The following passage is extracted from the Pickering and Chatto 'Children and Education List 245' sales catalogue:

Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Bicheno, the schoolgirl who produced these exercise books, was born and brought up in Cottenham in Cambridgeshire. She would have been some six months past her eighth birthday when she penned her name into the earliest of the Exercise Books on November 4th 1867. At this stage in her school life, when Lizzie was still learning to form her letters and numbers, her teacher has inked in the headings for each exercise such as Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division. A little later still Lizzie was able to form her letters better and so progressed by degrees to writing out examples of bills made out to butcher, woollen and Linen drapers. One of these latter made out to her mother ‘E. Bicheno’. This, her earliest exercise book, was in use for almost two years to the midsummer of 1869.

The Bicheno family were farmers holding seventy acres at Little End Farm about two miles north of Cottenham. Lizzie would have attended the British School that was founded in Cottenham in 1865. Education was before this time rather perfunctory in the district. The school was located in ‘a new building for 300 in Margett Street, which also contained a hall for public lectures and entertainment’s accommodating 500. Building costs were met mostly by local subscriptions, running costs by fees. Over 200 pupils, some from other villages, were enrolled in the first year, and after an increase to over 250 in 1867 an infants’ schoolroom was added.’ [Victoria County History]. The ‘British Schools’ were founded by the non-denominational ‘British and Foreign School Society for the Education of the Labouring and Manufacturing Classes of Society of Every Religious Persuasion’ which was for practical reason known universally by its much shorter name. The teaching at the time at the school was given by Messrs. De Fraine. Wells, Wyard, together with pupil-teachers in support.

After her initial exercise book each of the others volumes generally ran concurrently. These were generally dedicated to a particular topic including ‘Etymological Studies’, history, poetry, letter writing, and latterly one for ‘French Exercises’. After the initial exercises in arithmetic the rest of her education seems to have consisted of teaching how to write correctly and also how to conduct herself as a young lady.

The letters she wrote as exercises are quite endearing and contain touches both of autobiography and events she witnessed. That written on March 30th 1871 reads: ‘My dear Grandfather. As I have never written to you before I thought I would give you write a short note to you, but I have not much news to tell you. We had a half holiday when the Princess was married. In the afternoon the British School children had some rustic sports in the play ground; a balloon went up in the evening. We shall have a weeks holiday at Easter. I must now close with much love to all from Your loving Grandaughter [sic], Lizzie.’

Lizzie went on to marry a ‘Green potatoes salesman’ in 1887, and settled in Stratford district of North London. There she brought up her own family of seven children. After her husbands death she returned to Cambridgeshire and latterly died in Epping in 1943.