should not some intermediate communication be first addressed to the Guardians pointing out how very young John Riches is to superintend a School, and that he appeared to have had little or no experience in teaching – and asking if the Guardians are satisfied that a young inexperienced lad can properly manage a not inconsiderable number of boys.

December 1860 – Letter from the Wicklewood Workhouse to the Poor Law Board

Copy of Chaplain’s Report

The Chaplain reports with respect to the recently appointed Schoolmaster that he has known nothing of him at present otherwise than commendable – He appears tolerably informed upon those subjects usually taught in Union Schools, but whether he becomes very efficient will depend upon his desire for improvement and exertions towards attaining the same – If John Riches continues steady and be duly impressed with the importance of his duties, his youth may not be an obstacle to his fitness for the office, but this cannot be affirmed excepting through the medium of a longer probation.

April 19th 1861 – another report

On April 19^th 1861 the Clerk wrote to the Poor Law Board with a further report on Mr. Riches’ performance:

Copy of Chaplain’s Report

April 11^th 1861: The chaplain wishes to report that John Riches to the best of his knowledge has conducted himself commendably; and that be believes him to be tolerably capable of filling the situation to which he has been appointed and that there is no present cause of objection to him.

1861 – Wicklewood Census

The resident staff at the Workhouse at the time of the 1861 Census were:

Name	Relation to Head of Family	Condition	Age	Profession
John Goodchild	Head	Married	55	Master
Hannah Goodchild	Wife	Married	47	Matron
Ellen Goodchild	Daughter	Unmarried	20	Matron’s Assistant
Arthur Goodchild	Son		11	Scholar
John Riches	Schoolmaster	Unmarried	18	Schoolmaster
HArgham Clarke	Schoolmistress	Unmarried	45	Schoolmistress
Kerry Tuttle	Porter	Unmarried	52	Porter

The listing of residents at the workhouse in this census recorded 28 male scholars between the ages of 5 and 15 who would have been pupils of John Riches.
The Forehoe Union Workhouse at this time was taking in paupers from the parishes of Barford, Barnham Broom, Bawburgh, Bowthorpe, Brandon Parva, Carleton Forehoe, Colton, Costessey, Coston, Crownthorpe, Deopham, Easton, Hackford, Hingham, Kimberley, Marlingford, Morley St. Botolph, Morley St. Peter, Runhall, Welborne, Wicklewood, Wramplingham, Wymondham.
Although three of the older workhouse residents had been born in the home village of John Riches, none of his pupils are recorded as being born in Deopham.

Postscript

The 1881 Census recorded that John Riches, born in Booton, was living with his wife Elizabeth in Union Street, Heigham, Norwich, and a daughter aged 3 called Mary-Ann (the same name as his sister who had died in 1860). His occupation was recorded as Gardener. He was still living in Union Street, Heigham at the time of the 1901 Census.

The 1891 census for Deopham recorded that his sister Hannah was by then running the farm at South Hill, confirming that John the Schoolmaster did not return to the family farm.

Footnotes

Claiming Church of England as his religion may have been a white lie to get the job: when his father was buried in 1899 at the age of 87, it was recorded in the Burial Register that he had a “Dissenting Funeral”. ↩︎
In 1860, this clergyman would have been the Rev. George Turner. ↩︎

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Date	Change
7/6/25	Published