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I came across the following story about the exams students sat in 1858 see page 4 here.

The following questions are taken from the first examinations set by the The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate in 1858. The Junior papers were for candidates “under 16 years of age” and the Senior papers were for candidates “under 18 years of age”. [...]

On another paper, candidates were asked to draw, from memory, a wheelbarrow turned upside down. They were allowed an hour to do so.

I was hoping someone could provide more context for this wheelbarrow question. Such as, what was the purpose of the exam? Why was such an unusual question on the exam?

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    To see how well they could draw? It's just a guess, but take into account that in the past—and in a not-so-distant-one—handrawing, and especially technical drawing, was frequently considered an important skill.
    – Massimo Ortolano
    Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 18:48
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    @MassimoOrtolano still a useful skill now - one that I possess and one that both my sons (polymechanicien) have learnt and use every day, and it is not just drawing but reading and understanding the drawings.
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 18:53
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    @SolarMike Absolutely. I studied mechanical drawing at middle and high schools, and it helped me designing mechanical devices for my experiments along the years. I also studied electronic drawing and I'm appalled that my electronic engineering students cannot properly draw a circuit (switches seem particularly troublesome) and cannot recognize certain components when looking at professional schematics.
    – Massimo Ortolano
    Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 19:01
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    Maybe an attempt to reduce cultural bias --- this question would be a bit easier for lower-class students who had actually seen the underside of a wheelbarrow :-)
    – Andreas Blass
    Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 19:21
  • @AndreasBlass. Perhaps not in 1858? And not this Board, which if my memory serves me, was set up to examine pupils at state/local schools. There was another Cambridge Board which provided examinations for "public" -that is private, upper and middle class - schools; it would be interesting to explore their syllabuses.
    – erstwhile editor
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 8:59

1 Answer 1

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The original question appears to be here:

III. 2 Drawing from Memory

[One hour allowed for this Study.

The Candidates may add any amount of shadow that they think necessary to the full expression of the subject.]

The Candidate is required to make a careful drawing, from memory, of a wheelbarrow turned upside down, with its wheel and legs in the air.

Some scrolling reveals that the prefixed numbers correspond to "the subjects in the regulations". We find that, for students under 16 years of age, the relevant numbers correspond to (bolded for emphasis by me)

Part III.

Students may also offer themselves for Examination in

  1. Geometrical and Mechanical Drawing
  2. Drawing from the Flat, from Models, from Memory, and in Perspective.
  3. The Grammar of Music.

So this section of the examination was optional. For students under 18 years of age, part II includes an optional section G, which is described as

Section G.

Drawing from the Flat, from Models, from Memory, and in Perspective; and Drawing of Planes, Sections, and Elevations.

Design in Pen and ink, and in colour.

A fair degree of skill in free-hand drawing will be required in order that a Student may pass in this section.

Questions also will be set on the history of principles of the arts of Design.

In conclusion, I think the purpose of the question isn't related to mechanical drawing (which would've fallen under III.1) but to test more artistic drawing skills. It's also worth noting that it's a very broad examination - covering fields such as religious studies, English, Greek, etc. - seemingly intended to determine placement of students:

After each Examination the names of the Students who pass with credit will be placed alphabetically in three honour classes, and the names of those who pass to the satisfaction of the Examiners, yet not so as to deserve honours, will be placed alphabetically in a fourth class. ...

In other words, the context in OP's link (a math assignment) is very different from the purposes of the exam where the question showed up.

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