age of twelve who, having committed an offence punishable by imprisonment or less. Any child under the age of fourteen whose parents declare him to be beyond their control". It was not until 1875 that it became compulsory to register births, and vagrants often genuinely did not know their age. Also, children would say any age that was convenient to them at the time. Homeless children who had not committed any more serious crime were sent to industrial schools, and children who had been arrested for other crimes were sent to juvenile prisons known as reformatories. Financial accountability The intention was that the cost of attending such a school would be met by the parents, which was an interesting concept for a child who was sent there because he was already homeless. The state had to provide. The system expanded rapidly, and magistrates preferred to send miscreants to a school rather than a reformatory. There was public unrest about the mounting cost. From 1870, responsibility for the Industrial schools passed to the local Committee of Education. Best estimates suggest that, at the peak, there were 224 certified industrial schools in England and 50 in Scotland. There were others operating without certification or when certification had been removed. Name changing was common. Directly after World War I, 100 closed and by 1933 there were only 55 remaining. They agreed to change their names to approved schools in 1927, and the Approved Schools Act 1933 merged them to form a single system. See also Magdalene asylum (or Magdalene laundries), penitentiary workhouses in the UK, Ireland and elsewhere from 1758 Haut de la Garenne, an industrial school in Saint Martin, Jersey, founded 1867 References Bibliography Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, 2009.. . Vaccine Trials External links The Industrial School system in the United Kingdom Industrial Schools in Scotland Industrial Schools in England History of education in the United Kingdom 1857 establishments in the United Kingdom Youth detention centers Vagrancy