Evidence from Royal Commissions (1857-58, 1870, and 1881) suggests that discipline practices did not change much overall in that time. HOWEVER
In Manchester, Br. D. Phelan occasionally flogged boys in the accepted British tradition.
In Sunderland, a mother made complaints about the punishment of her son.
Visitation Report, Leeds 1849: ‘Slapping is used freely’.
Memoirs of Edward O’Flynn who attended North Monastery School late 1840s/early 1850s gives a sympathetic portrait of his teachers – however, he makes it clear that Br. J. Wiseman (author of many of the Order’s first textbooks) used disciplinary practices similar to those used in most British schools – Wiseman ‘made great use of the cane’ flogging boys especially for lying or smoking.
We are still a long way from the extraordinary notoriety of the Christian Brothers.
School Belt47
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