Excerpt from Voices of the Spirit and Spirit Pictures

After vain attempts to act upon the Government, the promoters of the movement prepared a Bill which was brought into the House of Commons in 1853 by Sir Charles Adderley, ably sup ported by Sir John Pakington (now Lord Hampton); and this they succeeded in carrying through Parliament in 1854. Even before it became law, Miss Carpenter, in conjunction with Mr. Russell Scott, then of Bath had planned the establishment of a Reformatory on the spot onginally selected by John Wesley for the education of the sons of Ministers, at Kingswood, near Bristol. The old Kingswood School having been elsewhere developed into a New Kingswood of much higher grade, the property, which included a small farm, with farm buildings, as well as the school house, came into the market; and this having been purchased by Mr. R. Scott, the new Institution was set going. In the first instance, it was Miss Carpenter's idea that girls might be combined with boys, in such a manner as to deve10pe somewhat of a family feeling; but various difficulties soon arose which rendered this plan impracticable; so that, as it became necessary for the girls to be provided for elsewhere, Miss Carpenter thought it better to devote herself mainly to them, leaving Kingswood and the boys in the hands of a committee of gentlemen who were willing to carry it on. At their request, however, she continued for several years to pay a weekly visit to the school, and ever manifested a warm interest in its welfare.

Just as Miss Carpenter had come to the conclusion that the girls must be removed from Kingswood, an old Elizabethan housein Bristol, called the Red Lodge, last occupied by Dr. Prichard, was for sale; and, being struck with its peculiar fitness for her work, Miss Carpenter sought the aid of Lady Noel Byron, who had for several years shown a great interest in her proceedings. Lady Byron readily undertook to purchase the house, and to placeit in Miss Carpenter's hands at a low rental; on condition that she should undertake the entire management of the Institution, and should be free to, carry out her plans without any other control than that of the Home Office, to which the Reformatory Schools Act made her responsible. With this condition Miss Carpenter gladly closed. The house was furnished by the aid of friends, who desired to see her placed in a position of independent action; and the Institution was opened with 10 girls in December, 1854, their number amounting to 52 by the end of 1856, and being afterwards increased to about 60. It had been scarcely brought into working order, when Miss Carpenter was struck down by a severe attack of rheumatic fever, which so seriously affected her heart, that for many weeks she seemed hanging between life and death. Even after the disease had itself passed away, certain consequences remained, of which the persistence was apparent through the whole remainder of her life, and to which her sudden decease is attribu table. In due time, however, she became able to resume her charge; and the success of her efforts soon unequivocally mani fested itself.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.