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In Portsmouth, towards the end of the 18th century, a young man named John Pounds was working in
Portsmouth Dockyard. In an accident at work his leg was severely damaged. Unable to continue his work in the ‘Yard' he started a cobbler’s shop in Highbury Street, Portsmouth. Sometimes he saw crippled
boys and male special boots for them, as he had done for himself. Also, he noticed boys who wore no boots at all and who had ragged clothing. They played in the gutter, ignorant and uncared for. He felt
that lie would like to help them and for years he did so, working quietly and almost unnoticed by anyone. He gathered round himself a band of about 40 or 50 such children who came, from time to time, to
his shop where he taught them how to read and to write, the way to cook their own food and how to mend their boots. NEXT PAGE
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