Education
became important in the Walton family for girls and boys
Succeeding Generations emphasized it
Sarah’s mother signed with her mark as a witness to her daughter Sarah and James’ marriage, right below her literate husband’s signature.
Sarah continued respecting literacy and made sure all six of her children were scholars. She provided what was available to her class.
The 1861 census shows that the only Walton child not a scholar then was Eva#5 who was only months old. James #6 wasn’t born for another 8 years.
This is another instance when the official record lists Annie #1 as Elizabeth A., Lydia #2 as Esther L., and Eva #5 as Martha E. They went by their middle names - Ann, Lydia, and Eva.
Annie’s daughter, Willa, wrote in 1968:
“The girls were each different.
Elizabeth [Annie#1] had beauty, Lydia had gentleness and sweetness, and Eva had
brains. Elizabeth and Lydia were sent to London to learn sewing, embroidery,
and fine needlework. Eva was graduated from the Whiteland College guild at St.
Ursula, later affiliated with the University of London and became a teacher and
later a principal of St. Margaret’s School for girls.”
The scholarship education available to Eva did not exist
for Annie or Lydia. They “had only a dame school education, where much of the
history was taught in jingles:
“Please to remember the fifth
of November
Of Gunpowder, treason and plot
I see no reason, why gunpowder
treason
Should ever be forgot”
“George the first, he vile was
reckoned,
Viler still was George, the
second
Whoever heard any good of
George the third?
When below the fourth descended
Thank the Lord, the Georges
ended.”
The moral code was taught in maxims:
“Do the work that’s nearest
Though it’s hard erewhiles
Helping when you meet them
Lame dogs over stiles.”
“Good time, bad times, all
times pass.”
“Count your blessings.”
Annie told her girls that these little bits of philosophy helped her over many a rough spot.
Dame schools were often taught by an older woman, and sometimes were boarding schools. This photo, now in the Victoria and Albert museum, shows working class children at a late 1800’s dame school in Anglia.
Photos and paintings of dame schools show boys too. Perhaps the Walton sons also attended one.[i]
The boys were all to go on to manly, physical jobs. But what was to become of the girls?
In 1861 an influential book was published that is still
in print, Mrs. Beeton’s Book of
Household Management, an extensive
guide to running a Victorian household.[i] 
The standards put forth in this book are only some of the English behaviors that were passed down in the Gilbert household in California. As a new bride I invited my parents to dinner at our home. My father (Annie's grandson) smiled affectionately at me and said, “This was lovely, Vinnie, but just one thing. You should always warm the plates before serving dinner.”
After dame school, Annie and Lydia were sent to London to learn fine sewing, embroidery, and needlework. Then they went to work. By the time the last Walton child, James #6 was born Annie #1 and Lydia #2 were out of the house altogether and in service.
By 1871 Annie was already out of the country, though not yet in America. (The story of her broken heart and travels are coming in part two).
Lydia, I believe I have found on the 1871 census in service nearby, but there are a number of Esther or Lydia Waltons, so I am not sure enough to post the record. She married William Bird Hackett in 1876, the same year Annie sailed to America in service as a lady’s maid for a young English woman Catherine Parkin married to a rich American engineer, Morton Coates Fisher. They would all come to California together. See the next post.
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