out £10 a year, three quarters of which was applied to the support of the day school and the rest to the Sunday school. The school house then stood in the Wick Hamon portion of the village. (fn. 459)
The Mordaunts continued the Prowses' work of supporting the schools and in 1818 the day school (the only one in the parish) had 12 boys and eight girls in attendance. (fn. 460) In 1831 the school was admitted into union with the Northamptonshire branch of the National Society. (fn. 461) During the 1830s there were between 30 and 40 boys at the school, but fewer than 10 girls, although over 40 attended the Sunday school. (fn. 462) The contrast was explained by the fact that the girls' day school was in fact a lace school, whose pupils left as soon as they could earn their living. In 1838 the teacher was paid £20 a year, of which £7 16s. was found by the Mordaunts and the rest by the rector. (fn. 463)
Changes soon followed the arrival of H. J. Barton as rector in 1838. (fn. 464) He and Sir John Mordaunt became trustees of the fund endowed with the share in the Grand Junction Canal (fn. 465) and in 1839, having been elected to the committee of the county branch of the National Society, (fn. 466) Barton persuaded Sir John to build a new school at a cost of £200, which the society supplemented with a grant of £20 towards fittings. (fn. 467) The school comprised two rooms, each 21 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. (presumably one for boys and the other for girls), although there was no house for the master. In 1840 there were 32 boys at the day school (but only nine girls), aged between six and 12, and about 60 children of that age in the parish not attending school, who were said to be working on the farms or making lace, for which they could earn between 2d. and 5d. a day. The day schools had an endowment of £10 a year but the master received a salary of £40 3s., the balance coming from Sir John Mordaunt. (fn. 468) His death in 1845 led to a reduction in charitable donations of all kinds on the estate, although both the master and mis