Thomas Day, author of the extremely influential book for children,Sandford and Merton, was born
in London in 1748. He studied at Oxford where he cam into contact with the philosophy of Jean-
Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) whose own work, Emile (1762) changed the way that people
thought about educating children. Among Day's friends was Richard Lovell Edgeworth (the father
of the important children's author, Maria Edgeworth). They often discussed Rousseau and Day,
following a very unusual --if not misguided--impulse, decided to undertake the education of two
orphaned girls, hoping at some later date that one of them would make a suitable wife. That plan
failed, although Day continued to support his two protegees.
Day was a strong advocate for the anti-slavery campain in England. Inspired by a story about a
slave who chose to commit suicide rather than accept slavery, he wrote the poem The Dying Negro
(1773) which opposed the slave trade.
Day wrote The History of Sandford and Merton (1783) after retiring to the country. The novel
matches the wealth Tommy Merton, a child sent to be educated in England from his father's
plantation in Jamaica. Tommy befriends Harry Sandford, the child of an upstanding farmer, who
is plucky, resourceful, and morally upright. Both children, however, can do with a little
instruction and guidance which they receive from Mr Barlow, a cleric.
Day, who was also known for being kind to animals, died in 1789 after being thrown by a horse
he was attempting to train. Sandford and Merton was read well into the late nineteenth century and
continued to influence later writers. The pairing of Dickon and Colin, in Burnett's The Secret
Garden (1911), reflects Day's lasting impact.
Thomas Day. Sandford and Merton: a Work Intended for the Use of Children (London: J. Stockdale,
1783-1789)
Below are first few pages of Sandford and Merton.
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