A rare early 19th century child’s transfer decorated pearlware mug depicting fingerspelling, from the ex-West of England Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Exeter. It was purchased at an auction in Newton Abbot in October 2015.
Why is it unusual? Why was the mug specifically made?
It was in 1827 that a charity founder, Mrs Charlotte Hippisley- Tuckfield realised that there was a need for a school for deaf children so she wrote to the influential people in Devon persuading them that there was a great need for an education provision for deaf children in the region. Her determination paid off at a historical meeting at the Royal Clarence Hotel in Exeter on 6th April 1826, at which it was agreed that ‘an Institution be established in Exeter’. The West of England Institution for the Deaf and Dumb was established in Topsham Road and the premises have stood on the Institution site since 1828.
The Topsham Road site, originally purchased from William Hooper the creator of the suburb of St. Leonards, was chosen as it was in ‘good distance’ of Exeter and sat just within the tollgate boundary. The school started with just 6 pupils from both Devon and Cornwall but this number soon rose and in 1829 there were 50 pupils on the roll. Travelling such distances by horse and cart meant the school has always been residential. The railway did not make it to Exeter until 1844 so pupils would normally stay at school for six months, returning home for Christmas and summer. The school relied on fundraising and the generosity of local people so one can assume that the mugs were specifically ordered and sold to raise funds for the school.
The school had been through a lot, survived two world wars and a number of health outbreaks in the city including typhoid and, in 1832, cholera. Pupils and staff luckily survived the first cholera wave but sadly not the second, which produced 40 cases with three fatal. In 1902 King Edward VII gave the school the “Royal” prefix. During the First World War the school staff became entirely female, with one exception, as many men went to fight. Staff at the time decided to continue the men’s pay and reinstate them when they returned, though sadly three never did. In 1938 the school was renamed The Royal West of England School. During the Second World War, a bomb exploded opposite the school damaging all classrooms and pupils were sent home for three months. Children from one London school were evacuated to Exeter and the swimming pool also did its part for National Service, becoming a static water tank, only returning to normal use in the 1950s. In 2008 the school was renamed Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education