Boys’ bands in children’s homes: a fragment of history

Pages73-84
Date21 March 2016
Published date21 March 2016
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-01-2016-0001
AuthorRoy Parker
Subject MatterHealth & social care,Vulnerable groups,Children's services
Boysbands in childrens homes:
a fragment of history
Roy Parker
Roy Parker is Emeritus
Professor at the University of
Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Abstract
Purpose The purposes of this paper are threefold. First, to draw attention to an overlooked feature of
childrens institutions in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; namely, the widespread existence of
boysbrass bands. The second purpose is to explain why these were created and the third is to consider
what implications membership of a band had for a boys subsequent life.
Design/methodology/approach The paper relies upon archival and secondary sources.
Findings The study traces the influences that led to the formation of so many boysbands. These included
the background of brass bands in popular culture; the belief in the power of music as an agent of social
reform; the money-spinning value of a band that gave public performances, and the opportunity for a band-
boy to join a military band, thereby securing a foothold in the juvenile labour market. Over and above these
findings is the fact that so many boys from deprived backgrounds could be taught to play a musical
instrument to a competent standard.
Originality/value As far as the author knows this is the only study of childrens homesbands. Its value lies
in emphasising the fact that some of the most disadvantaged children are likely to have latent aptitudes and
talents that can be discovered and developed. That is the message for today.
Keywords Institutions, History, Music, Lessons, Children, Bands
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In almost every school there is a band. Report of the Committee on the Education [] of Pauper
Children in the Metropolis (1896, p. 47).
The unremarked but widespread existence of boysbands in nineteenth and early twentieth
century institutions for children in Britain is, in fact, more than a detached fragment of history.
In the first place, because it sheds light on how political, social and cultural forces have shaped
the character of services for vulnerable children and, in the second, because it offers an
important message for today. This message, to which we shall return at the end, is that some of
societys most disadvantaged children are likely to possess undiscovered aptitudes that can and
should be nurtured: in this example the mastery of a musical instrument in a collective setting.
But the message is not just about music and musicianship. It is about the cultivation of
childrens capacities, especially the capacities of those amongst whom these are least likely to be
recognised and developed.
There are three questions about the emergence of bands in childrens institutions that warrant
exploration. First, how did they come to be promoted, by whom and with what aims in mind?
Second, what were the preconditions for their formation? Lastly, how did membership of a band
affect a boys subsequent life?
Received 4 January 2016
Accepted 4 January 2016
DOI 10.1108/JCS-01-2016-0001 VOL. 11 NO. 1 2016, pp. 73-84, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660
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JOURNAL OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES
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PAG E 73

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