Blind in 19 Century

[kiwipom]

I was not sure where to post this but this forum appears most likely.

My Gt Gt Gt Gfather was born in 1796 and died 1882. Throughout the census where we can see more details he is recorded as 'Blind'. This must've been a considerable handicap for an Ag Lab and Father of at least 6 children in the Ryedale Valley of Yorkshire.

Is there any source material that might help me find if he was 'blind from birth' or 'blinded later in life'?

What would be the fate and care of a blind person throughout the 19th C?
Would they be totally dependant on Family or was there some form of help/education?

Following the death of his Wife he is recorded living with his youngest son and family until his death, nothing too strange about that.

Any advice or links to relevant resources would be gratefully recieved
Tony

[Pam Downes]

Hi Tony,
Can't help with the personal details, but the other year i came across the story of William Moon. The original website has now been 're-branded' and currently seems to have no refernce to William, so I've had to resort to putting individual pages into the Way Back Machine!
This is William's story.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050207191010/http://www.bsblind.co.uk/full/moon/wmoon1.htm
Centenary celebrations
http://web.archive.org/web/20041220143800/http://www.bsblind.co.uk/full/moon/wmoon2.htm
The Moon alphabet
http://web.archive.org/web/20060425114327/http://www.bsblind.co.uk/full/moon/wmoon3.htm
Incidents noted, presumably, by Moon.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070705204739/http://www.bsblind.co.uk/full/moon/wmoon4.htm

Not sure how many more pages there are, but I know it goes up to number 5 at least. So it's actually going to be much easier to give you the main link, and for you to change the numbers. :) Start with
http://www.archive.org/index.php
Then put into the search box
www.bsblind.co.uk/full/moon/wmoon5.htm (http://www.bsblind.co.uk/full/moon/wmoon5.htm)
and just change the number after ' /wmoon ' when you want another page.
(After all that, page 5 seems to be the last. :D )

It seems that being blind was no handicap to getting on in life even in ye olde days.
"In 1754 Henry's half-brother John took over the reins. He had been blind since the age of 19. He remained Chief Magistrate for 26 years until 1780 - and could recognise the voices of over 3,000 criminals! " from http://www.learnhistory.org.uk/cpp/bow.htm

Pam

[kiwipom]

Magic!!!!! Thank you so much Pam
I feel I might be able to get a 'feel' for the attitudes and conventions of the era from what you have outlined.
i will access the site at soonest opportunity

Thank You
Tony

[nina]

I also have 2 ancestors who were blind in the late 1800's. They were brother & sister and each in turn went to a Blind School. The son went to one at Bootham, York while the daughter went to one in Scarborough. They were taught a trade to enable them to work. The son married and endeed up with several children whom he supported plying his trade as a basket maker. As he lived in the fishing town of Whitby there would have been a demand for fish baskets at least. You could try the Borthwick Institute at York for information.