Mccallum, Sandra (2014)
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McCallum, Sandra (2014) Secondary education and parental choice in enlightenment Glasgow: A case study of the Moore family, with particular reference to the extended tour abroad of (Sir) John Moore with his father Dr Moore (1772-76). PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5770/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] SECONDARY EDUCATION AND PARENTAL CHOICE IN ENLIGHTENMENT GLASGOW: A case study of the Moore family, with particular reference to the extended tour abroad of (Sir) John Moore with his father Dr Moore (1772-76) Sandra McCallum Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Glasgow School of Humanities: History August 2014 © Sandra McCallum, August 2014. 2 Abstract The thesis takes the form of a case study, exploring the educational choices made by Dr John and Mrs Jean Moore of Glasgow for their family. It focuses particularly on the education of their eldest son, John, (Sir John Moore of Corunna) before 1772 and abroad during the next four years till September 1776. It contends that, although the Moore parents’ choices were highly personal, designed to suit their family situation and never part of a dogmatic rejection of contemporary educational provision, elements of these choices indicate a radical approach to the principles and practices of education that preceded the curricular reforms of the nineteenth century. The thesis examines secondary schooling in Enlightenment Glasgow. The source material is problematic: town records for eighteenth-century secondary education in Glasgow are scant and the evidence gleaned from contemporary newspapers provides a one-sided view of how private enterprise widened the schooling options available to parents. Taking into account the limitations of the sources, the thesis examines the educational milieu in Glasgow, considering opportunities outside the all-male Glasgow Grammar School, including some consideration of the education of females. It discusses why calls for curricular reform, in line with Enlightenment thinking on ‘useful’ education, were not taken up by Glasgow Town Council. The choice of John Moore as a case study stems from his unique situation. He was educated in Glasgow until 1772, when he was ten. He then accompanied his father on a tour organised for the Duke of Hamilton across Europe, mainly in Geneva, but also in France, Germany, Austria and Italy until 1776, when he was approaching fifteen. His letters home provide good historical evidence of his attainment and progress. Dr Moore’s practice of allowing him to write free of parental supervision makes these sources particularly valuable historically, as a way to investigate the perception of education by school age children. Primary sources also include the published work of Dr Moore, other family letters and journals. The wealth of archival material, some of it studied for the first time in this thesis, enables examination of the views of parents and children on education, an area rarely covered in histories of the subject. The evidence presented in this thesis has shown that educational pathways in a growing city such as Glasgow left scope for individual family initiatives, as the quality and range of the existing educational provision in Glasgow left room for further experimentation. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. 8 Author’s Declaration ........................................................................................................................... 9 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter One: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 11 Historical Accounts of Education in Eighteenth-Century Scotland ......................................... 12 Secondary Education – a neglected area .................................................................................. 17 Parents and Pupils .................................................................................................................... 23 Moore Family Background ...................................................................................................... 23 Source Material ........................................................................................................................ 25 Dr John Moore’s Works ........................................................................................................... 27 Nomenclature ........................................................................................................................... 31 Chapter Outlines and Sources .................................................................................................. 32 Chapter Two: Ideas on Education ..................................................................................................... 35 Educational Issues in Europe ................................................................................................... 36 Educational Provision .............................................................................................................. 41 Church and State: Rivals or Partners? ...................................................................................... 42 Social Mobility ......................................................................................................................... 45 Curricular Reform .................................................................................................................... 46 Parental Role and Responsibility ............................................................................................. 49 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 50 Chapter Three: Education in Glasgow .............................................................................................. 51 Sources and Methodology ........................................................................................................ 51 4 Secondary Education: a definition ........................................................................................... 56 Glasgow Grammar School ....................................................................................................... 59 Private Enterprise ..................................................................................................................... 64 Dancing and Deportment, Confectioning and Candying: education of females ...................... 70 Education for the less affluent .................................................................................................. 76 Self Education .......................................................................................................................... 77 Quality of teaching ................................................................................................................... 78 Salaries, Benefits and Fees ....................................................................................................... 81 Pressure for change .................................................................................................................. 83 Parental influence ..................................................................................................................... 91 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 92 Chapter Four: The Moore Family ..................................................................................................... 94 The Moore family home ........................................................................................................... 95 A Family to educate ................................................................................................................. 96 The Moore parents’ education .................................................................................................. 97 Parental roles in the education of children ............................................................................. 104 Intellectual climate in Glasgow .............................................................................................. 106 Moral and religious education ................................................................................................ 106 Religious Observance and