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Chapter One: Parliamentary Disagreement on a National Organization of Elementary Education in England (1800-1870)

CHAPTER ONE:

Parliamentary Disagreement on a National Organization of Elementary Education in

England (1800-1870)

During the beginning of the 19 th century, England was

characterized by a huge increase in population. This rapid increase was

related to the dramatic social, political and economic transformation that

was brought about by the Industrial Revolution. This transformation

revealed the complete inadequacy of England's educational provision. A

number of reports highlighted the deficiencies and called for more and

better schools. In the beginning, new educational movements began to be

established. A historical background about the early educational

movements in England is essential to understand the origins and the

early conditions of the educational progress and State’s involvement in

the domain of education in England. So, why did the government decide

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to become involved in education before 1833? How did the government

become involved? What were the reasons of such involvement,

especially during the 1850s and 1860?

I. The Beginnings of National Education Movements

In England, the beginnings of a national educational

organization were not easy. Generally, it was due to the idea that

education was not the business of the State, to the religious purpose of

all instruction, and in part, to the fact that national evolution in England

has been a slow and peaceful growth, though accompanied by much

hard thinking and vigorous parliamentary struggle, since the time of the

Civil War (1642-49).1 No civil strife had destroyed old institutions, and

forced rapid changes in old established practices, since the

Reformation2 (1534-39) and the Puritan uprising led by Oliver

Cromwell3 (1642-49). The country had never been in danger from

1 De Montmorency, State Intervention in English Education , A Short History from the Earliest Times down to 1833, Cambridge, University Press, 1902, p. 1652 Reformation was a movement in the 16th century to reform the Catholic Church in Western Europe. Many western Christians were troubled by what they saw as false doctrines and malpractices within the Church. Encyclopedia Britannica, CD-ROM 2001, the entry: The Reformation3 Oliver Cromwell was born on April 25, 1599. He was an English military and political leader known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was a protector from 1653 until his death on September 3rd, 1658. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008 Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Oliver Cromwell

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foreign invasion since the Spanish Armada4 in July 1588, which made

the future of England as a world power secure.

Consequently, the English educational evolution had been slow

and peaceful, and all changes had come only in response to much

pressure. In fact, this slow and peaceful evolution had for long been the

dominant characteristic of the political, social, and educational progress

of the English people.

Both political and religious liberty had characterized the early

progress in England. These liberties were found in England before any

other European nations, such as the beginnings of democratic liberty,

social reform, popular enlightenment, religious toleration, freedom of

the press, and scientific and industrial progress. By the opening of the

eighteenth century, the beginnings of charitable and philanthropic

movements on the part of the churches and the upper classes emerged

to spread knowledge of the elements of learning among the poorer

classes.5

In general, the eighteenth century in England was characterized

by a new attitude toward the educational problem and an obvious

extension of educational opportunity. After passing an Act of

4 The Spanish Armada was a large and mighty naval ships that Spain sent to help conquer England near the end of the 16th century. The fleet met with disaster in a historic battle that saved England and dealt a heavy blow to what was the greatest European power of the age. Ibid., the entry: The Spanish Armada5 J. H. Plumb, ”The New World of Children in Eighteenth-Century England”, Oxford University Press, No. 67, May, 1975, pp. 64-95

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parliament in 1714, elementary schools were exempted from the

penalties of conformity, and they were thereafter free to multiply their

teachers. After that, the dame school became an established English

institution. Private-adventure schools of a number of types arose. The

churches, everywhere, began to provide elementary parish-schools for

the children of their poorer members, or training-schools for other

children who were to go out to service. Workhouse schools and

"schools of industry" were also used to provide for orphans and the

children of paupers. During this period, the most important educational

movements were the Charity school movement, the Sunday school

movement, and other voluntary schools such as the Ragged schools. 6

I.1. The Charity School Movement

The Charity school is an elementary school established by

private donors in various parishes for teaching poor children to read

and write. The main purpose of this type of schools was providing

religious and moral instruction as well as enabling the poor to earn a

livelihood. For that purpose, groups of individuals and by Societies

were formed. The "Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge"

(S.P.C.K) dates from the year 1699, and the "Society for the

Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" (S.P.G.F.P) from 1701. 7

6 De Montmorency, The Progress of Education in England, A Sketch of the Development of English Educational Organization from Early Times to the Year 1904, London, Knight & Co. La Belle Sauvage, Ludgate Hill, E.C, 1904, p. 2067 M. G. Jones, “The Charity School Movement: A Study of Eighteenth-Century Puritanism in Action”, The English Historical Review, Vol. 54, No. 213 (Jan., 1939), p. 132

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The SPCK, at its first meeting in 1699, considered how best to

establish ‘Catechetical Schools’ in every parish in London. Whereas,

the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts

considered how best to encourage parishes in Britain and Ireland to

participate in mission for setting up links with its projects around the

world. Generally, both did much to provide schools for poor boys and

girls, offering them necessary clothes (distinct uniforms) and

instruction, and teaching them reading, writing, spelling, counting,

cleanliness, proper behavior, sewing and knitting (girls), and more

especially, the principles of the Christian religion.8

In dealing with the plan for the constitution of a protestant

congregation for propagating Christian knowledge, Dr Bray9 projected in

1698 that the members of the SPCK should persist to set up catechetical

schools for the education of poor children in reading, writing and more

especially in the principles of the Christian religion.

In 1699, the subject of the second resolution of the Society was

the education of the poor. The first letter issued at the end of 1699 to the

8 D.D, Robert Gregory, Elementary Education, Some Account of its Rise and Progress in England, Westminster, London National Society's Depository Broad Sanctuary, 1905, p. 129 Thomas Bray was an English clergyman, who spent time in Maryland as an Anglican representative. He was born in Marton, near Chirbury, Shropshire, at a house today called Bray's Tenement, in 1658. He was educated at Oswestry School and Oxford University, where he earned a B.A. degree. Bray founded the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (founded 1701). He also projected a successful scheme for establishing parish libraries in England and America, out of which grew the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (founded 1698). He died on February 15, 1730. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008 Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Thomas Bray

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Society's clergy correspondents in England and Wales. It assured that the

Society had agreed to use their best endeavours to incline the hearts of

generous and well-disposed persons to contribute towards the setting up

of Schools in these cities. The purpose was to give instruction to the poor

children in reading, writing, and in the catechism10. The schools of the

Society were founded not only in London and Westminster, but in all

parts of the kingdom11.

In 1704, there were about 2000 children at school. By 1715, there

were 120 schools, containing 4906 children, in London alone. In 1729,

there were in all 1,658 schools, containing 34,000 children. However, a

later observer said of these schools taught poor children next to nothing,

and nothing likely to be useful to them12.

In Wales, Gouge's schools were continued as schools under the

auspices of the Society, since the Society certainly had in its mind the

necessity of work in Wales; indeed, so much was said in its first circular.

In 1730, the work in Wales was once more taken up in earnest. Griffith

10 Catechism is a summary or exposition of doctrine, which served as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult converts. Catechisms are doctrinal manuals often in the form of questions followed by answers to be memorized, a format that has been used in non-religious or secular contexts as well. A Catechumen refers to the designated recipient of the catechetical work or instruction. In the Catholic Church, they were usually placed separately during Holy Mass from those who received the Sacrament of Baptism. Early catechetical emerged from Greco-Roman mystery religions. Today, they are characteristic of Western Christianity but are also present in Eastern Christianity as well. Ibid., the entry: Catechism 11 D.D, Robert Gregory, op., cit. p. 15 12 Ibid., p. 17

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Jones13 set before himself the task of dealing with the religious difficulty

in the Principality. He found the way blocked by the illiteracy of the

people, a proof at any rate that Gouge's schools had not enlarged and in

1730, he started his schools, the only available funds being small Church

offertories. The work prospered, and schools speedily increased in

number. Men of ability only were chosen as schoolmasters, and no

denominational test was required from them. Both day and night, schools

were started and adults as well as children were taught to read the Bible in

Welsh.

The schools were known as schools in circulating schools because

the teachers stopped in each town and village for a few months only at a

time, and then passed on to another centre, thus making a continuous

circuit of the whole Country. The fund for the support of the schools were

at first chiefly drawn from England, while the Society for Promoting

Christian Knowledge gave the movement a general support and supplied

the schools with books. By 1737, 37 schools with 2400 scholars had been

opened. By 1740, there were more than 100 schools at work. Before

Griffith Jones's death, over 3000 schools had been opened, and 150,000

scholars had been taught in the day schools alone. In the year 1760,

10,000 children were in these schools.

13 Griffith Jones was born in 1684 at Penboyr, Carmarthenshire. He was a minister of the Church of England famous for his work in organising circulating schools in Wales. He was educated at Carmarthen Grammar School. Griffith Jones was an enthusiastic member of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, and in 1731, he started circulating schools in Carmarthenshire in order to teach people to read. He died on April 8, 1761.Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008 Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Griffith Jones

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Bridget Bevan14 was a warm supporter of the undertaking, and on

the death of Jones in 1761, she carried on the schools. The popularity of

the movement and the public desire for education was determined by the

manner in which additional schools were set up. The minister and

parishioners of a parish would petition the manager of the movement for a

school, upon which a Welsh master was appointed and sent to take up the

work. An inspector was subsequently sent to examine the scholars as to

their proficiency, and to see that the master attended to his duty. After her

death, she bequeathed her large property for the carrying on of the work.

Her relations disputed the will, and in consequence her estate was thrown

into Chancery, and the schools ceased to exist for lack of funds. This in

fact was considered as another case, where the administration of the law

blocked the way of education. It was not until July 9, 1804, that the will

was upheld by the Court of Chancery, after it had been under

consideration for a quarter of a century, and a scheme for the

administration of the charity was drawn up in July, 1807, in accordance

with which schoolmasters were appointed.

14 Bridget Bevan was born at Derllys Court, Llannewyd in Carmarthenshire, Wales on October 30, 1698. She was the youngest daughter of philanthropist John Vaughan (1663–1722), a patron of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) schools in the county, and his wife, Elizabeth Thomas (d. 1721). On 30 December 1721, at Merthyr church, she married a local lawyer and Member of Parliament for Carmarthen, Arthur Bevan (1689–1743). She was the heiress of her uncle, John Vaughan of Derllys. Bridget Bevan was a Welsh educationalist and public benefactor. She was the chief supporter of the educational work of the evangelical Anglican priest Griffith Jones and the system of circulating schools they founded. She died at Laugharne, Carmarthenshire on December 11, 1779, and left £10,000 of her wealth to the schools. Ibid., entry: Bridget Bevan

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The plan of the Court of Chancery came into operation in 1809,

and was administered with useful results. This case showed how

practically impossible it was to attempt to reform abuses in educational

charities. The Court of Chancery suspended indefinitely even such little

education. In 1779, education was in full swing in Wales; but when the

Bevan schools resumed their work, the people of the Principality had

forgotten once more the meaning of popular education, and in 1820,

popular education in Wales was less effective than in any part of England.

During the thirty years' delay of the Welsh Piety Schools, as they

were called, four other influences had arisen to develop a national system

of elementary education. As these influences were within the immediate

knowledge of all persons interested in the general history of education in

England, it would be adequate to simply indicate two of them, and refer to

their proper place among the beginnings of a national system.15 The first

was the system of Sunday schools, which has played such an important

part in the organisation of the education of the masses and the second was

the Ragged School.

I. 2. The Sunday School Movement

The Sunday school movement was considered as one of the

most important voluntary movements during the 18 th century. This

educational movement, in fact, formed the connecting link between the

15 Jeremy Schmidt, “Charity and the Government of the Poor in the English Charity-School Movement, circa 1700—1730”, History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 4, 2010, p. 774

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parochial-charity-school16 movement of the eighteenth century and the

philanthropic period of the educational reformers of the early

nineteenth. In 1737, John Wesley17 in Savannah tried to establish a

Sunday school; however this was not introduced into England until

1763. Robert Raikes18 (1735-1811) was the one who established

Sunday schools in England. At an early age, he served as an apprentice

to his father, who was a printer and the founder of the Gloucester

Journal. After his father’s death in 1757, he became editor of the paper.

His printed descriptions of the Sunday-School idea of teaching people,

usually children, gave a national impulse to the movement, and Sunday

Schools spread all over England.19

In England, poor children were in need of help, as they often

had to work in factories six days a week to help support their parents.

They were uneducated, poorly dressed, ragged, dirty, and often hungry

16 Parochial school was a term used to describe a school that engages in religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrow sense, parochial school were Christian grammar schools or high schools run by parishes, but this distinction was not universally made. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Parochial school 17 John Wesley was born on June 28, 1703. He was an Anglican cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley was largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, with founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield. Wesley died on 2 March 1791. Ibid., the entry: John Wesley18 Robert Raikes was born on September 14, 1736. He was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools. He was baptised on 24 September, 1736 at St Mary de Crypt Church in Gloucester. Raikes initiated the Sunday school movement. He inherited a publishing business from his father, becoming proprietor of the Gloucester Journal in 1757. He died on 5 April, 1811. Ibid.19 De Montmorency , State Intervention in English Education, op. cit., p. 205

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and sickly. Sunday was the only day they had free, and many of these

children would roam the streets on Sunday, making a lot of noise. At

the beginning, the aim was how to take children off the streets on

Sunday and provide them with some form of secular and religious

instruction. At the same time, the Sunday school movement

corresponded with the emergence of new religious, social, and

economic forces which were at work. In fact, these forces were the

results of the intellectual revolution during the Age of Enlightenment 20.

During this period of time, people focused on reason and individualism

rather than tradition. Broadly speaking, the purpose of this revolution

was to reform society by using reason to challenge ideas grounded in

tradition and faith and to advance knowledge through the scientific

method. These forces awakened an interest, not only in the education of

the children of the poorer working-classes, but caused the upper and

middle classes in society to feel a new sense of responsibility for social

and educational reform.

The rapid growth of population in the towns, following the

beginning of factory life, had created new social and economic

20 The Age of Enlightenment (or simply the Enlightenment or Age of Reason) was a cultural movement of intellectuals beginning in late 17th-century Europe emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. Its purpose was to reform society using reason, to challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and to advance knowledge through the scientific method. It promoted scientific thought, skepticism, and intellectual interchange. Enlightenment was a revolution in human thought. This new way of thinking was that rational thought begins with clearly stated principles, uses correct logic to arrive at conclusions, tests the conclusions against evidence, and then revises the principles in the light of the evidence. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: The Age of Enlightenment

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problems, and the neglect of children in the manufacturing towns had

shocked many thinking persons. This situation led to the emergence of

profanity, vice and drunkenness among children. In order to stop this

social phenomenon, Raikes himself created what was called the Sunday

school which was, in fact, his answer and the answer of many, all over

England.21

To help solve this problem, Robert Raikes, along with a local

pastor named Thomas Stock22 decided to start a Sunday school at Saint

Mary de Crypt Church in Gloucester.23 This was in July 1780. He hired

four local women to serve as teachers and began to put the word out

through his newspaper. These four local women were able to enroll

about 100 children, ranging in age from five to fourteen years old. At

first, some of the children were hesitant to come; they were ashamed

because their clothes were very torn and ragged. However, to encourage

them, Raikes told them that all they needed was "a clean face and

combed hair." Every Sunday, the school provided reading lessons from

10 a.m to 2 p.m (with an hour in the middle which was provided for

21 De Montmorency, The Progress of Education in England, op, cit., p. 21322 Thomas Stock was born in 1750. He established the first Sunday school in the United Kingdom. Entering Holy Orders, Stock was curate at Ashbury in Berkshire, where he formed the Sunday school in the country in 1777. Stock became co-founder of the Sunday school movement. Thomas Stock died in 1803. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Thomas Stock 23 Saint Mary de Crypt Church, Southgate Street, Gloucester, is an Anglican Church, which was first recorded in 1140 as The Church of the Blessed Mary within Southgate. It is in the Diocese of Gloucester and is located adjacent to the ruins of Grey Friars. It has also been known as Christ Church and St. Mary in the South. Ibid., the entry: Saint Mary de Crypt Church

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lunch). They were then taken to the Church and instructed in catechism

until about 5:30 p.m. Raikes also printed up the reading and study

materials. He proved to be quite a generous benefactor to the poor

children of his city.

In 1785, The Society for the Support and Encouragement of

Sunday Schools in the different Counties of England"(S.E.S.S) was

formed with a view to establishing a Sunday school in every parish in

the kingdom. By 1787, it was estimated that 234,000 children in

England and Wales were attending a Sunday school, and by 1792, the

number had increased to half a million. The Parliamentary return for

1818 showed 5463 Sunday Schools in existence, and 477,225 pupils

enrolled; in 1835, the returns showed 1,548,890 registered pupils, half

of whom attended no other school, and approximately 160,000

voluntary teachers.24 In Manchester, a city scourged with almost

universal child-labor, the moral and religious influence of these schools

was important, and the instruction in reading and writing filled a real

need of the time.

I. 3. The Ragged School Movement

Apart from the Charity Schools and the Sunday School efforts for

providing the poor children of England with the elements of secular and

religious education, many other organizations of educational and

24 William Wilson Hunter, State Education for the People, London, George Routledge and Sons, Limited Broadway, Ludgate Hill Glascow, Manchester, and New York, 1891, p. 35

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charitable nature were formed with the same charitable and humanitarian

purposes. Others, similar in type, charged a small fee and were of the

private-adventure type. For the purpose of teaching the poor, Sunday

Schools, day schools, evening schools, orphans' schools, reformatory

schools, industrial schools, and ragged schools were some of the types

that arose. Only Ragged schools will be described in the following

paragraphs.25

Ragged Schools is a name given to many independent charity

schools which provided entirely free education and in most cases, food,

clothing, and lodging. The name Ragged school had been first

introduced by the London City Mission. In 1835, it appointed paid

missionaries and lay agents to assist the poor with a wide range of free

charitable help from clothing to basic education (including Penny Banks,

Clothing Clubs, Bands of hope, and Soup Kitchens). Ragged schools

were often established in poor working class districts of the rapidly

expanding industrial towns26.

Several different schools claimed to have been the first truly free

schools for poor or "ragged" people. John Pounds (1766-1839), a

Portsmouth shoemaker provides one of the earliest well documented

example of the movement. In 1818, John Pounds or 'the crippled cobbler'

as he was sometimes called, began teaching poor children without

charging fees. In his shoe shop, he taught such children to read, write, 25 H. W. Schupf, “Education for the Neglected: Ragged Schools in Nineteenth Century England”, History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 2 , London, 1972, pp. 162-18326 C, Birchenough. History of Elementary Education in England and Wales from 1800 to the Present Day, London, University Tutorial Press, 1914, pp. 213-217

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count, cook their food, and mend their shoes. He was a schoolmaster,

doctor, nurse, and playfellow to them all in one. His workshop was a

room of only six by eighteen feet, yet in it he often had forty children

under his instruction. His work set an example, and Ragged Schools, or

Schools for the Destitute, began to be formed in many places by

humanitarians. These took the form of day schools, night schools, and

the so-called industrial schools. In most of them, the instruction was

entirely free, but some charged a small fee, in a few cases as high as a

shilling a month.27 Close to London, the tailor Thomas Cranfield28 also

offered free schooling to the poor at an early date. In 1798, he

established a day school on Kent Street near London Bridge and at some

point thereafter began to admit significant numbers of poor children

without any payment. By the time of his death in 1838, he had built up

an organization of nineteen Sunday, night and infants' schools situated in

the foulest parts of London that offered their services free to many

children of the poor families.

In 1844, the movement spread to England with the establishment

of the London Ragged School Union under the chairmanship of Anthony

Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. Cooper was president for 39

years, in which time an estimated 300,000 destitute children received

education. At the zenith of the movement, there were 192 Schools, with

27 De Montmorency, The Progress of Education in England, op, cit., pp. 114-11828 Thomas Cranfield was a tailor and former soldier. He had opened a Sunday school on Kingsland Road, London and in 1798 established a day school on Kent Street (close to London Bridge). In 1838, he had built up an organization of nineteen Sunday, night and infants’ schools situated in the foulest parts of London. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Thomas Cranfield

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an average attendance of 20,000 pupils. In addition to giving a very

elementary type of education, the Ragged School engaged in a wide

variety of social welfare activities. However, despite their alternate name

of Industrial Feeder School, only three Ragged Schools gave trade

instruction, the only form of education for which Government grants

were available.

The Constitution and Rules of the Association for the

Establishment of Ragged Industrial Schools for Destitute Children in

Edinburgh gave a good idea as to the nature, support, and instruction in

such schools. As late as 1870, when national education was first begun

in England, there were about two hundred of these Ragged Schools in

London alone, with about 23,000 children in them. 29 The progress of

State intervention in the domain of education did not stop at teaching

poor children. During the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the

English Parliament observed that education had a great influence on the

development of its society. Thus, the State reinforced its efforts to guide

and improve its educational system.

II. The Progress of State’s Involvement in Education

During the 18th century, apart from the Act of 1767 for the

education of pauper children in London and the freeing of elementary

schools, parliament had enacted no legislation relating to elementary

education.

29

De Montmorency, The Progress of Education in England, op, cit., p. 139

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During the 19th century and after a long struggle, the complete

system of a national education in England was finally completed. The

early position of the State towards the education of the people, which

had persisted from the era of Queen Elizabeth I,30 was finally and

permanently changed in 1870. The legislative conflict began with the

first Factory Act of 1802, Whitbread's Parochial Schools Bill of 1807,

and Brougham's first Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry of 1816. This

legislative conflict was finally ended with the reform of the old endowed

Grammar Schools, the confirmation of the Elementary Education Act of

1870, and the Act of 1871 freeing instruction in the universities from

religious restrictions.31 The first of these enactments stated clearly the

right of the State to inquire into, reorganize, and redirect the age-old

educational foundations for secondary education; the second made the

distinct beginnings of a national system of elementary education in

England; and the third opened up a university career to the whole nation.

The conflict was, in fact, long and complex. However, the following

sections will give the main outlines of the conflict and tries to explain

why the British government decided to become involved in education

before 1870.

II. 1. The Involvement of Government in Education, 1802-33

30 Elizabeth I was born on 7 September, 1533. She was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. In 1558, Elizabeth succeeded the Catholic Mary I, during whose reign the latter had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. She died on 24 March 1603. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Elizabeth I31 John Morley, The Struggle for National Education, London, Chapman and Hall Press, 1873, p. 07

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Under the impacts of the Industrial Revolution, the Parliament of the

United Kingdom passed series of Acts, referred to as the factory Acts.

The main aim of these Acts was to limit, first the number of hours

worked by women and children in the textile industry, then later in all

industries. The important legislations that took place during this period

were: the Factory Act of 1802; the Whitbread’s Bill of 1807; the

Selected Committee of 1816; the Brougham’s Bill of 1820, and the First

Parliamentary Grant of 1833.

II. 1.1. The Factory Act, 1802

Among these Acts, the factory Act of 1802 (sometimes called the

Health and Moral of Apprentices Act) regulated factory conditions,

especially in regard to child workers in cotton and woollen mills.32 In

fact, it was a culmination of a movement originating in the 1700s, when

reformers33 had tried to push several Acts through Parliament to improve

the health of the workers and apprentices.

The first aim of the movement was to limit the hours of the

children's working day. The most important provisions of this Act were:

The factory possessor had to obey the law and all factory rooms had to

32 Woollen mills refers to an establishment in which all or some of the principal processes of wool-manufacture, as carding, spinning, and weaving, are performed, separately or together; a wool-mill. https://www.wordnik.com/words/woolen-mill. Entry: Woolen mills , 28/03/201333 Reformers were those who effect a reformation or amendment: such as, reformers of manners or of abuses; specifically capitalized, one of those who instituted or assisted in the religious reformatory movements of the sixteenth century and earlier. Ibid. Entry: Reformers

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well aerated and lime-washed twice a year. The children must be

supplied with two complete outfits of clothing; in addition, male and

female children were to be housed in different sleeping quarters. The

children should not sleep more than two per bed and should be obliged

to learn reading, writing and arithmetic during the first year of work.

Also, children between the ages of 9 and 13 could work during a

maximum of eight hours and those who were under nine years old were

not allowed to work, but they must be enrolled in the elementary schools

that factory owners were required to establish. Adolescents between

fourteen and eighteen years old could work 12 hours maximum and the

work hours should begin after 6 a.m., end before 9 p.m., and should not

exceed 12 hours a day. Finally, on Sundays, children were to have an

hour's instruction in the Christian Religion and mill owners were also

responsible for the health of the children in case of any infectious

diseases.34

Nevertheless, the Act established no inspection regime to enforce

conditions. The Act failed to provide a clear law of the hours permitted

to work and failed to include supervision to make sure the law was being

implemented. The law was largely ignored by the factories but paved the

way for more factory Acts to follow. Richard Oastler35 was one of the

movements' most prominent leaders. In 1804, he commented on the Act:

34 De Montmorency, The Progress of Education in England, op, cit., pp. 210-21535 Richard Oastler was born on December 20, 1789. He was an English labour reformer and abolitionist. He was a prominent leader of the Factory reform and anti-Poor Law movement. Richard Oastler died on August 22, 1861. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Richard Oastler

25


"This Act gives little authority to parliament and less restriction on

factories. How can factories not resist to break the law?".36

On 6 April 1802, a proposal for permission to introduce the Bill

into the House of Commons was made. On this proposal, the original

title was changed, and the Bill was extended to apprentices employed in

mills and factories. Sir Robert Peel, Viscount Belgrave, and Stanley 37

were ordered to bring in the Bill. On April 13 th, it was introduced and

read for the first time. The next day, it was read for a second time and

commented. Some amendments were made in the Bill, and it was

reported on April 15th The Report was considered on May 3 rd and 4th, and

the Bill was re-commented for further amendment. On May 18 th it was

again reported as further amended. After May 25 th legislations were

added to prevent infectious diseases, such as flu and to create a healthy

environment in schools.38

On June 12th a message was brought from the Lords by Leeds and

Sir William Weller Pepys39 that "the Lords have agreed to the Bill,

without any amendment." On June 22nd, 1802, it received the Royal

Assent. The Act was directed to come into operation in Great Britain and

36 Ibid., the entry: The Factory Acts 37 Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, was born on March 29, 1799 in Knowsley Park, Lancashire, England. He was an English statesman, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and to date the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. He died on October 23, 1869. Ibid., the entry: Edward Stanley38 John R. Gillis, “The Evolution of Juvenile Delinquency in England 1890-1914”, History of Education Quarterly, No. 67, May, 1975, p. 9639 William Weller Pepys was born in 1740. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church. Pepys was pronounced a baronet in 1801. He died in 1825. Ibid., the entry: William Weller Pepys

26


Ireland on December 2nd 1802. The debate was not reported in the

Annual Register. It provided safety measures, promoted health and

welfare of workers employed in factories, and laid down the basic

minimum requirements for ensuring the safety, health and welfare of

factory workers. The primary object was to protect workers against

industrial and occupational hazards. For that purpose, it sought to impose

certain obligations upon the owners or the occupiers. This, in fact,

created some considerable amount of discontent in the manufacturing

districts, and one may assume from this that some real effort was made

to enforce the Act.

On 11 February 1803, cotton and woollen spinners of Glasgow,

Bolton, Manchester, Stockowners, and Preston presented petitions to the

House of Commons that regulations contained in the Act were, in a high

degree, prejudicial to the Cotton trade in general, and impracticable. By

its restrictions, the Act limited the benefit of the owners. For that reason,

they prayed for repealing or amending the Bill. On 14 February 1803, in

Yorkshire and other places, petitions from woollen and cotton

manufacturers stated that "the principle of Acts is injurious and unfair,

not only to the cotton, woollen, and flaxen spinners, but to the

manufacturers at large". This explains why all the manufacturers prayed

for repealing or amending the Bill.40

II. 1.2. Whitbread's Bill, 1807

40 John R. Gillis, “The Evolution of Juvenile Delinquency in England 1890-1914”, History of Education Quarterly, No. 67, 1975, p. 111

27


On February 19th 1807, a Bill which included an education system

which implied feeding and educating the children of the poor, was

introduced into the House of Commons. Whitbread41 proposed, in his

speech, a general system of national education by the establishment of

parochial schools.

The main reason that pushed Whitbread to ask for the establishment

of this kind of religious national schools was the curriculum which

included general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as

science, mathematics and rhetoric. This was in fact, what was needed for an

industrial environment in England. Whitbread said:

…the time was favorable to the establishment of a national system, because within a few years there has been discovered a plan for the instruction of youth, which is now brought to a state of great perfection, happily combining rules, by which the object of learning must be infallibly attained with expedition and cheapness, and holding out the fairest prospect of eminent utility to mankind.42

On February 23rd 1807, a Bill entitled "A Bill for the promoting

and encouragement of industry among the labouring classes of the

community, and for the effectual relief and regulation of the criminal

and necessitous poor," presented to the House of Commons a series of

solutions for the labouring classes of the community. In addition, it

advocated the creation of a State Savings Bank for the poor, the building

41 Samuel Whitbread was born in Cardington near Bedford in 1758. He was educated at Eton College. He was elected Member of Parliament for Bedford in 1790, a post he held for twenty three years. Whitbread was a reformer, a champion of religious and civil rights, for the abolition of slavery, and a proponent of a national education system.He died on July 1815. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/, 22/02/201342 De Montmorency, The Progress of Education in England, op, cit., p. 220

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of cottages to meet the acute housing problem that existed in agricultural

districts, and the restriction of poor law relief, except with regard to the

absolute necessities of life, to the aged, to children, and to the sick.

On April 17th 1807, Whitbread stated that he intended to organize

his elaborate Bill and to divide the lasting clauses into four clauses. The

first clause was related to education; the second dealt with poor law

reform and the building of cottages for the poor; the third contained his

system for a parochial fund of insurance, whereas the fourth proposed to

regulate and equalize the county rates. These clauses were reported. On

April 24th 1807, the Clause for establishing a Plan for the Education of

the Poor was brought forward. It had been previously circulated among

the magistrates throughout the kingdom with dispiriting results. The

object of Whitbread was that in every parish where there was a number

of poor who could not afford to pay for the education of their children, a

school should be established for their instruction43.

According to Whitbread, the education of the poor was considered

as "the incipient principle and grand foundation" of all benefits to be

derived from any future reform of the poor laws. This means that

Whitbread believed that the education of the poor was necessary for the

welfare and stability of society. So in order to built up a strong society, it

was convenient to educate the poor. The Bill proposed that the poor

children of each parish should be entitled to receive two years' education

between the ages of seven and fourteen. The inhabitants and landowners

43 Ibid., p. 220

29


in the parish were to be rated to provide education, which was to be

supervised by the parson and the parish officers. The Bill allowed the

magistrates to buy or rent any buildings or lands upon which to erect

buildings for the purpose of schools. The magistrates were also

responsible for the selection and designation of schoolmasters, with

power to suspend the law where further or new schools were not

necessary.44 However, despite the changes that were brought by the

Factory Bill of 1802, changes were on the way. In the next section, it is

important to analyze the provisions made by the Select Committee in

1816.

II. 1.3. The Select Committee, 1816

In 1816, the select parliamentary committee to inquire into the

education of the lower orders was appointed and in the same year, it

issued its first report dealing with the Metropolis. The enquiries of the

committee were extended to the whole Kingdom. In the third report,

Brougham45 gave a very different explanation to that with respect to the

condition of the country in 1803. This meant that education in small

towns gained a great importance in the minds of inhabitants. In this

context, Brougham said:

44 Robert Gregory, D.D, Elementary Education, Some Account of Its Rise and Progress in England, Westminster, London National Society’s Depository Broad Sanctuary, 1905. p. 1845 Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778–1868) was a British statesman who became Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. In 1810, he entered the House of Commons as a Whig. Brougham took up the fight against the slave trade and opposed restrictions on trade with continental Europe. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Henry Peter Brougham

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There is the most undisputable indication that the worry of the poor for education continues not only persistent, but daily increasing; that it extends to every part of the country, and is to be found equally predominant in those smaller towns and country districts, where no means of gratifying it are provided by the charitable efforts of the richer classes.46

Country districts were suffering from the bad condition of

education. The efforts were almost completely restricted to populous

places. The Committee understood the problems that occurred. These

problems excluded the Dissenters47 in the country school district. The

Committee added that in many schools, where the national system was

adopted, an increasing degree of liberality prevailed.48

This situation, in fact, stimulated the Church from its 18 th century

sleep. The Church realized once again the prodigious and important part

that it had to play in national education, and it recognized that if the

public conviction was to frame the education of the children of the

country, the complete principles of Dissenters had to be respected. In

that fact lays the origin of the conscience clause of later years. The

principle of the clause was suggested by the Select Committee.

Supervised by Brougham, the Committee claimed that the intervention of

parliament in the regulation of schools should be limited because it was

46 De Montmorency, State Intervention in English Education, op, cit., p. 22447 Dissenter, in the social and religious history of England and Wales, refers particularly to a member of a religious body who have, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church or any other kind of Protestant who refused to recognise the supremacy of the Established Church in areas where the established Church is or was Anglican. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: The Dissenters48 Ibid., p. 225

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redundant. In this context Brougham said: " Wherever the efforts of

individuals can support the requisite number of schools, it would be

unnecessary and injurious, to interpose any parliamentary assistance".49

The Committee had clearly determined that in many places

subscriptions could be raised to meet the yearly expenses of a School,

whereas the original cost prevented this from being attempted. The

Committee suggested that money might well be employed in this way,

but it left to the Parliament to decide whether such public funds should

be assigned by Commissioners or delivered for distribution to great

institutions in London for supporting education.

On the other hand, in districts where no aid from private efforts

could be expected and the poor were manifestly without adequate means

of instruction, the Committee was persuaded that nothing could supply

the deficiency. One must note that the Committee had before them the

example of Ireland, where Parliamentary funds were distributed by the

Kildare Street Society50 among significant discontent.

The Select Committee thought that the burden of paying the

schoolmaster's salary should be thrown on the inhabitants of the district,

"which ought certainly not to surpass £ 24 a year". The Committee

realized that an adequate supply of schoolmasters might be procured for

this sum, allowing them the benefits of taking scholars, who could afford

49 Ibid., p. 22650 The Kildare Street Society aimed at promoting the conservation of distinguished examples of architecture and the allied arts of all periods in Ireland. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: The Kildare Street Society

32


to pay, and permitting them of course to occupy their free time in other

pursuits.51

The Committee thought, with respect to the religious question, that

there should be a link, as in Scotland, between the proposed educational

system and the Establishment. Although they felt the difficulty that the

Dissenters in Scotland were not with the Established Church on political

and religious matters, whereas in England the difference was not so

much in politics as in faith.

The Select Committee had at once realized the nature of the

problems that were to occupy the attention of Parliament for the greater

part of the 19th century. Besides, it presented the solutions that were in

time accepted by the country. It recommended for a certain class of

districts, schools that were practically rate-supported free parochial

schools and another grant for building schools. The system of

supervision on the rates was to be parochial; the system of assessment

was to be diocesan, but full regard was to be paid to the claims of

conscience and to the right of Dissenters to retain their children in

dissent.52 Brougham’s Bill was also an important step in the development

of a national education in England.

II. 1.4. Brougham's Bill, 1820

51 De Montmorency, State Intervention in English Education, A Short History from the Earliest Times down to 1833, op, cit., p. 22552 Ibid., p. 572

33


The Select committee of 1816 collected a great amount of

information concerning the problems that faced education. This latter,

enabled Brougham53 to promote his education Bill with wide knowledge

of the education problem that awaited solutions.

Brougham gave a great deal of importance to the role of the

clergy. Throughout many centuries, the established Church played a

great role in the balance of society. In his Bill, Brougham clarified the

connection between the Church and education. In order to realize that,

handbills were issued to 11,400 clergymen of parishes. This meant that

Brougham did not neglect the role of the Church in the balance and

welfare of society. In this context, He said: “It was, however, quite

impossible that any words of this could do justice to the zeal, the honesty

and the ability with which they had lent their assistance towards the

attainment of the great object which had been proposed as the result of

the inquiries”.54

In his intervention, Brougham indicated that a huge number of

children in England and Wales needed education. In order to solve this

problem, Dr Patrick Colquhoun55 suggested a school in each parish

capable of holding 800 children.

53

54

55 Patrick Colquhoun (14 March 1745 – 25 April 1820) was a Scottish merchant, statistician, magistrate, and founder of the first regular preventive police force in England, the Thames River Police. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Patrick Colquhoum

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According to the statistics which were collected by the Committee,

Brougham continued to show that in 1820, there were 500,000 children

getting their education in endowed schools. He argued that more than

one-tenth of the whole mass of the population were children requiring

education and that as a matter of fact one-sixteenth of the whole

population were children receiving education.

Brougham demonstrated that the established schools were not

sufficient to receive the number of uneducated children in the street.

However, this lack of schools classified England and Wales at the lowest

and worst educated country in Europe. This context is shown in the

following passage:

The average means of mere education was only in fact one-sixteenth in England; yet even this scanty means had only existed since the year 1803, when what were called the schools, or those upon the systems of Dr Bell, were established. Those schools were in number 1,520 and they received about 200,000 children. Before 1803, then, only the twenty first part of the population was placed in the way of education, and at that date England might be justly looked on as the worst-educated country of Europe.56

Brougham concluded that every fifth person received no education

in England. In his opinion, Middlesex, "the great metropolitan county of

England was, beyond all disputes, the worst-educated part of

Christendom." Lancashire was but a little better, having only one twenty

fourth of the population placed in the way of education. Also, six

midland counties had the same proportion: Cambridgeshire;

Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire and

Buckinghamshire.

56 Ibid., p. 50

35


Map One: Six Midland Counties having Education, 1820

Cambridgeshire

Huntingdonshire Hertfordshire

Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire

Northamptonshire

36


Source:http://www.mapsofworld.com/sixmidlandcountieshavingeducation1820maps. 23/03/2013

In these counties 20,000 children received free education, while

only 18,000 paid anything for their education.57 Brougham showed that

in Westmoreland, where one-seventh of the population were receiving

education, there were only 48 children educated free out of a total of

2,700 scholars.58

Not all what Brougham concluded was convincing. For example,

in the counties of Middlesex and Lancaster and to some extent, in the

Midland counties, there were other causes such as the rapid aggregation

of population and widespread child labour that militated against the

spread of education. The most echoed conclusion that was dealt with by

many educationalists was the support of people to the development of

their educational system. This means that each child was expected to

contribute by paying a symbolic amount of money to his or her school.

Brougham’s idea was similar in principle with the Act introduced by

Forster in 1870. However, the majority of the people were not convinced

by the idea of paying for education and the obligation of schooling, the

reason why the introduction of universal education was delayed for more

than half a century.59

The Bill of 1820 aimed at satisfying four major objectives: The

first one was to construct a school wherever it was needed. Thus, the

57 D.D. Robert Gregory, Elementary Education: Some Account of Its Rise and Progress in England, London , National Society’s Depository, 1905, p. 4958 Ibid., p. 6059 Ibid., p. 65

37

http://www.mapsofworld.com/sixmidland


Grand Jury60 was given the right to lodge a complaint about the system

of teaching through school sessions, and to demand the building of the

school and the endowment of a mastership.

The second objective of the Bill aimed at protecting competent

schoolmasters by offering a fixed endowment, and restricting the age of

the masters from twenty-four to forty years. The school masters had to

be members of the Established Church in order to be accepted.

The third objective of the Bill dealt with the type of lectures

taught. The course of teaching would be fixed by the parson of the parish

at each new appointment of the master to a school. Only the Scriptures

would be taught, and no form of worship would be allowed in the school

except the Lord’s Prayer and other passages of Scripture. Church

children would attend church, but Dissenters would take their children to

their own churches or chapels. Each Sunday evening, there would be a

school meeting to teach Catechism to all those who did not object.

Lastly, reading, writing, and arithmetic would be taught to all the

children that reached the age.61

The fourth objective of the Bill was to reduce the expenses by

making the old endowments in some measure available for modern

elementary education. However, the Bill did not propose to cloth or

60 A grand jury is a legal body that is empowered to conduct official proceedings to investigate potential criminal conduct and to determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may compel the production of documents and may compel the sworn testimony of witnesses to appear before it. A grand jury is separate from the courts, which do not preside over its functioning. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: A grand jury61 Ibid., p. 67

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board the children. The cost estimated by Brougham for the application

of his Bill for a better education of the poor in England and Wales

amended to £ 500,000 for the cost of erecting schools and £ 150,000 a

year for maintenance.62

In the end, it would be interesting to deal with the history and fate

of the Bill. On April 20 th 1820, Brougham announced his intention of

introducing the Bill as soon as the Education form was completed. On

Wednesday, June 2nd the Bill was introduced and on July 11 th it was read

for the first time and on July 12 th the Bill was read a second time and

approved. On July 13th the committee reported, and it was ordered that

the Report would be taken into further consideration on that day. Before

the Select Committee of 1834, Lord Brougham explained that the

Dissenters’ objections were the reasons why he removed his Parish

School Bill of 1820. However, there was very little evidence in the Bill

that either Dissenters or Roman Catholics who believed in the necessity

of education objected to what the Bill asked for.63

The process of the educational improvements in England did not

stop at this level. In 1833, the English Parliament presented its first

grant. So, how did the first Parliamentary grant participate in the

development of education in England?

II. 1.5. The First Parliamentary Grant, 1833

62 Ibid., p. 6863 D.D. Robert Gregory, op, cit., p. 466

39


The English Parliament granted the sum of £ 1, 264 to pay the

salaries of Parliament’s members and allowances to certain professors in

the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. This was on August 16 th

1830; however, the grant faced some objections. The major objection

was that Dissenters were not admitted to the Universities and they could

not benefit from the grant offered by the Parliament.64

On Saturday August 17th 1833 the Parliament approved a grant of

£ 20,000 for education by 50 votes against 26 votes. This debate was

cruel because 26 of the voters were not convinced by the idea of

educating all the member of society. T.B. Macaulay65 voted with the

majority in favour of the grant. William Cobbett66 did not find any

benefit from the spread of education. According to him, education taught

nothing but to increase the numbers of schoolmasters and

schoolmistresses.

64 C, Birchenough, op, cit., pp. 62-6365 Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay (25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British poet, historian and Whig politician. He held political office as Secretary of War between 1839 and 1841 and Paymaster-General between 1846 and 1848. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: T.B. Macaulay 66 William Cobbett was born on March 9, 1763. He was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecures and "tax-eaters" relentlessly. He died on June 18, 1835. Ibid., the entry: William Cobbett

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In the same debate, Lord Althrop67 explained that the purpose of

the grant was to build schools where they already existed. In addition,

Lord John Russell68 pointed out that in the report of the education

committee in 1818 there were cases referred to Parishes, if they could

have been assisted in the first outlay, they would afterwards have to

support their own schools.69

Another controversial idea was William Cobbett. He opposed the

grant, saying that education was not improving the condition of the

country. In this context, he compared the children who were receiving

education with their parents who never received any type of education,

and he concluded that, “the father in the country districts was a better

labourer than his son”. This meant that education should participate in

the daily life of citizens. He declared that men became more and more

immoral every year. Cobbett did not find any benefit from the spread of

education. According to him, education brought nothing to the

development of the English society. He went beyond this, by

proclaiming that crime, too, went on increasing. Therefore, Cobbett did

not find any reason to tax the people for the increase of education. On

67Lord Althrop or John Charles Spencer, the eldest son of the 2nd Earl of Althorp, was born on 30 May, 1782. He was a British statesman. He was notably Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne from 1830 to 1834. On the death of his father in 1834, Spencer became the 3rd Earl of Althorp. He moved to the House of Lords but remained as Lord Melbourne's Chancellor of the Exchequer until December 1835. He died in 1845. Ibid., the entry: Lord Althrop68 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, was born on August 18, 1792. He was known as Lord John Russell before 1861. John Russell was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19 th century. He died on May 28, 1878. Ibid., Entry: John Russell69 C, Birchenough, op, cit., p. 63

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the other side, Joseph Hume70 also opposed the grant on reasonable

ground. He said that it was not needed to constitute a national system,

and without such a system there was no justification for the grant. For

that reason, Joseph Hume acted for the “Noes”.71

In the Revenue Act, the grant for the erection of school houses in

Great Britain was £ 20,000. This legislative progress in the domain of

education may be considered as an introduction to the history of the

State contribution in English education. In general, historians believe

that the year 1833 was the separating phase between an education

supported by individuals and philanthropic movements and an education

supported by the State. In Great Britain, the first date on which the

monies of Parliament were voted for elementary educational purposes

was August 17, 1833.

The progress of State’s involvement did not stop at this level.

After this period of time, the State continued to improve the domain of

education by enacting new legislations for the purpose of spreading

education all over Great Britain. Thus, the period from 1833 to 1870

experienced new legislations and improvements in education.

70 Joseph Hume was born in Scotland on January 22, 1777. He was a Scottish doctor and Radical MP, born. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and moved to India in 1797. His knowledge of chemistry helped the administration to recover damp gunpowder in 1802. In 1808, he resigned and returned home with a fortune of about £40,000. Between 1808 and 1811, he travelled around England and Europe and, in 1812, published a blank verse translation of The Inferno. He died on February 20, 1855. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008, Ultimate Reference Suite, the entry: Joseph Hume71C, Birchenough, op, cit., p. 66

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II. 2. The Involvement of Government in Education, 1833-70

In England, after the first Parliamentary Grant of 1833, a decision

was taken by the government in order to allow a divided school system

to develop in line with its class structure. Up to 1840, the money granted

without regulation was given to the two great national school societies

(The National Society and the British and Foreign School Society). In

1846, the grants were extended, and in 1847 Catholic and Wesleyan

societies were admitted to share in the grants.72

In 1841 and 1853, the commercial and manufacturing interests,

though, secured separate aid for art and science instruction. In 1853 and

1856, proposals to add local taxation were dropped almost as soon as

made. In 1853, national art training schools were created. Training

schools for teachers were aided by grants. In 1845, the English "pupil-

teacher" system begun in an effort to supply teachers of some little

training. A State Department of Education was created in 1856. In this

year, the various “Minutes” which were adopted were organized into a

system and presented to Parliament as a School Code. In 1861, this Code

was finally approved.

New Educational Commissions were created to inquire into

educational conditions and needs in 1858 and 1864, and these reported in

1861 and 1867, but without important results. The most notable of these

was the Duke of Newcastle's Commission in 1861. The other

72 Ibid., p. 70

43


Commissions were: the Clarendon Commission in 1864, the Tauton

Commission in 1868 and The Bryce Commission in 1895.73

Despite all these legislations in the domain of education, other

ideas and solutions to improve education had been proposed by the

Government. The Newcastle’s Commission in 1861 was one of the most

important steps in the development of education in England.

II. 2. 1. The Newcastle Commission, 1861

The Newcastle Commission met in 1858 and published its six

volumes in 186174. This report was a comprehensive survey of all types

of education for the poor in England. In general, the report aimed at

inquiring into the present state of education in England and

recommended that the State should provide effective and sufficient

elementary instruction to all classes of the people. The Newcastle Report

drew attention to the insufficient and inadequate curriculum and focused

on the weaknesses in the basic subjects. It suggested concentrating on

the Three Rs and on “Payment by Results”.75

The Newcastle Report noted that in the summer of 1858, the

amount of learners in weekday schools was 1 in 7.7 or 12.99 percent.

The Report went on to warn that the attention should be given to

children of the poor in the day schools. According to the Report, less

73 Ibid., p. 7774 The Newcastle Commission, 1861. See appendix N°1. p. 18475 Ibid., p. 100

44


than three years ago, the number of children of the poorer classes in

elementary day schools was about 2.213.694. However, 573,536 of this

number were attending private schools such as Sunday Schools. These

schools were as inferior as schools for the poor, because they were

focusing on religious instruction. In fact, they did not give children an

education, which would be useful and serviceable to them.

The number of children, whose names were on the books of public

elementary day schools, belonging to the religious denominations was

about 1.549.312. Only 19.3 of them were in the 12 th year or upward. The

Newcastle Report added another frustrating number of children attending

schools; about 786,202 attended for less than 100 days in the year and

could, therefore, hardly receive a useful education. However, the

evidence proved that a large proportion failed in giving efficient

teaching. Therefore, much improvement still remained to be made to

guide the state of education in England to the degree of effectiveness. 76

Some issues were mentioned by the Report on the quality of

education provided. According to Her Majesty’s Inspectors, not more

than one fourth of the children received a good education. After a great

investigation on the failure of teaching, the Newcastle Report came to

the conclusion that the instruction given was commonly too superficial

in its character. These serious difficulties in elementary education

76 C., Benn and C., Chitty, Thirty Years On - is Comprehensive Education Alive and Well or Struggling to Survive?, London, David Fulton Publishers, 1996, p. 57

45


teaching prevented the children from the power of reading, writing and

deciphering in an intelligent manner.77

During this period of time, children were examined by a test on

each syllable to pass from one group to another. This lasted until 1862

with the adoption of a new examination elaborated by Robert Lowe. The

examination covered the three disciplines that were taught to children by

appointed visiting examiners.78 The examination was made according to

one of these standards:

Table One: The Standards (I, II, III) of Examinations, 1862

Standard I Standard II Standard III

Reading Narrative in monosyllables.

One of the Narratives next in order after monosyllables in an elementary reading book used in the school.

A short paragraph from an elementary reading book used in the school.

Writing From on black-board or slate, from dictation, letters, capital and small manuscript.

Copy in manuscript character a line of print.

A sentence from the same paragraph, slowly read once, and then dictated in single words.

Arithmetic Form on the black-board or slate, from

A sum in simple addition or

A sum in any simple rule as far

77 Ibid., p. 5978 J. Stuart Maclure, Educational Documents, England and Wales, 1816 to The Present Day, London, Mathuen and Co ltd, 1973. p. 71

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dictation figures up to 20; name at sight figures up 20; add and subtract figures up to 10, orally, from examples on black board

subtraction, and multiplication table.

as short division (inclusive).

Source: J. Stuart Maclure, op. cit., p. 80.

Table Two: The Standards (IV, V, VI) of Examinations,1862

Standard IV Standard V Standard VI

Reading A short paragraph from a more advanced reading book used in the school.

A few lines of poetry from a reading book used in the first class of the school.

A short ordinary paragraph in a newspaper, or other modern narrative.

Writing A sentence slowly dictated once by a few words at a time, from the same book, but not from the paragraph read.

A sentence slowly dictated once by a few words at a time, from a reading book used in the first class of the school.

Another short ordinary paragraph in a newspaper, or other modern narrative, slowly dictated once by a few words at a time.

Arithmetic A sum in compound rules (money)

A sum in compound rules (common weights and measures).

A sum in practice or bills of parcels.

Source: J. Stuart Maclure, op. cit., p. 80.

Much time was spent in the debate by the commissioners for the

funding of education. They noted that “all the principal nations of

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Europe, and the United States of America, as well as British North

America, have felt it necessary to provide for the education of the people

by public taxations”.

The Commissioners proposed solutions by which the present

system might be made appropriate to the poor and would not be limited

only to the richer districts. These solutions led to the spread of education

over England. This spread of the system might be controlled and

regulated by the Commissioners. In addition, local activity and interest

in education might be encouraged. Finally, general attainment of a

greater degree of elementary knowledge might be secured.79

The general aim of the Newcastle’s Commission was to investigate

the state of education in Britain by extending and improving the

elementary education of the poor. This, in fact, was not sufficient. In

1864, another commission met for improving and investigating on

education in England. What did this Commission bring to education in

England?

II .2.2. The Clarendon Commission, 1864

Between 1861 and 1864, Queen Victoria selected a commission to

inspect and investigate on life in nine Public schools: Eton, Winchester,

Westminster, Charterhouse, St Paul’s, Merchant Taylors’, Harrow,

Rugby and Shrewsbury. This Commission which was established in

1861 by Earl of Clarendon began to investigate first on the revenues,

79 Ibid., p. 62

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management, studies and instruction of these nine leading Public

Schools. This investigation, in fact, was due to the complaints about the

finances, buildings and management of Eton College.

Public schools referred to expensive and exclusive fee-paying

private independent schools in England. These schools were for children

aged between 13 and 18. The term "public" was used to indicate that

access to them was not restricted on the basis of religion, occupation, or

home location, and that they were subject to public management or

control, in contrast to private schools which were run for the personal

profit of the proprietors. Traditionally, Public schools emerged from

charity schools, which were established to educate poor children.

Soon after the Clarendon Commission reported in 1864, the Royal

Commission asked for improving the curriculum by adding sciences,

history, geography, drawing and music. Ancient history and geography

were related to classical teaching. However, the application of these

improvements was slow because the old universities had no qualified

teachers. Natural science was to be taught for one or two hours a week.

The Commission Report gave the headmasters extra privileges and

reinforced their status in schools. According to the commission, the

statutes of foundations should be modified whenever it was

recommended or needed.

In the Report of the Clarendon Commission, the powers and

responsibilities of the governing bodies and headmasters of the schools

were set out by the Commission. The powers of the Governors were to

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include: the management of the school property and its revenues from

whatever sources; the control of its expenditure; the selection and

removal of the Headmaster and the regulation of fees and charges of

Master’s salaries. In addition, it included the regulation of the terms of

admission to the school and of the times and length of the vacations, the

supervision of the general treatment of the boys, and all arrangements

concerning the sanitary condition of the school.80

As far as the responsibility of the Headmaster was concerned,

tolerance and patience should be the main character. He was responsible

for the division of classes, the school hours and distribution of school

books, the holidays and half-holidays during the school terms. The Head

Master was also responsible for the appointment and dismissal of

Assistant Masters, the measures necessary for maintaining discipline,

and the general direction of the course and methods. In order to reinforce

and guide the Headmaster to do his job, another qualification was added

by the Commission. The Headmaster was responsible for the

introduction of a new branch of study, or the suppression of one already

established, and the relative degrees of weight to be assigned to different

branches. In general, what was taught and how to teach it were in fact

questions for the Headmaster”.81

The effectiveness and the value of the Clarendon Report were

reflected in the nine Public schools: Eton, Winchester, Westminster,

Charterhouse, St Paul’s, Merchant Taylors’, Harrow, Rugby and

80 W Blyth , English Primary Education, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1965, p. 6681 Ibid., p. 69

50


Shrewsbury. These schools were regarded as being amongst the best

educational establishments in England. All but St Paul's and Merchant

Taylors' were predominantly boarding schools. All had excellent

academic records and entry was extremely competitive.

In 1868, despite the efforts and the improvements which were

brought about by the Clarendon Report, education in secondary schools

needed more improvements. Thus, the Taunton Commission of 1868 was

established for completing these improvements.

II. 2.3. The Taunton Commission, 1868

In 1864, the Taunton Schools Inquiry Commission was appointed

under the chairmanship of Lord Taunton. The aim of this Commission

was to inquire into the education in secondary schools as a whole. In

fact, it tried to deal with the old endowed schools, concentrate on the

lack of secondary-school facilities and recommend an extension of this

type of schools. The Taunton Commission also tried to find or discover

procedures to improve the quality of education in secondary schools. 82

In England, the Reports of the Taunton Commission showed that

there were three types of parents: The first type referred to those who

wanted their children to receive schooling up to the age of 18 and

wanted to keep classics in the first stage of English education. As a

matter of fact, these parents were against sending their children to

receive an education which aimed at preparing their children for work.

82 R., Williams, The Long Revolution, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1965, p. 65

51


The second type dealt with children from the age of 16 or 17. This

type referred to those who wanted their children to acquire two modern

languages besides Latin. They aimed at preparing their boys for the army

and for the newer professions and department of the civil service.

The third type dealt with children from the age of 14 or 15. The

Temple would teach the elements of French and Latin, in order to

diminish the spread of the middle class boys, who were far from any

religious education and, who would be expected to become small tenant

farmers, small tradesman, and superior artisans. In the secondary school

grade, the age of attending school was fixed, because the elementary

school code of 1860 had fixed the leaving age for elementary schools at

the age of 12.83

It was obvious that learning in secondary schools was designed

primarily for the middle class. It was also clear that public opinion had

not yet come to realize the value of physical and chemical science for the

working classes, nor the possibility that farmers’ sons could profit from

scientific education. Thus, few children had the opportunity to move

from elementary school grade to secondary school grade.

The Report argued that no curriculum could be completed without

natural science and recommended good maps for teaching physical

geography. It also considered girls’ education as an important subject;

for that reason, the Commissioners were deeply concerned with its

83 Ibid., p. 70

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provision. At that time, there were only thirteen girls’ secondary schools

all over England.84

It was obvious that the work of the philanthropic movements and

the improvements introduced by the Commissioners were not enough.

Education had been influenced by the Industrial Revolution. In fact, the

problem was not in how much education was available, but in what type

of education should be taught.

During the Industrial Revolution, there was a great demand for

elementary schools to teach the basic skills for the workforce. Support

from the part of the State was needed. Several legislative changes in the

domain of education were introduced to improve national education in

England. Thus the second chapter will demonstrate the major

improvements and explain the different educational Acts which

influenced its development and analyze the opening of parliamentary

agreement on a national system of education in England during the

period ranging from 1870 to 1902.

84 C., Benn and C., Chitty, op, cit., p. 87

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