With the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day approaching, it is a fitting time to revisit one of the British Library’s lesser-known treasures: Children in War-time: Stories and Drawings Printed by Boys and Girls [1941], a two-volume publication created by students at Hay Currie Emergency School in Poplar, London.

Title page for part I of Children in War-time: Stories and Drawings Printed by Boys and Girls. Poplar: The Hay Currie Emergency School, [1941].  BL shelfmark: Cup.410.f.1193.  Featuring a vignette picture attributed to William Reeves (age 11).

Unlike the ever-popular children’s classics Carrie’s War (1973) and Goodnight Mister Tom (1981), which offer fictional accounts of children and their evacuation, Children in war-time is a scarce record of children's firsthand impressions of war.  In the preface, Headmaster E.G. Porter claims to serve only as a 'compiler' of the volumes, with the children responsible for 'the writing, drawing, printing, reproduction, and book-binding'.  The result is a beautifully crafted collection of vignettes and illustrations that offer a window into the wartime lives of children in London’s East End.

A 1947 study described Poplar as 'probably the most universally poverty-stricken borough of London in the inter-war years'.  While the war brought greater employment stability, proximity to the Docks exposed the area to sustained bombing during the Blitz.  Children were evacuated and later returned, creating unprecedented challenges for the emergency schools tasked with remaining open.  In her contribution to the collection, 'Schools I've Attended in War Time', Dorris Brooks captures this instability, recalling frequent school moves, changing teachers, lessons spent sheltering during air-raids, and the bombing of local facilities.

A playful tone shines through Children in War-time, with students celebrating novelty amid hardship.  Fred Smith writes with pride about a homemade Morse-code buzzer; Alice Conroy recalls differences in wartime Christmases; John Page writes of singing songs while collecting salvage; and Edna McDonald fondly remembers watching Paul Robeson in The Proud Valley (1940), 'a mining picture', after her arrival as an evacuee in South Wales.

Page opening from part II of Children in War-time: Stories and Drawings Printed by Boys and Girls. Poplar: The Hay Currie Emergency School, [1941].  BL shelfmark: Cup.410.f.1193. Features a story 'My Kitten' by Joan Hunt (age 11) and a linocut titled 'Fire fighting' by Ronald Bowyer (age 13).

The Blitz looms over their writing.  One child remembers scavenging tins from the rubble of a bombed house; another writes about the fortunes of a tabby kitten her brother discovered 'on the debris' and saved.  Several children describe their Anderson shelters—the difficulty of building them, their smell and discomfort, how they distracted themselves and passed the time.

With neat layouts, striking linocuts, and the delicacy of private press production, Children in War-time is a feat of craftsmanship produced under unprecedented constraints.  The project speaks to the ambition of Hay Currie Emergency School’s staff.  Historian Stephen Hussey notes disruptions to typical classroom practice from the exigencies of war necessitated improvisation and innovation.  He argues it fostered far more creativity and student collaboration than was present in prewar classrooms.  The meticulous care shown in the book’s production seems designed deliberately to lend authority to the children’s writing and suggests a respect for their impressions.  It reminds me of the British Library’s call for children to make mini books during the pandemic.  Participation in the project clearly stayed with the students; one submitted her memories of making the book to the BBC’s People’s War Archive.

As VE Day approaches, Children in War-time is perfect item to revisit.  A text that stands as testament to educational ingenuity, children's wartime creativity, and the art of bookmaking—brimming with resilience, craft, heart.

Hannah Graves
Curator, Printed Heritage Collections, 20th century

Further Reading:
Children in War-time: Stories and Drawings Printed by Boys and Girls. Poplar: The Hay Currie Emergency School, [1941]. BL shelfmark: Cup.410.f.1193.
Barnett House Study Group. London Children in War-time. London: Oxford University Press, 1947. BL shelfmark: 8367.b.51.
Nina Bawden. Carrie’s War. Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, 1974. BL shelfmark: H.74/127.
Stephen Hussey. 'The School Air-Raid Shelter: Rethinking Wartime Pedagogies'. History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 43, No. 4 (Winter, 2003): 517-539. BL shelfmark: Ac.9234.ry.
Michelle Magorian. Goodnight Mister Tom. London: Puffin, 1983 [c.1981]. BL shelfmark: H.2004/413.

 

Walter Key Haslewood was born on 19 November 1816 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, the son of Reverend John Daniel Haselwood and Hannah his wife.  He was nominated to the East India Company for a Bengal Infantry cadetship in 1835 by Richard Jenkins at the recommendation of his father.

His first application for the 1835/6 season has an annotation in red ink that Haslewood had forfeited his appointment as he had not proceeded to India in line with a Standing Order of the Court dated 21 May 1828.  This order stipulated that cadets had to apply for embarkation orders within three months of being passed and sworn. However a second application submitted later in the same season was accepted and he was entered as a cadet for the Bengal Infantry.

In June 1836, prior to his departure for India as an ensign, he was presented as to King William IV by Lord Duncannon at the King’s Levée, the event being reported in the newspapers of the time.

Walter Haslewood arrived in Fort William on 7 December 1836.  Within a few weeks he had been appointed for duty with the 73rd Native Infantry before being transferred to the Left Wing of the 1st European Regiment of Fusiliers on 27 February 1837 and promoted to Lieutenant on 10 August 1838.

Bengal Army Service Record to 1841 for Walter Key Haslewood - British Library IOR/L/MIL/10/31, p.31

In 1839 the 1st European Regiment were involved in the capture of the fortress at Ghuznee.  Haslewood was severely wounded on 23 July 1839 by sabre cuts received from the enemy during the capture but recovered from his injuries sufficiently to continue serving in the Bengal Army.  He was described by his superiors as ‘an intelligent young officer’ and on 10 January 1840 was appointed Aide de Camp to the Governor-General Lord Auckland.  In February 1840 he was granted a Wound Pension, as his injuries were considered equivalent to the loss of a limb.

Announcement of the marriage of Walter Key Haslewood to Georgina Brice Ruggles-Brice, Bell's New Weekly Messenger 5 February 1843

On 13 January 1841 Haslewood applied for furlough to Europe, and whilst in England he was married on 31 January 1843 at Finchingfield, Essex, to Georgina Brise Ruggles-Brise, daughter of John Ruggles-Brice Esq. of Spain’s Hall in Essex.

Captain Walter Key Haslewood sailed once more for Europe on 6 February 1853 on medical furlough on board the Prince of Wales.  He may however have had more reasons than just the recovery of his health which prompted the return to England.

Notice of court proceedings for insolvent debtors, case of Walter Key Haslewood – Morning Herald 15 November 1853

On 17 September 1853 Haslewood was imprisoned in the Queen’s Prison as an insolvent debtor.  His case was heard before the Court on 14 November 1853 and he was discharged as a debtor the following day.  The report on his insolvency notes that his creditors had made inquiries as to whether the property left to his wife by her late father could be used to pay his debts, but the Court discounted this, along with an application for part of his pay as a Captain in the Bengal Invalid Establishment.

Haslewood continued to serve in the Invalid Establishment, rising to the rank of Major, until his death at Chandernagore on 29 August 1870.  Georgina returned to her family home of Spain’s Hall, where she died on 21 May 1880.

The Ruggles-Brice family had owned Spain’s Hall since Samuel Ruggles purchased it on 5 December 1760.  The estate remains in the family’s ownership to this day, although the manor house was sold in 2022 to the chef Jamie Oliver.

Karen Stapley
Curator, India Office Records

Further Reading:
IOR/E/4/768, p.683 – request for wound pension by Walter Key Haslewood, 21 December 1841
IOR/L/MIL/9/183 ff.191-194 Cadet Papers of Walter Key Haslewood 1835 season (1)
IOR/B/181 Court 21 May 1828 – Standing Order concerning cadets’ embarkation
IOR/L/MIL/9/184 ff.495-498 Cadet Papers of Walter Key Haslewood 1835 season (2)
IOR/L/MIL/10/31/31 Bengal Service Army List, Walter Key Haslewood
British Newspaper Archive e.g.
South Eastern Gazette 21 June 1836, page 4 – announcement of Walter Key Haslewood’s presentation to the King
Bell’s New Weekly Messenger 5 February 1843, page 7 – announcement of the marriage of Walter Key Haslewood & Georgina Brice Ruggles-Brice
Morning Herald (London) 15 November 1853, page 6 – Court proceedings for Walter Key Haslewood, insolvent debtor

 

In July 1801, Richard Corbett joined the East India Company as a labourer in the London warehouses at the age of 31.  He gave his previous occupation as servant.  In May 1808 he became a baronet on the death of his father Charles, but he did not inherit any lands or wealth and continued working in the warehouses as Sir Richard.

One of the East India Company London warehouses at Jewry Street – British Library IOR/H/763

Corbett was related to the branch of the family based at Longnor in Shropshire.  His father Charles, a London bookseller, was set to inherit the baronetcy and estates under the terms of a will written in November 1764 by his kinsman Sir Richard Corbett of Longnor.  However Charles fell into debt and on 9 June 1771 Sir Richard added a codicil to his will, stating Charles ‘has absented himself from his Business and is become Insolvent and is much distressed in his situation and Circumstances and his Creditors might have great benefit of the Devise to him and his Heirs Male in and by my said Will’.  Sir Richard decided to pass the land to another kinsman, Robert Flint, leaving Charles and his heirs with just an annuity of £100 per annum and the right to use the title ‘Sir’.  When Sir Richard died in September 1774, Robert Flint inherited, having obeyed instructions to change his name to Corbett.

The Daily Advertiser, Oracle and True Briton 14 June 1809 British Newspaper Archive

After his father’s death, Sir Richard Corbett took steps to try to reclaim the estates granted to the Flint branch of the family.  It was claimed that Sir Richard of Longnor had been unfairly influenced to change his will.  On 14 June 1809 an advertisement appeared in The Daily Advertiser, Oracle and True Briton asking for subscriptions ‘for the daughter of an English Baronet’ in a ‘singularly unfortunate situation’.  This was Sir Richard’s sister Elizabeth who received £20 per annum from the Shropshire estate.

Stamford Mercury 29 October 1813 British Newspaper Archive

Elizabeth married Reverend Charles Rogers Bond in May 1809, and he became Sir Richard’s agent in the legal action taken against the current holders of the Shropshire lands.  Bond placed more advertisements in newspapers to raise money, and in 1810 and 1813 he wrote to the East India Company asking for financial assistance, but nothing appears to have been forthcoming.

Minutes of East India Company Court of Directors 17 February 1813 - British Library IOR/B/156 p.1336

There was a Chancery case, but the matter was finally resolved at the Shrewsbury Spring Assizes in 1813.  The Court ruled that Sir Richard Corbett of Longnor had been perfectly competent when he wrote the codicil, and a verdict was given against the current Sir Richard.

The will of Sir Richard Corbett of St Ann Limehouse was written on 19 February 1814 when he was ‘very sick and weak in body’.  He left one shilling to his wife Elizabeth as a proof of his ‘disapprobation of her improper conduct’.  All his household goods and clothing were bequeathed to Elizabeth Harris otherwise Corbett.  She lived with him and they had two children: Ann Thomas Harris or Corbett (born January 1810), and Richard Charles Harris or Corbett (born April 1813).  The residue of Sir Richard’s estate was left to his sister Elizabeth and her husband.

Sir Richard Corbett’s death on 4 November 1814 was reported in The Gentleman’s Magazine.  He was described as ‘many years reduced to an inferior station in the employ of the Hon. East India Company’.  The baronetcy expired as there was no surviving legitimate male heir.

Margaret Makepeace
Lead Curator, East India Company Records

Further reading:
British Newspaper Archive.
Minutes of the East India Company Court of Directors - British Library, IOR/B.
Register of East India Company warehouse labourers appointed 1801-1832 - British Library, IOR/L/AG/30/5.
PCC wills at The National Archives – Sir Richard Corbett of Longnor, probate 1774, PROB 11/1002/280: Sir Richard Corbett of St Anne Limehouse, probate 1815, PROB 11/1565/40.
The Gentleman’s Magazine July-December 1814 p.509.