How it all began
Mining in Cornwall
In the mid-1800s, Cornwall was the most active mining district in the world and the largest producer of copper. But mining was a dangerous profession and the average life expectancy for miners was 10 years shorter than that of other labourers. For those who did not succumb to consumption (a disease of the lungs known today as tuberculosis), a great many more lost their lives in accidents due to the dangerous working conditions in the mines.
Accidents also caused severe injuries to miners leaving them unable to earn a living and causing severe hardship for them and their families. Sight loss was a common injury amongst miners as they would use gunpowder to blast through rock and even after the invention of a safety fuse to ignite gunpowder, unexpected explosions would still occur.
A great many individuals are permanently disabled for mining labour, and many, as by loss of sight, for any mode of gaining a livelihood.
Dr Charles Barham, 1841
Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society
The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society (RCPS) was founded in 1832 by the Fox family of Falmouth to promote the ideas and inventions of the workers in their Perran Foundry. The Fox family were notable philanthropists and were particularly interested in improving the working conditions of the mines. They also belonged to the Society of Friends, a religious group of Quakers who believed in spiritual equality for all and were known for their philanthropic efforts.
It was at a Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society meeting in 1856 where the ideas of spiritual equality and improving the lives of injured miners were brought together to form an institution for the blind which is still going strong to this day.
17 September 1856
At the RCPS’s Annual Exhibition on Wednesday 17 September 1856, Rev John Punnett proposed a meeting to discuss a refuge for the blind in the county where accidents from blasting were so numerous. He had already spoken to William Baker, a blind teacher, who would be happy to visit blind people in their homes and teach them how to read the Scriptures using a form of raised type invented by William Moon. This task would be made harder by the fact that many miners would not have been able to read before they lost their sight.
It was agreed that William Baker would begin in St Just in Penwith and by Christmas that year, there were already 11 blind and partially sighted people under his instruction. Contributions for books in raised type were sought from members of the RCPS so that a lending library could be established.
Founding committee
The following year, in 1857, at the Annual Exhibition of the RCPS, a meeting was chaired by Mr John Jope Rogers to discuss the success of William Baker’s teaching. Not only had a great many blind people been taught to read but at least one person had also been taught how to write. Discussions focused on gaining subscriptions in order to employ William Baker permanently and a committee was formed ‘for the purpose of assisting the education of the blind in this county.’
