Mark

Catalogue Reference:(LARO) RCMC/4/1

Mary Gallagher was unable to write so in order to sign her will in 1875 she drew a simple cross - her mark - instead of signing her name. For many people in England at this date, education was an unaffordable luxury. The Education Act of 1870 was the kick-start in the provision of basic education for children on a mass scale, something not available when Mary Gallagher was a girl.