Married Soldiers' Quarters, Wellington Barracks, Halifax ca. 1870.
This building was constructed after the Crimean War to house the married soldiers and their families. This accommodation appeared luxurious when it was contrasted with that of the single soldiers. Each family was allotted one room, a standard sixteen by sixteen feet (4.88 metres by 4.88 metres). The children seen here probably ended up in the army; the boys were enlisted at about the age of fifteen to serve in the band until they were tall enough to serve in the ranks, while the girls usually married into the army. In one sense these children were fortunate: early in the nineteenth century the army began educating them in the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic and in practical skills such as carpentry and sewing.
