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British Sunday Schools in the Era of the First World War: 19001939
MCCARTNEY, CAITRIONA,MARY,SEONAID
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2 British Sunday Schools in the Era of the First World War: 1900–1939
Caitriona Mary Seonaid McCartney
A thesis submitted for the qualification of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theology and Religion
Durham University
2018
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Abstract
Sunday schools played an important role in shaping and forming the religious life of
Britain. Throughout much of the twentieth century the schools had a pervasive influence in society. From political figures to royalty, the schools touched the lives of much of the population. However, despite the significant role they played in the religious life of the nation, research concerning them rarely extends beyond the outbreak of the First World
War. Additionally, the schools have traditionally been portrayed as ineffective tools of religious education and formation. This thesis intends to address the importance of the
Sunday schools and to assess their effectiveness in the era of the First World War. It will examine the schools from 1900 to 1939 in order to consider their experiences before, during, and after the war. In doing so the research will demonstrate the importance of religious belief and practice in Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Exploring the history of the Sunday schools during the First World War provides a new insight into debates concerning religion and the conflict that challenges the perception of the irreligious British soldier. Correspondingly, the thesis reveals that the First World
War was not a major factor in the decline of religion in Britain. It also details the experiences of the schools during the interwar period, which have largely been under researched, revealing the continuing importance of Christianity during this time. The thesis reveals that rather than being stagnant, the schools attempted to reform their work to provide the best education for their scholars. Principally, it will argue that the Sunday schools were an integral part of religious life in Britain and therefore deserve a much more thorough treatment and appreciation in the historiography of British religion in this period.
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Table of Contents
Abstract ...... 2 Abbreviations...... 5 Statement of Copyright ...... 6 Acknowledgements ...... 7 Dedication ...... 8 Introduction...... 9 Literature Review ...... 10 Research Questions ...... 52 Methodology ...... 55 Sources ...... 56 Terminology ...... 59 Chapter 1 – British Sunday Schools in the Pre-War Era, 1900–1914 ...... 60 Introduction...... 60 Sunday Schools and Society ...... 61 Sunday Schools and Social Concerns ...... 67 The Work of the Sunday Schools ...... 75 International Nature of Sunday Schools ...... 85 Perceptions of Sunday Schools ...... 88 Conclusion ...... 93 Chapter 2 – British Sunday Schools and the First World War, 1914-1918 ...... 95 Introduction...... 95 Response to the Outbreak of the First World War ...... 98 Practical Impact of the First World War ...... 100 Supporting the War Effort ...... 112 Emotional Impact of the First World War ...... 121 Perceived Standards of Sunday Schools ...... 125 Conclusion ...... 129 Chapter 3 – The British Forces and the Sunday Schools, 1914–1918 ...... 131 Introduction...... 131 Sunday Schools in ‘Reports’ Concerning Religion and the British Army ...... 132 Perceptions of Sunday Schools — An Alternative Outlook ...... 141 Importance of Sunday Schools to British Soldiers and Sailors ...... 146 Soldier Scholar Relationships with their Schools ...... 153 Sunday Schools in the Religious Life of the British Forces ...... 158 Conclusion ...... 164
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Chapter 4 – British Sunday Schools in Interwar Britain, 1918–1939 ...... 166 Introduction...... 166 The Impact of the First World War ...... 167 Sunday Schools and Society ...... 181 Perceptions of Sunday Schools ...... 187 Sunday Schools and the World ...... 191 Conclusion ...... 198 Chapter 5 – Teaching, Training, and Reform, 1900–1939 ...... 200 Introduction...... 200 Sunday Schools and Childhood Psychology ...... 201 Teaching in Sunday Schools ...... 210 The Purpose of Sunday Schools ...... 219 Training ...... 224 Working with Others ...... 233 Conclusion ...... 240 Chapter 6 – The Decline of British Sunday Schools ...... 242 Introduction...... 242 First World War and Sunday School Decline? ...... 243 Societal Change ...... 249 Rise of Compulsory Schooling ...... 254 Rise of Commercial Leisure ...... 262 Internal Causes of Decline ...... 269 Conclusion ...... 275 Conclusion ...... 277 Appendices ...... 287 Bibliography...... 334
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Abbreviations
BBC ………………...……………………………………….British Broadcasting Corporation BL ……………………………………………………………………………...Bodleian Library CERC ……………….……….…………….……….………Church of England Record Centre CRL …………………………………………………………...…….Cadbury Research Library DRO ………………………………………………………………...…Durham Record Office GA …………………………………………………………...……………Glamorgan Archives IWM ………………………………………………………………...…..Imperial War Museum JRL …………………………………………………………………...……John Rylands Library LCEC …………………………………………………...…..Local Christian Education Council LMA …………………………………………………………….London Metropolitan Archive LPL …………………………………………………………..….……...Lambeth Palace Library LRO …………………………………….……………………...……...Liverpool Record Office NCEC ……………………………………...……….…...National Christian Education Council NLS ……………………………….…………..…………………..National Library of Scotland NRS …..…………………………………………………………National Records of Scotland NSSU …………………………………………………………..National Sunday School Union PMSSU ……………………………………………..Primitive Methodist Sunday School Union SCC …………………………………………….…….……………...St. Christopher’s College SSI ……………………………………...………………………………Sunday School Institute WH ………………………………………………...…………………………………..Westhill WMSSU ……………………………………...……Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union WSSA …………………………………….……...…………World Sunday School Association
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Statement of Copyright
The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author's prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged.
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Acknowledgements
Writing this thesis would not have been possible without the encouragement and support of many individuals along the way: my fellow PhD students, the members of the History of Christianity Seminar at the University of Durham, attendees at the annual Amport House conferences, and all those I have met at various conferences. I would also like to thank the organisers of ‘What Tommy Did Next: Veteran Organisations of the First World War’, ‘Faith and the First World War’, and ‘The First World War: Commemoration and Memory’ as well as the Ecclesiastical History Society for the financial support they provided so that I could attend their conferences. My thanks are also due to all the staff at the numerous archives I have visited for this research: the Glamorgan Archives, the Cadbury Research Library, Englesea Brook Museum of Primitive Methodism, the John Rylands Library, the Bodleian Library, the Barrow Archives and Local Study Centre, the Liverpool Record Office, the Durham Record Office, the Derbyshire Record Office, the Imperial War Museum, the National Records of Scotland, and the National Library of Scotland. Thank you for managing to find files which had seemingly been misplaced. Your help and interest helped during long research days. Thank you also to my Sunday school scholars, both past and present, who in part inspired this thesis. You have all taught me much more than you could ever imagine.
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Dedication
To my parents. Words cannot express how much I appreciate your love, support, guidance, and encouragement throughout my education. This process would not have been possible without you by my side. To my brother. Thank you for your understanding and patience throughout the writing of this thesis. Your smile and humour made this journey easier. To my friends and fellow PhD students. Thank you for keeping me grounded and reminding me that there is more to life than the PhD. Your words of encouragement truly helped me on the most difficult days. To my supervisor Canon Professor Michael Snape. Thank you for believing in me even when I did not. The advice, guidance, and encouragement you have given me will never be forgotten. Finally, this thesis is dedicated in loving memory of Grace McCartney and Margaret Gillespie. These two women taught me to love unconditionally, to laugh, and to never give up.
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Introduction
Too often people think that the legacy of religion is war, little realising that without it they would not have the fantastic society that we now enjoy. And not just in the UK, because the British Sunday School movement and the benefits it stimulated spread out to enrich other nations too.1
In 2008 a BBC documentary entitled Sunday Schools: Reading, Writing and Redemption was broadcast.2 It detailed the history of British Sunday schools and interviewed former scholars about their experiences. To accompany the documentary, an article entitled ‘How Sunday
School Shaped Britain’ was published for the BBC News’s online magazine.3 The corporation allowed users to leave their thoughts about the article online. What resulted was an interesting array of responses which reflect the important role the schools played in the lives of children during the twentieth century. One comment stated:
‘Great Sunday schools build great churches’ – this was the banner at my old family church, and I've grown to still love it. Going to Sunday school gave me team building tools I still deal with at work. I loved taking part in all the after school (weekday) activities as well as the internal goings-on in the church. Now I’m not at all religious, but I do have a clear idea of my own relationship with God. The principles, standards and values installed in me so long ago and now being passed onto my nephews and niece who now attend the same classes I did so many years ago.4
It was also remarked that ‘Sunday school was a welcome relief from the incessant humanist brainwashing of state school’.5
In twenty-first century Britain it is hard to envisage how Sunday schools, and even
Christianity, played such a significant role in the social and religious life of the nation. In
2000 it was estimated that fewer than 10 per cent of children attended Sunday school.6
1 H. Edwards, How Sunday School Shaped Britain (London: BBC, 2008)
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However, to understand the religious world of Britain in the twentieth century we must understand the role Sunday schools played within it. For instance, by 1914 it is estimated that there were over seven million Sunday school scholars.7 The schools even featured in the classic book series Just William. As well as being passing references, Sunday schools became a central part of the storyline.8 Richmal Crompton was a clergyman’s daughter, so it is unsurprising that she was familiar with Sunday schools and therefore recognised that this was an institution her readers could identify with.9 However, despite the influential role the schools played in the lives of much of the population, research about the schools that extends beyond the beginning of the First World War is rare. Considering the examples discussed above, this seems a large oversight in the histography of British Christianity.
Literature Review
Historians of religion have concluded that religious belief and practice played a central role in British society during the twentieth century. As Hugh McLeod stated,
‘England was overwhelmingly a Christian and a Protestant nation.’10 Callum Brown argued that ‘Christianity intruded in very personal ways into the manner of people’s comportment through their lives, through the rites of passage and through their Sundays. Religion mattered and mattered deeply in British society’.11 Stewart Brown also suggested that ‘the overwhelming majority of the population still saw themselves as Christian, millions regularly attended church each Sunday, and religious questions generated great passion’.12 The statistical analyses of Callum Brown and Clive Field have also demonstrated that at this time
7 C. Field, ‘“Faith Society”? Quantifying Religious Belonging in Edwardian Britain, 1901–1914’, Journal of Religious History, 37(2013), 39-63 (p. 58). 8 R. Crompton, More William (London: Macmillian Children’s Books, 2009), pp. 203-220, William the Conquer (London: Macmillian Children’s Books, 2016), pp. 179-198 and William the Bad (London: Macmillian Children’s Books, 2016), pp. 214-247. 9 Mary Cadogan, Richmal Crompton: The Women Behind Just William (Stroud: The History Press, 2003), p. 3. 10 H. McLeod, Religion and Society in England, 1850–1914 (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1996), p. 2. 11 Brown, The Death of Christian Britain, p. 7. 12 S. Brown, Providence and Empire 1815–1914 (London: Routledge, 2008), p. 454.
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Britain was a ‘faith society’.13 Similarly, John Wolffe concluded that religious organisations had a considerable impact on society, as much of the population was receptive to the religious language and sentiments expressed by these groups.14 Additionally, the churches played a central role in the provision of social welfare. Prochaska claimed that the government’s social services had all of their roots in British churches.15 They provided schooling, medical care, and welfare visitors for countless families.16 This suggests that in order to fully understand British society and culture at this time it is important to recognise the significant role religion played in the daily life of the population.
Some historians have argued that the British population during the twentieth century was largely irreligious. It is often assumed that Britain at that time was not as devout because it had cast Victorian conventions aside.17 For example, Inglis and Gilbert concluded that Edwardian society was more irreligious than its Victorian predecessor.18 Inglis claimed that the late Victorian man, rather than ceasing to attend church, had never attended in the first place.19 He quoted Winnington-Ingram’s statement which suggested that ‘it is not that the Church of God has lost the great towns; it has never had them’.20 Gilbert entitled two parallel chapters ‘The Years of Religious Boom, 1850–1900’ and ‘Church and the People in the Years of “Decline and Fall” 1900 to the Present’.21 He also stated that by the middle of the nineteenth century ‘there are many indications of an awareness on the part of the
13 Field, ‘“Faith Society”?’ and Brown, The Death of Christian Britain. 14 J. Wolffe, God and Greater Britain: Religion and National Life of Britain and Ireland, 1843–1945 (London: Routledge, 1994), pp. 18-19. 15 F. Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service in Modern Britain: The Disinherited Spirit (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 2. 16 Ibid., pp. 1-27. 17 K. Robbins, History, Religion and Identity in Modern Britain (London: Bloomsbury 3PL, 1993), p. 119. 18 K. Inglis, Churches and the Working Classes in Victorian England (London: Routledge, 1963), pp. 322-336 and A. Gilbert, Religion and Society in Industrial England: Church, Chapel and Social Change 1740–1914 (London: Longman, 1976), pp. 205-207. 19 Inglis, Churches and the Working Classes, p. 3. 20 Ibid., p. 3. 21 Gilbert, Religion and Society in Industrial England, pp. 107-165 and pp. 166-213.
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“powers that be” of the vastness of the populations in the new industrial areas, and of the general widespread alienation from the churches’.22 Keith Robbins suggested that historians rarely talk about Edwardian piety.23 Furthermore, McKibbin claimed that ‘by the standards of many European countries or the United States England was a “dechristianized” country’.24
This argument, however, has been challenged by the works of Hugh McLeod, Callum
Brown, Sarah Williams, Michael Snape, and Clive Field.25 These scholars have contended that
Britain at this time was a ‘Christian’ nation. Snape stated that ‘British society was still identifiably and self-consciously Christian […] As in the Victorian era, religious values and churchgoing still remained emblematic of respectability’.26 Clive Field’s statistical analysis suggests that only 1 per cent identified as having no faith and 53 per cent had some sort of relationship with organised religion.27 He concluded that ‘two-fifths of Edwardians probably went to a place of worship at least monthly, and hardly anybody failed to be reached by a rite of passage conducted in religious premises. To that extent, Edwardian Britain retained some features of “the faith society”’.28 Sarah Williams’s research revealed the pervasive influence of Christianity in Southwark during the period 1880–1939. She argued that
‘beyond the realms of formal attendance there existed a network of association, attachment, and identification whereby church-based symbols were incorporated as part of a distinct popular identity and heritage’.29 Likewise, Dorothy Entwistle believed that churches, chapels, and Sunday schools were important forces in working-class communities as they offered
22 Ibid., p. 107. 23 Robbins, History, Religion and Identity, p. 119. 24 R. McKibbin, Classes and Cultures: England 1918–1951 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 276. 25 McLeod, Religion and Society in England; Brown, The Death of Christian Britain; S. Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark, c.1880–1939 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999); M. Snape, God and the British Soldier: Religion and the British Army in the First and Second World Wars (London: Routledge, 2005); and Field, ‘“Faith Society”?’, pp. 39-63 and ‘Gradualist or Revolutionary Secularisation? A Case Study of Religious Belonging in Inter-War Britain, 1918–1939’, Church History and Religious Culture, 93(2013), 57-96. 26 Snape, God and the British Soldier, p. 20. 27 Field, ‘“Faith Society”?’, p. 61. 28 Ibid., p. 61. 29 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture, p. 162.
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‘hope, colour and comradeship’.30 The conclusions of these historians have demonstrated that the perception that Britain was irreligious in the early twentieth century is largely false.
It has also been argued that using attendance figures is an unreliable method for measuring religious adherence. In the 1980s Hugh McLeod contended, along with Elizabeth
Roberts, that church attendance is a poor indicator of religious belief and that using oral histories provides a fuller picture of a complex subject.31 Sarah Williams, likewise, suggested that using oral interviews, autobiographies, ephemera, and folklore revealed
the simplistic equation of an absence of regular institutional commitment with an absence of religious sentiment and belief by demonstrating the vibrant and distinctive character of an alternative form of popular religious expression which drew on a church-based religious discourse in a selective and conditional manner.32
Callum Brown has similarly warned against the simplistic use of statistics to measure religious belief. He concluded that statistics ‘privileges numbers, counting religion by measures of members or worshippers, and ignores the unquantifiable in argument and methodology […] social science dichotomises people: into churchgoers and non- churchgoers, into believers and unbelievers’.33
Furthermore, it was not just Sunday services that affected the working classes. As
Reid concluded, the influence of the churches
was much wider than indicated by snapshot census computations: through church day schools, and Sunday Schools, and post-Sunday School organisations, through their charitable and recreational ancillaries, through the popularity of religious festivals, through missions and street campaigns, and, indirectly but significantly,
30 D. Entwistle, ‘“Hope, Colour, and Comradeship”: Loyalty and Opportunism in Early Twentieth-Century Church Attendance Among the Working Class in North-West England’, The Journal of Religious History 25(2001), 20-38, (p. 37). 31 E. Roberts, A Women’s Place: An Oral History of Working-Class Women 1890–1940 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1984) and H. McLeod, ‘New Perspectives on Victorian Class Religion: The Oral Evidence’, Oral History, 14(1986), 31- 49. 32 S. Williams, ‘The Problem of Belief: The Place of Oral History in the Study of Popular Religion’, Oral History, 24(1996), 27-34, (p. 29). 33 Brown, The Death of Christian Britain, p. 11.
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through the increasing proportion of women in most congregations, aspects of the Gospel message touched enormous numbers even of the working-class population.34
As these authors have suggested, the use of statistics alone does not reveal the true patterns of religious belief and practice. This has led many to the conclusion that the population was irreligious due to poor church attendance. Scholars have asserted that other methods are required to assess the importance of religious belief in order to reach a more nuanced conclusion.
It has also been suggested that during the twentieth century there was a growing belief that it was not essential to attend church to be considered a Christian. Williams found that many in Southwark thought that religious absence
from regular church services was not a product of ‘unbelief’ but rather the assertion of a different set of criteria in which their ideal of the true believer and of a genuine religion remained independent of the authority of the church as the arbiter of true morality.35
She proposed that many people believed that by sending to their children to Sunday school, and teaching them to pray and to say grace before meals, or even by simply being a ‘good’ neighbour themselves, they would be viewed in the local community as being religious.36
Brown argued that families expressed their religious faith not in terms of church attendance but in the form of family rituals such as marriage, baptism, and the attendance of children at
Sunday school.37 Wolffe similarly concluded that many would profess themselves to be a committed Christian even if they had no direct association with a church.38 Snape also stated that through the Sunday schools, elementary schools, and the churches’ numerous youth and charitable organisations, a ‘diffusive Christianity’ emerged among the working classes.39
34 D. Reid, ‘Playing and Praying’, in The Cambridge Urban History of Britain Volume III: 1840–1950, ed. by M. Daunton (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp. 745-808 (p. 800). 35 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark, p. 165. 36 Ibid., p. 165. 37 Brown, The Death of Christian Britain, p. 187. 38 Wolffe, God and Greater Britain, p. 9. 39 Snape, God and the British Soldier, p. 23.
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This manifested itself not in church attendance but adherence to a ‘moral code’.40
Therefore, these findings demonstrate that what was considered to be religious varied widely within the population. While some felt regular church attendance demonstrated their piety, others felt that adhering to Christian moral principles and sending their children to
Sunday school confirmed their religious standing.
These developments in recent years have led historians to question the perception that the working classes were irreligious. Wickham and Inglis laid the foundations for the myth that lower levels of church attendance in industrial towns were a result of working- class alienation from the churches.41 They suggested that the working classes were estranged from the churches and were irreligious.42 Their conclusions have proved remarkably enduring. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, studies of urban communities seemingly ignored religion as it was seen as irrelevant.43 Edward Norman stated, ‘Church leaders of the mid-century continued to build more churches in the populous districts, and the masses continued to decline to attend them.’44 Brian Harrison proposed that Christian campaigns against drinking and cruel sports generated hostility towards the churches within working-class communities.45 Standish Meacham likewise argued that the great majority of this class was hostile to organised religion and that the attempts of the churches to reach them were a failure.46 Robert Currie, Alan Gilbert, and Lee Horsley also suggested that the absence of the working classes from the churches was evidence of the churches’ failure to
40 Ibid., p. 23. 41 E. Wickham, Church and People in an Industrial City (London: Lutterworth Press, 1957) and Inglis, Churches and the Working Classes in Victorian England. 42 Inglis, Churches and the Working Classes, p. 20 and Wickham, Church and People in an Industrial City, p. 14. 43 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark, p. 3. 44 E. Norman, Church and Society in England 1770–1970: A Historical Study (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976), p. 124. 45 B. Harrison, ‘Religion and Recreation in Victorian England’, Past and Present, 38(1967), 98-125 (pp. 121-122). 46 S. Meacham, ‘The Church in the Victorian City’, Victorian Studies, 11(1968), 359-378 (p. 360).
15 recruit members.47 The simplistic conclusion that church attendance was a marker of religious belief led many historians to conclude that this was indicative of an irreligious working class. This perspective went unchallenged for many years.
By the end 1970s, however, historians began to question the extent to which the working classes were unbelieving. One of the key shifts in the historiography of British religion that shifted thinking on this debate was the publication of Hugh McLeod’s Class and
Religion in the Late Victorian City (1974). His work moved the debate from a simplistic emphasis on church attendance as a marker of religious piety to a more thorough and reflective understanding of working-class religion. He contended that class produced religious differentiation rather than being an indicator of piety.48 Ainsworth likewise challenged the myth of the irreligious working class with his study of religion and politics in
Lancashire. He wrote:
Ideas, beliefs and practices of a basically religious nature seem more widespread than often thought, and intimately related to working class conditions of life. In like fashion, although working men felt hostile to what they saw as the wheeling-dealing and nepotism of the churches and their representatives, we would be wrong in assuming that this was an indication of irreligion or that the churches had but little or no impact upon working class lives. The influence of the chapel in Lancashire communities was often extensive. It became in places a genuine focus of social life, an economic, political, educational and recreational, as well as religious institution.49
The debate concerning working-class religiosity developed hugely with the publications of the above-mentioned works, and Jeffery Cox’s study of Lambeth demonstrated the crucial role the Victorian churches played in working-class society.50 The work of these scholars led
47 R. Currie, A. Gilbert, and L. Horsley, Churches and Churchgoers: Patterns of Church Growth in the British Isles since 1700 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), pp. 116-122. 48 H. McLeod, Class and Religion in the Late Victorian City (London: Archon Books, 1974), p. 281. 49 A. Ainsworth, ‘Religion in the Working Class Community, and the Evolution of Socialism in the Late Nineteenth Century Lancashire: A Case of Working Class Conscious’, Historie Sociale, 10(1977), 354-80, (p. 361). 50 J. Cox, The English Churches in a Secular Society: Lambeth 1870–1914 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982).
16 the debate away from the simplistic interpretation that the working classes were indifferent to the churches and religion.
A growing interest in oral history has further enhanced historical scholarship regarding individual religious belief. For instance, Paul Thompson’s and Elizabeth Roberts’s oral interviews demonstrated that working-class religion expressed itself in many different forms, not just in church attendance.51 Roberts concluded from her interviews that religion was an integral part of working-class culture despite church attendance varying.52 These developments have signified an era of ‘revisionist’ scholarship, which has meant that many historians no longer confuse the inward spiritual condition with ‘formal’ outward signs.53
Many have embraced oral interviews and used them alongside other historical sources such as autobiographies and ephemera to produce more nuanced accounts of the role of religion in working-class life. For example, Green, using the records of the churches, church periodicals, and local newspapers, found that ‘the image of the aloof churches and an alienated people […] is largely false’.54 Williams’s comprehensive study of popular religious belief in Southwark demonstrated that the working classes were far from irreligious. She suggested that working-class religion ‘drew on elements, images, and ideals of church-based religion, but these were appropriated, reinterpreted, and internalized in a distinctly popular manner in combination with folk idiom’.55 Entwistle argued that contributions the churches and chapels made in working-class communities should not be underestimated.56 She concluded that ‘the roles which church members played extended their opportunities and
51 P. Thompson, The Edwardians: The Remaking of British Society 2nd edn (London: Routledge, 1992) and Roberts, A Woman’s Place. 52 Roberts, A Woman’s Place, pp. 1-10. 53 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture, p. 3. 54 S. J. D. Green, Religion in the Age of Decline: Organization and Experience in Industrial Yorkshire, 1870–1920 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 22. 55 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture, p. 164. 56 Entwistle, ‘“Hope, Colour, and Comradeship”’, p. 38.
17 their sense of worth, as well as providing a ready-made social group bound by shared values’.57 The work of these historians has demonstrated that the churches were important in working-class culture and religion. The working classes were not irreligious, as Wickham and Inglis suggested.
Scholars have also debated the extent to which class affected Sunday school attendance and teaching. Edward Thompson argued that Sunday schools were largely tools of the upper echelons of society that were used to control the working classes and produce the next generation of ‘docile’ workers.58 He suggested that this was achieved by factory and mill owners, who ensured their child labourers attended on the Sabbath.59 Other scholars have disputed these claims. For example, Thomas Laqueur’s monograph is a continuous attack on Thompson’s premise that the Sunday schools were tools of middle-class control.60
He claimed that in Thompson’s work ‘genuine religious motivation for Sunday school attendance is ruled out by the prevailing interpretation which pictures the working classes as wantonly and hopelessly irreligious’.61 Laqueur proposed instead that many of those involved in teaching and leading the schools were working class and that is why they were so successful.62 He also suggested that the schools were exclusively attended by children of working-class parents.63 The work of these authors demonstrated the pervasive influence of the schools in the lives of this section of the population.
57 Ibid., p. 38. 58 E. P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working-Class (London: Pantheon Books, 1963), pp. 412-416. 59 Ibid., p. 346. 60 T. Laqueur, Religion and Respectability: Sunday Schools and Working Class Culture 1780-1850 (London: Yale University Press, 1976). 61 Ibid., p. 147. 62 Ibid., p. 189. 63 Ibid., p. 87.
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The research of these scholars has been built upon and challenged in recent years.
Green strongly disagreed with Thompson’s conclusion that the schools were tools of manipulation and oppressive for those who attended. He argued:
Sunday schools invariably offered their pupils something more than just a cut-price initiation into literacy and numeracy. And they always furnished more than a miserable lesson in social subordination for the children of the working classes…the very variety of their motives and, of the purposes of others in keeping them there, should alert subsequent investigators against any facile interpretation of Sunday schools as monolithic instruments of ‘social control’. 64
Through his research he found that working-class contemporaries believed that the schools offered opportunities to develop talents they could not have developed elsewhere and sustained a mentality of self-help.65 MacKenzie likewise suggested that Sunday school prizes and libraries helped to distribute books among the working classes which would not have been available otherwise.66 This helped to widen their reading opportunities and form their reading habits.67 Additionally, the schools were the only opportunity for many working-class people to participate in musical education, performance, and composition.68 This research demonstrated that Thompson’s conclusions were limited and simplistic. Sunday schools were an important part of working-class life, offering opportunities for self-improvement and vital support during the process.
However, other scholars have challenged Laqueur’s vision of exclusively working- class Sunday schools. Dick, Joyce, and Snell have raised doubts about how independent the schools were from middle- and upper-class control.69 In particular, they took issue with
64 Ibid., p. 215 and p. 216. 65 Green, Religion in the Age of Decline, p. 215. 66 J. MacKenzie, Propaganda and Empire: The Manipulation of British Public Opinion 1880–1960 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984), p. 206. 67 Ibid., p. 206. 68 Laqueur, Religion and Respectability, p. 177. 69 M. Dick, ‘The Myth of the Working-Class Sunday School’, History of Education, 9(1980), 27-41; P. Joyce, Work, Society and Politics: Culture of the Factory in Later Victorian England (London, 1980), 246-248 and K. Snell, ‘The Sunday-School Movement in England and Wales: Child Labour, Denominational Control and Working Class Culture’, Past and Present, 164(1999), 122-168, (p.133).
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Laqueur’s claim that the schools were creations of working-class communities and grew out of that class.70 Dick argued that the evidence used by Laqueur was insufficient to support his claims.71 He concluded that ‘generally Sunday schools were evangelical and conservative institutions, promoted and staffed by individuals from social classes which were higher than those of the scholars who attended them’.72 Joyce similarly suggested that middle-class ideas and funding were fundamental to some schools.73 Snell concluded that the large majority of those who attended Sunday schools were from the working classes, given the schools’ concentration on poorer pupils.74 He also contended that it was probable that teachers were also drawn from the working classes, but not to the extent that Laqueur proposed.75
Francis Thompson argued that in late Victorian society it was unusual for a child, of whatever social class, not to attend Sunday school.76 This suggests that the majority of working-class children did attend a Sunday school at some point in their childhood. But
Sunday schools were not as exclusively working class in leadership and attendance as
Laqueur suggested. On the other hand, the work of these authors demonstrated the significant role Sunday schools played in shaping working-class culture and life, dispelling the myth that religion did not matter to this social class.
Yet, despite the importance of religion in the lives of the vast majority of the population, the historiography of British Christianity has largely focused upon secularisation and its causes. McLeod identified four approaches in the literature concerning this debate.
The first, ‘the march of science’ approach, argued that secularisation was the result of
70 Laqueur, Religion and Respectability, pp. xi-xii and p. 189. 71 Dick, ‘The Myth of the Working-Class Sunday School’, p. 36. 72 Ibid., p. 36. 73 Joyce, Work, Society and Politics, pp. 178-179 and pp. 247-248. 74 Snell, ‘The Sunday-School Movement in England and Wales’, p. 163. 75 Ibid., pp. 163-164. 76 F. M. L. Thompson, The Rise of Respectable Society: A Social History of Victorian Britain, 1830–1900 (London: Harvard University Press, 1988), p. 140.
20 intellectual development, such as historical criticism of the Bible and the tension of science and religion.77 The second approach, ‘modernisation’, saw a direct link between the rise of industry and the decline of religion.78 A third group of historians have interpreted
‘postmodernity’ as a cause of secularisation, suggesting that the decline of the churches only occurred in the later 1950s and 1960s with the revolution in women’s self-understanding and the rise of youth culture.79 The fourth approach, ‘selling God’, according to McLeod, suggested that secularisation was not inevitable but was a consequence of the failure of the strategies the churches used or was the result of the churches refusing to use any strategies at all.80 McLeod’s categorisation of the approaches to secularisation are useful as they demonstrate how this debate has shifted over time.
‘Modernisation’ and ‘postmodernity’ approaches have had the greatest influence on the historiography of religion in recent years. ‘Modernisation’ is often equated with secularisation. Scholars have argued that religious belief and practice were not an identifiable feature of industrialised and urban society. Wickham’s study of Sheffield was foundational in establishing this metanarrative. Wickham combined contemporary clerical commentary with available statistics and as a result painted a gloomy picture of the state of religious belief and practice in the cities.81 He claimed:
From the emergence of the industrial towns in the eighteenth century, the working class, the labouring poor, the common people, as a class, substantially as adults have been outside the churches. The industrial working class culture pattern has evolved lacking a tradition of practice of religion.82
77 McLeod, Secularisation in Western Europe, 1848–1914 (London: Palgrave, 2000), pp. 5-6. 78 Ibid., p. 6. 79 Ibid., p. 8. 80 Ibid., p. 9. 81 Wickham, Church and People in an Industrial City. 82 Ibid., p. 14.
21
Wickham’s claims were quoted approvingly by Inglis and Gilbert, who similarly concluded that modernisation made secularisation inevitable.83
Yet as Brown suggested, Wickham and others have relied heavily on middle-class commentary, which was pessimistic in regard to working-class attendance at church services in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.84 Churches from the 1780s onwards constantly complained about the attendance of the lower orders.85 McLeod suggested that contemporary eighteenth-century letters and literature about poor attendance of the lower classes should be used with extreme caution. He stated that ‘one may suspect that the picture was overdrawn for the benefit of the intended audience of politicians, businessmen and landowners, who had to be persuaded to channel money in the churches’ direction’.86 Nonetheless, as he suggested, the complaints added to the cases of Wickham and Inglis, who used the national census of religious worship in 1851 as
‘hard’ evidence of low working-class church attendance.87 From this point onwards the myth of the irreligious city was a hallmark in scholarship for much of the 1960s and
1970s.
However, the inevitability of secularisation as a result of modernisation has been doubted. Currie, Horsley, and Gilbert’s statistical study of religious practice demonstrated that attendance figures fluctuated wildly, which did not support the theory that modernisation led directly to secularisation.88 It was Jeffrey Cox who provided the first powerful opposition to this myth. He criticised the idea that
83 Inglis, Churches and the Working Classes in Victorian England and Gilbert, Religion and Society in Industrial England. 84 Brown, The Death of Christian Britain, pp. 26-27. 85 C. Brown, The People in the Pews: Religion and Society in Scotland since 1780 (Dundee: Economic & Social History Society of Scotland, 1993), p. 26. 86 McLeod, Religion and Irreligion in Victorian England (Bangor: Plantagenet Press, 1993), p. 3. 87 Ibid., p. 3. 88 J. Morris, ‘The Strange Death of Christian Britain: Another Look at the Secularization Debate’, The Historical Journal, 46(2003), 963-976, (p. 966).
22 secularisation was inevitable due to industrialisation and urbanisation.89 Other revisionist historians, such as McLeod and Williams, additionally demonstrated that urbanised areas and cities were far from irreligious.90 Smith’s study of Oldham demonstrated high levels of working-class participation in the churches, dismissing the claim that cities were
‘unholy’.91 Williams argued that working-class families regarded sending one family member to church or Sunday school as an expression of their religious faith.92 Hugh
McLeod’s research even suggested that modernisation often favoured religious growth.93
This revisionist scholarship provided substantial evidence that modernity and secularisation were not as closely linked as Wickham, Inglis, and others suggested.
The ‘postmodernity’ approach tried to pinpoint when religious decline began.
Proponents of this perspective suggested that the position of the churches remained prominent throughout the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth but deteriorated in the late 1950s and 1960s.94 Callum Brown is the strongest proponent of this view. His work The Death of Christian Britain (2001) demonstrated the powerful influence of Christianity in society throughout the twentieth century.95 He also proposed that the churches lost this influence in the 1960s due to the ‘simultaneous de- pietisation of femininity and de-feminisation of piety’.96 Brown claimed that Christianity was a woman’s world, as women provided the largest numbers of volunteers and church attenders.97 He contended that the cultural revolution of the 1950s and 1960s
89 Cox, The English Churches in a Secular Society, pp. 9-20. 90 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark and H. McLeod, Piety and Poverty: Working Class Religion in Berlin, London and New York, 1870–1914 (London: Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1996). 91 M. A. Smith, Religion in Industrial Society: Oldham and Saddleworth, 1740-1865 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994). 92 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark, p. 126-162. 93 McLeod, Piety and Poverty, p. 204. 94 McLeod, Secularisation in Western Europe, p. 7. 95 Brown, The Death of Christian Britain, pp. 115-144. 96 Ibid., p. 192. 97 Ibid., p. 183.
23 freed ‘female respectability’ from its religious constraints, meaning that women stopped identifying with church and as a result so did the men.98 Men did not feel the need to
‘keep up appearances’ in the pews as their ‘religious partners’ no longer required chaperoning to the churches they were no longer attending.99 Combined with the rejection of conventional religious culture — respectability, observance of the Sabbath, and sobriety — the churches’ dominant position in culture was bypassed.100 For Brown, secularisation occurred abruptly rather than gradually.
On the other hand, some scholars have asserted that secularisation was more of a gradual process. Proponents of this approach argued that the influence of religion in society gradually declined over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, culminating in the cultural revolution of the 1960s. McLeod disputed the revolutionary account of secularisation in his monograph The Religious Crisis of the 1960s (2007). He contended that the developments of the 1960s were firmly grounded in long-term trends of religious decline.101 McLeod also disagreed with Brown’s emphasis on the changing role and identity of women as a direct cause of secularisation, as he believed it was too specific a factor to explain the crisis.102 Green likewise disagreed with Brown’s thesis.
He claimed that ‘it would be a huge mistake to identify the causes of implosion solely in contemporary developments’.103 Field concluded that in quantitative terms secularisation in Britain should be seen as a protracted and progressive process rather than an abrupt and sudden event in the 1960s.104 This suggests that religious decline was a process of
98 Ibid., p. 192. 99 Ibid., p. 192. 100 Ibid., p. 190. 101 H. McLeod, The Religious Crisis of the 1960s (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 13-14, 16 and Chapters 2 and 3. 102 Ibid., p. 259. 103 S. J. D. Green, The Passing of Protestant England: Secularisation and Social Change, c. 1920–1960 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 313. 104 Field, ‘Gradualist or Revolutionary Secularization?’, pp. 92-93.
24 great complexity, demonstrating that a variety of causes need to be considered by historians to avoid oversimplification.
The debate concerning secularisation has also extended into scholarship concerning the First World War. The historiography concerning religion and war was dominated, until recently, by a pessimistic tone. It was claimed that the war was a catastrophic event for the churches, which they failed to respond to and which ultimately led to the population leaving the pews. Wickham was one of the first scholars to set the tone for this debate. He believed that the churches’ major shortcoming in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was ‘a failure of prophecy, a failure to understand and interpret the phase of history into which the age had come’.105 This, in Wickham’s opinion, left the Christian laity morally and intellectually unprepared:
The First World War raised the question of Providence, of the relation of God to History and of his character and very existence, in perhaps the most acute way that has ever happened, and certainly in the most public way. Not merely with religious men and serious thinkers, but quite literally with every Tom, Dick and Harry. Questions were wrung out of people that only a prophetic Christianity at close grips with the secular problems of the age had the slightest chance of meeting. And the word was not forthcoming.106
His conclusions suggest that the churches failed to provide the answers to the valid questions that were raised by the conflict. According to Wickham, they blundered around trying to fix the problems they had created by not teaching the laity correctly.
A trio of scholars further added to this gloomy picture. Stuart Mews’s unpublished doctoral thesis suggested that the churches made a disastrous calculation in their unequivocal support for the conflict.107 Mews claimed:
When the immediate post-war euphoria had been dissipated and things returned as near to normal as was possible, it became only too apparent that the churches as a
105 Wickham, Church and People in an Industrial City, p. 191. 106 Ibid., p. 204. 107 S. Mews, ‘Religion and English Society in the First World War’ (Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1973).
25
whole had been either unable or unwilling to adapt either their habits to changed circumstances or their minds to a changed world.108
Failure of the churches, particularly the Church of England, is a constant theme throughout
Mews’s thesis. For example, one chapter is entitled ‘A Sorry Spectacle’, in which he highlighted what he believed to be the failure of the Church of England to respond effectively to the conflict.109
Marrin claimed that the war was the Church of England’s ‘last crusade’.110 He suggested that after the First World War in Britain ‘the loss of faith, compounded by the irrationalism and bloodlust of the tub-thumping German-haters, drove hitherto devote churchgoers from the fold and prevented new ones from coming in’.111 Alan Wilkinson also believed that the First World War was catastrophic for the Church of England. He argued:
Though the Church did not fully realize it at the time, the war created a situation in some ways as catastrophic as that which faced the Jews during and after the exile in Babylon […] the majority of clerical reactions to the war came from people who were far removed from its daily actuality. After the war the Church was an obvious target.112
At the time these authors wrote, their research was groundbreaking. Little had been written about the conflict and its impact on religious belief. However, Wilkinson took the rhetoric in material written during the 1930s at face value.113 For example, he quoted from
Caroline Playne’s Society at War (1931), which was highly critical of the Church of England and its clergy.114 Marrin also used Playne’s conclusions to illustrate his argument that
Anglican chaplains performed poorly at the fighting front.115 Both historians took her
108 Ibid., p. 340. 109 Ibid., pp. 50-72. 110 A. Marrin, The Last Crusade: The Church of England and the First World War (Durham: Duke University Press, 1974). 111 Ibid., p. 210. 112 A. Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 1976), p. 230. 113 S. Bell, ‘The Church and the First World War’, in God and War: The Church of England and Armed Conflict in the Twentieth Century, ed. by S. G. Parker and T. Lawson (London: Routledge, 2012), pp. 33-60 (p. 34). 114 Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, pp. 230-231. 115 Marrin, The Last Crusade, pp. 208-209.
26 comments as indisputably accurate. As Stuart Bell suggest authors writing in the 1930s could say little that was positive about the conflict.116 Yet, despite the problematic conclusions of these scholars, they laid the foundations for the idea that the war ‘killed’ God, to which some still subscribe.
The rhetoric of Mews, Marrin, and Wilkinson was omnipresent throughout the historiography concerning the First World War and religion. The conclusions of these scholars were taken at face value and frequently referenced to with approval by others. For example, Stevenson concluded:
All the churches lost ground substantially during the Great War. Conventionally this has been seen as a direct result of the effects of the horror and carnage of the war, the association of many churchmen with bellicose patriotism, and the disruption of traditional communities and values by the experience of mass soldiering.117
Dewey argued that there was widespread disappointment at the response of the churches to the war and that this resulted in the notable advance of agnosticism and atheism.118 Pugh likewise claimed:
In effect the churches had turned themselves into instruments of the state and their clergy into recruiting sergeants; and in the 1920s they found it difficult to establish their distance from the state, not least because clergymen often joined in puritanical attacks on the leisure activities and looser moral behaviour of young people […] the churches never really recovered from the role they had played as agents of official propaganda during the Great War.119
Philip Jenkins’ recent work has suggested that in the long term the war ‘destroyed one religious world and created another’.120 Likewise, Diarmaid MacCulloch has referred to the conflict as ‘A War That Killed Christendom’.121 For these scholars the war marked an age of
116 Bell, The Church and First World War, p. 34. 117 J. Stevenson, The Penguin Social History of Britain: British Society 1914–1945 (London: Penguin Books, 1984), p. 357. 118 P. Dewey, War and Progress: Britain 1914–1945 (London: Routledge, 1997), p. 188. 119 M. Pugh, We Danced All Night: A Social History of Britain between the Wars (London: Vintage, 2009), p. 7. 120 P. Jenkins, The Great and Holy War: How World War I Changed Religion For Ever (Oxford: Lion Books, 2014), p. 377. 121 D. MacCulloch, A History of Christianity (London: Penguin Books, 2010), p. 915.
27 decline. Their conclusions suggest that the churches and religion became irrelevant for much of the population when the conflict ended.
However, in recent years this position has been questioned. Scholars have challenged this myth, demonstrating that religion played a significant role in the lives of the vast majority of the population throughout and beyond the conflict.122 Williams’s work on popular religion in Southwark shook the foundations of the myth which said that religion mattered little to the population during and after the conflict. Her research has demonstrated that religious organisations played a vital role in supporting local communities throughout the war.123 For example, religious missions, such as the South East London
Mission, were the focus of female comradeship during the war.124 They provided a forum where women could access much needed support and prayer.125 The meetings were dearly appreciated by both the organisers and attendees.126 Other scholars have also found that religion played a central role in society during and after the war. Reid has claimed that
‘despite the common assumption that the world wars had a devastating effect on religious adherence, the later 1940s represented no particular landmark in Christian belief or church attendance’.127 Snape and Parker argued that Britain
remained identifiably and self-consciously Christian between 1914-1945. Throughout this period Christian moral values continued to exert a strong and defining influence on British society, a fact evinced by the Abdication Crisis of 1936, and one that was also manifest in the country’s laws on homosexuality, abortion and Sabbath day observance.128
122 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark; Brown, The Death of Christian Britain and Snape, God and the British Soldier. 123 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark, pp. 126-162. 124 Ibid., p.157. 125 Ibid., p.157. 126 Ibid., p.157-8. 127 Reid, Playing and Praying, p. 806. 128 M. Snape and S. G. Parker, ‘Keeping Faith and Coping: Belief, Popular Religiosity and the British People’ in J. Bourne, P. Liddle and I. Whitehead (eds.), The Great World War 1914-45: Volume II Who Won? Who Lost? (London, 2001), pp. 397-420, (pp. 400-401).
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Mark Connelly similarly concluded that religion played a significant part in the lives of the vast majority of the British population.129 He believed this was evidenced in the iconography of war memorials:
Christian imagery quite naturally dominated and the cross was a key feature of most memorials. Not only was it the symbol of triumph over death, the promise of everlasting life, but it was also associated with the physical nature of the war on the Western Front; calvaries dotted France and Belgium and were remarked upon by soldiers and observers.130
This demonstrated that the war did not have a devastating effect on religion. On the contrary, religion played a significant role in British society throughout the period from 1900 to 1939.
Historians have also debated the religiosity of the British Tommy. Wilkinson, in particular, took The Army and Religion (1919) at face value, and concluded that the average
British soldier had not grasped the Christian faith.131 He quoted Neville Talbot’s now infamous statement ‘The soldier has got religion, I am not sure that he has got
Christianity’.132 He claimed this was evidenced in the immoral behaviour of soldiers but also in their lack of thinking.133 Others have also suggested that the British Tommies were irreligious. As Schweitzer suggested, writers such as Robert Graves argued that religion was of little value during the war.134 David Silbey, in his monograph concerning working-class enlistment, ignored the important role religion played within this group.135 Alexander
Watson, despite providing a great deal of evidence to the contrary, suggested that the
129 M. Connelly, The Great War, Memory and Ritual: Commemoration in the City and East London, 1916–1939 (Suffolk: Royal Historical Society, 2002), pp. 36-74. 130 Ibid., p. 55. 131 Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, pp. 160-168. 132 Ibid., p. 161. 133 Ibid., p.162. 134 R. Schweitzer, ‘The Cross and the Trenches: Religious Faith and Doubt Among Some British Soldiers on the Western Front’, War and Society, 16(1998), 33-57, (p. 34). 135 D. Silbey, The British Working Class and Enthusiasm for War 1914–1916 (London: Routledge, 2005).
29 average soldier believed in luck more than God.136 He stated that ‘references to God are rarer in British correspondence than in German letters, a fact perhaps reflecting the lesser piety of English society in particular, when compared with that of the Kaiserreich’.137 The conclusions of these scholars and others have contributed to the myths that not only was the British Tommy irreligious but also that the war ‘killed’ God.
Nevertheless, the conclusion that the British soldier was irreligious has been challenged. Again, Williams’s work revealed the importance of religion to the Tommies. She found that hymnody and prayers were a powerful force at the fighting front. Williams argued:
Hymns had the power to arouse strong memories which were closely related to memories of home, the family, and particularly the mother […] hymns drew them together via a common medium through which they were brought in touch emotionally with the world at home […] Praying was surrounded by a similar nostalgia. It is often associated in the oral recollections with a feeling of security, safety, and home. It was a significant and persistent element at turning-points in life and an attitude communicated to future generations.138
Other scholars’ research has also revealed the importance of religion to the British Tommy.
Schweitzer noted that ‘many soldiers sought to communicate with God through reading the
Old and New Testaments, and it is not an exaggeration to state that the Bible was the most widely read book among Great War soldiers’.139 Helen McCartney suggested that through church magazines ‘each soldier was able to continue to play a role in the life of the
Church’.140 She found in her research concerning Liverpool Territorials that a local magazine
136 A. Watson, Enduring the Great War: Combat, Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914–1918 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), pp. 92-100. 137 Ibid., p. 96. 138 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark, pp. 148-149. 139 R. Schweitzer, The Cross and the Trenches: Religious Faith and Doubt among British and American Great War Soldiers (London: Praeger, 2003), p. 31. 140 H. McCartney, Citizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 99
30 produced by Crescent Congregational Church included contributions from all members.141
It had a large readership, and by February 1916, 350 copies were sent abroad each month.142
The most notable challenge to the myth of the irreligious Tommy was Michael
Snape’s monograph concerning religion and the British army. His research established that
Christianity was important throughout the rank and file of the army.143 He concluded that
for the vast majority of soldiers Christianity remained dominant in shaping their moral and spiritual universe. In the latter respect, the predominance of Christianity is evident from the reactions of successive generations of British soldiers to Christian artefacts and iconography…it is clear that hymn singing and personal prayer served as unobtrusive common denominators in religious life.144
The work of these historians demonstrated that the assertion that the British soldier cared little for God is largely false. Religion was a significant force within the rank and file of the army, providing not only a framework that could be used to understand the conflict but also comfort and hope.
Scholarship concerning the period from 1900 to 1939 has concentrated mainly upon social changes during this time. Interwar changes are at the centre of this debate, particularly population growth. Dewey claimed that the war was a defining moment in population history.145 Although population growth had slowed before the war, he argued that the war accelerated the process.146 The decline of fertility and mortality rates during and after the conflict resulted in a further slowing of population growth.147 Stevenson agreed, adding that ‘during the inter-war years the sharpest falls in fertility occurred in the classes which had until then maintained high birth rates’.148 This trend, he proposed, ‘was to
141 Ibid., p. 98. 142 Ibid., p. 98. 143 Snape, God and the British Soldier, pp. 19-58 and pp. 59-82. 144 Ibid., p. 58. 145 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 33. 146 Ibid., p. 33. 147 Ibid., p. 45. 148 Stevenson, Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 149.
31 have profound implications not only for family size, but also living standards, the status of women and children, and attitudes towards home and family’.149 Indeed, and as Dewey argued, the expansion of education, increased infant survival rates, and the introduction of old age pensions led to a waning desire for couples to conceive many children.150 Smaller families were preferred by more and more of the population, and by the outbreak of the
First World War, family sizes had reduced by one fifth compared with the 1870s.151 By 1930 only 10.4 per cent of couples had five or more children, whereas this figure had been
27.5 per cent between 1900 and 1919.152 Smaller families were becoming the norm during the twentieth century.153
The trend of smaller families had an important effect. Stevenson suggested that families became increasingly ‘home-centred’ and ‘privatised’.154 He also claimed that
married couples could now look forward to a longer period living together without younger children to look after and with fewer of them […] to a degree there was a ‘domestication’ of men – a greater involvement by husbands in housework, home improvement and shopping. Leisure activities such as cinema-going, excursions and nights out at the pub were more likely to be shared. Although these tendencies all became more pronounced after 1945 and there were important regional variations, there were significant pointers in these directions before the war.155
Similarly, it has been suggested that married couples were aware that living standards were rising and felt that numerous children threatened these standards.156 Smaller families increasingly meant that more children had a bedroom of their own at some point during their childhood.157 Pugh suggested that as families became smaller, homes were not only less
149 Ibid., p. 143. 150 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 50. 151 Ibid., p. 52. 152 Stevenson, Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 149. 153 M. Anderson, ‘The Social Implications of Demographic Change’, in The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750–1950 Volume II: People and their Environment, ed. by F. M. L. Thompson (Cambridge, 1990), pp. 1-70 (p. 40). 154 Stevenson, Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 166. 155 Ibid., pp. 165-166. 156 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 49. 157 Anderson, ‘The Social Implications of Demographic Change’, p. 41.
32 crowded but were becoming the centre of leisure activities.158 What the conclusions of these authors demonstrated was that family life in Britain was changing. The emphasis of family life was moving towards a more private affair that centred around the home.
Living conditions during this time also improved. During the war, differences between the poor and better off began to narrow.159 With better earnings, nutritional levels for many rose significantly and the quality of diets was maintained despite food shortages.160
Those who were unemployed in the 1930s received, according to Stevenson, the highest level of benefits of any industrialised nation.161 This is not to say that those who were unemployed felt or were comfortably off, but there was an increasing recognition that they needed support. The state was increasingly intervening in the lives of the population, which transformed the lives of many.162 The Old Age Pensions Act (1908) and the National
Insurance Act (1911) were milestones in social policy, and according to Dewey were the foundations of the welfare state.163 These Acts meant that many were freed from the stigma of the Poor Laws, and they provided health and unemployment insurance to large sectors of the population.164 Further Acts were passed to prevent wage exploitation and to reform work in the coal mines.165 Yet these Acts did not eradicate poverty overnight. Studies by contemporaries found that poverty was still omnipresent in English towns and cities. For example, Bowley’s study found that 11 per cent of urban working-class households were living in poverty from 1912 and to the end of 1914, but only 6.5 per cent were doing so from the start of 1923 and to the end 1924.166
158 Pugh, We Danced All Night, p. 197. 159 C. Brown and W. H. Fraser, Britain Since 1707 (London: Routledge, 2013), p. 445. 160 Ibid., p. 445. 161 Stevenson, Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 466. 162 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 11. 163 Ibid., p. 10. 164 Ibid., p. 10. 165 Ibid., p. 11. 166 A. Bowley and M. Hogg, Has Poverty Diminished? (London: P. S. King and Son, 1925), pp. 16-17.
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Nonetheless, and as Boyer suggested, compared with the 1850s this was a large step forward, as some have estimated that in some English towns 20 to 33 per cent of working- class families lived in poverty.167 Additionally, government intervention provided much of the population with greater security. Boyer concluded:
As a result of the adoption of national old age pensions, sickness and unemployment insurance and other social welfare policies, workers in the interwar period had a much better social safety net than had workers in the 1860s. The extension of the Factory Acts and the Trade Boards Act offered more protection to children, women and some males in the labour market, and the reductions in the average work week gave workers more leisure time. The insecurity of work did not diminish much, but, on the whole, the growth of the private economy and government social policy from 1870 to 1938 improved the well-being of the working class.168
Dewey similarly suggested that the government’s social policy resulted in civilian social welfare rising during and after the war.169 Therefore, while government intervention did not end poverty overnight, it did alleviate the suffering of many. As a result, many working-class families did have a better quality of life in regard to finances and health.
Throughout this period, the government’s social reforms slowly replaced what the churches had traditionally provided for those less well off in society. As previously discussed, the churches engaged in various charitable endeavours, but the government did not. They offered education through charity schools, day schools, Sunday schools, and Bible classes. Churches also ran mothers’ meetings, soup kitchens, crèches, clothing clubs, lending libraries, and other services.170 For many of those living in poverty, these acts of Christian service made a significant difference in their difficult life circumstances. Brown argued that evangelicalism’s great invention was the voluntary organisation. He claimed that ‘it turned
167 G. Bower, ‘Living Standards, 1860–1939’, in The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain Volume II: Economic Maturity, 1860–1939, ed. by R. Floud and P. Johnson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 280-313 (p. 313). 168 Ibid, p. 313. 169 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 37. 170 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service, p. 19.
34 the elite organisation of eighteenth-century charity into the backbone of urban-industrial society, providing spiritual, educational, recreational, evangelising and moralising opportunities for the whole population’.171 Prochaska concluded that the churches’ charitable provision
not only made life more bearable and human, but propelled those traditions of free association that are thought to be essential to the creation of a vibrant democracy. Voluntary bodies gave a voice to those who were excluded, or felt excluded, from the political nation: minorities, dissenters, women and the working classes.172
This again demonstrates the central role the churches occupied in society. They were often the primary social caregiver, providing many struggling working-class families with essential resources so that they could survive and even thrive.
However, the churches’ position as the principal caregiver slowly ebbed away, and the government increasingly intervened in the lives of the population. Prochaska observed that ‘while central government was little noticed in the 1850s, the tendrils of the state were everywhere to be seen a century later, from the local surgery to the unemployment office on the high street’.173 For example, in the 1900s public authorities spent less than 8 per cent of their gross domestic product on services.174 By 1960 this had increased to over 50 per cent.175 As Harris suggested,
Englishmen in the 1900s greatly admired their country's system of government, but on the whole expected it to do very little. By the 1960s they were much more critical of the whole range of governmental institutions; but their expectations of and demands upon government were incomparably more ambitious than they had been half a century before.176
171 Brown, The Death of Christian Britain, p. 45. 172 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service, p. 4. 173 Ibid., p. 148. 174 J. Harris, ‘Society and the State in Twentieth-Century Britain’, in The Cambridge Social History of Britain 1750–1950 Volume III: Social Agencies and Institutions, ed. by F.M.L. Thompson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 63-118 (p. 64). 175 Ibid., p. 64. 176 Ibid., p. 64.
35
Likewise, Prochaska claimed:
In a national culture dominated by Christianity, they commonly believed that poverty was ineradicable, yet they sought its amelioration through voluntary service. A century later, most Britons believed poverty could be abolished, but that responsibility for welfare provision resided in the political process.177
Therefore, throughout the twentieth century the provision of social care moved from the churches to the government. There was an increasing expectation that the state would provide for its citizens who needed help.
Some scholars have asserted that this change was prompted by the churches and their leadership. Reid observed:
The churches’ increasing stress on the necessity of social reform meant that it came to be seen as a Christian’s duty to pursue it, but by the end of the nineteenth century there were more effective channels for ‘social service’ than philanthropy, namely local sanitary boards, municipal councils, school boards and local education authorities.178
Similarly, Prochaska suggested that the churches were enthusiastic about increasing government intervention, believing that the state was fulfilling ‘the law of Christ’.179 It has also been contended that the churches’ support for state provision contributed to their decline. Green argued that state intervention improved the conditions of much of the population, creating more self-sufficient households.180 He concluded that this combination was potentially fatal for religious organisations, as what they had traditionally provided for society was increasingly mediated by government.181 Likewise, Reid suggested that:
Nonconformity was a victim of its own political success […] youngsters growing up in the last years of the nineteenth century saw less and less point in nonconformity in a society which had eradicated most of their civic and religious grievances’.182
177 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service, pp. 148-149. 178 Reid, ‘Playing and Praying’, p. 802. 179 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service, p. 151. 180 Green, Religion in the Age of Decline, p. 288. 181 Ibid., p. 288. 182 Reid, ‘Playing and Praying’, p. 802.
36
The work of these scholars therefore suggested that the churches were increasingly marginalised from the work they had pioneered throughout the twentieth century. This shift made it harder for the churches to reach out to the population, but it was not impossible.
For example, increasing government intervention in areas of social need, such as housing, reflected the lessening influence of the churches. The Housing Acts of the interwar years improved the quality of the living standards of much of the population. As Dewey noted,
[B]etween the wars, the state intervened for the first time on a large scale in the provision of housing for the British people. The result was the creation of a new social form, the local authority housing estate; the improvement of a large part of national housing stock; the reduction of slums.183
The stimulus for the reform of housing is generally thought to be the First World War.
Pugh argued that the conflict ‘eventually set the Victorian system on the path to oblivion by triggering an explosion of popular discontent’.184 Rent riots and housing shortages as well as
Lloyd George’s campaign for ‘homes fit for heroes’ forced housing up the political agenda during the interwar years.185 The Housing and Town Planning Act (1919), popularly known as the Addison Act, was a significant milestone. The Act was not only the forerunner for later legislation but also established housing as a national concern.186 Other Acts followed, adding further impetus for new houses to be built to replace slums.187 These Acts did not end overnight the poor living conditions of many. As Dewey argued, ‘[T]he quality of much older urban housing remained poor, rural areas had generally poor housing and amenities, and the slums were by no means vanquished.’188
183 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 178. 184 Pugh, We Danced All Night, p. 59. 185 Ibid., p. 59 and Stevenson, The Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 221. 186 Stevenson, The Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 222. 187 Ibid., pp. 222-223. 188 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 178.
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The Acts did, however, create a boom in house ownership. Pugh observed that ‘as the urban slums were cleared and four million new houses constructed during the 1920s and 1930s, ordinary people began to enjoy domestic amenities previously associated with the wealthy’.189 Over two and half million houses were built for private sales. Relatively cheap ‘semis’ could be bought with deposits as a low as twenty-five pounds and mortgages were available which were well within the reach of many middle- and working-class families.190 As a result, home ownership boomed. Before 1914 scarcely 10 per cent of housing was owner-occupied, yet by 1938 this had risen to 35 per cent.191 This, alongside the trend for smaller families, meant that many had more space and amenities than previously. Increasing owner-occupancy gave further impetus to ‘privatised’ family life, with many opting to entertain themselves at home.192 Government intervention in housing had drastically improved the standard of living for many.
Yet it was not just increasing the government’s social provision which challenged the dominance of the churches in society. The rise of leisure and consumerism also contributed to the decline of religion in Britain. According to Dewey, ‘the reduction in the working week, the slow rise in living standards, and the growth of holidays with pay meant, at least for those in employment, an increase in the demand for ways of filling “leisure” time’.193
Working hours had been reduced during the previous century but long-lasting change came after 1918. As Reid concluded:
The eight-hour day only blossomed after the First World War […] In 1919-20 it swept the country […] Moreover, these gains were long-lasting […] investigations in 1935 and 1938 showed that actual hours worked did not exceed an average forty-eight [during weekdays].194
189 Pugh, We Danced All Night, p. 58. 190 Stevenson, The Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 223. 191 Pugh, We Danced All Night, p. 63. 192 Stevenson, The Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 166-7. 193 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 179. 194 Reid, ‘Playing and Praying’, p. 749.
38
Alongside decreasing working hours came rising real wages. This increase was stimulated by the falling prices of basic commodities.195 The benefits of this spread throughout the family as the household budget now had this new spending power.196
For many families there was more and more disposable income. It was increasingly spent on leisure pursuits and on the home. Dewey claimed:
Between the world wars, the reduction in the average working week and rise in real incomes increased demand for leisure activities. This rising demand was satisfied to some extent by the expansion of existing types of activities, such as the cinema… to some extent it was met by technological innovations of the time, notably the radio and motor vehicle.197
By 1939 there were nine million radio licence holders.198 The ‘Brighter Sunday’ campaign in
1932 resulted in local-option legislation regarding galleries, gardens, cinemas, museums, and zoos.199 Further declines in commodity prices opened the consumer market for durable goods wider than ever before. Bicycles, motorcycles, motorcars, home improvement goods, and gardening supplies were made, and were consumed widely.200 As Stevenson suggested,
‘[E]ven individual leisure choices tended to operate within an increasingly organized and centralized framework. The mass culture was hard to escape, even for the most determinedly individualistic.’201 Therefore, throughout this period pursuing leisure became increasingly easier for a bigger proportion of the population.
Scholars have debated the extent to which this rise of leisure and consumerism contributed to the decline of religion in British society. Stevenson argued that the rise of the leisure led directly to the ‘secular weekend’.202 He claimed:
195 J. Walton, ‘Towns and Consumerism’, in The Cambridge Urban History of Britain Volume III: 1840–1950, ed. by M. Daunton (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp. 715-744 (p. 727). 196 Ibid., p. 727. 197 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 198. 198 Reid, ‘Playing and Praying’, p. 752. 199 Ibid., p. 752. 200 Walton, ‘Towns and Consumerism’, p. 728. 201 Stevenson, The Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 402. 202 Ibid., p. 361.
39
The Sunday afternoon drive was already well established by the late 1930s and few thought it odd that the Bank Holiday weekend should mean as busy a time for the holiday resorts on Sunday as on any other day. For others Sunday was already the day for domestic activities, gardening, home improvement or hobbies. A home- based recreational pattern, by no means confined only to the suburbs, seems to have been one of the major factors undermining regular church attendance.203
Pugh suggested that before the war there had been a protracted struggle between an evangelical minority and a working-class majority as to how leisure time should be spent.204
He concluded that ‘in the long run the combination of additional free time, an increase in purchasing power among the mass of consumers and development of commercial interests had the effect of putting leisure activities largely beyond the control of improvers of British society’.205 Thompson similarly argued that working-class leisure and entertainment became increasingly separate from religious life.206 These scholars contended that religion was gradually replaced with leisure and therefore the churches lost their influence throughout this time period.
Nevertheless, while the rise of the ‘leisure weekend’ certainly contributed to declining church numbers, it was not the only cause. As discussed previously, one explanation of secularisation does not explain the complexity of this decline, it was a gradual process.207 As McLeod suggested, the ‘religious crisis’ of the 1960s ‘did not have any one overriding cause, but […] arose from the cumulative impact of a variety of smaller factors’.208 Leisure did play its part, among other factors. Reid stated:
Initially, at any rate, it is arguable that the decline in religious attendance was more a consequence of apologies than apostasy. In Lambeth, for instance, morning attendances were particularly hit, which suggests that bicycling, or boating or golf were becoming major disincentives to former ‘twicers’. By 1914 motoring was noticed as a factor. In so far as the churches constituted ‘clubs for respectable people’ competing attractions were becoming more powerful […] It was possible to
203 Ibid., p. 361. 204 Pugh, We Danced All Night, p. 216. 205 Ibid., p. 216. 206 Thompson, The Edwardians, p. 245-246. 207 See McLeod, The Religious Crisis of the 1960s and C. Field, ‘Gradualist or Revolutionary Secularization?’. 208 McLeod, The Religious Crisis of the 1960s, p. 259.
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continue to believe in God while not feeling any urgent need to go regularly to church.209
This conclusion supports the research of Sarah Williams and Callum Brown, who suggested that church attendance was increasingly considered not to be necessary to express a person’s religious faith.210 This view, alongside more tempting and affordable leisure pursuits, resulted in more of the population not attending church services on a Sunday. But this is not to say that religion became insignificant. As Reid claimed, ‘[A] diffuse, unaffiliated, religiosity remained widespread.’211
The burden that the churches had to provide education and child welfare was also increasingly mitigated by the government, further challenging the churches’ dominance within society. This was due to an increasing recognition that childhood was a distinct stage in human development. Hugh Cunningham argued that
until the nineteenth century policies had been drawn up with a concern either for the child’s soul or for the future manpower needs of the state. Both of these concerns remained in place in the nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries, but they were joined by a new one, a concern to save children for the enjoyment of childhood.212
This intensifying concern about children’s welfare and happiness was the result of a number of changes. Decreasing child mortality rates and improving life standards meant that more children were surviving to adulthood, so their social and emotional needs began to take priority.213 Paul Thompson suggested that
[w]ith fewer children the home was less likely to be overcrowded, cleanliness was easier, there was more time for individual affection and less need for regimental discipline, and as spare resources increased it became possible for working-class parents to convey affection through giving birthday presents. The gentle, home-
209 Reid, ‘Playing and Praying’, p. 801. 210 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture, p. 165 and Brown, Death of Christian Britain, p. 187. 211 Reid, ‘Playing and Praying’, p. 746. 212 H. Cunningham, Children and Childhood in Western Society Since 1500, 2nd edn (London: Routledge, 2005), p. 137. 213 Stevenson, The Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 244.
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centred working-class family of two or three children already existed in the early twentieth century, and it was to become increasingly common.214
This was evidenced in the concept of childhood becoming fashionable. There was extensive writing about children in parenting magazines and books such as The Mothercare Manual
(1923).215 Society also recognised childhood in terms of the marketing of goods for children, such as clothing and a growing range of toys and games.216 Youth organisations such as the
Boy Scouts, the Boys’ Brigade, and the Girl Guides grew rapidly, doubling their membership from 1913 to 1938.217 Therefore, childhood was becoming increasingly acknowledged as a distinct stage in life and something which was to be enjoyed.
The state recognised that children need to be protected and provided for. This is evidenced in the passing of the Children’s Act in 1908, which gave them greater legal protection. The Act also created juvenile courts and abolished the imprisonment of children.218 As Stevenson concluded, ‘[C]oncern for children, reflected both in personal behaviour and in social policy, was also to make education a central feature of social debate.’219 The churches had traditionally provided free education for much of the population. A combination of Sunday schools, church schools, and cheap private schools meant that the majority of children were already receiving some form of education before the state intervened.220 The Education Act of 1870 established education as a right for every child. However, it was an education with an agenda. Cunningham suggested that:
the state’s purpose in making school compulsory went beyond a desire to ensure every child was taught the three Rs; it wanted to instil morality, and patriotism, and to train children in regular habits. Schools were designed to become a reference point for order.221
214 Thompson, The Edwardians, p. 276. 215 Pugh, We Danced All Night, pp. 196-197. 216 Ibid., pp. 197-198. 217 Stevenson, The Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 245. 218 Ibid., p. 244. 219 Ibid., p. 244. 220 Cunningham, Children and Childhood, p. 158. 221 Cunningham, Children and Childhood, p. 158.
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Education was at this time seen less as an opportunity for personal development than a way in which to mould the next set of workers and citizens.
Further Education Acts were passed throughout the period which placed schools under increasing state control. By 1914 both elementary and secondary education was controlled by local and central government. As Gillian Sutherland concluded, the 1902 Act meant that ‘LEAs, county and county borough councils, were charged with the responsibility for provision of secondary as well as elementary schooling in their areas, with power to build schools where needed’.222 The war also stimulated further reform, resulting in the passing of the 1918 Education Act. This legislation created pension schemes for teachers and raised the school-leaving age to fourteen.223 The effects of various Education Acts passed during the interwar period did lead to some changes. Dewey suggested that:
educational opportunity, in the sense of the availability of forms of education suitable for all who wished to use these opportunities, was increasing (although sometimes from a low starting point) […] the more academically able working- class children were increasingly provided for.224
However, the Acts did not end the problems of the educational system immediately. For example, there were still large differences in educational attainment between working-class children and their wealthier peers. Sutherland concluded:
At the end of the 1930s in England and Wales, the boy with a professional or managerial father was four times as likely to go to grammar school as the boy whose father was a skilled manual worker, and five times as likely to do so as the boy whose father was an unskilled manual worker. The girl whose father was in a professional or managerial occupation was seven times more likely to go to grammar school than the girl whose father was an unskilled manual worker.225
222 G. Sutherland, ‘Education’, in The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750–1950 Volume III: Social Agencies and Institutions, ed. by F. M. L. Thompson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 119-170 (p. 152). 223 Ibid., p. 159 and p. 160. 224 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 155. 225 Sutherland, ‘Education’, pp. 162-163.
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Educational reforms, while making big strides in providing free universal education, failed to close the gaps in attainment between the classes. But schooling provided by the government increasingly dominated the lives of British children throughout the period between 1900 and
1939.
Government intervention, therefore, gradually replaced the churches’ provision of education. It has been argued that the churches’ influence on education practically disappeared in Scotland and was greatly diminished in England and Wales by 1914.226
However, this is a rather pessimistic interpretation. As Obelkevich suggested, the churches continued to be major providers of education, albeit on a smaller scale.227 He argued that the Education Act of 1944 treated religion favourably and also highlighted that both the
Anglican and Roman Catholic churches maintained large school systems.228 Prochaska likewise concluded that the Acts did not have an immediate secularising effect. He observed that a large number of religious schools survived and that most boards continued to offer non-denominational religious lessons.229 He claimed that increasing government intervention simply ended the monopoly of Christian responsibility for the provision of education which was grounded in religion.230 Additionally, he suggested that ‘as an emergent democratic society expected state education to widen, it placed less and less value on evangelical learning’.231 This demonstrated that the Acts marked the expansion of the government into education, which decreased the influence of the churches in this area.
Scholarship has also highlighted the importance of Sunday schools during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. First, statistics have revealed the central role that the
226 W. B. Stephens, Education in Britain 1750–1914 (London, 1998), p. 96. 227 J. Obelkevich, ‘Religion’, in The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750–1950 Volume III: Social Agencies and Institutions, ed. by F. M. L. Thompson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 311-356 (p. 353). 228 Ibid., p. 353. 229 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service, p. 51. 230 Ibid., p. 51. 231 Ibid., p. 52.
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Sunday Schools played in the religious life of the nation. Clive Field’s research estimated that there were 7,074,183 Protestant scholars in 1914.232 He claimed that nine-tenths of the population attended a Sunday school at some point during their lives.233 Similarly, Brown contended that Sunday school attendance was almost obligatory.234 Second, oral histories have further evidenced the importance of the schools in the lives of much of the population.
Entwistle suggested that the majority of those interviewed remembered attending a Sunday school during their childhood.235 Interviewees’ often recalled their Sunday school experience in a positive light.236 Many enjoyed the teaching, treats, and activities run by the schools.237
Others believed the schools stood them in good stead for the rest of their lives.238 Finally, research has also demonstrated the particular importance of the schools in working-class communities. Thomas Laqueur’s work concerning the schools in the Victorian era demonstrated their significance in working-class communities. He argued that ‘the period
1780–1850 witnessed the birth of a working-class culture that was deeply rooted in that ethic of education, religion and respectability which was embodied in the Sunday school’.239
Green concluded that ‘Sunday schools performed a vital, if nebulous, function in spreading at least the flavour of Christian witness to the masses of the population in industrial towns’.240
Likewise, McLeod concluded that ‘the overwhelming majority of working-class children went to Sunday school […] many middle-class children attended Sunday school too’.241 The schools were a significant force in the religious life of much of the population, especially those in working-class communities.
232 C. Field, ‘“The Faith Society”?’, p. 58. 233 Ibid., p. 62. 234 Brown, Death of Christian Britain, p. 169. 235 Entwistle, ‘“Hope, Colour, and Comradeship”’, p. 24. 236 Ibid., p. 36. 237 Ibid., p. 36. 238 Ibid., p. 36. 239 Laqueur, Religion and Respectability, p. 245. 240 Green, Religion in the Age of Decline, p. 215. 241 McLeod, Religion and Society in England, p. 78.
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Moreover, given that the rank and file of the British army were largely recruited from the working classes,242 many soldiers would have attended Sunday school at some point during their childhood. Michael Austin’s research found that many soldiers from one parish in Derby had a connection with the Sunday school.243 Some wrote to members of the congregation and recalled their time at the school with great affection.244 For many soldiers, the time spent at Sunday school had a profound influence upon them. Snape claimed that ordinary soldiers easily identified with the image of the suffering Christ found across the
French countryside, as they had been exposed to similar imagery at Sunday school.245
Similarly, Bar-Yosef argued that the average Tommy used the Bible stories he had learnt at
Sunday school and at home to comprehend the war in Palestine.246 Kitchen further suggested that ‘the men of the EEF had built up grandiose images of the city, a product of any religious education they had received particularly at Sunday school’.247 Williams found in her research that at ‘moments of crisis the remnants of church-based religion taught at
Sunday school took on a particularly powerful role among the men’.248 The hymns learnt at the schools were found to have provided great comfort to the men on the fighting front.249
This research suggests that Sunday schools played a significant role in the lives and religious faith of many British Tommies and helps to dispel the myth that the British army was irreligious.
242 Snape, God and the British Soldier, p. 244. 243 M. Austin, Almost Like a Dream: A Parish at War 1914–1919 (Cardiff: Merton Priory Press, 1999), p. xxxvii- xxxix. 244 Ibid., p. 18. 245 Snape, God and the British, p. 43. 246 E. Bar-Yosef, ‘The Last Crusade? British Propaganda and the Palestine Campaign, 1917-18’ Journal of Contemporary History, 36(2001), 87-109 (p. 106). 247 J. Kitchen, The British Imperial Army in the Middle East: Morale and Military Identity in the Sinai and Palestine Campaigns, 1916-18 (London, 2014), p. 89. 248 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture, p. 148. 249 Ibid., p. 148-149.
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However, while the importance of the schools is acknowledged in the literature, it fails to study them in greater depth. The schools are often used as a backdrop for studies concerning secularisation.250 Additionally, many works concerning the religious faith of the
British Tommy ignore the schools completely.251 Others make generalisations about the significance of the schools but provide little primary evidence for their judgements.
Schweitzer argued that Sunday schools had a great influence among the older members of the war generation.252 Yet he failed to develop this argument in the rest of his monograph.
Wilkinson claimed that ‘as the chaplains discovered, the religion of the average private soldier had been formed in the Sunday and day schools, not by adult worship in church’.253
He did not discuss this point in greater depth, but instead focused on the Church of
England’s leadership. Moreover, historians of childhood have virtually ignored the role of the schools in the lives of British children. This is despite the fact that the vast majority of children would have attended a Sunday school at some point in their childhood.
Cunningham discussed the schools briefly but did little more than state that the schools were widely attended by the working classes and provided some education before government intervention took place.254 De Mause and Heywood did not even discuss the schools, even though they discussed religious education at length.255 This demonstrates that scholars often ignore the schools even though they were a significant force in the lives of the vast majority of British children.
250 For example see Brown, Death of Christian Britain; Field, ‘Gradualist or Revolutionary Secularization?’ and ‘The Faith Society?’. 251 For example see Silbey, The British Working Class and Enthusiasm for War and Jenkins, The Great and Holy War. 252 Schweitzer, The Cross and the Trenches, p. 6. 253 Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, p. 7. 254 Cunningham, Children and Childhood, p. 99 and p. 158. 255 P. Robertson, ‘Home as a Nest: Middle Class Childhood in Nineteenth Century Europe’, in The History of Childhood: The Evolution of Parent-child Relationships as a Factor in History, ed. by L. De Mause (London, 1974), pp. 407-431, (pp. 427-428) and C. Heywood, A History of Childhood: Children and Childhood in the West from Medieval to Modern Times (London: Polity, 2001), pp. 159-165.
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Furthermore, there is a lack of detailed scholarship concerning the schools in the period between 1900 and 1939. Given the significance that is attributed to the schools, it is puzzling why they have not been explored in their own right. Several monographs and articles examine the schools in the Victorian period, but few extend into the twentieth century.256 Thomas Laqueur’s work, while essential reading, is rather outdated compared with the research of Williams and McLeod. The limited number of scholars who have extended their research into this period do not discuss the schools during this time in great detail.257 The impact of the war on the schools, beyond declining attendance, is not explored in the historiography.258 For instance, Prochaska claimed that the sacrifices and demands of the war meant that ‘many people got out of the habit of Sunday observance, and consequently Sunday school attendance’.259 The decline of Sunday school attendance was not, however, as dramatic as Prochaska suggested. Green argued that although there was a steady decline until 1931, this correlated with declining birth rates.260 He suggested that the schools retained their importance in society until the 1960s.261 Therefore, the schools still played a central role in the religious education of much of the population at this time.
Despite this, the literature fails to consider them in the depth needed to fully understand their significance before the outbreak of the Second World War.
When the Sunday schools are briefly discussed in the literature, they are often heavily critiqued. Contemporary criticisms are taken as indisputably accurate, despite being freighted or biased. Wilkinson focused upon the criticisms that the schools received from
256 For example see Laqueur, Religion and Respectability; K. Snell, ‘The Sunday School-Movement in England and Wales’ and Dick, ‘The Myth of the Working-Class Sunday School’. 257 Orchard and J. H. Briggs (eds.), The Sunday School Movement: Studies in the Growth and Decline of Sunday Schools (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2007) and P. Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement in England 1780–1980 (Redhill: National Christian Education Council, 1986). 258 Brown, Death of Christian Britain, pp. 166-168. 259 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service, p. 57. 260 Green, The Passing of Protestant England, p. 71. 261 Ibid., p. 71.
48 church leaders and chaplains. He claimed that ‘army chaplains frequently despaired of the actual results of religious education of the time, as they saw them exemplified in the troops to whom they tried to minister’.262 He argued that the Sunday school ‘was no preparation for the world of the trenches’.263 However, he did not provide any substantial primary material which supported this conclusion. Similarly, Watson took contemporary criticisms of the schools at face value. He concluded that ‘despite the widespread attendance of the
Sunday schools by British children, wartime investigations into soldiers’ faith uncovered remarkable ignorance of Christianity’.264
The effectiveness of the schools has also been critiqued by historians. Jeffrey Cox concluded that the schools were an ineffective tool for imparting religious knowledge, as a result of large classes and a lack of discipline.265 Likewise, Green stated that the teaching at the schools was ‘of course […] rarely sophisticated’.266 These judgements have led to many other scholars simply painting all Sunday schools with the same broad brush. Historians have failed to explore or challenge these problematic conclusions.
Moreover, there has been little consideration either of the experience of scholars and teachers or of how effective scholars and teachers perceived the schools to be. The recent monographs of Naomi Thompson (née Stanton) and Mark Griffiths concerning
Sunday schools reveal some helpful insights about their decline.267 Unlike Thompson and
Griffiths, however, Philip Cliff’s monograph, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School
262 Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, pp. 239-240. 263 Ibid., p. 97. 264 Watson, Enduring the Great War, p. 96. 265 Cox, English Churches in a Secular Society, pp. 95-97. 266 Green, Religion in the Age of Decline, p. 215. 267 M. Griffiths, One Generation from Extinction: How the Church Connects with the Unchurched Child (Oxford: Monarch Books, 2009); N. Stanton, ‘From Raikes’ Revolution to Rigid Institution, Sunday Schools in Twentieth Century England’, in Reflecting on the Past: Essays in the History of Youth and Community Work, ed. by R. Gilchrist and others (Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing, 2011), pp. 71-91 and N. Thompson, Young People and Church Since 1900: Engagement and Exclusion (London: Routledge, 2017).
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Movement in England 1780–1980 (1986), offers a broad insight into the work and operations of the National Sunday School Union. Nevertheless, these authors do not consider the experience of the schools from 1900 to 1939 in great depth. This is a major oversight in the historiography of religion in this period.
Similarly, despite the strength of the literature concerning religion in Britain, there is little that sufficiently explores either the Protestant or the Catholic experience of the First
World War.268 Research has tended to address the experience of church leadership and padres during the war.269 As Field stated, much attention has been given to
religious and theological attitudes to the conflict, and its associated political dimensions, as articulated by Christian leaders and the national religious press; insofar as they consider popular religiosity, they draw disproportionately on The Army and Religion and the proxy testimony of chaplains. The same approach has tended to characterize denominational treatments of the war.270
This focus on the opinions and experience of higher churchmen has rather distorted the historical record. Not until recently have the religious faith and beliefs of the British Tommy been explored.271 This research has predominantly focused on the experience of soldiers on the Western Front. There are snippets concerning religious faith on other fronts, such as
Palestine. However, these are used to demonstrate that the average soldier did not view the campaigns as a ‘crusade’.272
The religious experiences of those at home have also been under researched by historians. However, this started to change with the publication of Robert Beaken’s
268 M. Snape, ‘The Great War’, in The Cambridge History of Christianity: World Christianities c.1914-c.2000, ed. by D. H. McLeod (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 131-50 (p. 131). 269 For example see Marrin, The Last Crusade; Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War; A. Gregory, The Last Great War: British Society and the First World War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008); E. Madigan, Faith under Fire: Anglican Army Chaplains and the Great War (London: Routledge, 2011) and M. Snape and E. Madigan (eds.), The Clergy in Khaki: New Perspectives on British Army Chaplaincy in the First World War (London: Routledge, 2013). 270 C. Field, ‘Keeping the Spiritual Home Fires Burning: Religious Belonging in Britain during the First World War’, War and Society, 33(2014), 244-268 (p. 245). 271 Schweitzer, The Cross and the Trenches; McCartney, Citizen Soldier, pp. 97-99 and Snape, God and the British Soldier. 272 Bar-Yosef, The Last Crusade? and Kitchen, The British Imperial Army in the Middle East.
50 monograph The Church of England and the Home Front (2015) and Stuart Bell’s book Faith in
Conflict (2017).273 Bell’s book revealed the resilience of the faith of not only those on the fighting front but also of those at home.274 His research highlighted the Christian language used by the laity to sublimate the loss of those who died in the conflict.275 He concluded that:
the simple association of those deaths with the sacrifice of Christ, most obviously expressed in the Johanine quotation “Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”, gave comfort to the bereaved, implicitly assuring them that the sacrifices had not been made in vain.276
Similarly, Beaken’s research demonstrated that the First World War, while disruptive for those at home, did not weaken the faith of worshippers.277 It also revealed that the laity believed their efforts to support their local community in wartime Colchester ‘had successfully risen to meet the unparalleled demands of wartime’.278
Furthermore, the historiography has not explored the religious beliefs and practices of the population during the interwar period. Much of the research has focused upon identifying the causes and speed of secularisation.279 For example, Field’s article concerning religious belonging during this period concentrated wholly on statistical patterns rather than on evidence obtained from archives or oral interviews.280 There is a need for research to examine the experiences of the churches and laity during this period, rather than just to rely on statistics and opinions of the higher church leadership. Similarly, the literature has not
273 R. Beaken, The Church of England and the Home Front, 1914–1918: Civilians, Soldiers and Religion in Wartime (London: The Boydell Press, 2015) and Stuart Bell, Faith in Conflict: The Impact of the Great War on the Faith of the People of Britain (Solihull: Helion and Company Limited, 2017). 274 Bell, Faith in Conflict, p. 209. 275 Ibid., pp. 100-129. 276 Ibid., p. 129. 277 Beaken, The Church of England and the Home Front, p. 122. 278 Ibid., p. 122. 279 For example see McLeod, Religious Crisis of the 1960s; Field, ‘Gradualist or Revolutionary Secularization?’, pp. 57-93; Green, Religion in the Age of Decline; Green, The Passing of Protestant England; Brown, Death of Christian Britain and Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service. 280 Field, ‘Gradualist or Revolutionary Secularization?’, pp. 57-93.
51 considered the impact of social changes on the churches and Sunday schools. There is the suggestion that improving living standards and housing conditions, having smaller families, and a shift towards a more private home life resulted in the shift away from the churches and schools.281 However, those who make this claim have not yet provided archival evidence to support this inference.
Research Questions
In light of these oversights in the historiography, this thesis intends to address the
Sunday school as a significant agency of religious socialisation, particularly among the working classes. Furthermore, it aims to draw out the importance of the institution and assess its effectiveness and reach in British society. The literature review has revealed several areas that require further exploration.
First, what impact did the schools have on national life? Historians have suggested that the schools played an important role in the religious life of the nation. Yet beyond this statement there is little exploration as to how and why this may be the case. An examination of their reach numerically and culturally is required. What did leading figures in society think about the schools? What were the perceptions of the schools in society in general?
Second, Thomas Laqueur’s assertion that the schools were exclusively working-class organisations has been heavily contended. Most historians agree that their scholars were largely from the working classes. Therefore, what was the purchase of the Sunday schools on working-class culture? Were the schools popular with the working classes? Why did parents send their children to Sunday school? Did the schools empower their working-class members?
281 Green, The Passing of Protestant England, pp. 261-262 and Reid, Playing and Praying, p. 807.
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Third, how effective were the Sunday schools in achieving their aims? It has been argued by some historians that the schools were ineffective. However, those who attended
Sunday school attributed great importance to the lessons they learnt there. To what extent is the perception of the ineffective Sunday school true? What sort of scholar did the schools produce? Did the time scholars spend at the schools have an impact on them?
Fourth, the First World War has traditionally been portrayed as the conflict which resulted in a widespread loss of faith among the British population. What was the impact of the First World War on the schools? Assessing this would either support or challenge the view that the conflict was the war that ‘killed’ religion. For instance, did the content of teaching materials alter because of the war? Was the war a cause in their decline? It has also been suggested that the schools did not prepare their scholars for challenges on the fighting front. However, this conclusion has been based upon the views of senior churchmen rather than the opinions of teachers and scholars. Did scholars at the front think their time at
Sunday school was beneficial? What was the interaction of the schools with their alumni during the war?
Fifth, what caused the decline of the Sunday schools? The historiography concerning secularisation has tended to focus on the decline of the churches. The schools and the reasons for their decline have generally been overlooked. They have not been examined in their own right. What caused the decline of the Sunday schools? To what extent did social changes and relaxation of Sabbatarian laws contribute to their decline? Did their internal actions contribute to their decline? Did the decline of the schools result in the decline of the churches?
Answers to these questions are developed in six chapters in this thesis to assess the significance and effectiveness of British Sunday schools from 1900 to 1939. Chapter 1,
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‘British Sunday Schools in the Pre-War Era, 1900–1914’, explores the life of the schools before the outbreak of the First World War. To understand the religious world of those who lived through the war, it is crucial to examine the institution that helped to form and shape their faith in their formative years. This chapter will contest the perception that the schools had little impact on those who came through their doors.
Chapter 2, ‘British Sunday Schools and the First World War, 1914–1918’, examines the largely under-researched experience of the schools during the conflict. Studies of the impact of war on religion have tended to focus upon the experience of chaplains and higher churchmen. An assessment of the experience of the schools will add to the growing scholarship concerning the religious life of the home front. It will examine how the schools adapted their work to meet the challenges of wartime.
Chapter 3, ‘The British Forces and the Sunday Schools ,1914–1918’, challenges the perception that Tommy Atkins was irreligious and ignorant of the Christian faith. It will start with a reappraisal of contemporary reports such as The Church in the Furnace (1917) and The
Army and Religion (1919). Consequently, the chapter will consider what Sunday school workers, chaplains, and soldiers thought of the schools.
The inclusion of Chapter 4, ‘British Sunday Schools in Interwar Britain, 1918–1939’, remedies the need for a more detailed history of the schools during this period. It will examine the impact of the immediate post-war years on Sunday schools and how they commemorated their fallen members. This chapter enables an assessment of the impact of the First World War on the schools.
Chapter 5, ‘Teaching, Training, and Reform, 1900–1939’, provides a study of the reforms Sunday school workers attempted to make to improve the schools. This chapter draws upon the underutilised records of the National Sunday School Union (NSSU) and the
54
Church of England’s SSI to discover how the schools sought to professionalise their work. It will argue that Sunday school work was more professional than some have previously suggested.
The final chapter, ‘The Decline of British Sunday Schools’, examines several factors which contributed to the decline of the schools. In studies concerning religious decline the schools are often mentioned but are rarely discussed in depth. This chapter will contest the view that the First World War was a major factor in the decline of the schools, while recognising that it was disruptive for them.
Methodology
This thesis explores the period from 1900 to 1939 to assess the impact of the First
World War on British Sunday schools. As previously elaborated upon, this period in the history of the schools has rarely been explored. It was a pivotal period not only in the history of Sunday schools but also in the history of British Christianity. By extending the years of study to fourteen years prior to the outbreak of the First World War until the outbreak of the Second World War, it is hoped that the impact of the First World War on the schools can be more fully examined. The inclusion of the interwar years also enables an examination of the early impact of increasing welfare provision by the state and of the rise of leisure.
This thesis will primarily focus upon the history of mainstream Protestant Sunday schools. Sunday schools never had the same ideological or numerical strength in the Roman
Catholic Church, with its own well-articulated system of parochial elementary schools. This thesis also examines the experiences of the laity rather than higher churchmen, who have traditionally received more focus.
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A statistical analysis of the schools has also been carried out. The statistical data from Churches and Churchgoers has proved valuable. Additionally, data has been gathered from the records of local Sunday schools as well as from the NSSU to examine patterns of attendance. This data has been converted into graphs to establish trends of attendance.
However, it is important to note that statistics do not reveal the full picture. Therefore, statistics will be used side by side with qualitative material to assess the reach of Sunday schools in British society.
When appropriate, this thesis also explores other Christian groups such as the Boy
Scouts, the Boys’ Life Brigade, and the Girls’ Life Brigade in relation to the running of the schools. However, the history, purpose, and activities of these organisations remain outside the scope of this study.
In Chapter 6, in order to fully assess the impact of the First World War on Sunday schools, material from beyond 1939 has been included. This enables an assessment as to whether Sunday school workers attributed decline in attendance to the First World War and the long-term effects of the conflict on the schools.
Sources
To address the significance of British Sunday schools in the period 1900–1939, a wide range of sources has been consulted. Local archives were chosen from as many geographical areas of the country as possible, so that a broad national picture could be obtained. Archives which had good online catalogues with detailed records of what they contained were utilised. While some schools and churches kept very detailed records, others only recorded a small amount of information. Therefore, the records with more material were used. These sources were then compared with national records such as those of the NSSU and local newspapers on the British Newspaper Archive website. This method
56 was utilised to develop a fuller understanding of the role Sunday schools played in the everyday lives of the population across the nation. Archives of a more national nature were found upon the recommendation of other researchers and through internet searches.
A valuable collection has been the records of the National Sunday School Union, held in the Cadbury Research Library at the University of Birmingham. The NSSU was an interdenominational organisation which aimed to support the work of Sunday school teachers across the country. The collection contains a vast array of sources, from annual reports concerning the work of the NSSU to teaching materials produced by the organisation for its workers. Its weekly publication for Sunday school teachers, the Sunday
School Chronicle, has provided a useful commentary on key international and national events of the period as well as on developments in the work of the movement. Additionally, this publication contains letters from Sunday school workers, which are rare because they do not usually survive. Another collection held by the Cadbury Research Library is the records of Westhill Training College. It was established in 1907 to offer training to teachers, especially Sunday school teachers. These records reflect attempts to professionalise the work of Sunday school teachers. The Church of England formed its own separate organisation for its workers. The Sunday School Institute’s papers are held in the collections of the Church of England Record Centre. The Institute offered support, training, and materials for its Sunday school workers and established a training college for Sunday school teachers in 1910, whose records are also held by the Church of England’s Record Centre.
Denominations frequently had their own Sunday School Union. For instance, the John
Rylands Library holds the surviving records of various Methodist Sunday School Unions.
These include some teaching materials and the minutes of meetings held by the unions.
Examining these records has revealed how Sunday schools operated, what their aims were, and the experience of their workers.
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Contemporary literature has also been consulted to assess the reach of British
Sunday schools within society and wider perceptions of the schools. The British Newspaper
Archive has proved to be an invaluable collection of local newspapers from across the country. Where records of local Sunday schools have probably been lost, reports of meetings and anniversaries in the collection provide the only surviving record of these events. Likewise, online archives of national newspapers such as the Daily Telegraph and the
Times have provided indications as to the widespread influence of Sunday schools.
Contemporary magazines and books that are held in libraries, such as the Bodleian Library, and that were written to support the work of teachers, have proved invaluable to establish what sort of scholar Sunday school teachers wanted to produce. There has been a growing interest in recent years in the use of parish magazines.282 These magazines provide important insights into local church life. However, the parish magazines consulted for this study did not tend to provide much information concerning the activities of Sunday schools. One notable exception to this rule was the parish magazine of St Matthew’s Church in Barrow- in-Furness.283
The collections of local record offices have also been examined to establish the experience of British Sunday schools across the country. It has proved impossible to consult every local office due to practical reasons relating to travel and in some cases a language barrier. However, it is hoped that by selecting records from Scotland, South Wales, Central
England, London, Southern England, North-West England, and North-East England, a general impression can be established. Of these local records three have proved particularly useful in examining the religiosity of the British forces during the First World War. The Glamorgan
282 For example see J. Platt, Subscribing to Faith? The Anglican Parish Magazine 1859–1929 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) 283 Barrow Archive and Local Studies Centre, BPR 27A/PM/3 – Barrow-in-Furness, St. Matthew’s Parish Magazine 1915–1922.
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Archives, the John Rylands Library, and the Liverpool Record Office each hold the wartime magazines of three local Sunday schools. The publications contain letters from those serving.
It is rare for such letters to survive and therefore they have been used as case studies to assess the faith of soldier scholars and their relationship with their old schools. Likewise, the papers of Mrs Hayman, held by the Imperial War Museum, which contain letters from her old scholars who were serving in the forces, have been valuable to examine the religious faith of the fighting forces.
Terminology
For clarity, the term ‘National Sunday School Union’ will be used throughout the thesis. The organisation officially underwent a change of name in 1921.284 Before this it had officially been called the ‘Sunday School Union’. This change was made as it was felt that the organisation had moved on from its original model of the London ‘parent body’ and its
‘daughter’ unions in the rest of the country.285 The term ‘British Sunday Schools’ refers to schools in England, Scotland, and Wales. The history of Ireland and consequently its religious past are very different and unique to those on the mainland, and therefore Ireland falls outside the scope of this research. The term ‘Methodist’ has been used in statistical analysis for clarity and the purposes of comparison. Elsewhere in the thesis, however, Methodists are referred to in terms of their individual denominations before the union of the United
Methodist Church, the Primitive Methodist Church, and the Wesleyan Methodist Church in
1932 that formed the Methodist Church of Great Britain. Additionally, quotations from primary sources have retained their original grammar, syntax, and abbreviations and [sic] has not been used. Where clarification is required square brackets are used.
284 Cadbury Research Library, National Christian Education Council, Part 1, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/1918 to 1921/1922, 1921/1922, p. 15. 285 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 220.
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Chapter 1 – British Sunday Schools in the Pre-War Era, 1900–1914
Introduction
The period from 1900 to 1914 was one of change and tension for British Sunday schools. There was a feeling of unease among the churches. As Hugh McLeod suggested,
‘[S]igns of impending crisis had been building for many years. But until recently they had often been mixed with other more hopeful signs. In the years immediately before the First World War, however, it seemed that all the religious indices were pointing in the same downward direction.’1
Milestones in social policy such as the Education Act (1902), the Children and Young
Persons Act (1908), the Old Age Pension Act (1908), and the National Insurance Act (1911) were part of the foundation of the welfare state.2 Gradually the state provided what had traditionally been provided by the churches and its various agencies.3 The passing of these
Acts caused some Nonconformists and schools to feel uncertain about the role they would play in society.
There was a boom in commercial leisure during this time, which was brought about by increasing living standards and decreasing work hours.4 It was felt by some in the churches that Sundays were a shadow of their former selves.5 Under these changing and challenging circumstances the schools sought to adapt to these conditions in order to provide the religious training they felt their members required. Despite the changing role of the churches within society, Sunday schools were highly regarded by important local and national figures. They were still a prominent institution in British society, were celebrated in local life, and were even used in plotlines in popular works of literature.
1 McLeod, Religion and Society in England, p. 170. 2 P. Dewey, War and Progress: Britain 1914–1945 (London: Longman, 1997), p. 10. 3 Obelkevich, ‘Religion’, p. 340. 4 Reid, ‘Playing and Praying’, p. 767 and p. 747 and McLeod, Religion and Society, p. 196-201. 5 McLeod, Religion and Society in England, p. 175.
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Nevertheless, the history and experiences of the schools during this period are largely under researched by historians. As discussed in the previous chapter, historians of religion have largely taken the opinions of churchmen at face value.6 The opinions and experiences of those who were directly involved in the work of the schools have not been considered. Their views of the schools were often very different from the conclusions that churchmen of the time and historians reached. Therefore, this chapter will explore the experiences of those who worked at and attended the schools to assess fully the extent to which the image of the ill-organised, ill-disciplined, and inefficient Sunday school is true.
Sunday Schools and Society
As discussed in the previous chapter, Sunday schools were widely attended in the first half of the twentieth century.7 Thomas Laqueur estimated that there were approximately 5,952,431 children enrolled in schools in 1901, 6,178,827 in 1906, and
6,129,496 in 1911.8 However, Clive Field argued that these figures are too low, suggesting that in 1901 there were 6,978,159 scholars and that this increased to 7,074,183 by 1914.9
Field’s estimates, though, included the figures for churches that did not traditionally belong to mainstream Protestantism. Laqueur’s figures are also lower compared with the statistics collated by Currie, Gilbert, and Horsley. They have suggested that in 1901 there were
6,086,587 scholars, increasing to 1906 in 6,291,435 before decreasing in 1911 to 6,241,771.10
However, as Sarah Williams suggested, these figures can sometimes be misleading.11 She argued that the number of interviewees who claimed they had been to a school at some point during their childhood was much higher than statistical returns suggested.12
6 See Introduction. 7 See Introduction. 8 Laqueur, Religion and Respectability, pp. 246-247. 9 Field, ‘“The Faith Society”?’, p. 57-58. 10 Curie, Gilbert and Horsley, Churches and Churchgoers, pp. 167-191. 11 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark, p. 128 12 Ibid., p. 128.
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Additionally, contemporary estimates indicated that in 1912 there were six and a half million children attending Sunday school.13 These figures demonstrate that a significant number of children attended a school during this period. Yet Sunday school attendance started to decline before the First World War. As can be seen in Appendix 1 the number of attenders reached a peak in 1905 and declined after 1910.14 These attendance patterns and what they meant for the schools will be examined in greater depth in Chapter 6. However, a brief examination of these figures reveals that even before the First World War, Sunday school attendance was steadily declining, which suggests that the war was not necessarily the factor that drove numbers down. Nonetheless, the numbers that attended the schools demonstrate the significant role the schools played in the religious life of British society.
The importance of the schools to British society is demonstrated in terms of how both local and national newspapers regularly reported on matters concerning them. For example, national papers such as the Times reported on meetings of the National Sunday
School Union (NSSU) and the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union (WMSSU) as well as celebrations such as the centenary of the NSSU.15 Likewise, local newspapers published articles concerning the activities of the schools. Articles reported on a range of annual events such as processions through the town, centenary celebrations, and treats or outings.16 Some even reviewed books concerned with the schools and reported on conferences held by teachers.17 Generally, the coverage was favourable towards the schools.
One article argued that ‘they had largely influenced the national character. John Bright
13 Hansard, HC Debate Series 5 Vol 35 c. 696, 8 March 1912. 14 See Appendix 1. 15 ‘SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION – The members of the’, The Times, 1 May 1900, p. 4; ‘Ecclesiasitcal Intelligence’, 3 October 1901, p. 9 and ‘SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION – The anniversary’, The Times, 3 May 1901, p. 10. 16 ‘Church of England Sunday Schools’, Preston Herald, 7 June 1911, p. 6; ‘Interesting Sunday School Centenary’ Belper News, 21 May 1909, p. 6 and ‘Twechar’, Kirkintilloch Gazette, 30 December 1910, p. 3. 17 ‘Blinks O’Langsyne’, Dundee Courier, 21 April 1906, p. 6 and ‘Sunday School Work’, The Scotsman, 4 November 1910, p. 11.
62 believed that the Sunday school had been one of the influences that had helped check those national outbursts that in times of distress has created great upheavals like the French
Revolution’.18 Another writer informed his readers that he learnt more at Sunday school than at any other institution.19 This demonstrates the importance that local and national newspapers attached to the schools. Papers felt the events connected with this institution were significant enough to justify the column inches. It also suggests that this was what readers wanted to be reported in their paper of choice; it was a case of supply and demand.
Given that a significant proportion of the population had attended Sunday school, so for these readers in particular, reading news concerning them appealed to their interests and childhood memories.
Likewise, the influence of the schools even extended into popular literature. For example, brief references to Sunday schools appear in the novel The Half Hearted (1900), by
John Buchan.20 Similarly, the schools were used as part of major plot lines in Arnold
Bennett’s novel Clayhanger (1910). Darius, the protagonist’s father, treasures his time at
Sunday school. The narrator comments that
there was the Sunday school, which Darius had joyously frequented since the age of three, and which he had no intention of leaving. As he grew older the Sunday School became more and more enchanting to him. Sunday morning was the morning which he lived for during six days […] At Sunday School he was petted and caressed. His success at Sunday school was shining. […] Upon hearing that Darius was going out into the world, the superintendent of the Sunday school […] presented him with an old, battered Bible. This volume was the most valuable thing that Darius had ever possessed.21
In fact, Darius’s Sunday school teacher not only saved him and his family from the workhouse but also found Darius a good job.22 His son Edwin, however, does not recall his
18 ‘What the Church Lacks Problems Discussed at Wesham’, Preston Herald, 21 October 1908, p. 6. 19 ‘Towcester and District Sunday School Union’, Northampton Mercury, 1 November 1901, p. 5. 20 J. Buchan, The Half-Hearted (London: Thomas Nelson and Sons), p. 74, p. 77, p. 114 and p. 182. 21 A. Bennett, Clayhanger (London: Penguin Books, 1954), pp. 37-38. 22 Ibid., p. 46.
63 time at Sunday school as being positive and felt it unfair that his sisters were spared from attending.23 This again demonstrates the pervasive influence of Sunday schools in society.
They could be used in storylines or referenced with no thought as to whether readers could identify with the schools. Writers had probably experienced the schools themselves and knew that their readers were likely to have had similar experiences. For instance, Bennett’s grandfather was at one point a superintendent of the local chapel Sunday school, and
Bennett was made to attend sessions during his childhood.24
The royal family also appear to have taken a serious interest in the work of Sunday schools. For instance, it was reported in the Times that King Edward VII had sent twenty-five pounds to the Sunday school in the parish of Cloughton in Yorkshire.25 Queen Victoria had subscribed two hundred and twenty-five pounds to the same school before her death.26 The article in the Times did not give any indication as to why Cloughton was chosen. Perhaps it was because it may have been seen by Victoria during the various trips she made to coastal
Yorkshire.27 Queen Victoria took a keen interest in the affairs of the Church of England and has been described as a ‘devout and practising churchwoman’ by Hugh McLeod.28 Given the growth of the Sunday school movement at this time, perhaps Victoria felt that a donation was appropriate. In 1901 the Princess of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark, sent £2 2s. to the
Sunday school of St. Crispin’s Church in Bermondsey for the children’s Christmas treat and accepted the church’s invitation to become a patron.29 King George V was given a lifetime
23 Ibid., pp. 212-213. 24 M. Drabble, Arnold Bennett: A Biography (London: Futura Publications, 1975), p. 12. 25 ‘Ecclesiastical Intelligence’, The Times, 17 May 1901, p. 11. 26 Ibid., p. 11. 27 Royal Archives, Queen Victoria’s Journals (London, 2012) < http://www.queenvictoriasjournals.org/search/displayItem.do?FormatType=fulltextimgsrc&QueryType=articles &ResultsID=3029108012566&filterSequence=0&PageNumber=1&ItemNumber=22&ItemID=qvj03625&volume Type=PSBEA> [Accessed 29 December 2017], RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W) 30 August 1842 (Princess Beatrice’s Copies) (p. 93). 28 McLeod, Religion and Society in England, p. 21. 29 ‘Ecclesiastical Intelligence’, The Times, 18 December 1901, p. 11.
64 membership to the World Sunday School Association as he had donated one thousand US dollars.30 Donations were not the only way that the royal family were involved in the work of the schools. A representative at the World Sunday School Convention informed those attending that
[t]he parents of our late good Queen Victoria had the Stockport Sunday-school brought to their attention; they interested themselves in it, and conferred upon the Stockport Sunday-school their royal patronage. In the reign of our good Queen Victoria that patronage was renewed and continued. It was graciously renewed by Queen Alexandra.31
The fact that three generations of the royal family took such an interest in the work of the school illustrates the extent to which the schools were considered a significant part of society. The chairman of the NSSU, Francis Belsey, was honoured with a knighthood for his work with Sunday schools.32 For the chairman to be awarded such an honour suggests that the work of the schools was viewed as a valuable contribution to the national weal. Those in the highest positions in the land were supportive of the efforts of those involved in the schools’ work.
Furthermore, other influential figures in society took a keen interest in the schools.
For instance, David Lloyd George appears to have been heavily influenced by his time at
Sunday school. Speaking at a foundation stone laying ceremony at a Sunday school, he was reported to have said that
he was glad to know that there was a flourishing Sunday school in connexion with the church. Personally he knew the value of the Sunday school. It was a Sunday school training which had enabled him to do his work as President of the Board of
30 E. Warren, ‘Report of Chairman of the Executive Committee’, in Work-wide Sunday-School Work: The Official Report of the World’s Seventh Sunday-School Convention, Held in Zurich, Switzerland July 8-15, 1913, ed. by C. Trumbull (London: The World Sunday-School Association, 1913), pp. 64-68, pp. 64 and 66. 31 J. Youker and C. Youker, ‘The Minutes of the Convention’, in The World-Wide Sunday-School Work: The Official Report of the World’s Sixth Sunday School Convention, Held in the City of Washington, U.S.A May 19-24, 1910, ed. by W. Hartshorn (Chicago: The World Sunday School Association, 1910), pp. 25-78, p. 33. 32 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D10 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1906/1907 to 1909/1910, 1909/1910, p. 14.
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Trade. The Sunday schools were the best university in Wales. They were far and away the best means of conveying religious instruction.33
Arthur Henderson, the future Labour leader, proudly declared in a political speech that he was a Sunday school teacher.34 Yet it was not just political figures in the British Isles who were involved with the Sunday school movement. President Theodore Roosevelt, for example, sent a message of encouragement to the World Sunday School Association’s convention in 1907. He said that he hoped the conference would be successful and thanked the association for bringing a world character to the schools.35 At a later convention
President William Taft spoke, arguing that ‘no matter what the views are taken of general education, we all agree – Protestant, Catholic, and Jew alike – that Sunday school education is absolutely necessary to secure moral uplift and religious spirit’.36 These extracts demonstrate the significant hold the schools had even on prominent political figures of the day. They felt that Sunday schools were a vital part of the religious life of British society and it can be concluded that their influence even extended overseas.
On a more local level, important figures also believed that Sunday schools were an influential force in the lives in their communities. One mayor in North Devon was reported to have said the following:
It was, said his Worship, nearly fifty years ago that his name was entered in the class-book in connection, with the Bideford Wesleyan Sunday School, and he was proud that it had never been erased […] It was one thing that he felt more grateful of than almost any other that he had continued his connection with the school. […] It had done its heart good during the past twelve months to see the loving attention paid to the scholars, not only in the school but in the streets.37
33 ‘Mr Lloyd George on Temperance’, The Times, 10 April 1908, p. 8. 34 ‘Drink and Unemployment’, Western Daily Press, 21 February 1910, p. 4. 35 P. Howard, ‘The Convention Itself’, in Sunday Schools and the World Around: The Official Report of the World’s Fifth Sunday School Convention in Rome, May 18-23, 1907, ed. by World’s Sunday School Convention (Philadelphia: The World’s Sunday School Convention, 1907), pp. 38-53, p. 43. 36 W. Taft, ‘The President’s Estimate of the Sunday-School’, in The World-Wide Sunday-School Work: The Official Report of the World’s Sixth Sunday School Convention, Held in the City of Washington, U.S.A May 19-24, 1910, ed. by W. Hartshorn (Chicago: The World Sunday School Association, 1910), pp. 125-127, p. 125. 37 ‘Sunday School Work’, North Devon Gazette, 6 June 1905, p. 8.
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He also praised the love shown by the school and its work in the local area. Likewise, another mayor presiding at an anniversary commented on the ‘enormous amount of work at Kingston’.38 He felt that the improvements the school had made were wise and were moving the school in the right direction.39 Again, these local news stories demonstrate the significant role Sunday schools played in local communities. Mayors willingly spoke at the schools as part of their local duties.40 This reveals that the schools were a central part of the fabric of urban society. Furthermore, this evidence challenges the idea that religion was weaker in urban working-class communities. Rather than ceasing to be important in urban life, religion was still an important part of community life. Cities were not as ‘unholy’ as some have suggested.
Sunday Schools and Social Concerns
The Sunday school movement was also very aware of the conditions that faced the country socially. Those in the movement used their influence to either condemn or support emerging trends in British society. For instance, the movement supported legislation and philanthropic efforts which aimed to protect children and help alleviate the poverty many of them lived in. Studies conducted during the period, such as B. Seebohn Rowntree’s survey of York, Poverty: A Study of Town Life (1901) and Barclay Baron’s The Growing Generation: A
Study of Working Boys and Girls in Our Cities (1911), revealed high levels of child poverty. The
British government and charities attempted to counter this.41 During the period various pieces of legislation were passed by parliament, the most famous being the Children and
Young Persons Act 1908. The 1906 Education Act gave permission for a compulsory rate to
38 ‘The Influence of “Old Kingston” Interesting Reminiscences’, Hull Daily Mail, 12 March 1912, p. 8. 39 Ibid., p. 8. 40 Ibid., p. 8; ‘Sunday School Work at Bideford’, North Devon Gazette, 6 June 1905, p. 8 and ‘Sunday School Examinations’, Walsall Observer and South Staffordshire Chronicle, 27 June 1914, p. 3. 41 Cunningham, Children and Childhood in Western Society since 1500, p. 180.
67 be levied to provide schools meals.42 In 1914 local authorities were obliged to provide school meals.43
Figures within the Sunday school movement believed that there was more that the government and the churches could do to alleviate rampant poverty. For example, an article about a speech given by the Reverend C. Ensor Walters reported:
The root of working-class distrust of the organised church was, he maintained, to be found in the social conditions of to-day, and it was the duty of the Church to take a more decided stand on this question than it had done in the past. At present 30 per cent of the population of London were underfed. This meant tragic suffering to the workers and their children, who were sent to school famishing.44
Sunday school workers felt that the work done at the schools could help to provide relief for those living in poor conditions. One educational writer, Alfred Garvie, wrote that
there is a weakening of the bands of family life, when the house cannot be a home […] The Sunday-school teacher should not ignore these facts. Especially should the Sunday school become ‘institutional’ in providing a homelike environment, as far as possible, for the children even on week-days.45
Likewise, the Sunday School Chronicle also reminded readers of the poverty that its scholars lived in. Mrs Heyworth, an advocate for the Home Department system — which encouraged workers to visit the homes of scholars and minister to their whole family — argued:
The Sunday School teachers could not expect in a single day to undo all the habits and manners which had been gaining ground in the hearts of the scholars during the six days – unless they had the co-operation of the parents. They must know the surroundings in which the children lived; and the Home Department gave them the open sesame to that end.46
42 E. P. Hennock, ‘Poverty and Social Reforms’, in Twentieth-Century Britain: Economic, Social and Cultural Change, ed. by P. Johnson (London: Pearson Education, 1994), pp. 79-93 (p. 81). 43 Ibid., p. 81. 44 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D58 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1906, ‘The Churches and the Working Man’, 4 January 1906, p. 6. 45 A. Garvie, Religious Education: Mainly From A Psychological Standpoint (Edinburgh: Morrison and Gibb Limited, 1906), p. 58. 46 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D63 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1911, ‘The Primary Department and the Home’, 11 May 1911, p. 432.
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This demonstrates how aware workers could be of the poor conditions that their scholars were living in and that they wanted to provide a nurturing environment for them while they were under their care.
Those involved in the schools were worried that social distinctions were acting as barriers to attendance, with some thinking they were too poor or too rich to attend school.
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s investigation into Sunday schools found that
[s]everal parishes report special classes or services for children who do not attend Sunday school either because their clothes are too good or too bad. St Paul’s Gateshead, for example, holds a weekday class for ragged children. St Andrew’s Clifton has a Sunday school for the children of seat-holders, while Altrincham runs a Catechism class for them. Easton (Bristol) has a system of “guardians” for baptised children, gathered from communicants.47
A religious census conducted by the London Daily News found that children from well-off families did not attend Sunday school.48 Conversely it was estimated that 73 per cent of children living in the slums did not attend church.49 Similarly, a correspondent in the Sunday
School Chronicle remarked:
In spite of reason, from the pulpit and from the press, the Sunday School, in the minds of the majority of the upper middle and professional classes, is a charitable organisation for the religious instruction of their inferiors in the social scale ; and in some cases these social differences are so considerable that the fusion of the children of immediate vicinity of the school becomes a real and tangible difficulty.50
There were also problems relating to children as wage earners. A vicar reported that his parishioners were gamekeepers who worked on Sundays and who wanted their children to earn wages rather than attend a school.51 This shows that for some children attendance at
47 Lambeth Palace Library, Davidson 496 – Education, Sunday Schools, fol. 163. 48 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D56 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1904, ‘Children Outside the Church’, 3 March 1904, p. 201. 49 Ibid., p. 201 50 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D57 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1905, ‘Primary Classes and Teacher-Training’, 25 May 1905, p. 527. 51 LPL, Davidson 496 – Education, Sunday Schools, fol. 164, p. 13.
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Sunday school was made impossible as they had to work, were too poor to afford respectable clothes, or were not allowed to attend due to their high social standing.
Therefore, because of their concerns, those in the Sunday school movement attempted to support the poorest members of society. This was mainly done through mission work and raising funds to provide for their needs. One Sunday school teacher informed the London Daily News that
it is specially wished by the scholars that it should be devoted towards providing meals for the children who are in need of food and clothing. You will quite understand it is a gift from children to children. I quoted from your paper at the school in the morning, and in the afternoon the children brought their offerings so gladly and cheerfully that one could see that there was real sympathy. I know many of them exercised self-denial.52
The NSSU also collected money for various causes for poor children and adults, the details of which can be seen in Appendix 2. For instance, they provided holiday homes for teachers and scholars, which schools belonging to the NSSU supported.53 Records from individual schools reveal the philanthropic efforts that many of them made. Roath Road Sunday School in Cardiff collected money for the nearby children’s home, raising £4 13s. 6d. in 1906 and
£6 16s. 8d. in 1907.54 Likewise, Morningside Congregational Church Sunday School in
Edinburgh invited various charities in the local area, such as the Children’s Holiday Fund and the Children’s Hospital, to speak to their scholars about its work.55 They also collected
£13 5s. 11d. for the Children’s Holiday Fund in 1904.56 For most of the children who contributed to these collections, the sums of money would have been large compared with their household income. This suggests that many families felt that it was important to
52 ‘The Present Distress: Our Readers Help to Lessen It’, London Daily News, 26 December 1902, p. 8. 53 See Appendix 2. 54 Glamorgan Archives, DWESCCR/265 – Roath Road Record, May to June 1907, p. 8 and DX320/3/2/i – Roath Road Record, May to June 1908, p. 5. 55 National Records of Scotland, CH14/26/9/2/4 – Morningside Congregational Church Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1903–1919, 12 October 1903. 56 Ibid., 9 January 1904.
70 support these causes. It also demonstrates that the schools and their members were very aware of the poverty that surrounded them and wanted to assist those who were less fortunate than themselves. This was also a way in which Sunday schools could reinforce lessons such as ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’.57
The schools were also concerned about changes in leisure and trading laws. Sunday openings of shops caused problems, particularly regarding the sale of confectionary to children. Some were concerned that scholars buying sweets from shops open on a Sunday were not only breaking the Sabbath but were also spending money which was meant for missions. One correspondent wrote to the Sunday School Chronicle:
SIR- With regard to the resolution passed by the Committee of the Sydenham and Forest Hill Auxiliary, to take steps to obtain the closing of these shops on Sunday […] it is very evident we should have to wait many years yet before an Act of Parliament could be obtained to close these sweet shops, and in the meantime, our children would be left to go on breaking the Sabbath week after week.58
One minster asked whether the local council had any power to close sweet shops as
‘children came to Sunday school with sweets purchased on that day, which they ate all through the services’.59 Likewise, the annual meeting of the Hastings and St Leonard’s
Sunday School Union concluded:
AN OPEN SWEETSHOP. That not only put into the pockets of the trader what ought to go to Missionary Societies, but exercised a bad influence on the moral character of the children and became a serious temptation. The Sunday Traders’ Act did not help them much. They should take all legitimate steps to minimise the evil.60
There were also concerns regarding alcohol and smoking in relation to children.
Temperance movements were created as auxiliary organisations of the schools to
57 Matthew 22. 39. 58 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘Sunday Closing for the Sweetstuff Shops’, 22 March 1900, p. 195. 59 ‘Chelmsford’, Essex Newsman, 14 January 1905, p. 4. 60 ‘The Future of Religion: Sunday School Teachers Appeals’, Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 6 February 1909, p. 5.
71 discourage their members from drinking. This was reflective of debates about alcohol and tobacco in British society, particularly in religious circles.61 In 1908 the Children and Young
Persons Act made it illegal for children under the age of sixteen to be sold tobacco and for those under fourteen to be admitted into public houses.62 Matthew Hilton and Simon
Nightingale argued that after the passing of the 1908 Act the anti-tobacco movement started emphasising the dangers of juvenile smoking rather than smoking in general. Hilton and
Nightingale asserted that this was to avoid conflict with older generations of smokers but that it also fitted better into general cultural debates about degeneration and decline arising from military setbacks in the Boer War.63 Virginia Berridge has suggested that ‘by the time of the Boer War it was claimed that perhaps a third of rejects from the army in Lancashire were due to “smokers’ heart” so the idea that youths and children should stop smoking became commonplace in anti-tobacco literature’.64 However, schools were still deeply worried about their scholars in relation to alcohol and smoking. The Sunday School Chronicle reminded its readers of the ‘curse of the cigarette’ and the ‘evil which lurks in the growing popularity of cigarette-smoking’.65 The editor of the journal formed the International Anti-
Cigarette League, which scholars could join if they promised to never smoke.66
Correspondingly, Bands of Hope aimed to teach scholars about the dangers of alcohol and scholars were encouraged to sign a pledge not to drink it.67 The Reverend W.
61 D. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s (London: Routledge, 2003), p. 113 and M. Hilton and S. Nightingale, ‘A Microbe of the Devil’s Own Make’: Religion and Science in the British Anti-Tobacco Movement, 1853–1908’ in Ashes to Ashes: The History of Smoking and Health, 2nd edn, ed. by S. Lock, L. A. Reynolds, and E. M. Tansey (Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi, 2003), pp. 41-75 (p. 61). 62 K. Bradley, ‘The Children Act 1908: Centennial Reflections, Contemporary Perspectives’, History Workshop Journal, 68(2009), 303-305 (p. 303). 63 Hilton and Nightingale, ‘A Microbe of the Devil’s Own Make’, p. 61 and p. 58. 64 V. Berridge, Demons: Our Changing Attitudes to Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 94. 65 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D56 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1904, ‘The Curse of the Cigarette: A National Danger’, 3 March 1904, p. 202. 66 Ibid., p. 202. 67 GA, DX320/3/2/i – Roath Road Record, May to June 1908, pp. 10-11.
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Knight stated, ‘The Sunday School Union of the twentieth century will rank among the most prominent and effective Temperance societies.’68 Some scholars were taught in Sunday school lessons about the dangers of alcohol. Scholars at Fountainbridge Sunday School in
Edinburgh produced a handwritten magazine of the work they had completed over the year.
A scholar informed readers that
[t]he greatest enemy of our country is ‘drink.’ This enemy ‘drink’ is worse than our German enemies and all our other enemies. There are a great many evils come from people drinking. One of them is that it ruins the people’s homes who take it and brings poverty on them. It also ruins the people’s stomachs. Greater than all evils it put a great blot on our ‘flag.’ If any boy or girl would not fight against this enemy we would, be apt to call them cowards. […] The only way to fight this enemy is to pray to God and ask him to help you.69
It is interesting to note the anti-German tone in this extract. Tensions had reached a high point in 1908 between Britain and German because of actions such as the expansion of the
Germany navy.70 The British population and officials in London feared a war with Germany or even an invasion.71 Matters were certainly not helped when an interview with Kaiser
William II was published in the Daily Telegraph in which he stated that the English were ‘mad, mad, mad as March hares’.72 Similarly, Roath Road Record, the magazine of Roath Road
Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School, reminded teachers to
[b]e an out and out Temperance Teacher. […] Do not forget that there is a Pledge page at the end of your Class Register. Make use of it. Your Scholars may have scribbled nonsense over it. Have you ever seriously asked them to sign their names there ? If not, why not ? […] Give a thorough Temperance Lesson at least once a quarter. […] strive earnestly, regularly ; constantly, and prayerfully to call the attention of the young folk entrusted to your special care, to the growing evils of intemperance and to the safety of total abstinence.73
68 Reverend W. Knight, ‘The Future – An Outlook’, in A Hundred Years Work for the Children: The Centenary Record of the Sunday School Union, ed. by W. H. Groser (London: The Sunday School Union, 1903), pp. 184-196, p. 191. 69 NRS, CH3/773/20 – Fountainbridge United Free Church Sunday School Magazine, 1908, p. 35. 70 J. Röhl, Wilhelm: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), p. 665. 71 Ibid., p. 606. 72 ‘The German Emperor and England’, The Daily Telegraph, 28 October 1908, p. 11. 73 GA, DX320/3/2/i – Roath Road Record, November to December 1909, p. 19.
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This reveals that some schools were promoting the ideas of the temperance movement to their members. Perhaps they thought they should take the opportunity to influence the parents of those attending the schools who did not attend services. Teaching children that drinking was wrong and an evil may have led some children to question their parents if they consumed alcohol. Perhaps it was also seen as an opportunity to steer scholars away from drink to break a violent circle of alcohol abuse in some homes.
Yet not all schools promoted temperance as persistently as in the previous examples. Appendix 3 shows that in the Wesleyan Methodist denomination the number of those connected to the Band of Hope movement from its Sunday schools was small compared with the number of scholars the schools had in total.74 There were also complaints that not enough schools and churches were taking this work seriously. The
Temperance Committee of the Wesleyan Methodist Church reported as follows to the church conference in 1902:
These increases, large as they are, would be much larger but for lapsing of a considerable number of Bands of Hope and Temperance Societies, a leakage which might be greatly diminished if there were a more constant and vigilant oversight of this department of the work of our Church.75
The Barrow-in-Furness Primitive Methodist Sunday School Committee instructed schools to ensure that all their abstainers were connected to the Band of Hope movement.76 Those involved in the reform of Sunday schools warned of the dangers of the temperance movement itself. Miss Huntley, a prominent thinker in the Sunday School Union, argued that if scholars were too young when introduced to temperance it could bring temptations into
74 See Appendix 3. 75 Wesleyan Methodist Church, Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Fifty-Ninth Yearly Conference (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1902), p. 491. 76 BALSC, BDFCPM/1/6 – Barrow-in-Furness Primitive Methodist Sunday School Committee Minutes 1900– 1917, 28 February 1912.
74 their minds and thus have the opposite effect.77 She suggested that it should only be introduced when ignorance of the risks of alcohol could prove dangerous.78 Tobacco was not viewed by all Sunday school teachers as evil. One sold tobacco at a bazaar, alongside a
Sunday school stall, to raise funds.79 At another Sunday school, cigarettes were handed out in a class for older boys’ over the age of sixteen; the vicar had been unaware of this, but when he discovered it he stopped the practice.80 These examples suggest that while this was an issue in the minds of those in the Sunday school movement, it was not central to their work. Indeed, it has been proposed that the anti-cigarette movement was much weaker than the temperance movement.81
The Work of the Sunday Schools
For the schools this was a time of reform of their methods and organisation. This will be considered in greater detail in Chapter 5. In terms of teaching, the schools followed a methodical approach to the Bible, examining the Old and New Testaments, and this approach can be seen in more detail in Appendix 4.82 As shown in Appendix 5, the proposed curricula seem to match twenty-first century equivalents or even cover more of the Bible.83
Along with having a systematic approach to studying the Bible, those involved in Sunday school teaching began to emphasise the importance of studying pedagogy and child psychology. Prominent members of the movement, such as George Hamilton Archibald and
Miss Huntley, gave lectures and wrote articles encouraging teachers to take the study of the
77 Miss Huntley, ‘Sunday-School Work’, in Mundesley: Verbatium Report of Sermons and Lectures, ed. by Westminster Bible Conference (London: Morgan and Scott Limited, 1910), pp. 185-286, p. 281 78 Ibid., p. 281. 79 ‘Church Bazaar at Felton’, Morpeth Herald, 14 August 1909, p. 4. 80 ‘Cigarettes as Sunday School Prizes’, Nottingham Evening Post, 3 October 1903, p. 5. 81 Berridge, Demons: Our Changing Attitudes to Alcohol, p. 94. 82 See Appendix 4. 83 See Appendix 5.
75 child seriously.84 They argued that the most effective way to embrace the findings of child psychology studies was to adapt a system of grading in schools.85 The idea behind this scheme was that children moved through distinct stages in childhood. Younger children had very different needs and abilities from older children.86 Therefore, it was proposed that they needed curricula and lessons which were tailored to their age group.87 Schools gradually adopted this system of organisation.88 The Sunday School Institute (SSI), the Church of
England’s organisation formed to assist workers, encouraged all schools to teach children in accordance with their age rather than have one lesson for the whole school.89 In later years they also provided advice on how to split the school and what should be taught in each age group.90 Similarly, there was an increased emphasis on teacher training. The NSSU founded a training college for teachers, Westhill, in Selly Oak, Birmingham, in 1907 and the SSI soon followed, opening St. Christopher’s College in Blackheath in 1909. Furthermore, schools started to offer training classes for their teachers and many made attendance compulsory.91
The history of both these training colleges will be explored in more detail in Chapter 5. This illustrates how seriously the schools took reforming their methods, organisation, and training. They were keen to implement changes which they felt would improve the schools.
84 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D10 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1906/1907 to 1909/1910, 1907/1908, p. 40; D56 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1904, ‘Studying the Child’, 7 January 1904, p. 18 and Miss Huntley, Sunday-School Work, pp. 189-199. 85 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D56 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1904, ‘Studying the Child’, 7 January 1904, p. 18 and Miss Huntley, Sunday-School Work, pp. 199-214. 86 The Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union, The Manual of the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School (London: J. W. Butcher, 1912), pp. 35-36. 87 Ibid., pp. 35-36. 88 GA, DECONG10/23 – Windsor Road Congregational Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1907– 1928, 13 February 1907 and ‘The Graded Sunday School: Need for Teachers’, Burnley Express, 23 October 1912, p. 6. 89 Church of England Record Centre, SSI/2/1/8 – General Committee Book 1900–1907, 6 November 1907. 90 CERC, SSI/2/1/9 – General Committee Book 1907–1914, 5 December 1911. 91 BALSC, BDFCPM/1/6 – Barrow-in-Furness Primitive Methodist Sunday School Committee Minutes 1900– 1917, 1 September 1900, BDFCBWM/1/4/1 – Barrow Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Council Minute Book 1912–48, 7 June 1912, and NRS, CH11/21/10 – Roxburgh Street Primitive Methodist Church Sunday School Minutes 1907–1916, 4 January 1914.
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Records from this period also reveal that the schools were constantly reflecting on their results, effectiveness, and success. They always wanted to improve their efforts, which at times meant that they were very critical of themselves. For instance, at a Sunday school convention it was argued that the schools must adapt to the times that they lived in and could not rely on methods that had worked before to continue to work.92 Another teacher also felt that the schools were in an unsatisfactory state and that new methods of teaching were required to improve them.93 The Primitive Methodist Sunday School Committee in
Barrow-in-Furness was very quick to warn schools that they needed to improve their efforts.94 The NSSU also concluded that reports from around the country indicated that there was a need for more efficient work and that much reform was required.95 One particular concern of the schools was how to retain senior scholars. An appeal from the
NSSU stated, ‘But what, alas, is the solemn and sorrowful fact which we have to confess concerning the children who have been in our Sunday Schools? The fact unquestioned that
80 % are lost to our churches, and are lost to them during the early years of adolescence.’96
Other publications also warned schools that senior scholars were drifting away from all religious influence and that they needed to put more effort to stop this leakage.97 This critical self-awareness of the leakage of senior scholars demonstrates that the schools were not blind to problems that faced them.
However, those involved in the work of the schools were, overall, pleased with their efforts. For example, the Sunday School Times reported that when interviewing workers in a
92 ‘What the Church Lacks Problems Discussed at Wesham’, Preston Herald, 21 October 1908, p. 6. 93 ‘Are Sunday Schools a Failure?’, London Daily News, 23 September 1901, p. 3. 94 BALSC, BDFCPM/1/6 – Barrow-in-Furness Primitive Methodist Sunday School Committee Minutes 1900– 1917, 28 February 1902, 1 March 1907, and 7 March 1908. 95 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D10 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1906/1907 to 1909/1910, 1906/1907, p. 22. 96 J. B. Patton, To All the Churches: An Appeal from the Sunday School Union to Establish Sunday and Week-Evening Institutes for the Guardianship and Training of our Young People (London: The Sunday School Union, 1907), p. 2. 97 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D55 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1903, ‘How to Retain Senior Scholars’, 3 September 1903, p. 738 and GA, DECONG10/91 – Reform in Sunday School Methods (1905), pp. 18-19.
77 factory in Norwich it was found that the fact that ‘the Bible touches most of these people is almost wholly due to the work of Sunday-school teachers. Through their efforts the Bible had got inside these lives, and years of neglect and utter irreligion had failed to make it altogether withdraw its hand’.98 Similarly, William Groser contended that of all the agencies of the church, ‘the Sunday School still holds the first place. It has proved the chief training ground for those who have been called to serve the Church of Christ in its various offices’.99
Another author suggested that the Welsh Revival in 1905 had ‘acted upon the sacred memories of childhood which slumbered in the souls of even the most fallen’.100 These sacred memories were a result of Sunday school attendance.101 The Primitive Methodist
Sunday School Union was also pleased with the work of its schools, commenting on the healthy conditions of the movement and its increasing usefulness and spiritual power.102
Likewise, Ferne Park Baptist Church school in London described the work of a departing teacher as ‘universally successful’.103 Vickerstown Sunday School in Barrow-in-Furness was also delighted with the work of its school and even asked whether other schools in the area would follow its example.104
During this period the schools started to receive increasing recognition and support from the churches. This was a more pronounced change in the Church of England hierarchy.
It appears that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson, was particularly
98 Bodleian Library, PER 1321 c. 3 – The Sunday School Times and Home Educator, July to December 1904, pp. 90-91. 99 W. H. Groser, ‘Past and Present’ in A Hundred Years Work for the Children: The Centenary Record of the Sunday School Union, ed. by W. H. Groser (London: The Sunday School Union, 1903), pp. 172-183, p. 183. 100 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D57 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1905, ‘The Significance of the Revival for Sunday- School Teachers’, 12 January 1905, p. 32. 101 Ibid., p. 32. 102 John Rylands Library, GB135/DDEy/1/3 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1897–1903, 15 April 1903 and GB135/DDEy/1/4 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1903–1908, 30 March 1904. 103 London Metropolitan Archives, ACC/1361/05/001 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1897–1911, 6 October 1909. 104 BALSC, BDFCBWM/11/7/1 – Vickerstown Sunday School Teachers’ Minute Book 1908–1922, 10 July 1913, p. 78.
78 sympathetic to the schools. For example, responding to a letter asking him about his opinion of the work of the SSI, he stated:
I have no hesitation in saying that I regard the work promoted by the Institute as of absolutely paramount importance at the present moment. […] Knowing as I do how faithfully and effectively the Institute has laboured for many years past in facilitating that work, and providing help to teachers and scholars alike, I shall be thankful to know that it is now obtaining the increased support and encouragement which it eminently deserves. I myself served for many years on the Committee, and I am familiar with the principles on which the operations are carried out.105
Bishops gradually became more involved with the movement and recognised the importance of the schools in relation to the church. The Bishop of Exeter, Archibald Robertson, stated at a conference of Sunday school teachers that the importance of their work was increasing and that they were giving children ‘the most vital, the most enduring, and the most sacred of all impressions’.106 Similarly, Canon Willink, the rector of Birmingham, argued that the schools were ‘one of the most important parts of church life’.107 This demonstrates that in the Church of England there was more recognition of the importance of the schools and that the clergy were increasingly involved with the work of schools. They were leading conferences and addressing teachers, reminding them of how crucial their work was to the church.
It was not just in the Church of England that changes were noticed. There was more emphasis from the leadership of the Nonconformist churches about the standing of the schools. The NSSU concluded that
the awakened interest in the religious education of the young […] has steadily deepened and broadened […] Then, too, the critics have shown a cordial readiness to come into closer contact with the movement, and have discussed with its leaders some of its practical difficulties. There has also been a closer identification of the ministers with the work of the School. The Council have been
105 LPL, Davidson 88 – Correspondence 1903, fol. 57, 18 February 1903, pp. 1-2. 106 ‘Sunday School Teachers: The Bishop of Exeter on their Work’, Western Morning News, 18 September 1905, p. 8. 107 ‘Idealism in Sunday Schools’, Leamington Spa Courier, 9 May 1913, p. 7.
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greatly cheered by the number of Teacher-training classes that have been established during the year under the leadership of Ministers and expert teachers.108
The president-elect of the Baptist Union, the Reverend William Cuff, was described as a great believer in Sunday schools, and he emphasised that they were the training ground for future members of the church.109 Furthermore, it appears that some churches were increasingly prepared to support the schools financially. For example, Bridge Street Sunday
School in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, sent a letter to the managers of the church to ask whether they would support the school financially.110 The school asserted that raising funds was a burden on the teaching staff despite the that fact their work was recognised as a necessary part of the church.111 Its request for funds was granted.112 These examples reveal the increasing role that the leadership of the churches played in the affairs of Sunday school work. The schools were gradually seen as a crucial part of the life of the church rather than an optional extra, and it was recognised that they could be used to train the next generation of churchgoers.
However, during this period relations between the schools and the churches were not always harmonious. Some of these tensions may have arisen from the fact that running a school was a costly venture. Sunday school prizes and gifts were the some of the biggest financial drains on the schools. For instance, researchers working with Charles Booth recorded a conversation with the Reverend A. Lawley, who revealed that while he valued
Sunday schools, he questioned their usefulness.113 He explained that when he had first taken
108 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D10 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1906/1907 to 1909/1910, 1906/1907, p. 13. 109 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘A Chat with the President Elect of the Baptist Union’, 25 January 1900, p. 59. 110 NRS, CH3/1495/43 – Musselburgh Bridge Street Sunday School – Miscellaneous correspondence relating to Sunday school, Bible Class and Boys' Brigade, 11 January 1911, p. 1. 111 Ibid., 11 January 1911, p. 1. 112 Ibid., 21 January 1911, p. 1. 113 London School of Economics, George H. Duckworth's Notebook: Police and Publican District 7 [Mile End Old Town and Spitalfields], District 8 [Aldgate, St George's in the East, Shadwell], District 9 [Bethnal Green, North and
80 the church over it was three thousand pounds in debt because of the money it had spent on treats and prizes.114 Vickerstown Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School in Barrow-in-Furness spent ten pounds on toys for its annual treat.115 The Archbishop of Canterbury’s report into
Sunday schools conducted in 1912 found finance, particularly expenditure on prizes, to be a major concern. The report concluded:
an enormous proportion of the money raised is spent on prizes & treats. We read of parishes – St Anne’s Limehouse – for one – where both have been abolished, but human nature and nonconformist opportunism have forced upon the authorities the choice between prizes & an empty school. Hence prizes & treats have been restored. Many parishes complain of reckless bribery practised by dissenting Sunday schools.116
Keeping up with the treats and prizes of Nonconformists was costly, and clergymen may have felt that it was not worth the burden it would place on their churches. Additionally,
Sunday school reformers proposed that the churches should create elaborate buildings, rooms, and buy children’s furniture to improve the conditions of the schools.117 It is not surprising that church leaders and the clergy were hesitant to give their full support to the schools.
The main source of tension was control. For example, some of the clergy felt that children would attend Sunday schools rather than attend their church services. As shown in
Appendix 6, during the period 1900–1914, the numbers attending Sunday school outnumbered Easter Day communicants.118 The Bishop of Exeter argued that ‘it would be
South], District 10 [Bethnal Green East], District 11 [Poplar and Limehouse] (London, London School of Economics, 2016) < http://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b350#?cv=61&c=0&m=0&s=0&z=- 18.679%2C0%2C2493.358%2C1483> [accessed 29/12/2016] (Booth/B350, p. 122). 114 Ibid., p. 122. 115 BALSC, BDFCBWM/11/7/1 – Vickerstown Sunday School Teachers’ Minute Book 1908–1922, 10 July 1913, p. 78. 116 LPL, Davidson 496 – Education, Sunday Schools, fol. 161, p. 10. 117 Sunday School Union, Planning a Modern Sunday School Being Plans, Suggestions and Directions to Meet the New Grading System (London: Sunday School Union, 1909), pp. 5-11. 118 See Appendix 6.
81 looking for far too much from the Sunday school to expect of it any kind of substitute for
Church going’.119 Furthermore, at a teachers’ meeting, the Archdeacon of Dorset stated that
the Sunday school was not independent, because if it became so it would be a rival to the church, and, therefore, would then be really and truly an evil. But the Sunday school was the Church’s school which meant that it was always subordinate to the Church, was to be guided and governed by the church and carry out the Church’s teaching.120
For this clergyman, Sunday schools should be run under the complete control of the church.
However, many schools were expected to run themselves and meet their own costs. The
Archbishop of Canterbury’s report into the schools found that the finances of schools varied, with costs often having to be paid for by way of fundraising efforts because there appears to have been no central church policy on Sunday school costs and who would meet them.121 This shows that some of the clergy wanted the schools under their control, as the schools had generally operated separately to them previously. As the schools became increasingly popular, the clergy began to see their usefulness, so were gradually seeking to gain further ownership of them.
Therefore, church leaders and the clergy started to reflect upon the effectiveness of the schools out of a mixture of genuine interest in them and an attempt to gain some control. For example, at a meeting of Sunday school teachers, it was remarked by a speaker that bishops attending the meeting
must admit that the Church had not conducted its Sunday school in as efficient manner as many other religious bodies, and they were now suffering from this. In certain quarters they were losing a number of their children for the reason that the Sunday schools belonging to other bodies were better conducted than many of the schools belonging to the Church of England.122
119 ‘Sunday Schools Conference at Exeter’, Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 10 April 1913, p. 4. 120 ‘The Bishop of Exeter and Sunday School Teaching’, Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 18 September 1905, p. 6. 121 LPL, Davidson 496 – Education, Sunday Schools, fol. 160, p. 9. 122 ‘Sunday School Teachers’ Association Annual Conversazione’, Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 28 April 1910, p. 6.
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These men believed the schools had not been effective, but this was due to the lack of effort that the Church of England had put into this work. However, many churchmen concluded that the schools were not living up to the standards that they expected, because of ineffective teachers and organisation. The Bishop of London was particularly scathing, stating that ‘the Sunday School work of the diocese of London is to a large extent useless for the purpose of religious instruction’.123 Likewise, Canon Smith concluded that schools in his area were ‘in most cases a lamentable failure’.124 In the eyes of clergymen, Sunday schools were generally felt to be at best ineffective but at worst an outright failure.
There was also the feeling that they were stuck with the schools, whether they were effective or not. The Bishop of Manchester stated that some clergy felt that Sunday schools were ‘an organisation which they were obliged to accept till better days came’.125 The
Archbishop of Canterbury’s report stated that clergymen felt that they had to run Sunday schools or children would go to Nonconformist chapels instead.126 However, as one commentator suggested, ‘[W]hen you want to reform an old institution it is perhaps policy to begin with a good thumping condemnation of its present condition.’127 The Bishop of
London criticised the schools heavily and felt that they were not living up to what he envisaged for them.128 Perhaps this is the reason why the clergy were so scathing of the schools: they wanted reforms to the schools to take a certain form and therefore the ‘old’ system had to be condemned in order for this to occur.
123 ‘Pulpit & Pew: Notes and Comments on the Churches’, Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 11 January 1911, p. 9. 124 ‘Sunday School System in Wales’, Western Mail, 16 November 1900, p. 4. 125 ‘The Sunday School as a Privilege: Bishop Knox’s Warning’, Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 17 October 1906, p. 9. 126 LPL, Davidson 496 – Education, Sunday Schools, fol. 165, p. 14. 127 ‘Pulpit & Pew: Notes and Comments on the Churches’, Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 11 January 1911, p. 9. 128 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D64 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1912, ‘My Ideal Sunday School by the Bishop of London’, 17 October 1912, p. 887.
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Conversely, the schools felt that the churches were still not fully supporting their work. For instance, a writer for the Sunday School Chronicle wrote, ‘[W]e do not think that the churches are yet fully alive to the unexploited spiritual wealth in their children, but there is an awakening, a concern, a spirit of inquiry which under God will lead to a renaissance of the church.’129 Another article commented that ‘the present manifest unwillingness can only be remedied by the Church’s putting the Sunday School in its right place – a place consistent with the dignity, the importance, the necessity, and the difficulty of this branch of Christian work’.130 Teachers at Roath Road wrote that ‘a statistician has computed that a child in the
Sunday School costs 2/4 [two pounds and four shillings] per year to train ; whereas for every adult reclaimed the Churches spent £2,000’.131 They were trying to demonstrate that putting more energy and resources into Sunday schools would result in a saving in the long term. The lack of support for the schools was deemed more frustrating as many workers believed that Sunday schools were the nursery of the church. For instance, a conference in
Scotland concluded that Sunday schools were ‘the feeder of the church – the school of to- day was the church of to-morrow. Without it, with all its faults, where would recruits come from?’132 Some argued that adult Sunday schools could help to prevent leakage from the churches.133 Schools encouraged children to attend church as well as schools and celebrated when scholars became members of the church.134
129 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D64 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1912, ‘The Line of Advance in Sunday School Reform’, 7 March 1912, p. 201. 130 CRL. NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘The Child, the Church, and the Sunday School’, 18 October 1900, p. 707. 131 GA, DX320/3/2/i – Roath Road Record, March to April 1909, p. 23. 132 ‘Sunday School Teachers’, Aberdeen Press and Journal, 12 September 1910, p. 6. 133 ‘Men at Sunday School’, Derbyshire Courier, 6 September 1913, p. 6. 134 BALSC, BDFCBWM/14/2/3 – Abbey Road Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Minute Book 1906–1915, 21 February 1911; GA, DECONG10/23 – Windsor Road Congregational Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1907–1928, 18 January 1911 and DBAP15/3/2/18 – Bethany English Baptist Church Cardiff Sunday School Minutes 1891–1902, 16 October 1900.
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International Nature of Sunday Schools
Throughout this period the movement was internationally minded and connected.
Scholars were taught about the importance of missionary work and were encouraged to donate money to this cause. The Reverend W. Knight thought that
[f]or over forty years the Sunday School Union has rendered incalculable service to the Church in generating missionary enthusiasm in the hearts of the young. Sunday scholars have been taught to pray and work and give toward the Sunday Schools of Europe and India.135
The records of the schools support this argument. Scholars supported missions by raising funds for them. Schools belonging to the NSSU collected funds to support Sunday schools founded in various countries. Annually, as Appendix 7 indicates, the amounts were substantial.136 Records of individual schools also reflect the efforts of scholars to raise money for missions. Horeb Baptist Sunday School, located in Treorchy, a small village in
Wales, collected fifteen pounds when missionaries visited.137 Windsor Congregational
Sunday School, in Barry, Wales, also regularly donated its monthly collections to various missionaries in North China.138 Scholars were also taught that they too could help missions by reading about these countries, praying for them and their missionaries, putting money in the school’s missionary money box, and sending out missionaries.139
Schools also used missionary work as part of their curriculum. Overseas missionary work grew in popularity during the second half of the nineteenth century, influenced in part by the publication of David Livingstone’s Missionary Travels (1857).140 The year 1910 also saw the hosting of the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh. Brian Stanley has suggested
135 Knight, ‘The Future’, p. 189. 136 See Appendix 7. 137 GA, DBAP6/2 – Horeb English Baptist Church, Treorchy, Sunday School Minutes 1873–1909, 9 April 1904. 138 GA, DECONG10/23 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Minutes 1907–1928, 23 February 1910 and 31 January 1911. 139 NRS, CH3/773/21 – Fountainbridge United Free Church Sunday School Magazine, 1909–1910, p. 26. 140 McLeod, Religion and Society in England, p. 145.
85 that the conference was a result of more interdenominational and international conferences taking place from 1854.141 As Hugh McLeod argued,
[M]issionary exploits became staple fare in Sunday Schools. Children [were] thrilled to [hear] stories of voyages down uncharted rivers to the heart of Africa, of journeys across deserts or through impenetrable forests, of encounters with slave-traders and witch doctors, and escapes from crocodiles and cannibals.142
It was understandable that Sunday schools utilised this interest and excitement of their scholars. Teaching materials for Sunday schools could be bought which put a heavy emphasis on missions.143 For instance, in the 1909 magazine of the Fountainbridge Sunday School in
Edinburgh, scholars wrote articles concerning the work of missionaries in India and China, as well as providing information about those countries and their populations.144 Throughout the issue, scholars related the work of contemporary missionaries to the work of Christ and the apostles, and said that they believed missionaries and indeed they themselves had been called to continue this task.145 One article proposed that ‘we can do three things for
India. (1) We can pray for India (2) We can put our pennies in the missionary box. (3) We can send out missionaries (4) We can read about India’.146 Sunday scholars across the country were also informed of missions through talks, slideshows, and books. Horeb Baptist church invited missionaries to speak to the school about their experiences and work.147
Windsor Congregational Sunday School held a lecture for scholars about David Livingstone and handed out London Missionary Society books with examination certificates.148 Similarly,
Arthurlie United Free Church Sunday School, located near Glasgow, hosted a slideshow for
141 B. Stanley, The World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910 (Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), p. 7. 142 McLeod, Religion and Society in England, p. 147. 143 BL, 133 e.1187 – Sunday School Missionary Lessons (1899–1902). 144 Ibid., pp. 1-45. 145 Ibid., p. 4 and p. 26. 146 Ibid., p. 26. 147 GA, DBAP6/2 – Horeb English Baptist Church, Treorchy, Sunday School Minutes 1873–1909, 9 April 1904. 148 GA, DECONG10/23 – Windsor Road Congregational Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1907– 1928, 7 May 1913.
86 scholars to celebrate the life and work of Sir David Livingstone.149 The Sunday school movement was heavily focused on missions, and scholars were taught from a young age about missions and the importance of them. This interest, it appears, did not cease in later adult life, as British Tommies on the Western Front flocked to hear about missions while on active service.150
Furthermore, the schools were connected internationally through the exchange of ideas, teachers, and scholars. International groups such as the World Sunday School
Association held conferences throughout this period to discuss and compare the work of the movement.151 Teachers who moved abroad wrote home to describe the schools they were now working in and contrast them with the one they had left. For example, a leader at
St. Christopher’s College (a training centre for Sunday school teachers established by the
Church of England) who moved to Canada sent a letter informing members of his experiences, such as frustration at the lack of effort regarding the Sunday school in the area, as well as at having to deal with vast amounts of snow.152 A scholar from Longsight
Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School in Manchester wrote from Canada of their disappointment at not being able to teach in a Sunday school and the general lack of activity by the churches.153 In 1914 the college sent another member of staff to visit parishes in
Ottawa to train clergy and teachers ‘“with a view to securing closer touch” – between the
149 NRS, CH3/342/26 – Arthurlie United Free Church Sunday School Association Minutes 1909–1931, 6 March 1913. 150 See Chapter 3. 151 World’s Sunday School Convention, Sunday Schools the World Around: The Official Report of the World’s Fifth Sunday School Convention in Rome (Philadelphia: The World’s Sunday-School Executive Committee, 1907); W. Hartshorn (ed.), The World-Wide Sunday-School Work: The Official Report of the World’s Sixth Sunday School Convention, Held in the City of Washington, U.S.A May 19-24, 1910 (Chicago: The World Sunday School Association, 1910) and G. Trumbull (ed.), World-Wide Sunday School Work: The Official Report of the World’s Seventh Sunday-School Convention, held in Zurich, Switzerland July 8-15, 1913 (London: The World’s Sunday School Association, 1913). 152 CERC, SSI/SCC/10/1/3 – St. Christopher’s College Leaflet, July 1911, pp. 7-8. 153 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1911, p. 11.
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Sunday School movement in England and Canada’.154 The Sunday School Chronicle also published letters from American Sunday school teachers, and sent correspondents to transfer ideas and bring back information for its readers to use in their schools.155
This international awareness was also fostered by the fact that many scholars and teachers moved abroad. It is estimated that from 1900 to 1930, 5,638,000 Britons emigrated to the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.156 Peter Wardley estimated that in the period 1900–1914, 2,300,000 British citizens emigrated from Britain.157 He argued that
‘emigration from the UK was a characteristic and significant feature of the Edwardian period’.158 This conclusion is supported by the records of British Sunday schools. For instance, teachers from Windsor Congregational Church Sunday School moved to South
Africa and Montreal.159 Likewise, scholars and teachers from Roath Road Sunday School moved to Canada, New Zealand, and Australia,160 and scholars from Longsight Wesleyan
Methodist Sunday School moved to Canada and Germany.161
Perceptions of Sunday Schools
As discussed previously, many praised Sunday schools and their efforts. However, some commentators believed that the schools could be of a higher standard. The Hull Daily
154 CERC, SSI/SCC/10/1/12 – St. Christopher’s College Leaflet, July 1914, p. 8. 155 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D54 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1902, ‘Our American Letter’, 31 July 1902, pp. 527-528 and ‘Impressions of America: A Chat with Mr F. F. Belsey’, 31 July 1902, p. 528. 156 D. Baines, ‘Population, Migration and Regional Development, 1870–1939’, in The Economic History of Britain since 1700: Volume Two 1860–1939, 2nd edn, ed. by R. Floud and D. McCloskey (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 29-61 (p. 48). 157 P. Wardley, ‘Edwardian Britain: Empire, Income and Political Discontent’, in Twentieth Century Britain: Economic, Social and Cultural Change, ed. by P. Johnson (London: Pearson Education, 1994), pp. 57-78 (pp. 61- 62). 158 Ibid., p. 62. 159 GA, DECONG10/22 – Windsor Road Congregational Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1868– 1906, 6 July 1902, and DECONG10/25 – Windsor Congregational Church Sunday School Register and Notes 1902–1933, 5 May 1907, 13 September 1908, and 4 October 1908. 160 GA, DWESCCR/265 – Roath Road Record, May to June 1907, p. 9, DWESCCR/273 – Roath Road Record, March to April 1908, p. 32, DX320/3/2/i – Roath Road Record, November to December 1908, p. 13 and DX320/3/2/i – Roath Road Record, March to April 1910, p. 29. 161 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1904, p. 4 and 1911, p. 10.
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Mail carried out an investigation of Sunday schools in the area. Investigators found that children who attended Sunday school did not transfer into church membership.162 Others felt that Sunday school reform had come later in some denominations than in others. Talbot
Baines, Secretary of the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor, contended that the Church of England was ten years behind in its Sunday school work compared with Nonconformists.163 Furthermore, in 1901 the London Daily News published a series of articles considering whether Sunday schools were a failure. Some felt that the schools were not living up to the standards that were expected of them. One commentator argued:
[I]t appears to me the Sunday schools are not so much a success as they might be. There needs be in Sunday school teachers less levity and frivolity, and more sincerity and earnestness in their own lives, and to infuse a nobler and purer spirit and mind into the children and adults.164
A Mr Yates informed readers as follows:
Most people who know anything of the working of Sunday schools will, I think, endorse the words of your correspondent, Rev. James Homes, when he says, ‘I am convinced the schools are not a failure, but they are in a decidedly unsatisfactory condition.’ […] An ideal teacher as one possessed of the ‘spirit of power and love, and of a sound mind.’ When our Sunday School teachers attain to this standard, I think the now lamentable failures revealed in this present correspondence will largely disappear.165
Some contemporary articles were concerned with behaviour and discipline in the schools. For example, one article highlighted a discussion at a conference about unruly behaviour and the need for teachers to discipline those under their care, implying that if there was no discipline there could be no learning.166 Another commentator wrote that
‘Sunday school discipline is lamentably ineffective, and teachers ought to approximate a little
162 ‘Hull and Its Sunday Schools’, Hull Daily Mail, 22 October 1900, p. 2. 163 ‘Sunday School Reform’, The Times, 20 January 1911, p. 7. 164 ‘Are Sunday Schools a Failure?’, London Daily News, 11 September 1901, p. 3. 165 ‘Are Sunday Schools a Failure?’, London Daily News, 19 September 1901, p. 3. 166 ‘Unruly Children: Discussion at Totnes on Sunday School Discipline’, Western Times, 21 October 1913, p. 2.
89 more to the methods of day schools’.167 Jeffrey Cox has emphasised the lack of discipline in the schools.168 He noted that board school teachers believed that Sunday schools, rather than having a civilising influence upon the children, were causing them to be less disciplined.169 This was due in part to the fact that Sunday school treats excited scholars so much that they caused disruption in the day school classroom.170 It is therefore understandable that some in society felt the schools were a nuisance.
It does appear that for some schools discipline was a problem. And there are contemporary complaints about bad behaviour in day schools.171 However, records of
Sunday schools themselves rarely comment on bad behaviour. Windsor Congregational
Church Sunday School recorded in its minutes that the general behaviour of scholars had been good overall in the previous year.172 To deal with potential bad behaviour, Abbey Road
Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School in Barrow-in-Furness appointed a teacher to monitor scholars in a long corridor.173 It was also decided that teachers would sit with their classes to avoid any disturbances during church services.174 Publications such as the Sunday School
Chronicle reminded teachers to discipline with love, as they were not day schools.175 This suggests that schools were aware of behaviour and wanted to carefully manage it. No matter how rigid a system of discipline is, there will always be children who will challenge it.
However, contemporary evidence gives the impression that a lack of discipline was not the
167 ‘Sunday School Discipline’, Portsmouth Evening News, 26 April 1904, p. 3. 168 Cox, English Churches in a Secular Society, pp. 95-97. 169 Ibid., p. 96. 170 Ibid., p. 96. 171 ‘School Discipline at Liskeard’, Cornish and Devon Post, 31 December 1904, p. 5 and ‘School Discipline’, St James’s Gazette, 17 January 1912, p. 20. 172 GA, DECONG10/23 – Windsor Road Congregational Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1907– 1928, 18 January 1911. 173 BALSC, BDFCBWM/14/2/3 – Abbey Road Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Minute Book 1906–1915, 13 April 1913. 174 Ibid, 21 February 1912. 175 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘A Chat with the President Elect of the Baptist Union’, 25 January 1900, p. 59.
90 norm that some have suggested. In fact, schools were aware of the problems that a lack of discipline caused and put systems in place to mitigate this.
Furthermore, scholars spoke highly of their time at Sunday school. When the London
Daily News ran a series of articles on whether Sunday schools were a failure, old scholars wrote to the newspaper to defend them. One stated that ‘the Sunday Schools have done more for England than all the Cabinets that have ever existed’.176 Another wrote that he had pleasant memories of his time at the school, and that more money needed to be spent on the schools.177 Likewise, another scholar wrote:
I feel that whatever good I have been able by God’s help to accomplish I owe to the impressions made by the teachers in the early years of my life in the Sunday School. […] To know Miss Tipping was to love her. She always had a cheery word and pleasant smile for her girls […] The associations of Longsight Chapel are very sacred to me, and there are very hallowed memories attached to it.178
Scholars did not just write to this publication to thank their old teachers. An old potter told readers of the Sunday School Chronicle:
But what shall I say of the benefit I got from the Sunday School? To speak of the benefit it has been to the nation would be a joy, and all I could say would fail to tell the measure of its beneficence and inspiration, especially to the children of the poor in these days. To me, very soon, it was a life within my life. In the midst of a life of hardship and temptation, this inner life shed a brightness and a sweetness which always gave me an upward look and an upward aspiration.179
A scholar who left Roath Road Sunday School wrote, ‘I take this opportunity of thanking all the Officers, especially my Sunday Class teachers (Mr C. H. Thomas) for kindly and godly advice extended to me, and it is not their fault if I have not benefitted by these good influences.’180
176 ‘Are Sunday Schools a Failure?’, London Daily News, 25 September 1901, p. 3. 177 ‘Are Sunday Schools a Failure?’, London Daily News, 14 September 1901, p. 3. 178 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1911, pp. 13-14. 179 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D57 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1905, ‘The Permanent Influence of the Sunday School’, 14 December 1905, p. 1190. 180 GA, DX320/3/2/i – Roath Road Record, November to December 1908, p. 32.
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There were some who felt their time at Sunday school had not been useful. For example, the Reverend W. F. Adeney told readers of the Sunday School Chronicle:
I WAS only at Sunday School for about two years when I was quite young. I can remember the faces and tones of voice of my two teachers, but nothing more. I do not think I took anything in or received any religious impression from them. It was just a dull sermonising that passed over my head.181
The fictional Edwin Clayhanger’s dislike of Sunday school was perhaps based on his creator’s feelings towards the church.182 However, these negative experiences are generally in the minority. Overall it appears that the majority of scholars felt that their time at Sunday school had been worthwhile.
Archival material also reveals the lasting impact of the schools on scholars in terms of their faith and their relationships with their teachers. For instance, it was reported that a performer at a Sunday School anniversary
told a large company how he was led to Christian service through the Kingston Sunday School. Mr Rank, it was noticed, almost broke down when he stated that he felt that he would never be able to pay the debt he owed to that Sunday school. […] he said he was led out of darkness into light, and where a great change came over his life.183
Similarly, one scholar informed his old school, ‘I should like to say how much I owe to the influences and training I received while in the School, which led to a happy decision for
Christ when I was 15 years old. I shall always have cause to thank God that I ever came to
Longsight.’184 It also appears that Roath Road Sunday School had a lasting influence over a prominent British evangelical preacher. Campbell Morgan had previously been a scholar at the school and he regularly visited to deliver lectures and even gave a sermon at its
181 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D57 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1905, ‘The Permanent Influence of the Sunday School’, 14 December 1905, p. 1190. 182 Drabble, Arnold Bennett, pp. 12-13. 183 Hull Daily Mail, ‘The Influence of “Old Kingston” Interesting Reminiscences’, 12 March 1912, p. 8. 184 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1904, p. 4.
92 anniversary service.185 He became the president of the NSSU and served as a vice- president.186 Scholars also developed lifelong relationships with their teachers. One teacher who was ninety years old said he still received letters from old scholars whom he had taken under his wing.187 A parent wrote to Roath Road to thank the school for the continued interest it had taken in his children even though the family had moved to Australia.188 These examples illustrate that for some scholars and teachers their time at Sunday school was a powerful and formative influence on their personal and spiritual lives.
Conclusion
This chapter has demonstrated the importance of Sunday schools in society before the outbreak of the First World War. Statistics concerning the schools demonstrate that attendance was normal for working-class children at some point during their childhood.
Articles in both national and local newspapers reveal the significance that was attached to the schools and their activities. Sunday schools even made appearances in popular literature of the period and had connections to the royal family, who gave their patronage and donations. Politicians such as Lloyd George and Arthur Henderson attended schools in their childhood and spoke highly of them. The movement was also concerned about the poverty in which many lived. It used its influence in society to voice its concerns and assist those in need.
The chapter has also shown that the schools were far more effective and powerful than some historians have suggested. Changes occurred to both their teaching and their organisation, with an increasing emphasis on teacher training and the study of the child.
185 GA, DWESCCR/265 – Roath Road Record, May to April 1907, p. 14, DX320/3/2/i – Roath Road Record, May to June 1908, p. 3, and November to December 1908, p.17. 186 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D10 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1906/1907 to 1909/1910, 1906/1907, p. 13 and 1907/1908, p. 9. 187 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘After Ninety Year: Some Reminiscences’, ’19 April 1900, p. 247. 188 GA, DX320/3/2/I – Roath Road Record, May to June 1910, p. 24.
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Furthermore, schools were constantly reflecting on their success and effectiveness. They felt that while overall their work was producing good results, there was room for improvement.
In this period, there was increasing support from the churches for the schools.
Church leaders recognised the important role the schools could play in the life of the church. However, there were tensions between them over issues of cost and control. The schools also became increasingly internationally minded during this period. Scholars were taught about missionary work and its importance in the life of the church. They were also encouraged to donate to missionary funds and raised large sums of money. The schools also exchanged ideas through international conferences and by sending representatives to other countries.
Additionally, many in society spoke highly of the schools and were pleased with their work. Moreover, scholars spoke highly of the schools. For some, their time at Sunday school had a profound impact on their personal and spiritual lives. Many of those who would live through and fight in the First World War found their experiences at Sunday school in this period shaped their perception of the conflict.
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Chapter 2 – British Sunday Schools and the First World War, 1914-1918
Introduction
Sunday schools did not escape the war unscathed. It was a pivotal moment in their history. They experienced disruption, uncertainty, and loss. However, many involved in organising them sought to continue their activities as usual. The 1917 Annual Report of the
National Sunday School Union concluded:
From the Reports sent in by Unions throughout the Kingdom it is evident that in the story of the year’s activities there is a commingling of contrasted experiences. On the one hand the prolonged European war has meant continued losses of teachers and scholars, unprecedented difficulties and disappointments, a general weakening of home influences, and a further falling off in the numerical strength of the Schools. Moreover, the progress of the Graded movement […] has undoubtedly been hampered, though it has by no means been stopped.1
This illustrates the diverse experiences of the schools across the country and the challenges they faced throughout the war.
The war caused great upheaval on the home front. Few British people remained untouched by the conflict. Sunday schools were also greatly disrupted and affected by the hostilities. They lost both scholars and teachers to the war effort, along with other vital resources. Despite the importance of the schools in the lives of much of the population, their experience of war is underexplored. Studies of religion during the war have tended to focus on the leadership of the churches, rather than the laity.2 This is a large oversight given the role the laity played in sustaining morale in local communities throughout the conflict.
Research by Robert Beaken showed that Sunday schools in Colchester played an important part in giving children and adults a sense of ‘business as usual’ and continued to provide annual treats for children despite food shortages.3 Likewise, Sarah Williams’s research highlighted the significant role church groups, such as the South-East London Mission, played
1 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D14 Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/18 to 1921/22, 1917/1918, p. 13. 2 For example see Marrin, The Last Crusade and Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War. 3 Beaken, The Church of England and the Home Front 1914–1918, pp. 116-117.
95 in supporting women in Southwark.4 Meetings provided women with a forum for prayer and support which touched both the organisers and attendees.5 As Chapter 1 demonstrated,
Sunday schools played an important role in local communities in the pre-war era.6 It is thus surprising that their role during the First World War has not been considered in greater depth. This chapter seeks to explore not only the experiences of the schools during the war but also the way in which they supported the war effort and their local communities.
As mentioned in the Introduction, three magazines produced by Sunday schools during the First World War have provided valuable information regarding religious life during the conflict. The magazines regularly published letters from some their scholars who were serving overseas. It appears that these three magazines are the only Sunday school wartime magazines that survive in the archives. Many of the letters printed in the magazines also provide unique insights into the religious life and faith of British Tommies, and such letters have rarely survived. However, these letters may not be representative of the average Sunday school. Michael Roper has highlighted the difficulties of finding letters from the average British Tommy.7 He also suggested that ‘it is difficult to avoid an element of bias towards the better-off. […] The evidence for poorer families is fleeting and often refracted through the accounts of their children’.8
Two of the wartime magazines belonged to schools from more affluent areas of their respective cities. The Old Scholars’ Union Magazine was published by Longsight Wesleyan
Methodist Sunday School, located in a suburb of Greater Manchester. Until the First World
War, Longsight was an area which attracted the upper-middle classes because of its good
4 S. Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture, p. 157. 5 Ibid., p. 157. 6 See Chapter 1. 7 M. Roper, The Secret Battle: Emotional Survival in the Great War (University Press Manchester: Manchester, 2009), p. 28. 8 Ibid., p. 28.
96 transport links.9 Located about two miles south-east of the city, it became an ideal location for those who worked in the city but who did not want to live there.10 The Roath Road
Roamer was published by Roath Road Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School, which was located in the Roath area of Cardiff. According to Kenneth Morgan, this was a haven for the aspiring middle classes.11 The suburb had grown into a middle-class area from one which was previously used mainly for commerce and the shipping trade.12 Indeed, the father of
Willie Seager, a soldier scholar, founded W. H. Seager and Company and also managed
Tempus Shipping and Company.13 Sir William Henry Seager received a knighthood for his work with the shipping industry in 1918.14
However, the third magazine reflects religious life in a much more working-class community. The Young Crescent was published by Crescent Congregational Sunday school, which was originally located in Everton Brow, a poorer area of Liverpool.15 A report written in 1955 stated that it was the largest area in the city designated for slum clearance.16 A local newspaper reported the death of one of its workers, William Hope, who spent many
Sunday mornings providing breakfast for children in the district.17 Crescent Congregational
Sunday School was therefore serving children of a very different social background to those at Roath Road and Longsight. Nevertheless, all the magazines provide a unique insight into religious life and belief in early twentieth-century Britain.
9 A. Smith, Aging in Urban Neighbourhoods: Place Attachment and Social Exclusion (Bristol: Polity Press, 2009), p. 53. 10 Ibid., p. 53. 11 K. D. Morgan, Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880–1980 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981), p. 127. 12 Ibid., p. 127. 13 ‘Wife Had Faith – and He Won’, Manchester Evening News, 9 June 1941, p. 4. 14 ‘Sir William Seager, Welsh Shipping Magnate’, Western Mail, 11 March 1941, p. 3. 15 The National Archives, Lancashire Archives – Congregational Records, Liverpool (London: The National Archives, [n.d.])
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Response to the Outbreak of the First World War
Sunday schools on the home front believed their men were fighting in a righteous
Christian conflict. Opinions in Sunday school magazines and material aimed at teachers supported the war. For example, the Primitive Methodist Sunday School Union’s magazine stated:
Thousands of Primitive Methodists have responded to the call of the nation, and there cannot now be many regiments in which a number of our young men have not found service. Of these men we may well feel proud, for they are already heroes by virtue of the possession of lofty motives. Not from the love of militarism have they gone from our midst, not to win ‘glory’ in the ensanguined field, but from affection for England and a passion to defend the weak and feeble against the strong and ruthless. For the sake of freedom, justice, and peace are they in the army this day.18
The Young Crescent, the wartime magazine of Crescent Congregational Church Sunday
School in Liverpool also commented:
We honour you, and are proud that you are on the side of Justice and Righteousness whether in trench, camp, ship or hospital our thoughts and prayers follow you, and we trust that the knowledge of this may strengthen and comfort you at all times.19
Similarly, the Roath Road Roamer, produced in Cardiff by Roath Road Wesleyan Methodist
Sunday School, argued:
It is the call of your King and Country, but above that it seems to us to be the call of Christ to gird on your armour and do battle in His name and by His might, to right the wrong, to succour the oppressed, to overthrow the powers of darkness which are such a mighty menace to the coming of His Kingdom.20
The Sunday schools’ support for Britain’s involvement in this war was also in keeping with the position of the churches. As Stuart Bell concluded, ‘[I]t is clear that by September
1914, the vast majority of both Church leaders and ordinary church-goers were fully
18 BL, 13215 e.159 - The Primitive Methodist Sunday School Magazine, Volume I/II, 1913–1915, November 1914, pp. cxxxiii-cxxxiv. 19 Liverpool Record Office, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, November 1915, p. 8. 20 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, December 1914, p. 1.
98 supportive of Britain’s declaration of war, believed to have been forced upon it by
Germany’s invasion of “brave little Belgium”.’21 Hughes also suggested that conscientious objectors who sought exemption from military service during the First World War had trouble persuading tribunals that their exemption should be allowed because a majority of their co-religionists supported the war effort and had joined the forces.22
However, the schools did not only declare their support for the war. They embarked upon a huge effort to support those in Belgium who were dislocated by war and those who were fighting abroad. The ways in which they supported the armed forces will be examined in greater detail later in this chapter. Schools quickly organised support for refugees from Belgium; some schools donated money to the Belgian Refugee Fund. For example, Sunday schools in Aberdeen held collections which raised between one thousand four hundred and one thousand five hundred pounds as part of a city-wide effort.23
Normally this money would have been used to pay for the running costs of the schools, but they chose to give it up to aid those who had been forced out of their homes. Some scholars chose not to receive their Sunday school prizes, so that the money which would have been used to purchase them could be donated to the Belgian Refugee Fund. Out of
124 scholars from the Rushden Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School in Northamptonshire,
300 donated their prize money to the fund. Similarly, scholars at Roath Road collected money and donated food to a Belgian refugee family which the church was supporting.
Those at Roath Road felt that ‘[w]e owe a debt to the Belgians and their heroic King which we shall never be able to pay.’24 The Roath Road Roamer reported,
We hear also that some of our Young Men’s Classes are helping in first rate Roath Road style. We had a Potato Collection for “our family” in the School on Sunday,
21 Bell, Faith in Conflict, p. 47. 22 M. Hughes, ‘The Development of Methodist Pacifism, 1899–1939’, Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, 53(2002), 203-215, p. 209. 23 ‘Belgian Flag Day in Aberdeen’, Aberdeen Journal, 7 December 1914, p. 8. 24 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, November 1914, p. 8.
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November 15th. If you want to know the “how” and “what” of it, send us a dozen potatoes for them and we will soon inform you.25
The schools were, however, sympathetic towards those who felt that they could not fight in this war. For instance, the late George Haston’s Sunday school teachers provided a headstone as his family could not afford one.26 George died of influenza on 25 October 1918 while he was a prisoner at Dartmoor for his refusal to perform military service.27 The
Sunday School Chronicle did not comment widely on the issue of objection to military service, though. One article argued:
You are reading so much in the papers about conscientious objectors and conscientious objections that a word needs saying by the way […] Our conscience may be right. But no man ought to take it for granted when there is any ground for thinking that his point of view is largely personal to himself. […] The truth of the matter is that the whole nation is at war. One’s conscience may be personal to oneself, but the call and duty of the hour are not. There never has been a war in Europe in which the issues were so clear.28
This article was written with a tone of respect towards and understanding of those who felt that in accordance with their conscience they could not fight. It demonstrates that some were prepared to support their scholars even if the scholars’ beliefs differed from their own.
Practical Impact of the First World War
The conflict had many practical implications for the Sunday schools. This is reflected in the statistics regarding attendance at the schools. Generally, the numbers attending decreased, which can be seen in Appendix 8. In 1914 approximately 6,012,567 children attended Sunday school.29 By the end of the war this had decreased to 4,037,327.30
25 Ibid., December 1914, p. 8. 26 Jill Barber, Henry Haston (1892–1918) (My Primitive Methodist, 2016) http://www.myprimitivemethodists.org.uk/page/henry_haston_1892-1918?path=0p4p136p168p [Accessed 27 June 2016]. 27 Ibid. 28 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D68 – Sunday School Chronicle, ‘To the Men on Active Service’, 23 March 1918, p. 179. 29 See Appendix 8. 30 See Appendix 8.
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However, Clive Field has suggested that this figure could be higher, estimating that there were 7,074,000 scholars in 1914 and 6,091,000 in 1918.31 On the other hand, this pattern varied from school to school. For example, attendances at Brandon Colliery Primitive
Methodist Sunday School in County Durham decreased slightly during 1914 but increased in
1915 and remained stable throughout 1916.32 Appendix 9 shows that it was only in the latter years of the war that the biggest decreases came.33 This contrasted with the experience of the Darlington Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, located in the same county. As
Appendix 10 demonstrates, there was a large increase in attendance during the first three years of war, meaning that the numbers lost in the pre-war years were regained.34 Variations within a local area are also reflected elsewhere in the country. Appendix 11 shows that in
Barry, the number of Windsor Congregational Sunday School’s scholars decreased throughout the war, although there was a brief respite in 1916, when the number remained roughly the same.35 Scholars’ attendance at Bethel Baptist Sunday School, also located in
Barry, followed a similar pattern, but the same cannot be said about the attendance of its teachers.36 Appendix 12 indicates that throughout the war the attendance of teachers decreased dramatically, although the staffing at Windsor remained at similar levels to those before the war.37 Therefore, while a general pattern of attendance can be generated, it is important to remember that different counties and even individual schools in the same area often saw very significant variations. Nevertheless, this data does demonstrate that in general there was a noticeable loss of scholars and teachers during the war years.
31 Field, ‘Keeping the Spiritual Home Fires Burning’, p. 264. 32 See Appendix 9. 33 See Appendix 9. 34 See Appendix 10. 35 See Appendix 11. 36 See Appendix 11. 37 See Appendix 12.
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However, these statistics simply reflect that there was a general decrease in attendance at the schools during the conflict. Statistics are useful but only if they are accompanied by contextual evidence that helps to explain the reasons for this decrease.
Archival material not only confirms these patterns, but also provides the information to explain these trends. One reason for this decrease was that the war effort often competed for the same resources the schools required, for example many scholars and teachers joined the forces. The Annual Report of the NSSU for 1914 argued:
For one thing, although just now it will be impossible to give accurate figures, yet there can be no doubt that among the thousands of young men who have so nobly rallied by offering themselves in this war for upholding justice and national honour, no mean proportion have come from the ranks of British Sunday Schools. This is evident from reports which have already reached us from Union secretaries, from Ministers, and Church Leaders; as well as from Superintendents who are faced in some cases with almost total depletion of their male teachers and officers, and in many cases with greatly reduced Bible Classes and Institutes, simply because, in the hour of Britain’s need, the younger men and the women of the nation’s Sunday Schools have splendidly risen to their opportunity of sacrifice and service.38
Indeed, schools across the country lost many teachers and scholars who enlisted. One school lost its secretary and had to replace him.39 Another school lost so many teachers that it was decided that an appeal to the church was required to replace them.40 The
Primitive Methodist Sunday School Union found that, according to the statistical returns from the schools, many workers, teachers, and scholars had enlisted during 1915.41
Therefore, enlistment was a big drain on those both attending and working at the schools.
38 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D13 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1913/14 to 1915/16, 1914/1915, p. 28. 39 Durham Record Office, M/BA 255 – Bishop Auckland Methodist Circuit, Minutes of Teachers’ Meetings of Russell Street Sunday School 1839–1942, 15 April 1915, p. 134. 40 GA, DBAP13/15 – Bethel English Baptist Church, Minute Book of Sunday School Teachers Meetings, 1912– 1919, 15 June 1915. 41 JRL, GB135 DDEy/1/8 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1897– 1932, 12 April 1915.
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But it was not simply members leaving to fight that depleted the resources of the schools. The war effort required workers and buildings. This again drew more resources away from the schools. One commentator concluded:
In some places the children do not come to school as regularly as before the war, in others Parish Halls have been taken over for war purposes, and have not been available for the Sunday School, and in many schools there has been a shortage of teachers. Most of the young men have enlisted, and hospitals have claimed the time of many women who might otherwise have been willing to undertake this work.42
Vickerstown Sunday School in Barrow-in-Furness found that its teachers’ attendance decreased and recorded in the minutes that ‘Mr Kemp promised to visit the Senior Classes to try and procure suitable substitutes to take the place of those who […] were otherwise detained by war production’.43 These sources provide a number of reasons why attendance fell. Some schools were forced to close as they either did not have a building to hold their lessons in or did not have the staff needed for them. Additionally, scholars and teachers could not attend as they had joined the armed forces or had taken on war work.
Attendance at the schools declined as a result of the dislocation of war.
The influenza epidemic can also account for the decrease in attendance. It is estimated that in 1918 there were 112,329 deaths caused by influenza.44 Medical scholars have suggested that the conditions created by war contributed to the spread and severity of the outbreak.45 Principally, the cramped and stressful conditions of the fighting front alongside the pressured circumstances of the home front provided opportunities for small mutational changes in the virus to occur.46 These changes to the virus meant it became
42 ‘Sunday Schools and the War’, Leamington Spa Courier, 5 May 1916, p. 3. 43 BALSC, BDFCBWM/11/7/1 – Vickerstown Wesleyan Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minute Book, 1908–1922, 17 February 1917, p. 116. 44 J. S. Oxford, A. Sefton, R. Jackson, W. Innes, R. S. Daniels and N. Johnson, ‘World War I May Have Allowed the Emergence of “Spanish” Influenza’, Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2 (2002), 111-114, (p. 113). 45 Ibid., p. 113. 46 Ibid., p. 113.
103 more virulent in form and resulted in a pandemic.47 However, others have doubted the connection between the war and the pandemic, arguing it was ‘sui generis’.48 More recent research suggests that the conditions caused by the war increased the susceptibility to the disease.49
Nevertheless, the pandemic significantly affected the schools. Many were forced to shut their doors to scholars. The government encouraged local government boards to take preventive measures to halt the spread of the disease.50 It was noted that in many areas
Sunday schools had already been closed and others were encouraged to avoid gathering in large assemblies.51 Records confirm that many did take this advice. Sunday schools in the
Barry area were forced to close. It was reported by Windsor Road Congregational Church
Sunday School Committee that
[o]wing to the prevalence of Influenza, the closing of all day schools in Barry & the request received from the Education Committee not to permit the attendance of children of school age at Sunday School it has been decided at Windsor Road Committee Mtg on Sunday Eveg last to close the school until the various Day Schools were re-opened.52
Likewise, Barnard Castle Trinity’s Sunday School register shows that for the whole of
December 1918 the school was closed due to ‘measles and influenza’.53 Similarly, the minutes of Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Church in Penarth stated:
During the year the country was scourged by an epedemic of influenza, which was bound to result in many scholars staying away through ill health and others
47 Ibid., p. 113. 48 J. Winter, ‘Some Paradoxes of the First World War’, in The Upheaval of War: Family, Work and Welfare in Europe, 1914–1918, ed. by R. Wall and J. Winter (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 9-42, (p. 23). 49 Gregory, The Last Great War, p. 286. 50 HC Deb 30 October 1918, vol 110, col. 1462. 51 Ibid., col. 1462. 52 GA, DECONG10/25 – Windsor Road Congregational Church, Sunday School Register with Notes 1903– 1926, 28 October 1918, p. 111. 53 DRO, M/BT 68 – Barnard Castle Trinity Methodist Church Sunday School Attendance Register, October – December 1918.
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through fear of infection. It was so severe that it was found necessary to close the junior school for two Sundays.54
This illustrates the impact the outbreak of influenza had on the schools. Many were forced to close when they would have preferred to remain open. The schools cooperated with local authorities, and in the circumstances were happy to do so in order to look after their members. This also provides an explanation as to why Sunday school attendance declined more in 1918 than in any other of the war years.
The war not only affected attendance levels at the schools; it also affected their normal activities. The minute books of many Sunday schools reflect the difficulties they encountered due to wartime conditions and regulations. Food controls as well as the high cost of transport and other items made it impossible for many schools to hold their annual treat. This annual event was a highlight for many in the local community. One local commentator complained:
Sir, - I wish to enter a strong protest against the suggestion of the Food Controller to stop the children’s Sunday school treats. Considering it is the one day of the year the children look forward to, I think that to stop them is a cruel and unnecessary procedure. The children will require food if they have no treat and probably on that day eat no more, if as much, food as any other day and I fail to see where the saving will come in. The parents of children who are well-to-do will no doubt, as usual, take them to the country or seaside for their annual holiday; but the poor children – what of them? I appeal to Christian workers to notice what is permitted and what is banned at the present time, and do not allow your little ones to be deprived of their treat.55
For many of the poorer children who attended the schools, this may have been the only time they took part in some sort of special celebration. But many schools had no option but to cancel their treats. The minutes of Russell Street Sunday School in Bishop Auckland stated:
54 GA, D1232/1/2/1 – Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Committee 1912–1923, 5 March 1919. 55 ‘Sunday School Treats’, Liverpool Daily Post, 18 June 1917, p. 7.
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A discussion took place respecting the Children’s Annual Treat, many present thinking that in the view of the shortage of food stuffs & it was not desirable that this should not be held this year. It was left to the Superintendents & Secretaries to decide the matter & they ultimately decided not to do anything this year.56
Likewise, a local newspaper reported the conclusions of a meeting held by the clergy of Hull
Rural Deanery, which concluded:
That this Chapter, bearing in mind the definite wishes of the Food Controller as to the undesirability of holding at present any Sunday School treats which involve extra expenditure of food, invite all parishes in the deanery to cooperate in foregoing all such treats.57
Similarly, Bethel Baptist Sunday School in Cardiff decided that its annual treat could not be held due to war conditions.58
Other surviving records demonstrate that many schools felt a patriotic duty or pressure to not hold their treat due to the war. This pressure sometimes came from other denominations. North Meols Deanery, in West Lancashire, decided ‘to recommend that no treats be held this year, and to send a copy of the resolution to the Nonconformist leaders in the town, expressing the hope that they will fall into line in the matter’.59 Another newspaper reported:
Rev. J. Charteris Johnston, of Torquay, having been asked by the Earl Fortescue and Mr. Fred Horne to use his official and personal influence with Nonconformist Churches and Sunday schools in the county, so that all such things as Church and Sunday school teas may be omitted while country is being called by its Government to economise in food to the utmost, expresses the earnest hope that there will be no instance on the part of Devon Nonconformists that will in the least degree be inconsistent with the clear national duty to avoid all extravagance in food.60
56 DRO, M/BA 255 – Bishop Auckland Methodist Circuit, Minutes of Teachers’ Meetings of Russell Street Sunday School 1839–1942, 16 May 1917, p. 153. 57 ‘Sunday School Treats’, Hull Daily Mail, 17 May 1917, p. 2. 58 GA, D4272/2/7 – Bethel Baptist Church Butetown, Sunday School Meetings Minutes 1875–1959, 12 July 1915. 59 ‘Treats and Food Shortage’, Cambridge Independent Press, 4 May 1917, p. 7. 60 ‘Sunday School Treats and Food Economy’, Western Times, 26 June 1917, p. 2.
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While there was a certain level of expectation that schools would not hold treats, others had decided themselves that it was their duty not to hold an annual event. One school described their decision to forgo its treat as a ‘patriotic move’.61 This shows that schools either willingly or reluctantly abandoned their annual treats. They were one of the highlights of the year for all involved, and cancelling them was a decision that would not have been taken lightly.
Other wartime regulations affected the activities and events the schools organised.
For instance, the risk of air raids meant that the government introduced restrictions and regulations to prevent the enemy from hitting their targets and to protect civilians. Coastal and aerial bombardments led many in the population to feel that the division between the home and the front line had been blurred.62 The attacks also meant that civilians mattered more in wartime than in any previous conflict.63 According to Lawrence Sondhaus, raids on
Britain caused anger rather than panic among the population.64 Indeed, Adrian Gregory suggested that the raids of 1917 in part contributed to anti-German riots.65 However, the impact of the raids should not be underestimated just because they did not result in widespread panic. First, as Susan Grayzel argued, the raids challenged the assumed order of affairs during wartime, which was that men went out to the front to protect women and children.66 Men at the front began to worry about the safety of those at home.67 Second, the damage and disruption caused by the raids were significant. It is estimated that raids killed
1,239 civilians, including 252 children and 366 women, and injured 2,886, 542 children and
61 GA, D1232/1/2/1 – Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Committee 1912–1923, 6 May 1917. 62 S. Grayzel, At Home and Under Fire: Air Raids and Culture in Britain from the Great War to the Blitz (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 2. 63 Ibid., p. 2. 64 L. Sondhaus, World War One: The Global Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), p. 358. 65 Gregory, The Last Great War, p. 234. 66 Grayzel, At Home and Under Fire, p. 20. 67 Ibid., p. 20.
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1,016 women.68 The damage resulting from the raids cost £3,087,098.69 This meant that
Sunday schools could lose some of their scholars and teachers despite the fact that they were at home. For instance, one raid on Dover killed four children who were on their way to Sunday school.70
Given the dangers posed by air raids, schools began to prepare for the worst. The
NSSU annual scholars’ examinations were brought forward to the afternoon ‘on account of the Government lighting restrictions’.71 Another school discussed the issue of shading its windows to comply with regulations.72 Others were forced to cancel weekly meetings. One school felt that it had to stop holding its Band of Hope meetings during the winter months for its scholars’ safety, due to the streets being much darker.73 The anniversary of Sardis
Calvinistic Methodist Sunday School was a very different affair from those of previous years.
The report on the event commented:
The S.S. Anniversary was held on November 12th but as you know owing to the existing lighting restrictions, and the consequent irregularity of services, the children could not take part, but the following Sunday afternoon was allotted to them, the children rendering their songs & in a very admirable manner, it being considered by all a very successful meeting.74
Despite this school not being able to hold its annual event as usual, its teachers did their best to organise some form of celebration for their scholars. Some schools provided advice for workers about how to adapt to the restrictions. A local newspaper article advised:
People who help at Sunday school or who attend morning service ought to really to go to bed an hour earlier than usual on Saturday evening if they wish to get their usual allowance of sleep. Ten-thirty by the clocks – or by such of them as
68 Ibid., p. 21. 69 Ibid., p. 21. 70 ‘Murder from the Air’, Daily Record and Mail, 21 March 1916, p. 6. 71 CRL, Local Christian Education Councils, Section A, West London Auxiliary Sunday School Union, A36 – 102nd Annual Report 1916, p. 20. 72 BALSC, BPR 4/P/18/29 – Barrow-in-Furness St Mark’s Parish, Sunday School Minute Book 1914–1937, 10 October 1916. 73 BALSC, BDFCMM 7/2 – Millom Queen Street Chapel, Sunday School Teachers’ Minute Book 1906–1922, 15 October 1917. 74 GA, D1232/1/2/1 – Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Committee 1912–1923, 4 May 1917.
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have been duly advanced on Saturday night – will be as early as 9 30 last Sunday morning.75
Likewise, at a meeting at Ferne Park Baptist Sunday school, in London, the school informed its workers of the procedure they should follow if there was an attack during a session.76
This advice was perhaps given after the first ‘Gotha’ raids on London, which began in the summer of 1917.77 These examples illustrate that schools quickly adapted to the regulations and ensured that they made their scholars’ and teachers’ safety a priority.
Those involved in the Sunday school movement wanted to convey the sense that everything was ‘business as usual’. As Robert Beaken argued,
The adults who ran church organisations for children were frequently tired and over-stretched, and had to bear their own burdens and anxieties. Nevertheless, there was a sense of ‘business as usual’ with children’s organisations: the adult leaders probably realised that this was one way in which they could help and support the children of their parishes.78
The schools were often a vital part of local communities, providing many with spiritual and moral support. An article entitled ‘Business as Usual’ appeared in the Sunday School Chronicle and contended that ‘it is wise advice, though difficult to practice, to let life flow in its usual channels at this time of crisis. […] Let the personal luxuries go first. Maintain all Sunday
School and Union contributions and efforts. Keep the sacred fires burning for the children’s and our own soul’s good’.79 The general secretary of the Primitive Methodist Sunday School
Union also remarked:
In this country there are thousands of children suffering from war effects in other ways. The loss of loved ones, shortage of food, anxiety of home life, etc., are all sources of grief and suffering to them, and there are many little aching hearts that need comforting. As lovers of the young, we must make the conditions as easy and gentle for them as possible. […] There is much that we can do, and many ways in which we can help and bless the suffering child at this great national crisis. We
75 ‘Notes and Comments’, Rochdale Observer, 17 May 1916, p. 2. 76 LMA, ACC/1361/05/002 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1912–1918, 13 September 1917. 77 Gregory, The Last Great War, p. 234. 78 Beaken, The Church of England and the Home Front, pp. 116-117. 79 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D66 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1914, ‘Business as Usual’, 27 August 1914, p. 758.
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must see to it that they do not lack the necessities of life and that the latter is made somewhat bright and cheerful for them.80
He believed that the schools could offer much assistance to those who were suffering in their local communities and encouraged them to do so. This correlates with records across the country. Many workers felt that they could make a real difference, providing support and some form of stability in turbulent times.
Some viewed their work at the schools as part of their patriotic duty. One teacher noted:
We are at war, and one is apt to say ‘What have we to do with the things of peace? We must help the wounded, clothe the poor, house the homeless. We have no time for the things of peace.’ Quite right and good, such things must be done, we have no time for the things of peace, and yet, we Sunday School teachers, are we ever at peace? Are we not all soldiers, specially called, of another army, which fights, fights always for the children of Christ against sin, the world and the devil? […] For the children must be fought for, more perhaps in times of national war than in times of national peace and prosperity.81
The NSSU too reminded its affiliated schools of the importance of keeping its schools running. The report for 1915 stated:
Let us help in maintaining to the fullest extent of our power all Christian and Philanthropic activities which come within the circle of our influence. Let us stand together in the cause of the Gospel, and by mutual sympathy, devotion, and self- sacrifice, strengthen at once the Church and the Nation in this the greatest crisis our beloved Country has ever had to pass through.82
Indeed, despite the difficulties that war brought, many of those involved in running the schools sought to ensure that their activities carried on as usual. For example, St Mark’s
Parish in Barrow-in-Furness had to make new arrangements for its school ‘owing to the fact that the Minister of Munitions had taken over the Victoria Hall as a Women’s Munition
80 BL, 13215 e.159 – The Primitive Methodist Sunday School Magazine, Volume I/II 1913–1915, October 1914, p. cxxiii. 81 CERC, SSI/SCC/10/1/13, St. Christopher’s College Leaflet, December 1914, pp. 5-6. 82 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D13 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1913/14 to 1915/16, 1914/1915, p. 14.
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Workers’ Hostel’.83 The meeting discussing how to do this was businesslike and sought to make the necessary arrangements so that the morning and afternoon sessions could go ahead as normal.84 Field days were a popular alternative for many schools in place of their annual treat or outing. For example, Ashton Gate Sunday School, in Bristol, could not hold its annual outing but those running the school made sure that the children had an event to look forward to. The minutes stated that ‘the Railway Company had cancelled all excursions to Weston Super Mare. It was Proposed & Seconded that a Field Day be arranged for Whit
Monday, enquiries to be made for the above to be carried out on the City Football Field’.85
Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Sunday School, in Penarth, opted for a field day too.86 Barrow- in-Furness Wesleyan Methodist Circuit also chose to hold a field day, stating:
The matter of Sunday Schools excursions was brought before the meeting, and it was pointed out that all schools had been notified by the Railway Co. that excursions this year would have to be abandoned if the circumstances existing still continued. A scheme for a Circuit ‘Field Day’ was suggested to take place instead of the usual excursion.87
These examples demonstrate that many schools adapted well to the difficulties posed by the war. They sought to ensure that their scholars had their normal sessions and activities, even if they were different compared with those of previous years.
Despite the chaos that the war brought, the teaching content of the schools altered little. For example, teaching materials issued by the PMSSU did not alter in basic content. It simply continued to provide lesson plans which covered most of the Bible.88 Likewise, the
NSSU materials changed little throughout the war, following the syllabus that had been
83 BALSC, BPR 4/P/18/29 – St. Mark’s Parish, Sunday School Minute Book 1914–1937, 31 October 1916. 84 Ibid, 31 October 1916. 85 Bristol Record Office, 32076/AG/S/3/5 – Ashton Gate Church, Minutes of Sunday School teachers' meetings 1912–1932, 26 April 1915, p. 60. 86 GA, D1232/1/2/1 – Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Committee 1912–1923, 7 May 1916, 87 BALSC, BDFCBWM/1/4/1 – Barrow Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, Sunday School Minute Book, 1912–1948, 19 March 1915, p. 16. 88 BL, 13215 e.159 - The Primitive Methodist Sunday School Magazine, Volume I, II, and III, 1913–1915.
111 agreed before the war.89 The British Standard Courses covered a great proportion of both the Old and New Testaments.90 However, the war was used as both an illustration and a discussion point in the schools. One newspaper reported that at a meeting of Sunday school teachers,
Mrs Mercier suggested that it was most important to utilise anything in which the children were interested, and it should be made a subject of prayer, e.g. the war. The children should be taught to pray for our sailors and soldiers.91
Articles published in the Chronicle also made suggestions as to how the war could be used during sessions to illustrate lessons to the scholars. One commentator’s recommendations were as follows:
I would not have special lessons on the war, but deal with the war in nearly every lesson. It baffles me to understand the attitude of the Sunday School teacher who would rest on his oars in this rolling tide. The situation rather calls for special effort along the line of both organisation and teaching. Permit me to indicate some subjects which the crisis suggests:- What would Jesus do if He were here to-day? What does Jesus think of it all? The horrors of war in general.92
Therefore, it appears that teaching at the schools did not change greatly during the war.
This could have been due to schools wanting to keep lessons as normal as possible for scholars. It could also have been because the minds of teachers were on other matters and they simply continued with what they knew.
Supporting the War Effort
The evidence previously explored in this chapter shows the important role the
Sunday schools played in local communities. They helped to sustain ‘communal piety’. Even if some people in the area never entered a church on a Sunday, the schools ensured that they
89 CRL, NCEC, Part 2, A1, British Lessons Council Minutes 1908–1918, 1913, pp. 66-68. 90 CRL, NCEC, Part 2, A10, British Standard Grade Courses 1914–1923, 1914–1917. 91 ‘Church Sunday School Teachers’ Association’, Gloucester Journal, 19 September 1914, p. 2. 92 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D67 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1915, ‘Sunday Schools and the War’, 4 March 1915, p. 151.
112 were included in church life. They provided a wide range of activities and support systems for their local communities and a base of religious knowledge for numerous children.93 As a result, they played a central role in sustaining communal piety. They provided communities with the hymns, religious language, and moral framework which many drew upon, reinternalised, and adapted for their own purposes.94 Throughout the war, schools continued to support their local communities, whether at home or abroad. This continued to help to reinforce this idea of communal piety, and even if people did not attend public worship, they still received religious support and guidance through the attendance of their children at the schools. Many people did not see church attendance as necessary to mark their religious belief; their inclusion through the schools was an indicator in itself.95
Furthermore, the schools not only kept their normal activities running but also chose to support those who enlisted. Schools across the country went to great efforts to provide for those who were serving with the armed forces. This support was expressed in a variety of ways. Prayer was one way in which many schools felt they could support those fighting. The Sunday School Chronicle encouraged teachers to pray earnestly for their members fighting abroad. One article stated that ‘there is the need of upholding those who are giving their dearest to death for our safety and deliverance’.96 This idea that prayer was an essential need for all those fighting is present in other records. For instance, as reported in a Sunday school magazine, one teacher at a reunion of old scholars ‘referred to the young men who had left the Sunday School to join His Majesty’s Forces. They had not gone in the spirit of bravado, and he knew they desired to be supported by our prayers. He urged those
93 McLeod, Religion and Society in England, p. 107. 94 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark, p. 164. 95 See Introduction. 96 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D66 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1914, ‘The Needs of the Present Hour’, 12 November 1914, p. 933.
113 present to pray for the men in the trenches’.97 Another Sunday school magazine commented:
Our lads need all the help that our prayers can give them, and we believe that the quickest way to win this War is on our knees. Not to pray around the subject, but to pray right there, with all the devotion we can command, to beseech God continuously that He will in His mercy, give us Victory, complete and absolute Victory.98
Given that prayer in the Christian faith is considered to be a significant part of the religious life of the believer, it is no surprise that many felt prayer was a way in which they could support those fighting.
However, many felt that prayer was simply not enough and that while prayer was important, their actions had to match their words. One worker wrote:
Our young fellows should be assured that in their Churches and Sunday Schools at home the old friends are praying for them. The thought will give them strength not only against the enemy, but also against the moral and spiritual temptations in which military life abounds. Their dear ones, too, should be remembered at these meetings, and they also should know that they are the subjects of our prayers. […] BUT our interest in our Primitive Methodist soldiers beginning in remembrance and finding expression in prayer must needs go further still. As far as possible we must follow them with our ministry. […] The carrying on of this work will, however, occasion great expense, sure this appeal will not be made in vain, and we presume that our Sunday schools will hasten to respond with all possible liberality to a call with which they must have sympathy.99
Schools used a variety of means to support those serving in the armed forces. The spiritual needs of the men were a priority. Many who worked with the schools wanted to ensure that they gave scholars the religious instruction and support they required. Some expressed concern that many were ignoring the spiritual needs of the men. For instance, one worker argued that:
the great thing is to strike in with the Christian message, and not to let the materialistic and the frivolous dominate the situation. There are many waiting for
97 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1915, p. 3. 98 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, December 1915, p.1. 99 BL, 13215 e.159 – The Primitive Methodist Sunday School Magazine, Volume I/II, 1913–1915, November 1914, p. cxxxiv.
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friendly and serious interest; and the word spoken in season will not be found fruitless.100
The writer believed that it was important to ensure that the Christian gospel was communicated and not lost in the elements surrounding it. One writer wrote exasperatedly:
Some Christian workers are being reproved by the men they seek to help for their lack of faith in religion and in the best instincts of manhood. We have heard of Churches organising concerts on a Sunday evening, for example, so destitute of moral uplift that the men have complained of the frivolous tone of the whole affair. These men are training to meet grim realities. They know that in a few weeks they will be facing death in the trenches. Is it not the height of folly to ignore the deep feelings that must at times surge in their souls? The discussion of the great questions of the soul and of eternity is not only welcome, but by many is earnestly desired.101
Scholars and teachers went to great efforts to ensure that those fighting received the spiritual support they needed. Many schools and organisations provided Bibles or extracts from the gospels for soldiers and sailors. One article claimed:
Nearly 100,000 Gospels and Testaments have been sent out from the offices of the Scripture Gift Mission during the past week. These have gone for distribution amongst our own soldiers and sailors and those of our Allies, and the demand still continues. Appeals for grants reach the offices daily, some of them most urgent cases.102
This underlines the fact that a huge national effort was made by many organisations to provide Bibles for the men, given that it was considered ‘the word of life’. Schools also tried to provide Bibles for their scholars. Some schools gave them to scholars in recognition of their enlistment.103 Ulverston Independent Church, in Cumbria, decided to include a copy of
100 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D66 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1914, ‘The Needs of the Present Hour’, 12 November 1914, p. 933. 101 Ibid., ‘War Conditions and Moral Life’, 29 October 1914, p. 901. 102 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘The Bible and the Troops’, 17 February 1916, p. 109 103 BALSC, BDFCMM 7/2 – Millom Queen Street Chapel, Sunday School Teachers’ Minute Book 1906–1922, 2 November 1916 and Imperial War Museum, 01 / 697 – Holy Bible presented to Percy Lewis August 1916 by the Tabernacle Sunday School, Narberth.
115 the gospels in the Christmas parcels it was sending to those fighting.104 Other schools were asked to donate to schemes that sent Bibles to the troops. Morningside Congregational
Sunday School, in Edinburgh, received a request from the Bible Society for funds to send
New Testaments to the fighting front.105 It was agreed that an appeal would be made to scholars during its next session.106 Roxburgh Street Primitive Methodist Sunday School, in
Greenock, collected ten shillings for the Scottish Sunday School Union’s New Testament
Fund.107
Bibles were not the only type of literature the schools sent to the front. The NSSU produced a small pamphlet containing words of encouragement, prayers, hymns, and extracts from the gospels for soldiers and sailors.108 The pamphlet In Touch with Soldiers gave the following encouragement:
To be with God, there is no need to be continually in church. Of our heart we make an Oratory, wherein to retire from time to time and with Him hold meek, humble, loving converse. Everyone can converse closely with God, some more, others less: He knows what we can do. […] A little lifting up of the heart suffices; a little remembrance of God, one act of inward worship, though upon a march and sword in hand, are prayers which, however short are nevertheless very acceptable to God; and far from lessening a soldier’s courage, they best serve to fortify it. We cannot escape the dangers which abound in life, without the actual and continual help of God; let us then pray to him for it continually.109
Messages of reassurance and encouragement for those at the front were also present throughout the Sunday School Chronicle. There was a weekly column entitled ‘To the
104 BALSC, BDFCCU/2/3 – Ulverston (Soutergate) Independent Church Deacons Minute Book, 1912–1921, 23 September 1918. 105 NRS, CH14/26/9/2/4 – Morningside Congregational Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1903–1919, 14 January 1916. 106 Ibid., 14 January 1916. 107 NRS, CH11/21/10 – Roxburgh Street Primitive Methodist Church, Teachers’ Minutes 1907–1916, 4 November 1915 and 5 December 1915. 108 CRL, NCEC Part 1, A6 Council and Annual Meeting Minutes 3 May 1909 – 4 May 1917, Friday 18 September 1914, Business Committee Report, p. 428. 109 NSSU, In Touch With God: For Soldiers and Sailors on Active Service for King and Country (London: National Sunday School Union, 1914).
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Men on Active Service’. Some simply recounted events in the Bible. One column focused upon Daniel during his service to the Babylonian King.110 The writer observed:
There is something very straightforward and practical about this story of the captive prince Daniel and his comrades. Occasions come in most lives, as they have come to you, when in the midst of new surroundings we have to take our bearings afresh. New circumstances mean new temptations. And however excellent the spirit of the home or the former life in Church and Sunday School, it is put severely to the test. Just now there are young fellows who have found the change from the life of home and Sunday School to that of the camp their golden opportunity.111
Other messages offered warm words of comfort. For example, one columnist wrote,
Always within arm’s length is the Infinite Peace. “A man can pray and fight at the same time,” said a soldier to me, Jacob found in a rocky solitude the gate of heaven. The foot of the angels’ ladder is by your side. It is God and you together, who live in your life.112
Similarly, other Sunday schools decided to publish magazines to encourage their members who were abroad or at home. Crescent Congregational Church and Roath Road
Wesleyan Methodist Church Sunday Schools produced magazines that were printed throughout the war. The magazines provided a meaningful link between the home and fighting fronts. The opening issue of the Roath Road Roamer stated:
We have started this new series of the R.R.R. in response to the request of a recent meeting of our local Sunday School Council, primarily with the object of keeping in touch with the young patriots from our Church and School who have enlisted in the present crisis, and of giving those of us who are left behind some account of them and their doings. For this purpose we appeal to their relatives and friends to send us authentic extracts from such letters. The letters will be carefully preserved and returned probably the same day that we receive them. ‘Do it now’ is still one of our mottoes.113
110 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘To the Men on Active Service’, 6 April 1916, p. 211. 111 Ibid., p. 211. 112 Ibid., ‘To the Men on Active Service’, 13 April 1916, p. 227. 113 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, November 1914, p. 2.
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The school and the church wanted to keep in touch with their members and felt the magazine was a good way in which to do so. The Young Crescent was also published to maintain contact between the school and its members. As one contributor commented:
We have indeed in this little magazine a link with Crescent all over the world. And to you who are away from the old church just now, let me say how much we miss you. Every Sunday especially, our thoughts go out to you, and we long for the time when Crescent will rejoice in the return of her ‘warriors’. The parting but enhances the value of Crescent to you, and of you to Crescent. May the Crescent spirit of brotherhood keep you and guide you safely and though sometimes the way seems hard, still we shall ‘win through’.114
Other schools also organised themselves to provide items which they felt would practically help those at the front. For example, schools across the country sent parcels to their fighting men. These parcels were sent to large numbers of men, so required a high level of organisation and funds. As one local newspaper reported,
The sixty-two members of the Rocky Lane Church and Sunday School who have enlisted are each being supplied with a Christmas parcel containing warm clothing, confectionary, pies, Christmas cards, and literature. The cost will be defrayed by various organisations of the church.115
Some schools set up ‘Parcel Funds’ to buy items for the packages and cover postage costs.116
Gresley Parish Church went to great lengths to raise funds, hosting a lantern show and
‘patriotic concert’.117 Others appointed a committee to organise the distribution of packages among their enlisted members.118 Longsight Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School, in
Manchester, set up a Soldier’s Comfort Fund in order that the ‘“Boys” at the front to have some tangible evidence of the fact that they are not forgotten by those who perforce
114 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, May 1915, p.2. 115 ‘Midlands Art Club’, Birmingham Daily Post, 15 December 1915, p. 2. 116 GA, DBAP49/3/2 – Splott Road Baptist Church, Sunday School Minute Books 1911–1920, 18 December 1914 and DBAP15/3/2/29/3 – Bethany Baptist Church, Sunday School Minutes 1909–1919, 5 November 1916. 117 ‘Gresley Church Sunday School: War Lecture for Parcels Fund’, Burton Daily Mail, 27 February 1917, p. 3. 118 GA, DBAP49/3/2 – Splott Road Baptist Church, Sunday School Minute Books 1911–1920, 8 December 1914 and DECONG10/23 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Meeting Minute Book 1907–1928, 24 November 1916.
118 remain at home’.119 Scholars and teachers raised fourteen pounds, which was used to purchase eighty air pillows for those serving.120 These examples reveal how deeply the schools cared for those who went to the fighting front. It was not an easy task for the schools to send parcels. Those involved in running the schools were short of time and resources but were still willing to ensure that those at the front did not go without.
Significantly, the schools were so successful in raising funds for the war effort that some charities appealed directly to the schools for funds. For example, the minutes of Splott
Road Sunday school, in Cardiff, recorded:
A letter was read from the YMCA asking us to furnish the name of a lady or gentlemen who would undertake weekly collections in their aid viz for providing camp comforts etc. The letter was discussed & seeing that we already have a Committee in our Church, which makes a weekly appeal to our members, it was decided that we cannot see our way to fall in with their suggestion, but recognising the importance of this work & how far reaching it is, Miss Hoare proposed that we send the YMCA a donation of 10/-.121
This was not the only school to which an appeal was made.122
Scholars were also heavily involved in tangible efforts to support those fighting.
Mostly they did so willingly. However, pressure put on scholars to participate in philanthropic efforts. One article in the Roath Road Roamer commented:
We made a suggestion in the December Roamer of last year, that some small gift should be sent to all our lads with the Colours, for Xmas, but the idea was never taken up. We make the suggestion again and trust this year that everyone from Roath Road, who wears the King’s uniform, will receive a reminder, in a practical shape, that Roath Road never forgets them and is even more mindful of them at that should-be-happy season of the year, if possible than she has been for the past year and a quarter. If we could do half of what it is in our heart to do, you lads of ours should be the best provided for in the whole of the Army and Navy. But alas that is another story. We are sorry that our girls in the School have never started knitting parties. Scores of our Roath Road lads would be only too thankful for
119 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1916, p. 11. 120 Ibid., p. 11. 121 GA, DBAP49/3/2 – Splott Road Baptist Church, Sunday School Minute Books 1911–1920, 15 October 1915. 122 GA, D4272/2/7 – Bethel Baptist Church Butetown, Sunday School Meetings Minutes 1875–1959, 2 July 1917 and DBAP8 – Llanishen Baptist Church Cardiff Records, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1911–1932, 24 Jan 1915.
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woollen helmets, mufflers, socks, mittens, and the like, especially now as they have to face the coming winter.123
However, this seems to be an extreme example. Scholars across the country willingly tried to give as much help as they could to those fighting. For instance, children made knitted items for soldiers at the front.124 Some helped to write to those in the forces.125 Others helped to make up gifts of chocolate to substitute cigarettes for men who did not smoke.126 This was perhaps a reflection of some of the pre-war attitudes to smoking.127 Scholars also gave up their prizes. The money that would have been spent on rewards was instead donated to charities or used to purchase items of comfort for men.128
In recognition of this, many schools and charities awarded certificates to scholars.129
Scholars appear to have given up their prizes willingly. For example, some Russell Street school minutes stated:
It was reported that the scholars who were entitled to prizes had generously voted the money to war charities, & it was resolved that an amount equal to the average of the past 3 years be handed over to Revd. T. Bateson for comfort for distribution to Wesleyan Soldiers & Sailors.130
They also voted to do the same in 1916 and 1917.131 Other scholars across the country were also given the option to sacrifice their prizes, and on the whole did so.132 This reveals how deeply the scholars cared for those fighting. These prizes were earned by them
123 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, November 1915, p. 6. 124 GA, DECONG10/23 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Meeting Minute Book 1907–1928, 24 September 1915. 125 GA, DBAP8 – Llanishen Baptist Church Cardiff Records, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1911–1932, 23 January 1916. 126 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, November 1914, p. 4. 127 See Chapter 1. 128 National Museum of Wales, F77.238.21 – Certificate (Nantgarw: National Museum of Wales, n.d.)
120 throughout the year for regular attendance and examination results. Given the backgrounds of some of these children, a prize was a treasured item. Edwin Hiles recollected that at a
Sunday school Christmas party
you were given a broken toy, which I treasured. It wasn’t a broken toy, it was a broken book. I absolutely treasured that and read it from back to front. You’d be surprised when how one is deprived, one appreciates something like that. I brought that home in triumph and showed it to my people and I, only a little boy was.133
For some scholars, forfeiting these prizes was a very meaningful gesture to show how much they cared about the soldiers at the front.
Emotional Impact of the First World War
Throughout the school records that were consulted there is a sense of how deeply the schools cared about their members who had enlisted. The editor of Longsight Wesleyan
Methodist Sunday School Old Scholars’ Union magazine wrote:
‘My Boys’ It is a title I am proud of. They have gone to play their part as men in this great conflict, but they are ‘my boys’ still. We used to meet weekly in a small vestry, but now, though scattered over the Continent and the high seas, we meet daily at 12 o’clock in prayer, and by regular correspondence they keep me in touch with their daily life, its conditions, its difficulties, its work, and its play. All their letters are interesting.134
The absence of these men weighed upon the schools, and they looked forward to the end of the war so that they could return home. One article noted:
The complexion of our school is strangely altered from anything we have known hitherto. The upper classes on the male side are practically empty. The teachers who were once surrounded by young men are still in their places, but they are lonely and often sad. Their thoughts keep wandering to the past, recalling the days which are gone, and often they look wistfully forward to the good times coming, when the long night shall be over and the lads back again in their places – the war, with all its horrors, a thing of the past.135
133 IWM, 9943 – Edwin Henry Hiles Interview, Reel 2. 134 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1915, p. 7. 135 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D69 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1917, ‘Our Roll of Honour: A Problem of the Hour’, p. 207.
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Likewise, a teacher at home wrote in the Young Crescent that ‘we are living in a state of anxiety and suspense through the dreadful war, and only through the help each individual can give, can we hope to bring it to a speedy end’.136
It is rare to find examples of schools that did not keep in some contact with scholars. One writer in the Chronicle observed:
The other day a young fellow, returned for a little while from the trenches, spoke rather bitterly of the action of his own Sunday School, which, during the six months of his absence, had never sent him a line. […] A fact like this we hope is rare, but, since it is a fact, it is a danger signal which ought to be taken note of. No doubt it is a considerable tax upon the time and strength of fully occupied men and women to write personal letters in any number, but it is of the first importance that the boys who have left us should realise the sincerity of our interest in them. […] We know that this is being done by tens of thousands, but we are not sure that the Churches and Sunday Schools are organising themselves for this special ministry.137
Roath Road also appears to have struggled to keep in contact with all its men. An article that appeared in the Roamer reassured the men that if they had written to them, they had not forgotten about this and a response would come as soon as possible.138
Moreover, the contact between the schools and soldiers was not just desired by those at the front. The schools desperately wanted to hear news from their men. Those at
Longsight Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School ‘anxiously’ awaited letters and news from their ‘boys’.139 When they received correspondence, they treasured it. The Roamer also commented:
We have about 127 names on our list of those (past and present) connected with Roath Road who are with the Colours. Over 100 of you have written to us personal letters, some of you have written many times. We should like to acknowledge publicly our appreciation of those letters, often penned as we know amid discomfort and with distractions on every hand. We shall cherish those
136 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, July 1915, p. 2. 137 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D69 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘Remembering the Boys at the Front’, 2 March 1916, p. 130. 138 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, August 1915, p. 1. 139 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1916, p. 9.
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letters in the long years to come as a lasting memento of the part taken by so many of you from Roath Road in this great War.140
When the news of death came, it was therefore very deeply felt by the schools.
Many teachers and scholars never returned home. Each death was a devastating blow. One article commented that:
around the names of a few, black lines have been carefully drawn. These are held in peculiar reverence, for they made the supreme sacrifice. Never shall they be forgotten by their old comrades and teachers, for their memory is unspeakably precious.141
In the Roamer one death was reported as follows:
With very real sorrow we have to report the death of another of our lads, killed on Tuesday 21st September. Private John C. Taylor of the 8th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (whose photo appeared in the July Roamer), was having a meal behind the trenches which he had just left (in France), when a shell fell on him and he died almost immediately. His brother Fred was with him, but he mercifully escaped. Words fail us at a time like this either to express our affection for our young hero friend or to offer our sympathy to his bereaved Mother and his large circle of friends. God’s comfort was never so sorely needed in the world as it is to-day, and we pray that Jack Taylor’s loved ones may have it in no uncertain measure. He was a most regular member of Mr. C. W. Marshall’s Sunday School Class, and Roath Road will long cherish the memory of that young life, so fully and freely given to King and Country, in this awful struggle of Right against Might.142
Those organising the schools not only had to cope with their loss but also needed to support the family and friends of the fallen men. For example, an article in the Roamer commented:
The tragedy of Sergeant Godfrey’s untimely death has unnerved us and we are quite at a loss, although we knew him so well, to write anything in the nature of an appreciation, such as he deserves. […] Many of us are feeling that we have lost a faithful friend. In the highest sense he was a good Son and Brother. Our heart aches for his little family circle. But we know that his God is very near to them in their great sorrow. Our Soldier-Hero was a member of Mr. George Shepherd’s Society Class and also belonged to Mr. Metters’ Class at Clare Gardens Sunday
140 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, March 1915, p. 5. 141 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D69 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1917, ‘Our Roll of Honour: A Problem of the Hour’, 3 May 1917, p. 207. 142 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, November 1915, p. 7.
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School. The world is a poorer place to-day because of our loss, but we believe, with all our heart, that heaven is the richer.143
The editors of the Roamer realised that they needed to rally around the family and support them, despite how they felt. This extract also shows that they attempted to comfort their members and the family of Sergeant Godfrey by reminding them of the hope their faith gave to them. Other schools also had to put aside their feelings to focus on those who had just lost a relative or friend. Some wrote letters of condolence to family members to offer their prayers and support. For instance, the minutes of Russell Street Sunday School in Bishop
Auckland recorded that ‘the Secy announced that, in the name of the School he has written to the parents of the two lads who laid down their lives in France, for King and Country & had received grateful replies from them’.144 Likewise, the minutes of Sardis Calvinistic
Methodist Sunday School stated that:
unfortunately several members of the school who are on our Roll of Honour, have paid the supreme sacrifice for God, King & Country. A message of condolence and sympathy was in each instance sent to the bereaved, as from the school in general.145
There were other ways in which those running the schools tried to help their members and the community process their grief and loss. Memorials were one way in which the schools helped, and many schools chose to remember their men using Rolls of
Honour.146 These were used by some as prayer lists.147 Others created more elaborate memorials, which will be examined in greater detail in Chapter 4. The Roamer and the Young
Crescent also helped the school, church, and community come together to collect their
143 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, November 1915, p. 4. 144 DRO, M/BA 255 – Bishop Auckland Methodist Circuit, Minutes of Teachers’ Meetings of Russell Street Sunday School 1839–1942, 26 October 1916, p. 146. 145 GA, D1232/1/2/1 – Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Committee 1912–1923, 10 January 1918. 146 BALSC, BDFCBWM/11/7/1, Vickerstown Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Roll of Honour, 1918; GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, 1919; LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, Memorial Service, 1919 and Derbyshire Record Office, D2192/JMM/47/1 – Ripley Methodist Circuit Roll of Honour for Church and Sunday School members of the Circuit who joined the Army or Navy during the First World War, 1918. 147 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, November 1915, p. 8.
124 thoughts. Current scholars, old scholars, parents, and others all wrote in the magazines. For example, the Young Crescent asked for mothers148 and fathers149 to contribute to some issues. One mother wrote:
In the first place I appreciate all your efforts in publishing in each month news from all the Boys connected with Crescent who so nobly responded to the call – ‘Your King and Country need you!’ Their letters are read eagerly by one & all, & one cannot fail to notice how cheerfully they write, which is source of comfort to us.150
Perceived Standards of Sunday Schools
During the war, those involved directly in the organising and running of the schools perceived the education they were providing as satisfactory but also felt there was room for improvement. The NSSU and denominational Sunday School Unions seemed pleased with the efforts of the schools. One committee report commented:
Your Committee are greatly encouraged by the reports made by many Schools of the messages received from the boys in the trenches, and thank God for the indication that many of them give of affection unacknowledged before, of blessing received and now bearing fruit.151
Denominational Sunday school organisers were also pleased with efforts of the schools under their care. One report to the PMSSU noted ‘that we express our satisfaction at the signs of a more rigorous and progressive policy in Sunday School matters in all the Districts, and especially in the working of the District S.S. Lecturers, and Town Transfer Secretaries schemes’.152 The Church of England’s Sunday School Institute (SSI) did not seem concerned about the standards of the schools and it appeared happy with their efforts. A survey of the conditions of schools across the country did not seem to find any major faults with them.153
148 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, June 1916, p. 2. 149 Ibid., July 1916, p. 2. 150 Ibid., June 1916, p. 2. 151 CRL, LCEC, Section A – West London Auxiliary Sunday School Union, A36 – 102nd Annual Report 1916, p. 8. 152 JRL, GB135 DDEy/1/6 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1915– 1918, 14 October 1915. 153 CERC, SSI/2/1/10 – Sunday School Institute, General Committee Minutes 1914–1922, 7 March 1916, p. 119.
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The only concerns raised were that schools needed to put more stress on missionary work and that the aims of the Sunday schools and day schools needed to be made clearer.154 At one meeting of the committee of the institute, it concluded that external factors such as the cinema and the lack of interest in the schools by congregations and the clergy were limiting the work of the schools.155
Articles in the Chronicle and other Sunday school magazines indicated that the writers were satisfied with the work of the schools. Dr Thiselton Mark, an educational thinker, remarked:
In the words of its greatest living exponent, the Sunday School is ‘the Bible- studying-and-teaching service of the Church.’ Certainly, no other agency is doing so much, through the class teaching and through Bible reading and Bible study offshoots, to keep this rich treasury of human light and strength before our minds. […] Meanwhile, in the city, town, and village, our Sunday Schools are active centres of spiritual health. Their life and work, their very atmosphere, make for thoughtfulness, temperance and purity. They free the inner life and awaken capacities for good.156
This writer believed that the schools were performing well and had every confidence in the efforts of the schools. An article in the Primitive Methodist Leader commented:
Sunday-school work is enterprising and progressive in all the churches. Many of its school premises are large, and admirably suited for the purposes of effective teaching. The Grimsby Circuits include eighteen Sunday-schools, with nearly four hundred teachers and three thousand scholars. In these schools a splendid work is being done, and the signs and tokens manifested in Saturday’s Conference gave promise of a still greater work in the future.157
There were, however, voices that were critical of the schools. Many felt that they could achieve much more. The Reverend William Spedding, of the Primitive Methodist
154 Ibid., p. 119. 155 CERC, SSI/2/1/10 – Sunday School Institute, General Committee Minutes 1914–1922, 4 April 1916, p. 127. 156 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D69 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1917, ‘The Sunday School and the Nation’s Strength’, 15 February 1917, p. 73. 157 ‘The President’s Sunday School Campaign’, Primitive Methodist Leader, 15 October 1914, p. 717.
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Church, was concerned that Sunday schools were not reaching all the children they could.
He stated:
That the Sunday-school is doing an admirable work for the children of the nation generally cannot be reasonably denied. […] The children of the homes in which extreme poverty, and sometimes great religious indifference, unfortunately, obtains […] The boys and girls of our schools are largely drawn from the homes of our own members and adherents, and it is for them that we mainly cater. Very little provision is made for the poorer and more neglected children. Happily, in some centres special provision is made for this class of young people, and much good work is done.158
Others were concerned about the decline of the Sunday school. An article in the Chronicle reporting on the Bishop of London’s Sunday School Council observed:
Among the reasons given for the decline is inefficient and indefinite teaching. Inadequate teaching prior to the difficult years of 12, 13, and 14, says the report, undoubtedly makes the boys and girls of those ages an easier prey to the dangers which assail them during that period.159
Frustration was expressed by these organisations at the lack of support they received from the churches. Some felt that the churches did not take their efforts seriously.
Indeed, the SSI committee suggested that the failure of some churches to support the work of schools had led some to struggle.160 One commentator remarked:
To win and train the child for Christ is the business of the Church – and ought to be a main part of her business. For the failure who else is responsible but her members, and especially her leaders? Can anyone doubt that the leakage could have been stopped if ministers, officers and members had combined their energies and had really taken this business seriously? Too often Church leaders have toyed with it, content to give a patronising toleration to the amiable enthusiasts who run their pet hobby of a Sunday School in connection with our Church. All that must be changed.161
The report of the Bishop of London’s Sunday School Council also raised concerns that the churches were not assisting the schools. It concluded:
158 ‘The Poorer Children’, PML, 20 August 1914, p. 596. 159 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘Sunday School Decline: An Inquiry by the Bishop of London’s Council’, 24 February 1916, p. 115. 160 CERC, SSI/2/1/10 – Sunday School Institute, General Committee Minutes 1914–1922, 4 April 1916, p. 127. 161 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘The Sunday School Decrease and Its Remedy’, 16 March 1916, p. 163.
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The remedies suggested appear to be pretty much the same as those made by the leaders of the Free Church Sunday Schools: (1) A realisation by the Church of the vital importance of the religious education of the young, for it is only by securing such a conviction that teachers of the right personality can be secured, and the necessary funds to meet the greatly increased expenditure can be raised.162
This report could perhaps have been a reason for Winnington-Ingram, the chairman of the commission, to include a renewed emphasis on the schools as part of the National Mission of Repentance and Hope in 1916. 163 As Beaken has argued, there were concerns that the war could be a consequence of corporate and individual sin.164 It was believed that national repentance and increased Christian devotion would be an appropriate response.165 To address these concerns as well as to respond to the criticisms that were levelled at the church, the National Mission was launched.166 Many of the features of the mission were adaptations of well-known evangelical practices.167 It encouraged lay ministry in the Church of England.168 Indeed, the SSI decided to appeal to the mission to gain more support for the work of its schools.169 A pamphlet in the form of a letter to Sunday school teachers was published as part of the mission, reminding them of the importance of their work and urging them to pray and train.170
The records of individual schools demonstrate that workers were usually content with their efforts. For example, schools in the Chiswick branch of the NSSU reported that the state of their work was ‘satisfactory’.171 Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Sunday School also noted:
162 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘Sunday School Decline: An Inquiry by the Bishop of London’s Council’, 24 February 1916, p. 116. 163 Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, p. 72. 164 Beaken, The Church of England and the Home Front, p. 163. 165 Ibid., p. 163. 166 Ibid., p. 163 and Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, p. 72. 167 Ibid., p. 191. 168 Ibid., p. 191. 169 CERC, SSI/2/1/10 – Sunday School Institute, General Committee Minutes 1914–1922, 4 April 1916, p. 127. 170 LPL, G2860 1.41, National Mission Pamphlets, A Letter to Sunday School Teachers, pp. 2-3. 171 CRL, LCEC, Section A – West London Auxiliary Sunday School Union, A36 – 102nd Annual Report 1916, p. 17.
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Friends, I think we all have reason to congratulate ourselves on the result of the years work. The averages for the year are a decided improvement on previous years, which proves that all are willing to do their best for the benefit of the Sunday School, and it is really encouraging.172
Others, however, believed that although their work was of a satisfactory quality, there was room to improve. The Teesdale Methodist Circuit, in County Durham, concluded:
The Report was considered satisfactory – throughout all the Circuit there being revealed a keen interest on the part of all teachers & officers. It was proposed that a Resolution be sent forward to the Quarterly Meeting asking the members of the Quarter Board to thank the Teachers & Officials of all the S.S. in the Circuit for their past year’s work & urge them to make a yet more strenuous effort in this sphere of Christian work.173
Conclusion In conclusion, the Sunday schools were greatly affected by the war. It was a pivotal moment in their history. Although patterns varied across the country, schools generally found that the number of teachers and scholars attending the schools decreased. This was for many reasons, including enlistment, war work, and the influenza epidemic of 1918. The war also disrupted the normal activities of the schools. Annual treats were either cancelled or scaled down due to rationing and transportation problems. Likewise, lighting restrictions interfered with weekly group meetings and annual examinations. Despite this, and the fact that they were under extreme pressure, the schools adapted well to the challenges of the conflict. They tried to ensure that it was ‘business as usual’ for the children under their care.
Those working at the schools believed it was important to provide support to their local communities. They helped throughout the war to sustain a ‘communal piety’, including members of the community in church life even if they did not regularly church services.
Similarly, what was taught at the schools altered little from the pre-war years. Teachers
172 GA, D1232/1/2/1 – Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Committee 1912–1923, 10 January 1918. 173 DRO, M/BT 249 – Teesdale Circuit Sunday School Council minute book, 14 February 1914 – 13 May 1922, 3 March 1917.
129 were encouraged to use the war to illustrate lessons or as a subject for prayer, but not as a central topic.
The schools tried to keep their normal activities running while simultaneously trying to support those fighting. Prayer was the primary way in which many chose to support those who joined the forces. The schools also sent Bibles, pamphlets, and parcels to help maintain both the spiritual and the physical well-being of the men. Given the efforts that they went to to support their men, when the news came of their deaths the schools were hit hard. They had to come to terms with their own grief while also supporting the family and friends of the men killed in action. The schools and the people associated with them were pleased with the education their scholars received. However, they were also aware that there were more improvements that they could make. The war greatly disrupted the schools, but their efforts were deeply appreciated by those under their care. For the members of the schools who were serving at the fighting front, they were an important source of support. The relationship of the Sunday school and those serving in the British forces will be examined in the next chapter.
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Chapter 3 – The British Forces and the Sunday Schools, 1914–1918
Introduction
Sunday schools played an important role in forming and sustaining the faith of many men serving in the armed forces. As Adrian Gregory suggested, ‘Sunday-schooling was a standard part of the formation of the war-generation.’1 The time the men had spent at the schools meant that many were familiar (to a greater or lesser extent) with Christian doctrine, theology, and hymnody. However, as discussed in the Introduction, the role of schools in the lives of these men has been largely underplayed.2 Contemporary ‘reports’ such as The Church in the Furnace (1917) and The Army and Religion (1919) argued that Sunday schools failed to educate their scholars to a high enough standard.3 It was even claimed that
‘Sunday-schools – after all, they are the foundation ; if that is unsound all else will go wrong and there is somethings radically wrong with religion in England’.4 These writers thought the schools were to blame for what they viewed as an irreligious population in Britain.
Historians such as Richard Schweitzer, Alan Wilkinson, and James Kitchen have also emphasised the importance of the schools but have not fully explained or explored this conclusion.5 This chapter will aim to assess the degree to which this interpretation is correct.
The chapter will utilise letters found in three Sunday school magazines and collections of private papers held in archives. Three magazines were published for the duration of the war. The Roath Road Roamer was published by Roath Road Wesleyan
1 Gregory, The Last Great War, p. 179. 2 See Introduction. 3 D. S. Cairns, The Army and Religion: An Enquiry and its Bearing upon the Religious Life of the Nation (London: MacMillan and Co, 1919) p. 112 and Rev. T. W. Pym, ‘Religious Education and the Training of the Clergy’, in The Church in the Furnace: Essays by Seventeen Temporary Church of England Chaplains on Active Service in France and Flanders, ed. by F. B. MacNutt (London: MacMillan and Co., 1917) pp. 291-318, (p. 292). 4 Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 112. 5 Schweitzer, The Cross and the Trenches, p. 6, Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, p. 239 and Kitchen, The British Imperial Army in the Middle East, p. 75.
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Methodist Sunday School, located near the centre of Cardiff. After the outbreak of the First
World War it was decided that a magazine should be printed to keep in touch with those serving.6 Crescent Congregational Church, located in Liverpool, published the Young
Crescent for its fighting men.7 The final magazine, The Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, had been published by Longsight Wesleyan Methodist Old Scholars’ Union since 1904. This organisation had been formed to keep both current and former scholars connected with the school.8 The Imperial War Museum holds the private papers of Mrs Hayman, who preserved letters that her scholars sent her from the fighting front.9 Likewise, Leeds University holds a collection of documents belonging to the Mortimer family who lived in Hanging Heaton in
West Yorkshire.10 Gilbert Mortimer served in the forces during the war, while his father,
Mark, was the superintendent of Ebenezer United Methodist Church’s Sunday School.11
These documents will be used in conjunction with other archival information to assess the importance of Sunday schools to the British forces and the role they played in forming and sustaining the faith of Tommy Atkins.
Sunday Schools in ‘Reports’ Concerning Religion and the British Army
Even before the First World War had ended, Sunday schools came under some damning criticism. As already mentioned, the writers of ‘reports’ such as The Church in the
Furnace (1917) and The Army and Religion (1919) felt that the schools were ineffective. Those who wrote the essays and reports in these two books were convinced that Sunday schools had contributed to the poor religious state of the British Tommy. For example, a hut worker stated:
6 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, November 1914, p. 2. 7 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine 1915–1919. 8 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1904, p. 1. 9 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman. 10 Leeds University Special Collections, Liddle Collection, LIDDLE/WWI/GS – Private Papers of G Mortimer, Box 2, p. 1. 11 Ibid., p. 4 and p. 2.
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Immediate steps should be taken to reorganise and revitalise work among the young. Our Sunday-schools are woeful – to anyone who knows anything of the difficulty of teaching, utterly woeful. And because our work among the young is so feeble, the adult finds the Church dull to tears.12
Likewise, the Reverend T. W. Pym argued, ‘It is true that we give what is called religious education in our Sunday schools, but though we may teach in them we certainly do not educate, and even what we teach is nothing much like the Christian religion.’13 Another commentator concluded that ‘ignorance and misconception do exist, many seem to know but do not realise nearly enough. […] This, doubtless, in part points to ineffective or inadequate Sunday or day school teaching’.14 For these individuals, the schools had failed to educate a generation of men, which in turn made their jobs much harder.
Given that the teaching at the schools was by some believed to be so ineffective, it is unsurprising that the religious knowledge of those fighting also came under scrutiny. Many of those who contributed to these books were convinced that scholars typically had poor knowledge of Christianity and that this was the fault of the schools. The Reverend Geoffrey
Gordon remarked that on a visit to a former scholar
he tells us with pride of his success in Sunday school and Bible Class and club. ‘I used to have a lot to do with the Mission […] and I used to go regularly to church – but I gave it up because somehow I didn’t seem to get any good out of it.’ His proficiency in religious knowledge does not seem to have made him acquainted with text ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.15
Despite the fact that this man believed that his time at Sunday school was successful, his opinions are completely dismissed. Similarly, a senior chaplain commented, ‘Their knowledge of Christianity is very vague indeed. It is mostly memories of Sunday- and day-
12 Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 117. 13 T. W. Pym, ‘Religious Education and the Training of the Clergy’, in The Church in the Furnace: Essays by Seventeen Temporary Church of England Chaplains on Active Service in France and Flanders, ed. by F. B. MacNutt (MacMillan and Co.: London, 1917) pp. 291-318, (p. 292). 14 Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 111. 15 G. Gordon, ‘Membership and Loyalty’, in The Church in the Furnace: Essays by Seventeen Temporary Church of England Chaplains on Active Service in France and Flanders, ed. by F. B. MacNutt (MacMillan and Co.: London, 1917) pp. 147-174, (p. 155).
133 school remembered very verbally and very partially.’16 The Reverend Arthur Gray argued in
As Tommy Sees Us (1919) that ‘what may be called the educated view of Scripture has not been passed on through our pulpits, has not dominated our Sunday-schools, and has not become the possession of our youth’.17 These commentators believed that these men simply did not know enough about the Christian faith from their education at Sunday school.
However, the biggest criticism that was levelled at the schools was that they had no spiritual impact upon the men. For example, one article reported:
‘Many have never been in the Churches, but nearly all of them have been in a Sunday School,’ said Gipsy Smith. ‘They might have been led into Church membership,’ he added, ‘but when they were in your Bible-classes you never gave them any spiritual experience; they never were led to make any definite decision. That is why the Church cannot cater for them. She has nothing for them but religious things, to which they cannot respond. The world has far more attraction for them, and they drift away from us’.18
Gypsy Smith, an evangelist, believed that the schools had not given their scholars any religious experience and that this in turn made it impossible for the churches to reach them.
Therefore, he felt it was the schools that had lost these men, not the churches.
There was also a feeling that the efforts the church had put into the schools had been wasted. Cairns contended that despite the time and effort that had been given to the schools the results were very small.19 The Reverend M. W. T. Conron also commented:
Thus, as the Church instructed us, so we in turn have taught the children in our day and Sunday schools […] Yet since the war broke out we have discovered that most of this teaching was learnt by the scholars only as an accomplishment that would tell in passing the diocesan inspectors, but was to have no more moral and spiritual effect in their lives than their drill in reading, writing, and arithmetic.20
16 Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 114. 17 A. H. Gray, As Tommy Sees Us: A Book for Church Folk (London: E. Arnold, 1919), p. 58. 18 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D69 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1917, ‘Behind the Firing Line: Gipsy Smith’s Impressions of the British Soldiers’, 22 March 1917, p. 135. 19 Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 108. 20 M. W. T. Conron, ‘Instruction in Prayer’, in The Church in the Furnace: Essays by Seventeen Temporary Church of England Chaplains on Active Service in France and Flanders, ed. by F. B. MacNutt (MacMillan and Co.: London, 1917) pp. 239-268, (p. 240).
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Likewise, according to papers submitted by a Church of Scotland Sub-Committee, ‘Men who have been years in Sabbath schools have no real grasp of religion.’21 The Reverend Arthur
Gray argued that ‘we have this plain fact to face – that once through our Sunday schools we had a chance with the great majority of these and we could not use it. We could not make our schools good enough’.22 These commentators felt that the schools were there to prepare children for church in later life, but believed that they were not performing to a good enough standard. These comments also reveal that these men felt the support that had be given to the schools had not been worthwhile given the ‘poor’ results.
However, these contemporary reports are problematic and should not be taken at face value because they often contradict themselves. One of the major criticisms of the schools was the poor knowledge of scholars. In The Church in the Furnace (1917), one writer commented upon the poor scriptural knowledge of an interviewee who had been to Sunday school.23 However, later in the report it was suggested that
if too much stress is laid in Sunday school on the duty of learning lessons, such as, for instance, the repetition of Collects and short passages of Scripture, it is very difficult to dissociate this side of Sunday-school instruction, in their minds, from the burdensome process that is so large a part of the routine of weekdays.24
Sunday school teachers were being criticised both for their scholars’ lack of knowledge of the Bible and for putting too much emphasis on learning passages. The Army and Religion
(1919) concluded that the vast majority of men were ignorant of the Bible.25 It blamed the
Sunday schools for fostering an ‘ignorance of Christian truth’.26 However, the report also stated that Sunday school education ‘will be all the more valuable if it is based, not on the
21 Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 121. 22 Gray, As Tommy Sees Us, p. 8. 23 Gordon, ‘Membership and Loyalty’, p. 155. 24 P. C. T. Crick, ‘The Soldier’s Religion’, in The Church in the Furnace: Essays by Seventeen Temporary Church of England Chaplains on Active Service in France and Flanders, ed. by F. B. MacNutt (MacMillan and Co.: London, 1917) pp. 349-374, (p. 354). 25 Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 269. 26 Ibid., p. 108.
135 capacity for acquiring knowledge in the form of facts imparted, but on the power of dealing with the knowledge gained’.27 Commentators were setting an impossible standard for the schools to reach.
These writers also ignored the role the schools played in fostering an interest in foreign missions. They were mystified by the interest that the rank and file of the British army displayed in lectures in YMCA huts. A missionary noted
the amazing interest taken in the lectures by the men, evidenced not only by the crowded audience but by endless questions at the small lectures and numerous interviews on every possible occasion. […] I had hardly anticipated that the average soldier would be so extraordinarily keen.28
This missionary later acknowledged that the interest of the men arose because they were like ‘ploughed land’ due to their education and experiences in church.29 This was the closest reference to the schools that any of the writers made. Instead, the interest of the men was attributed to their socialistic views and the idea that the war has made them aware of other nationalities.30 It was felt that these lectures had exposed the men to a ‘new idea of
Christianity’ rather than their time at Sunday school.31
Yet this area of Christian work was not new to the men. Sunday schools played an important role in nurturing this interest in missionary work. Those who had been to the schools were used not only to the idea of missionary work but had also prayed and raised money to support their efforts. Before the war the schools were keen supporters of this area of church life. One school in Shepton Mallet collected £3 11s. for the Baptist
Missionary Society, while the anniversary collection amounted to £3 6s. 11d.32 The Primitive
Methodist Sunday School Union reported to church conference that in 1914 its schools had
27 Ibid., p. 354. 28 Ibid., p. 179. 29 Ibid., p. 179. 30 Ibid., pp. 182-183 and p. 413. 31 Ibid., p. 155. 32 ‘Baptist Sunday School’, Shepton Mallet Journal, 27 March 1908, p. 4.
136 shown a growing interest in missions and this was reflected in the number of Juvenile
Missionary societies being increased by forty-one.33 The schools heavily promoted the work of missionaries. For example, the Roath Road Roamer published a letter from an Indian missionary reporting on his work with Indian soldiers and the editor encouraged those reading the magazine to pray for all missionaries.34 Even during the war, efforts to support this work continued. Roath Road Sunday School held a Missionary Social at least once a year.35 Likewise, Sunday schools in the Wingate Circuit, located in County Durham, made collections throughout the year for missionary work, and even in the difficult circumstances of the war the amount increased.36
Furthermore, given the global connections of the schools at this time, many of their members had knowledge of the world. Schools had scholars who moved across the globe, as explored in Chapter 1. One scholar writing to his former teacher remarked that his sister had met a fellow scholar in Canada and referred to another scholar who had travelled to Brazil.37 Similarly, George Marshall was very knowledgeable about East Asia.38 Some schools had former members who had moved to other countries such as Australia and
Canada before the war began. The Roamer proudly reported that of the members of Roath
Road Sunday school serving, eight were from Canada, five were from Australia, and one was from South Africa.39 It also observed that a former scholar, David Lydiard, who had moved to Australia with his family, had, along with his brothers, decided to enlist.40 His father even came back from Australia to serve in the British forces.41 The Young Crescent reported with
33 Primitive Methodist Church, Minutes of the Ninety-Fifth Annual Conference of the Primitive Methodist Church (W. A. Hammond: London, 1914), p. 191. 34 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, September 1915, pp. 3-4. 35 Ibid., March 1915, p. 7. 36 ‘Missionary Services at Wingate’, PML, 18 February 1915, p. 105. 37 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L Hayman, LH1 – Boy R. Harris, p. 1. 38 Ibid., LH2/7/3, p. 1. 39 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, April 1917, p. 3. 40 Ibid., May 1915, p. 7. 41 Ibid., May 1915, p. 7.
137 great sadness that one of its fighting members had returned to Canada at the end of the war.42 Moreover, during the war soldiers from other countries would teach at a local school while training in Britain. A soldier serving with the ANZAC forces decided that he wanted to spend Sunday ‘in the old home way’ by teaching at a Sunday school.43
The demands of the writers who wanted Sunday school reform were problematic in two ways. First, reform had to be on their terms. The Bishop of London, Winnington-
Ingram, suggested that low service attendance at the front demonstrated ‘how little, in spite of all our toil, we have permeated the manhood of the nation with the sacramental religion of the Prayer-book’.44 Church attendance and the religion of the Prayer Book were for him the only real indications of true faith. Cairns concluded that teachers ‘must, at each stage, emphasise those aspects, forms, and applications of his subject to which the child can naturally respond, otherwise the teaching is largely useless, and also possibly harmful, for the child re-acts against it’.45 He then proceeded to outline what reforms should be made to the schools, including teaching children content based upon their age.46 The reform these men were advocating was already well under way, though. The theme of reform will be examined in greater detail in Chapter 5. Some of these reforms were acknowledged by Cairns, but he doubted whether they had made much progress.47 However, the bibliography at the end of one of the chapters demonstrates that those involved in the Sunday schools were already considering what reforms they needed to make.48
42 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, February 1919, p. 8. 43 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D69 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1917, ‘The Soldier in the Sunday School’, 18 January 1917, p. 35. 44 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘The Lessons of War’ 23 March 1916, p. 187. 45 Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 348. 46 Ibid., pp. 348-358. 47 Ibid., p. 347. 48 Ibid., pp. 357-358.
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These reports perhaps reflect the tensions between different sections of the Church of England rather than being a true reflection of the state of religious life in the British forces. Alan Wilkinson highlighted that the National Mission launched by the Church of
England in 1916 was remarkable given the rivalries between the different sections of the institution.49 The church was disunited, and groups within it believed that the Liberals,
Evangelicals, or Anglo-Catholics were misrepresenting Christianity.50 This conflict had started before the outbreak of the war. As Michael Snape argued, The Army and Religion
(1919)
was tailored from the very beginning to serve the post-war agenda of a self- selecting body of liberal, postmillennarian clergymen, whose concerns were social, ecumenical, missionary and internationalist. In order to make their agenda more compelling, a considerable weight of more problematic evidence – usually of a more conservative and evangelical provenance – was simply disregarded.51
The outcomes of these reports were predetermined rather than a reflection of the actual opinions of the churches at large. For instance, despite the reports submitted to
The Army and Religion by some figures in the Church of Scotland, its Committee on the
Religious Education of Youth did not seem concerned about what the schools produced.52 In 1916 its biggest concern was ensuring that those who attended Sunday school also attended church.53 It is also interesting to note that after the war ended,
David Cairns was invited to be the main speaker at the Scottish Sunday School Union’s convention in 1926 and served as a vice-president on its executive committee for three
49 Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, p. 71. 50 Ibid., p. 80. 51 M. Snape, ‘Revisiting Religion and the British Solider in the First World War’, in Friends of Dr William’s Library Sixty-Eighth Lecture, ed. by A. Dunan-Page (London: Dr William’s Trust, 2015), pp. 5-37, p. 22. 52 NRS, CH1/2/352, General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1916 fol. 34 pp. 471-492, 1917 fol. 10 pp. 499-526, 1918 pp. 325-345. 53 Ibid., fol. 34, p. 473.
139 years.54 Perhaps writing so critically of Sunday schools was an attempt to ensure his involvement with them after the conflict.
Tensions within the church can be seen throughout these reports. For example, criticisms of Sunday schools simply reflected the hostility of the clergy of the Church of
England to them. For example, after a questionnaire was completed in 1912 for the
Archbishop’s Committee on Sunday Schools, the committee’s report condemned the attitude of some clergy. It concluded:
The last reflection suggested by the returns is that Nonconformists are making their Sunday schools a success because they believe in them while amongst our clergy a large number regards them as a necessary evil, and perhaps the majority have no ideals whatever in connection with them. […] Of those who have replied several have stated that they only keep a Sunday school open to prevent the children from straying into Chapel Sunday schools. Many more rely entirely on the day schools for religious education and have no hope or desire to make the Sunday school more effective.55
It is unsurprising, then, that The Church in the Furnace (1917) and The Army and Religion
(1919) were so critical of the schools. Those writing these reports in these books never felt the schools were effective in the first place, and it was an opportune time to prove why this was the case. The post-war era may also have presented an opportunity for many higher churchmen to demonstrate that the churches rather than the schools should receive more attention in the post-war era.
However, it was not just the Church of England that did not support its schools fully.
It was felt in many other denominations that the churches did not take the schools seriously enough. This concern had been raised well before the war had begun. For instance, George
Borrow wrote in 1901:
54 National Library of Scotland, Acc.12132/1 – Scottish Sunday School Union for Christian Education, Executive Committee Minutes 1926–1931, 27 April 1926, p. 9, Acc.12132/4 – Scottish Sunday School Union for Christian Education, Minutes of Meetings of the Council 1926–1953, 25 February 1933, p. 3, 28 February 1934, p. 4 and 27 February 1935, p. 3. 55 LPL, Davidson 496 – Education, Sunday Schools, fol. 165.
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When will the Churches wake up and begin work at the right end? There are eight million scholars in the Sunday Schools of Great Britain. […] Eight million young eyes on the Son of God. And yet neither in England not in Scotland have the churches yet apprehended the worth and wisdom of the Sunday School in the Christian culture and consideration of the young people of the land. It is the cheapest, mightiest, and divinest agency of the Church, and she does not know it.56
Similarly, at a meeting of Truro St Mary’s Wesleyan Methodist Church in Cornwall, Walter
Beard ‘ventured to say that if the church did not arise to its responsibility regarding the
Sunday Schools, there would be a decline in Methodism. He asked for their prayers and help, and then instead of the Sunday School declining, they would flourish’.57 Additionally, an article in the Primitive Methodist Leader warned that the church needed a ‘new and more sympathetic attitude of the Church towards religious work among the young’.58
Perceptions of Sunday Schools — An Alternative Outlook
These reports seem to ignore the views of those who thought that Sunday schools were performing well. Generally, it was believed that the schools were a success and produced scholars who had good biblical knowledge and understood their faith well. But this did not mean that the schools were not self-critical or unaware that reform needed to occur.59 Reports in local newspapers also demonstrate that many of the laity considered that the schools were performing well. For instance, Mr J. Robbins stated that Sunday schools had improved during the past fifty years and that teachers were far superior than in those days.60 Another article reported on the success of a Sunday school for gamblers and believed that it was worth widening the scheme given the mainly positive results.61 Likewise, articles in the Primitive Methodist Leader show that worshippers were pleased with the efforts of the schools. While working with troops on Salisbury Plain, John Jenkinson wrote that:
56 ‘Are Sunday Schools Declining?’, Hull Daily Mail, 14 June 1901, p. 5. 57 ‘Truro St. Mary’s Wesleyans’, West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 24 September 1908, p. 4. 58 ‘The Great Day of Enlistment’, PML, 8 October 1914, p. 697. 59 See Chapters 2 and 5. 60 ‘Wonderful Days’, Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 12 July 1913, p. 4. 61 ‘Sunday School for Gamblers’, Yorkshire Evening Post, 8 August 1913, p. 4.
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good parents, devoted Sunday-school teachers, and wise and helpful ministers have not lived in vain, but because of their witness and works our sons have found the source of strength, the secret of success, and have firmly planted their feet upon the rock.62
Arthur Guttery also praised the schools and firmly believed that ‘our victories are not won upon the playing fields of Eton ; they are secured in the Sunday-schools of England’.63 At the
Wesleyan Methodist Conference it was claimed that ‘the salt of the British Army is the
Sunday School boys and the Sunday School Teacher’.64
Correspondingly, the schools also believed that they had prepared their men for the challenges of the front. Teachers were pleased that their scholars appeared to be following the faith they had taught them. An article in the Sunday School Chronicle asked:
Moreover, are our soldiers not the boys of our homes, of our churches, day schools and Sunday Schools, who have been taught the nobler way in Christ, and are now up against the tragedy of the ages? Why wonder when we hear that a religious spirit pervades their ranks, and they are responsive to the Christian appeal?65
Those involved in the running of the NSSU were also pleased with the work of its auxiliary organisation, the Boys’ Life Brigade, and its annual report commented that:
letters from Old Boys, now serving with either Army or Navy, form a splendid tribute to the enduring character of our work. One of the first boys to join a North London Company has now received official appointment as Army Chaplain.66 At an annual meeting of the Bexhill Sunday School Union, in East Sussex, it was happily stated that ‘teachers are receiving letters from old boys at the Front, and it encouraged them to carry on their work’.67
62 ‘In Tent and Barrack Room: Our Sons on Salisbury Plain’, PML, 14 January 1915, p. 28. 63 ‘Men and Morale’, PML, 15 April 1915, p. 233. 64 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D67 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1915, ‘The Sunday School and the War’, 29 July 1915, p. 518. 65 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘Gold-dust from the Front: Some Experiences in France’, 17 February 1916, p. 99. 66 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/18 to 1921/22, 1917/1918, p. 41. 67 ‘Bexhill Sunday School Union: The Influence of Sunday Schools’, Bexhill-on-Sea Observer, 24 April 1915, p. 9.
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Furthermore, not all higher churchmen, YMCA workers, and chaplains were as critical of the schools as the reports would suggest. As mentioned previously, a report conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury concerning Sunday schools in 1912 suggests that he felt they were successful in other denominations as their work was taken seriously.68
The Bishop of Willesden was also reported to have stated that ‘he felt sure that if a message could come forward from the trenches to those present at that service it would be a message of thankfulness for what was learned in the Sunday school’.69 The Bishop of
Southwell, Edwyn Hoskyns, referred to the schools as ‘wonderful institutions’ and argued that parents needed to take a far greater responsibility for their children’s religious life.70 It appears the Bishop had some connections to Sunday school work in the pre-war period and therefore knew of the work they had done.71 Meanwhile, another stated that teachers were offering themselves as a living sacrifice and this was the first step in securing a sure foundation of Sunday school work.72 These comments and statements reveal that clergy who were involved in the work of the schools knew that they were making an impact on those who attended. The biggest criticisms were from those who knew little of the work of the schools. The conclusions of these sources further demonstrate that not all higher churchmen felt that the work of the schools was ‘woeful’ and instead wanted to praise the schools for their efforts.
Similarly, YMCA workers commended the work of Sunday schools. Workers felt that the education the men had received at the schools was invaluable and was helping them to live out their Christian faith. One stated that
68 LPL, Davidson 496 – Education, Sunday Schools, fol. 165. 69 ‘Soldiers and Sunday Schools’, Dundee Evening Telegraph, 3 April 1916, p. 5. 70 ‘Bishop on Sunday Schools’, Derby Daily Telegraph, 17 November 1919, p. 2. 71 ‘Bolton Church Teachers in Conference’, Bolton Evening News, 21 October 1901, p. 3. 72 ‘Sunday School Teaching: Bishop Ely and the Limitations of Secular Education’, Cambridge Independent Press, 17 March 1916, p. 8.
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meanwhile much that has already been done is bearing fruit. Many of these men have been trained in Christian homes and in Sunday School and in Church. The faith they have received is proving itself now when it is most needed. The men are using it.73
Those associated with the YMCA also wanted to pay tribute to the work of the teachers.
The Secretary of the YMCA, John Virgo, commented in an interview:
The Sunday School teacher, studying the children, planning for their needs, making the preparation of the lesson one of the most sacred duties of life, the winning of the confidence of the child and the leading of him into the service of Christ is playing a tremendously important part in the making of the future.74
Sunday school teachers were admired by Virgo rather than seen as ineffective, unlike the views of some of his colleagues that were expressed in books such as The Army and Religion
(1919). Another worker argued that
Sunday School memories are always a help. One of the most active helpers of others in the company was a former Sunday School teacher now a soldier, […] eager to help his comrades. One of the younger fellows, who had told me of his personal decision, added to it words which vastly strengthened my faith in his chances of holding true […] ‘E---- is going to help me.’ E----- was the Sunday School teacher just referred to.75
Some chaplains were pleased with the schools too and believed that they had a lasting impact upon the men. Colin Roberts commented:
The vital value of Sunday School work has been brought home to me in a most remarkable manner. Whenever men make a definite decision, one question I invariably ask is: ‘How many of you once belonged to a Sunday School?’ The answer is 99 per cent. Moreover, I think the clear sense of the moral issues involved in the present conflict cannot be fully accounted for, apart from the labours of Sunday Schools in past days.76
Another Wesleyan chaplain reported:
73 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘With the Men at the Front: Some Impressions of a Visit to France’, 24 February 1916, p. 115. 74 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D69 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1917, ‘The Soldier and Religion: Interview with Mr J. J. Virgo’, 2 August 1917, p. 371. 75 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D66 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1914, ‘A Y.M.C.A Chaplain in Camp’, ’15 October 1914, p. 871. 76 Wesleyan Methodist Church, Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Seventy-Third Yearly Conference (Wesleyan Conference Office: London, 1916), p. 587.
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Invariably I find, in speaking to the men of spiritual things, they go back to what they learnt in the Sunday School, and I must begin where their teacher left off. Sometimes when I have been looking for our men others will claim my interest, on the ground that, though they are entered under some other denominations, they went to a Wesleyan Sunday School, and they begin to tell me some of the things they were taught. […] I am proud of the work of our schools.77
One chaplain found the Sunday school method so effective that he used the model at the front, holding sessions in either English or Welsh. He appeared very pleased with the response of the men and what was said at their meetings. A letter home recalled that
one of them gave his simple testimony of how Jesus had helped him all along and what a comfort he had in mediating on spiritual matters and recalling passages of scripture while alone on sentry duty at night. I was greatly encouraged at hearing such testimony.78
Again, this demonstrates that these chaplains did not have concerns about the education the soldiers had received at the schools. They felt that the men, because of their time at the schools, had been prepared to live a Christian life and were acting upon what they had learnt.
Those serving in the British forces also generally believed that their Sunday schools had educated them well and were very thankful for their efforts. The reports issued did not include the voices of these men, despite the fact it was their spirituality they were considering. Correspondence from the men reveals that the schools were a significant force in forming and sustaining their Christian faith. Pioneer Hardman wrote to his school noting that ‘it is at times like these when one is far from home that you feel proud you have belonged to a place of worship and your association and training with such places help you over many trying circumstances to which you are subject out here’.79 Another scholar commented, ‘I must thank the wonderful influence of home and Crescent for my doing my
77 Ibid., pp. 586-587. 78 I. E. Jones, ‘A Welsh Perspective on Army Chaplaincy during the First World War: The Letters of Abraham Rees Morgan’, in The Clergy in Khaki: New Perspectives on British Army Chaplaincy in the First World War, ed. by M. Snape and E. Madigan (London: Ashgate, 2013), pp. 57-74, (p. 61). 79 Rev. L. J. Jackson, Extracts from Soldiers’ Letters Read on Sermons’ Sunday (London: Alldred and Sons, 1917), p. 7.
145 best to “fight the good fight”.’80 Correspondingly, Private Partington remarked, ‘I am proud to say that it is the good teachings I have received there that have been my greatest help in times of danger and temptation, and with the help of God, I hope to be amongst you all again to learn more of the master.’81 This correspondence also illustrates that the conclusions of the writers of The Army and Religion (1919) and The Church in the Furnace
(1917) were not reflective of the religion of Tommy Atkins. They failed to even include such evidence in their reports. These examples, as well as other evidence from the laity, chaplains, and higher churchmen, demonstrate that their conclusions are not supported by the evidence in the field.
Importance of Sunday Schools to British Soldiers and Sailors
Letters from the men reflect the lasting importance of the schools in their lives.
Much of this correspondence contains notes of thanks for the support received from their schools and teachers. Letters sent from the schools were treasured by those at the front.
Indeed, given the social background of the rank and file of the British forces, this communication from home may have been one of the few items they received. As Michael
Roper suggested, letter writing was difficult for those in the lower classes as they were not used to it.82 The comments of a scholar nicknamed ‘Chum’, in a letter to his former teacher
Mrs Hayman, support this view: ‘Delighted to receive your parcel yesterday, especially your kind letter enclosed therein. […] there are plenty a lot worse off than we are, and no kind friends to write & send parcels to them either.’83
Others received little communication from home. Philip Bryant, a former scholar of
Mrs Hayman, informed her that:
80 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, January 1916, p. 7. 81 Jackson, Extracts from Soldiers’ Letters Read on Sermons’ Sunday, p. 9. 82 Roper, The Secret Battle, pp. 55-56. 83 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman, LH3/5/3, p. 1.
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you cannot imagine how pleased I was to hear from you I get so few letters now. One a week always from mother but seldom any others as all my friends seem to have gone to war & my lady friends evedently do not consider that I get so lonely as good old Tommy.84
Jim Lippiatt similarly noted that the Roath Road Roamer ‘was the only news from home I have had since I have been here, and it was a treat to read it, advertisements and all’.85 Some scholars wrote to their former schools and teachers requesting them to write more. Rob
Williams wrote to the Young Crescent, ‘[W]ould be glad to hear from anyone belonging to
Crescent. Don’t be bashful, for letters in camp are like currants in cake – welcome when you get one. Any literature would be welcome’.86 Fred Bleach similarly remarked, ‘I was so pleased to receive such a nice welcome letter from you […] I must close hoping for a letter again I am always pleased to answer any correspondence.’87
Correspondence was especially appreciated when it came from the men’s schools.
They continually wrote in letters of how thankful they were for the letters they received from their schools and how it helped them at the front. Philip Bryant commented to his former teacher:
Thank you very much for your kindness & also for your real cheery text. If you could only realise the amount of good your letters do you would be astonished. I think I am absolutely truthful when I say that next my mothers letters your own have more affect on my inner man than any other person who writes to me.88
Similarly, another pupil stated, ‘It is with the greatest of pleasure in answering your kind and welcome letters of which I look forward to as they are very interesting to me as it is a comfort to know that we are not forgotten by friends in the Old Country.’89 A former scholar from Longsight Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School sent a letter to his old school
84 Ibid., LH3/3/2, p. 1. 85 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, July 1917, p. 3. 86 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, July 1915, p. 5. 87 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman, LH1/1, pp. 1-2. 88 Ibid., LH3/3/4, pp. 3-4. 89 Ibid., LH3/8/1, p. 1.
147 stating that ‘a few days ago I received your kind letter, and also the generous gift from the officers, teachers, and scholars of the Sunday School enclosed therein, and wish to express my sincere thanks for their kindly thought’.90 One scholar from Roath Road claimed that it had taken him three days to write a short letter to his school.91 But the soldiers wanted to ensure that those at home knew how much the letters meant to them and that they had helped them greatly.
However, it was not just letters that the men appreciated. Practical support was also extremely welcomed. Packages from home were one way in which those at home supported those at the front. It is estimated that sixty thousand parcels were handled by the army every day.92 Parcels and gifts from former teachers and schools were appreciated by fighting scholars. While parcels were charitable gifts, they were also from family. For these men and those at home, their congregations were their brothers and sisters in Christ, an extension to your immediate family.93 For example, in the Young Crescent the men were referred to affectionately as ‘brothers’.94 The parcels were well received, as reflected by the thankful letters the scholars sent home. ‘Chum’ responded to a gift from Mrs Hayman, stating, ‘I am writing at last to thank you very much for your kind parcel; you could hardly have sent a better one and I appreciate your thoughtfulness & kindness more than I can say.’95 George Marshall wrote home to write ‘just a few lines to thank you very much for your parcel of sweets and cigarettes which I received quite safe. […] I am sending you one of my ship’s “Cap Ribbons” which I hope you will receive quite safe in return for your generous gifts’.96 Another scholar stated:
90 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1918, p. 6. 91 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, December 1915, p. 7. 92 Roper, The Secret Battle, p. 93. 93 Acts 1. 16, Acts 6. 3, Romans 1. 13, Romans 10. 1 and I Corinthians 1. 11. 94 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, November 1915, p. 2 and March 1916, p. 8. 95 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman, LH3/5/1, p. 1. 96 Ibid., LH2/7/2, p. 1.
148
The Christmas gift from Roath Road is absolutely the thing. I have carried mine around with me for six weeks, holding it just as sacred as my Army ‘iron ration’ and when, in the trenches, and perhaps in a tight corner for food, it will give me great pleasure to ‘eat the health’ of Roath Road friends.97
A simple card was treasured by this scholar; it was not an extravagant gift, but judging by his response to it, it was worth its weight in gold.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, some schools produced magazines for their scholars and sent them to the front.98 Again, these efforts were deeply appreciated by the men. It helped many of them to have a comforting connection with home. As Helen
McCartney suggested, this exchange of information between the home and fighting fronts played a crucial role in maintaining the morale of the men.99 This is revealed in the letters published in the magazines. One scholar commented, ‘Thanks for Y.C. & sweets. It is a good idea to send them to the boys out here – they will certainly remind us of the dear folk at home.’100 Likewise, Alfred Brixton remarked, ‘Thanks very much for the Roamers. I find them very interesting indeed, as they bring old comrades and old associations back to my mind.’101
Furthermore, the Young Crescent helped one teacher to remain in contact with his scholars while serving. He observed:
Many thanks for Y.C. to hand along with a cheery letter from a former member of my S.S. class. This letter brought vividly to my mind many delightful & happy memories of the pre-war days […] Each issue of YC seems better than the last […] as for myself the personal interest in my ‘own boys’ is absorbing & I pray for their comfort, guidance, health & safety to the Good Father who watches over all.102
97 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, April 1917, p. 4. 98 See Chapter 2. 99 H. McCartney, Citizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2005), p. 118. 100 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, July 1916, p. 5. 101 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, April 1915, p. 3. 102 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, March 1916, p. 7.
149
Others also found the magazines a source of comfort. David Belt wrote, ‘I should like to meet some of my old chums whose faces I see in the Roamer. I can’t talk to it but it does me good to read it.’103
Yet the efforts of the schools to support their scholars did not just help their men.
Many of their scholars shared what the schools sent with their comrades. This was occasionally on the instructions of their teachers. Private T. John wrote to his former teacher informing her that ‘I have received your nice letter & kind gift of knives on
Wednesday last. I handed one to Garwood as directed & I can assure you that they have been most useful to us already’.104 However, it appears that most of the time the parcels were shared by scholars under their own initiative. For example, one Tommy wrote to his former school reporting that
the parcel came in very useful. I was trekking after the Battn. with 20 men left behind in the trenches as a rear party. The rations had not come up &, I was at my wit’s end how to feed the men. […] Then with the coffee tablets, oxo cubes & the Tommy’s Cooker all obtained from the parcel, we cooked something warm to drink & had quite a good feed. The Tommy’s cookers are particularly invaluable.105
Likewise, another scholar commented in a letter, ‘[T]hank you for the “Express Tuck Box” which I received in today’s mail, the contents of which will prove most acceptable to my chum and my self as something a bit tasty comes as a change after the eternal stews and jam.’106 The parcels that these scholars received were not just appreciated by them but also their comrades. Given the blander nature of food at the front and sometimes problems with supplies, it seems that the foodstuffs in the packages were appreciated by the men at the front, even if they were not a direct recipient.
103 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, December 1915, p. 7. 104 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman, LH2/2/3, p. 1. 105 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, December 1917, p. 10. 106 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman, LH2/5/1, p. 1.
150
Those who received the Roath Road Roamer and the Young Crescent were not the only men to be touched by the magazines. Both were in heavy demand at the front. Scholars wrote home frequently about how the other men were reading them. One letter in the
Young Crescent reported, ‘Before I had opened it there were about half-a-dozen inquires as to whether it was the magazine. Of course I passed it round when I had read it.’107 Private
Walter Jones also noted, ‘Thanks for the last Roamer. About 40 of the Gunners read it, they all want to have a look as soon as ever it comes.’108 Another letter stated, ‘The officers here look forward to its publication month by month, and the competition for its perusal is as keen as the fight for “Punch” or the “Illustrated London News”.’109 This may have been due to the light relief the magazines provided in the monotonous daily routine of a soldier. As
Dan Todman has suggested, ‘[T]he most frequently endured experience for most soldiers in the combat arms was not terror or disgust but boredom.’110 The literature the schools provided appears to have dissipated some of this boredom.
Other men were not so patient and took the magazines as soon as they were put down. For example, one soldier informed readers of the Roamer:
I have received the Roamers all right, and I am as pleased as Punch with them, so are the boys. You send me the ‘R.R.R.’, I read it and put it down, and if I should not have finished with it, I look around for it, and it is gone, nobody has seen it. Oh no, nobody has seen it, but you will find it a bit later and someone is reading it, and they won’t part with it either until they have finished with it.111
Correspondingly, another Tommy revealed:
The boys in my Battery seem to look forward to the Roamer every month, they all know what it is when they see the big envelope, and unless I read it right away, I do not get the chance again, as it quickly disappears, and I generally come across somebody reading it, in a week’s time.112
107 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, April 1916, p. 4. 108 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, August 1915, p. 7. 109 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, October 1915, p. 5. 110 D. Todman, The Great War: Myth and Memory (Bloomsbury Academic: London, 2012), p. 5. 111 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, September 1916, p. 6. 112 Ibid., September 1916, p. 6.
151
The men at the front were very happy to receive the literature the schools sent. Given that many of these men would have attended a Sunday school, it was an area of home life which they could identify with, even if they did not belong to the particular school that had published the magazine they read.
On the other hand, it was not just the lower ranks of the British forces and the war machine who were affected by the efforts of the schools. Roath Road Sunday School decided to send a message of encouragement to both Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig and
Admiral Sir David Beatty. It read: ‘Teachers and Scholars, Roath Road Wesleyan Sunday
School, Cardiff, send you and brave men fighting for us following message :- We thank you, we trust you, we pray for you. 420 young men already joined the Colours from this
School.’113 It seems to have been valued by both recipients. Beatty responded, ‘Grand Fleet much appreciate message from Teachers and Scholars Roath Road Wesleyan Sunday School,
Cardiff. Please express our thanks to all concerned.’114 Haig also responded and replied,
All ranks under my command send their best thanks to the Teachers and Scholars of the Wesleyan Sunday School for their friendly message. And I congratulate you warmly on the very satisfactory number of young men who have joined the Army from your School.115
Yet it was not just Roath Road that sent messages of encouragement. The NSSU also sent such a message to Sir Douglas Haig and Admiral Beatty. The annual report commented that ‘grateful acknowledgments’ were received from Betty and Haig.116 The great Army leader also had the message with his reply issued to all regiments as a special
“Order of the Day.”’117 Haig stated:
113 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, June 1918, back matter. 114 Ibid., back matter. 115 Ibid., back matter. 116 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/18 to 1921/22, 1918/1919, p. 14. 117 Ibid., pp. 24-25.
152
All ranks of the British Army in France join with me in sending our heartiest thanks to the Teachers and Scholars of the Sunday Schools throughout the Kingdom for the friendly and encouraging message which they have been good enough to send us through you. We are all greatly touched by this mark of thoughtfulness and appreciation and send you all our very best wishes.118
These documents are significant. Haig and Beatty would have received extensive amounts of correspondence daily. To take the time to respond to these letters demonstrates that the efforts of the schools touched them. The Christian faith of Haig and many other British
Commanders was of central importance to them, especially in their command of the men.119
Haig was supportive of the YMCA’s work. After the war he expressed his gratitude for their labours and hoped that they would find success in their new ventures.120 Hence, it is not surprising that Haig or other commanders found the support of the schools touching.
Additionally, orders of the day were rarely given and were addressed to the British forces.121 A good example of such an order would be the famous ‘Backs to the Wall’ Order of the Day, issued in response to the German spring offensive. The Special of Order of the
Day for the NSSU was written on behalf of the men of the British army.122 For Haig to believe that the message from the NSSU deserved such a response, he must have viewed its encouragement as very significant to the British forces.
Soldier Scholar Relationships with their Schools
The enduring significance of the schools in the lives of those serving in the forces is revealed in the continuing relationships of scholars with both their teachers and their
118 Ibid., pp. 24-25. 119 G. Sheffield, The Chief: Douglas Haig and the British Army (Aurum: London, 2012), p. 132 and Snape, God and the British Soldier, p. 59-82. 120 CRL, YMCA/K/5/2, Typescript extracts of letters of appreciation as testimony to the war work of the YMCA, 1914–1918, Letter from Douglas Haig, p. 12. 121 IWM, Q56794 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 23 March 1918; Q31439 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 11 April 1918; Q60777 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 26th April 1918; Q60779 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 4th August 1918; Q60775 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 7th September 1918; Q60778 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 26th September 1918; Q60776 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 23 December 1918 and Q60780 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day: A Message from the King [n.d.]. 122 Todman, The Great War, p. 86.
153 schools. Some scholars felt compelled to make a donation to their former schools while serving. An article in the Sunday School Chronicle reported:
One of the most pleasant features in Sunday School life just now is the evidence that one gets the attachment of the old scholars now with the fighting forces to their old schools. The other day at a Wesleyan anniversary in the Accrington district contributions to the collection amounting to £25 were received from old scholars in French money. […] The money in itself is a secondary thing, but the affection for the school revealed in the gifts is priceless, and it shows how much greater is the success achieved by Sunday School workers than appears on the surface.123
These scholars gave a donation to the school because they felt that it was warranted. As the article suggested, the schools remained a considerable influence upon these men. Moreover, the impact of the schools on the men can be also be seen by the donations their relatives made on their behalf. After Tom Bailey was killed in action his wife sent a letter to Roath
Road stating, ‘[P]lease accept the small donation enclosed to help a little towards the cost of the Roamer. I have just received Tom’s back pay, and I feel I would like part of it used to help keep the Roamer going for someone else’s boys. Tom always liked having it.’124 Likewise, the mother who had lost a son a few months before donated money to keep the Roamer afloat. She explained that ‘it was to show her appreciation of the help the Roamer had been to her Sons’.125
The attachment of the forces to their former schools is also revealed by the number of soldiers who chose to visit them while on leave from the front. Scholars from Roath
Road and Crescent Congregational Church are reported to have made visits home. Private
John Hopkinson recalled:
It is just about a month since I was home on my last leave, & altho’ I could only spare a few minutes to look in at opening of school it just felt like old times. Shall be glad when the time comes to be once more able to join the true bond of Christian fellowship always found at Crescent.126
123 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘The Soldier Scholar’, 25 July 1918, p. 352. 124 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, August 1917, p. 3. 125 Ibid., March 1918, p. 3. 126 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, July 1916, p. 6.
154
The Roamer also reported regularly about visits from former scholars.127 Some, however, found it hard to visit and were incredibly disappointed they could not do so. Fred Potter remarked, ‘I feel quite envious at times to read about so many “Roamers” home on leave visiting Roath Road, having a hearty handshake, a good long chat and a good time generally, as I honestly think it is about time that some of our Division had a turn at leave to
Blighty.’128 One former scholar from Farnworth, in Greater Manchester, thought that ‘at such times as Anniversary Sunday I think all Soldiers ought to have a day off to come home.
If I only I had permission I would tramp it all the way purposely to spend this great day with you’.129
Moreover, the relationship between the men and their teachers still mattered deeply. For example, many of the envelopes used to send letters to Mrs Hayman are
‘green’.130 Members of the armed forces were given a limited number of them and a system of trust operated whereby it was understood that the letters they would put into them would only contain news about personal or family matters; as a result, these letters did not necessarily have to pass through the censor’s hands.131 Therefore, given that they would have had a small number of ‘green envelopes’, Mrs Hayman would have been an important figure in their lives, comparable with close friends and family.
The contents of the letters from scholars further demonstrate their continuing friendship with teachers. As Michael Roper argued, the men were mindful of the impact their letters could have had on those at home, and as a result would have carefully
127 For example, see GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, February 1917, p. 2 and April 1917, p. 3. 128 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, December 1917, p. 7. 129 Jackson, Extracts from Soldiers’ Letters, p. 8. 130 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman. 131 Roper, The Secret Battle, p. 79.
155 considered their contents.132 However, scholars appear to have been more prepared to reveal their thoughts and feelings in letters to their teachers. For instance, one scholar, who normally wrote very optimistic letters throughout the war, told Mrs Hayman that ‘[w]e are all fed up with the war now, & please I want to go home to Ma.’133 Another former scholar recounted that the German prisoners they had captured were starving ‘and that alone will give you an idea of the horrors of war, not to mention the hundreds of dead and wounded lying upon the field some have been their a week or more and it is really as the German expresses it’.134 Likewise, in the Roamer George Howell, in a rather graphic account, recalled:
I had an explosive bullet through my right shoulder and it has broken it, but I am not sorry for I have tried to do my duty all time. It was in a bayonet charge, when we had their trenches all right, and I had to go for two Germans. I bayoneted one of them, and other shot me, but I had him before he could fire again, so you can see I had the best of it after all.135
Those in the forces did not just maintain their relationship with their teachers but also with younger members of their former schools. For example, Frank Farr, while visiting
Roath Road on leave, spent time with his old class.136 The Reverend George Standing claimed that soldiers in a nearby camp were disappointed when they had to leave their work at the local school to go to the front.137 It appears that these men became attached to current members of the schools. Correspondingly, other men keenly wrote to and asked after current scholars. Private James Yates wrote to his school asking them to ‘please convey my regards to all friends and scholars, and thank them for what they have done for me during the time I have been away. I shall always try to keep in touch with you whilst on
132 Ibid., p. 63. 133 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman, LH3/5/2, p. 1. 134 Ibid., LH3/1/7, pp. 1-2. 135 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, November 1915, p. 3. 136 Ibid., December 1914, p. 4. 137 PML, ‘Notes from Camp’, 25 February 1915, p. 123.
156 active service’.138 Chaplain Abraham Rees Morgan also sent messages to his scholars, informing them of some of his experiences while serving.139 In one letter he commented that he was looking forward to visiting them soon and that he would send a local postcard if they wrote to him.140
An account in the Sunday School Chronicle further illustrates the deep mutual relationship that was often formed between younger and older members of the schools. The article reported that a soldier, while training, was to teach an unruly class of boys. The soldier appeared to have a great influence on the boys, who stood quietly during prayers, hymns, and the lesson.141 When the soldier had been sent to the front the boys decided to write to him. The writer informed readers that:
During the weeks that followed ‘Our Soldier’ continued to correspond with the boys, and they with him. Every week he found time to write to them, if only just a short note. And with what joy they listened to these letters. Then one day I received an envelope addressed in a strange hand. When I tore it open I found a letter for myself and an unfinished one for the boys from ‘Our Soldier’. There was also a brief note from his friend, giving a brief account of his death. ‘Our Soldier,’ he said, had asked him to do this, and forward on the letters.142
This soldier must have put significant effort into writing to scholars whom he had only taught for a single lesson, illustrating how significant these boys were to him. Even in his final wishes he ensured that the boys were written to and informed of his death personally. This soldier’s short time at the school had resulted in a very meaningful relationship with his scholars.
138 Jackson, Extracts from Soldiers’ Letters, p. 11. 139 Jones, A Welsh Perspective on Army Chaplaincy, p. 67. 140 Ibid., p. 68. 141 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D67 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1915, ‘Our Soldier Teacher’, 22 July 1915, p. 501. 142 Ibid., p. 501.
157
Sunday Schools in the Religious Life of the British Forces
The time the men spent at the schools had a deep impact upon their spiritual lives.
This is revealed by their reasons for joining the forces and how they interpreted the outbreak of the conflict. Some scholars and teachers consciously chose to enlist. Many of them believed the war was one of good versus evil and was therefore a righteous struggle.
Their education at the Sunday schools reinforced and confirmed their convictions.
However, for some the decision to fight was on grounds of patriotic duty. For example, it was said of one of the scholars who was killed that ‘before going out I asked him if he would really like to be in the thick of it. He replied without hesitation, “Certainly, that is just what I am out for.” There was no conscientious objection on his part to take his share in crushing the brutal Hun’.143 It was not simply the thrill of the fight that attracted this man to fight; he felt that it was his duty to serve his country. Private Shute wrote home to persuade those at home to enlist, arguing:
If people in England could only see the state of the places the Germans have passed through, and also the thousands of homeless wanderers, their hearts would bleed and the ‘man in the street’ would wake to the sense of his duty. There must be hundreds of available young men at home, yet they are needed out here to help crush these merciless Prussians.144
Other scholars felt compelled to fight to protect those they cared for. One wrote to his old
Sunday school explaining, ‘I can only try & reward you in some small measure by doing my little bit in keeping the Hun from the door.’145 So some scholars did not join the forces for explicitly religious reasons.
On the other hand, correspondence also demonstrates that soldiers who had attended Sunday schools had carefully considered their participation to see if it was in line with their Christian faith, which had been nurtured when they had been at Sunday school.
143 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, August 1916, p. 6. 144 Ibid., December 1914, p. 5. 145 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman, LH3/5/6, p. 1.
158
Letters from the men illustrate that the war was seen as a just and righteous conflict by many scholars. For example, Philip Bryant stated, ‘I would not be risking my life if I did not think ours was a just cause.’.146 Similarly, another scholar wrote:
I often think of good days we had in the Debating Soc., and our warm & lively discussions especially on Home Rule & the Boer War. However we are all agreed upon this war of Justice against Wrong; of Mercy against Murder, of Good & Truth against the Devil& Evil, and of Civilisation against Barbarism, and we shall WIN.147
Many of these men also felt that because it was a just conflict, God was on their side and would help them to win the war. Private Shute not only felt it was his duty to fight but also that God would aid victory. He stated, ‘[W]e are here fighting for a just cause, and with
God’s help we shall ultimately win. As for myself I am glad to say I am in perfect health and hope with God’s help to return to the old Country the same’.148 Similarly, another scholar concluded:
Brave little Belgium how well she fought & how well she will be rewarded. You say if Germany win you will emigrate but with Gods Almighty help we shall all live in England as rulers of the Sea again. […] yes the Dardinells sofar held impregnable will by them I trust God be taken it as been hard fighting but fort after fort as gone & we are well up inside.149
These men believed that God was acting in their best interests and trusted that he would protect them. Other scholars believed that their good fortunes in war were a sign that a
God was on their side. Private Howell maintained:
We are in the trenches. This is the place to see life. […] And you get to understand the goodness of God. He has been very good to us. So far we have only had one man wounded, so you can see He still watches over us. And I think He does it because we are fighting for the peace of the world, and we shall get it before long, for the Germans do not like anything that looks like a good, open and honest fight.150
146 Ibid., LH3/3/1, p. 1. 147 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, December 1915, p. 7. 148 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, December 1914, p. 2. 149 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman, LH3/3/1, pp. 2-3. 150 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, August 1915, p. 5.
159
Hymns learnt at Sunday school also remained in the minds of those at the front.
Even in The Army and Religion (1919) it was admitted that soldiers had a good knowledge of hymnody due to their Sunday school education.151 One article reported that an evening service was filled with soldiers noting that they had ‘undoubtedly been trained in the Sunday schools’ as they sung the hymns well.152 Corporal W. Tom Dunn also pronounced, ‘For I remember the old hymn we used to sing in Class ; “There is a place where spirits blend And friend holds fellowship with friend.” It is a great comfort to know this.’153 The Sunday School
Chronicle was informed by one minister that he had been sent a letter by a former scholar who wrote that the hymns he had learnt at the school had given him great joy when he repeated them while in the trenches.154
The biblical knowledge that many of these scholars displayed again illustrates the influence the schools had upon these men. Frequent references are made to biblical figures, events, and places by old scholars to their schools and teachers. One ex-scholar wrote to his former teacher Mrs Hayman, ‘The play of “How I nearly came home á la Jonah” was short & sweet but I hope to be able to give it in detail at some future date.’155 Another scholar made reference to Psalm 23 when he wrote to his former teacher, remarking, ‘I am glad and encouraged to know that in these trying times the old Sunday School is doing all it can for myself and others as we tread the valley of the shadow of death.’156 The events of the New Testament were equally well remembered. Wheeler-Corporal Frank Farrant commented in a letter:
151 Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 115. 152 ‘Our Churches and People: Last Sunday’, PML,13 August 1914, p. 570. 153 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, November 1917, p. 3. 154 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D67 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1915, ‘Sunday School Hymns in the Trenches’, 8 April 1915, p. 237. 155 IWM, Documents.948 – Private Papers of Mrs L. Hayman, LH3/5/6, p. 1. 156 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D67 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1915, ‘Is the Sunday School a Failure?’, 9 July 1915, p. 462.
160
We have travelled over the ground that Christ and His Mother went, when they went to Egypt. I have been a few miles from Jerusalem, but not the luck to be in the Holy City yet, though I hope to get there before the end of the War, of Christ’s life. I have seen the Crucifixion thorns growing out here, the thorn is about four inches long, so I know how Christ must have suffered.157
The simple sight of thorns reminded this scholar of the events he had studied in the Bible, and he was able to recall the events of Holy Week. Driver Herbert Smith reflected that seeing the places mentioned in the Bible reminded him of his time at Roath Road, and he wished that some of the teachers and scholars could be with him to see what he had seen.158
Others too recalled with accuracy the events and places in the Bible. Corporal Archie
McKinnon informed Roath Road of some his visits to biblical places while fighting. He observed,
I was one day at the old city of Anarta or Anathoath where Jeremiah was born. […] At Bir Sheba I saw the wells that were supposed to have been dug by Abraham. […] At Bethlehem I saw the famous pools built by Solomon and named after him. […] I have passed through the gate through which Jesus drove the money-lenders when He found them doing business in the Temple.159
Likewise, a former scholar from Longsight stated, ‘[M]y only regret is that, whilst in
Palestine, I never got the opportunity of a close inspection of the Holy City, as, unfortunately, I was “put out of action” a little too early in the advance.’160 The time the men had spent at the schools meant they had a good knowledge of the Bible and therefore were familiar with the sights they came across.
The men believed their schools had prepared them for the fighting front and continued to assist them in their spiritual lives. Many believed that their time at the schools had been valuable. One wrote to his former teacher as follows:
157 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, February 1918, p. 7. 158 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, July 1917, p. 3. 159 Ibid., April 1918, pp. 4-6. 160 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1918, p. 7.
161
The B----- Sunday School has always had a preeminent place in my thoughts; hence the joy of knowing that under these adverse circumstances one has friends who bridge the gulf of time and still remember us in their prayers. There have been times when the end appeared inevitable, when I have been conscious of some superhuman support, some indefinable force, which I can only attribute to the prayers of friends at home, that has brought me safely through.161
Another reflected, ‘I thank God more and more that my life has been spent in Sunday
School. For when you know that your loved ones are praying for you and your friends are asking God to help you, you feel you have the battle won.’162 A scholar from Longsight noted that ‘it seems years and years since I sat in that nice quiet classroom and listened to
God’s message, and many times in a hard fight short passages have cropped up in my mind to comfort me’.163
For others, specific memories of their time at the schools were of great comfort.
Albert Speight wrote to his former minister, Mark Mortimer, that
it will soon be Whitsuntide and I can’t let a time like that pass without sending you a line or two wishing you a very good time at the best Sunday School treat of the year […] the happy times we have had at the Whit Festival well come back very forceably at a time like this when there is so much bloodshed going on.164
One scholar’s time at Sunday school prepared him for one of the hardest challenges on the front. He thought that
under circumstances and conditions such as we are, then and only then can we realize the value of the early days at Roath Road. Lads make a big mistake when they think they are too big to go to Sunday School. The other day a brave lad died in my arms, he was terribly wounded when we got hold of him, and although shot through the spine, chest and abdomen he never complained. I cannot tell you all about that lad, but I can say this the early teaching came back and the Spirit that helped him to live helped him to die.165
161 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D67 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1915, ‘Thoughts in the Trenches’, 9 July 1915, p. 462. 162 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘The Citizen-Solider: The Nation and the Church’, 15 June 1916, p. 383. 163 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1918, p. 6. 164 Leeds University Special Collections, The Liddle Collection, LIDDLE/WWI/GS – Papers of G. Mortimer, Box 2, 31/5/1916, p. 15. 165 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, May 1916, p. 5.
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Simple memories and what they had learnt helped the men in challenging times while fighting. The lessons at the schools provided comfort in the most horrid of circumstances.
This challenges the conclusions of the writers of The Church in the Furnace (1917) and The
Army and Religion (1919) that the schools did not have any spiritual effect on those fighting.
Many of these men believed that the schools produced spiritual fruits from which they continued to benefit.
Yet it was not just the memories the men appreciated; they were thankful for the teaching they had received. Many former scholars wrote letters to their schools and teachers thanking them for what they had been taught. For example, a superintendent wrote to the Sunday School Chronicle that ‘several of our old scholars, whom we thought had quite drifted, have written letters from the firing line, thanking their old teachers for their past labours, and assuring them that their teaching had not been forgotten’.166 Surviving letters from scholars confirm that many of them were thankful for the teaching they had received.
One scholar informed his old school that ‘I never forget all I have learnt through the medium of our class, and I thank God for it ; it stands good out here and carries one along without fear’.167 Sapper Ernest Yates commented, ‘I cannot be present with you at the
Anniversary but my thoughts will be with the place I owe so much to for the teaching I have received in times past, and from which I am deriving benefits to-day.’168 For these men, the teaching they had received was not ineffective or woeful; instead they believed that they owed much to the schools given what they had been taught there. These scholars thought that they were still reaping the benefits of the time they had spent at the schools.
166 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916, ‘The Citizen Soldier in Camp’, 23 May 1916, p. 335. 167 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1916, p. 10. 168 Jackson, Extracts from Soldiers’ Letters, p. 11.
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Conclusion
Sunday schools played a significant role in forming and sustaining the Christian faith of British soldiers and sailors. However, towards the end of the war, Christian commentators criticised the schools for what they perceived to be a failure on their part. It was argued that ineffective teaching given at Sunday schools had resulted in a widespread lack of knowledge of the Christian faith. They also felt that Sunday schools had no spiritual effect or influence upon the men of the British forces. The books that commentators produced during the war are problematic. They contained contradictions such as blaming the schools for the lack of religious knowledge of the men but also criticising them for focusing too much on learning sections of the Prayer Book. The reports of these churchmen are more a reflection of tensions between the Liberals, Evangelicals, and Anglo-Catholics within the Church of England rather than the religious state of those at the front. These tensions will be further explored in further chapters.
These books also failed to acknowledge the opinions of those who believed that the education that the schools provided was of a good standard. The men who wrote these essays felt that the men at the front had been given a good foundation for living a Christian life and had had been prepared for the challenges of the front. The schools remained important to many on the fighting front. The support that the schools provided was appreciated by those on active service. Letters, parcels, and messages of support were cherished by all ranks of the forces, even those commanding at the highest level.
Furthermore, many former scholars maintained their relationships with both their teachers and their schools, as for them it was important to do so. The time the men spent at the schools had a significant influence upon their spiritual lives. The hymns they had sung and the events they had studied in the Bible remained fresh in their minds and acted as a great comfort to them while serving. Many of them clearly had a good knowledge of the
164 events and places of Bible. They believed their time at the schools had prepared them for the trials and temptations of a Christian life. Therefore, rather than being considered
‘woeful’, the schools were considered by some Tommies as institutions which had given them a firm foundation for their Christian faith.
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Chapter 4 – British Sunday Schools in Interwar Britain, 1918–1939
Introduction
The news of the armistice was greeted with relief and joy in Britain. As Adrian
Gregory suggested, the end of the war was more well received than its beginning.1 Britain, however, was in a fragile condition. Like other countries, it was in the middle of an influenza pandemic. The pre-war certainties had been shaken by the conflict. The dwindling electoral prospects of the Liberal Party, the Easter Rising, the rise of the Sinn Fein Party, the abandonment of the gold standard in 1919, industrial unrest, rising unemployment, various strikes, and uprisings in Eastern Europe all contributed to a degree of uncertainty.2 Jose
Harris has suggested that an observer looking at the state of Britain in 1919 would have perhaps predicted a prolonged period of class war.3 For the churches, the post-war period was a time of theological tensions. As Alan Wilkinson suggested:
Times were also changing in the Church of England. By the mid-1930s liberal modernism was in decline, and a catholic type of neoorthodoxy was gaining ground which emphasised the corporate nature and tradition of the church expressed in the weekly eucharist. […] Though the Free Churches still included many who clung to progressive idealism, some Free Church leaders began to re-assert the reformed faith with a new rigour.4
The end of the war did not bring about calm in national and religious life.
It was within this atmosphere that the Sunday schools operated. As demonstrated in
Chapter 2, the war caused great disruption to the schools. Throughout the conflict, they had been waiting to resume their work without restrictions and for their members to return. The day had finally come. This feeling of elation, however, was tempered by a
1 Gregory, The Last Great War, p. 250. 2 J. Harris, ‘Society and the State in Twentieth Century Britain’, in The Cambridge Social History of Britain 1750– 1950, ed. by F.M.L. Thompson (Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 63-118, (pp. 74-79). 3 Ibid., p. 75. 4 A. Wilkinson, Dissent or Conform?: War, Peace and the English Churches 1900–1945 (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2010), p. 74.
166 profound sense of loss. Some of the scholars and teachers from schools had made the supreme sacrifice. Efforts turned towards commemorating those who had fallen and supporting those who had been affected by the war. There was also a sense that this period would be a time for renewal and reform, to ensure the sacrifices of the older generation would not be wasted. By the summer of 1939, however, the schools were preparing themselves for another conflict. This chapter will examine how the schools responded in the years following the pivotal moment of the end of the First World War. It will explore how the schools responded to the challenges of the interwar period. The chapter will also demonstrate that Sunday schools still retained an important role in the religious life of the nation.
The Impact of the First World War
The signing of the armistice did not immediately bring clarity for those at home. The
Sunday School Chronicle commented:
The situation in Germany at the time of going to press is very obscure, and on the surface not very satisfactory. Presumably the leaders of the Allies have good ground for their confidence that Germany cannot continue the war, and that the armistice must lead to peace.5
Given the length and cost of the conflict, the cautious tone used here is understandable.
Likewise, those who produced the Roath Road Roamer could not quite believe that peace had come. The leading article concluded:
Have you ever noticed by the way, though it never struck us until to-day as we write this (‘To-day’ is the historic 11th November 1918), how that word ‘Victory’ has run through everything we have had to say to you for the past four years? ‘Peace’ has rarely crept into the Roamer, but ‘Victory’ has always been there.6
5 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘The Outlook’, 14 November 1918, p. 541. 6 GA, DX320/3/2/iii - Roath Road Roamer, December 1918, p. 1.
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However, the impact of the war continued despite the coming of peace. It took time for many schools and their organisations to recover from the effects of the conflict. The
Church of Scotland’s Committee on the Religious Instruction of Youth stated in 1920 that
‘ALTHOUGH eighteen months have elapsed since the Armistice, it is only during the past winter that a return approximating to pre-war conditions has been possible in Sunday
School work’.7 Similarly, the NSSU felt that its ‘National Crusade’ campaign had been greatly hampered by the war. It reported:
Beside the intense personal strain which the war imposed upon all alike, for the greater part of the use under review the premises of many Schools were in use under military requirements as canteens, hospitals, etc. ; the Military Service Acts, too, which came into operation early in 1918, still further denuded our Unions and Schools of many workers, and in many places the prevalence of the influenza epidemic compelled the abandonment of CRUSADE engagements.8
It was also claimed by the Baptist Minister Rev E. E. Hayward in 1925 that the upheaval of war meant that there was much ground to be made up by both the churches and Sunday schools.9 Those involved in the work of the schools recognised that the war had affected their work and that the end of the fighting had not relieved the difficult conditions.
On the other hand, the records of the schools reveal that there was great excitement on the return of their members and the chance to worship together as they had done before the war. Before the war ended, the Young Crescent had remarked that ‘a visit to a recent evening service gave one a taste of the good days to come. […] A flying visit from
AC Walter Ridpath completed our surprises for the month, & what is more gave us a good vision of our reunion in the future’.10 This vision started to slowly turn into a reality. The
Roath Road Roamer stated:
7 NRS, CH1/2/356 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1920, fol. 22, p. 535. 8 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/18 to 1921/22, 1918/1919, p. 26. 9 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D77 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1925, ‘The Present Sunday School Outlook’, 16 July 1925, p. 437. 10 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, November 1918, p. 8.
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[W]e have so often prayed God for you, now we want to pray with you, for all that he has done for you and for us. […] It is hoped that arrangements will be made for other friends from the Church and School to be present in the gallery to witness the most historic gathering that has ever taken place in the old Schoolroom.11
Similarly, Windsor Congregational Church, in Barry, recorded that its welcome home service was ‘the first meeting in our old school buildings since the Red Cross Hospital was established here March/April 1917’, and later it was noted ‘how glad we were to be at
Windsor Road once again!!’ 12 The moment that the schools had longed for during the war had finally come. The reunion with their members was to be made into a grand occasion.
Sunday schools and churches prepared events to mark the return of their members.
The Sunday School Chronicle reminded readers that
[t]he personal welcome of the minister, much as that is appreciated, is not enough; nor is it sufficient for the Sunday School leader to greet the returning workers to their field of service. The welcome should be one representing the whole Church, in which every Church member should be able to have a share.13
Many schools and churches did not need this cue. For example, Longsight Methodist Sunday
School’s ‘Old Scholars’ Union’ in Manchester invited those returning from the front who had been connected to the church or the school to a ‘Victory Re-union’.14 Crescent
Congregational Sunday School and Church, located in Liverpool, organised ‘Welcome
Home!’ meetings for those returning from the front.15 An invitation to the men read ‘[T]he
Boys will be welcomed at the Social Evening on Thurs. Feb. – at 7. Their faces will be their tickets, but orders have been given that tickets are not to be punched’.16 These meetings were well attended; one meeting at Crescent Congregational Church attracted 200
11 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, March 1919, pp. 2-3. 12 GA, DECONG10/25 – Windsor Road Congregational Church, Sunday School Register with Notes 1903– 1926, 15 January 1919, p. 112 and p. 114. 13 CRL, NCEC Part One, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘A Church Welcome to Demobilised Men’, 13 March 1919, p. 143. 14 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1918, p. 4. 15 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, February 1919, p. 8. 16 Ibid., p. 8.
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‘friends’.17 The Sunday School Chronicle reported that another welcoming event attracted over 300 people.18 These examples illustrate the close relationship between soldier scholars and their old schools. When they were given the opportunity to reunite, both parties happily did so.
The schools also offered practical assistance to those returning from the front. It was reported to the Sunday School Chronicle that one church raised money for returning men to provide them with new tools for their former jobs. It was reasoned that ‘the men are largely of the artisan class, and many of them will require their tool basket replenished before resuming their work’.19 Roath Road also asked those at home who read its magazine to provide support for those coming back to Blighty.20 The Young Crescent informed readers that the welcome home meetings would be a chance to reunite with their family and friends in a supportive atmosphere.21 Walsden Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School, in Todmorden,
West Yorkshire, recognised that many of its men would not be home for Christmas so decided to raise funds to send them a parcel.22 The Sunday School Chronicle reminded its readers that some teachers may not be ready to return to their work. The article stated:
One man, who had declined to take up his old Sunday School class, on being pressed for the reason of his action said: ‘When I think of teaching my class of boys again, I see myself at my gun, and I see myself at my gun, and I see a lot of Germans being blown to bits. I’m not fit to take up the work again!’ The reply opens up an aspect of the subject which deserves serious consideration by the churches and schools.23
This was a reminder to schools to be mindful of those teachers returning who did not return to their posts and to respect their decision.
17 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, April 1919, p. 2. 18 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘A Church Welcome to Demobilised Men’, 13 March 1919, p. 143. 19 Ibid., ‘When the Men Come Home’, 6 February 1919, p. 76. 20 GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, March 1919, p. 3. 21 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, January 1919, p. 2. 22 Todmorden and District News, ‘Walsden Wesleyan Sunday School’, 22 November 1918, p. 2. 23 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘Another View’, 6 February 1919, p. 76.
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These efforts to welcome and help the returning soldiers were genuine gestures of charity. However, they may have had an added benefit. They may have helped to strengthen and secure the bond between schools and scholars after the war. Schools were concerned about their future relationship with these men and whether they would return to their schools or churches. One commentator for the Sunday School Chronicle observed:
Different minds take different views. There are some who tell us that the workers and scholars who from our Sunday Schools have donned the King’s uniform will not, on demobilisation, return to our midst; that new influences have brought about a new outlook, and that their sympathy is no longer with churches or with the churches’ work.24
This concern was also expressed in a message from the minister to the readers of the Young
Crescent. He wrote to those in the armed forces asking:
Will you now join up to help win a great victory for Christ in the old Church, which once upon a time played such a splendid part in the cause of true religion in Liverpool? […] You have gloriously helped to win the war ; now we want you to help us win the peace, so that the new England we have all been dreaming about may be brought nearer realization.25
It is interesting that the language used to justify Britain’s participation in the war was now being utilised to persuade the men to return to the schools. The minister felt he could play on this concept of duty and religious war to further motivate these men to attach themselves to their old church. Likewise, other schools thought that their senior scholars returning from the front might not ever enter their doors again. Various solutions were adopted by schools. For example, Windsor Congregational Sunday School wanted to establish a senior institute, with older boys particularly in mind.26 Bethany English Baptist
Church Sunday School, in Cardiff, agreed to form a committee, which would include deacons from the church, to support its ‘brave young people’ who had served.27 While the
24 Ibid., ‘The Sunday School and the New Era’, 2 January 1919, p. 22. 25 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, May 1919, p. 2. 26 GA, DECONG10/23 Windsor Congregational Church Sunday School Minutes 1907–1928, 26 November 1918. 27 GA, DBAP15/3/2/29/3 – Bethany English Baptist Church Cardiff Sunday School Minutes 1909–1919, 9 December 1918.
171 reunions and committees were meant to welcome the men home, they did have the added benefit that they would encourage the men to remain attached to the schools.
Some saw demobilisation as an opportunity for the church and schools to renew their efforts to reach out to those outside their doors. The Reverend Alexander Ramsay, the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of England, argued:
The enrolment of the nation’s young manhood in military service has given the opportunity of ascertaining their relation to the Church of Christ and to the faith of Gospel […] It is beyond all question proved that only a small minority – a hopeful estimate is 20 per cent. – have any connection with any branch of the Church of Christ in the United Kingdom. Now, the Sunday School is the open door of access to those who are outside of the fellowship of the Church. If these are to be won to Christ and His Church, it is deep and abiding success in our Sunday Schools that alone promises to secure this result.28
It is interesting to note that the 20 per cent figure is the figure that Cairns quoted in his book The Army and Religion (1919).29 This perhaps reveals that this was a common percentage which those in religious circles referred to.
Soldiers too interpreted the end of the war as an opportunity for the churches and schools to reach those who were not associated with either institution. Harold Goodwin of the Manchester Regiment contended:
The men demand truth, real broad-mindedness, enthusiasm for Christ, the breaking down of denominational restrictions, a Christian faith which works and lives. Such a Church is a rare opportunity. […] The time is NOW. The problem of the demobilised Army is already arising. […] The challenge is insistent and the opportunity is great.30
Another wrote to his Sunday school teacher,
[B]elieve me, it is not only buns and milk and parcels we want, but something to uplift us and make us feel that Christ and His Church expect much of us […] I
28 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘The Sunday School and the New Era’, 2 January 1919, pp. 3 and 6. 29 Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 122. 30 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘The Demobilised Army’, 14 November 1918, p. 555.
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trust your big-souled Sunday-school men are laying your plans-lofty plans-for the reclamation of the boys now in khaki.31
These extracts also illustrate that the war did not destroy the faith of British Tommies.
Some of teachers and church leaders believed that the end of the war was an opportunity for the churches and schools to reach out to those outside of their buildings. They were keen that it was not wasted and that there needed to be immediate action.
As well as reflecting on the future of their work in post-war Britain, Sunday schools across the country wanted to commemorate the conflict and remember those who fell.
Following the signing of the armistice, schools held thanksgiving services. Roath Park
Congregational Sunday school, in Cardiff, opted to hold a special service to commemorate the event after its usual session.32 The Sunday School Union in Cardiff opted to hold an interdenominational peace celebration in the form of an open-air service.33 The NSSU published an order of service for schools to use at their services. As well as hymns and Bible readings, the suggested service included a prayer which read:
We earnestly pray for all the sick, the wounded and the maimed, that they may find in Thy love healing for body and for mind. We also pray Thee speedily to restore to their homes and loved ones all those who are now prisoners of war. […] We pray Thee to help and comfort all those who think of their dear ones who have fallen and who will not return.34
These prayers show that the NSSU was aware that while some would be celebrating and awaiting the return of their loved ones, many would be in mourning.
Memorial practices of the schools took various forms. As Daniel Todman has suggested, commemoration was based on the perceived and expressed desires of the
31 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘When the Boys Come Home’, 21 November 1918, p. 566. 32 GA, D601/22/1 – Roath Park United Reformed Church, Sunday School Minutes of Teachers’ Meetings 1917– 1931, 14 November 1918. 33 GA, DBAP42/28/1 Tabernacle English Baptist Church, Penarth Minutes of Meetings of Sunday School Teachers, 1902–1926, 4 May 1919. 34 IWM, K70695 – Thanksgiving For Victory Order of Worship No. 1. For Use in Sunday Schools or Churches, p. 3.
173 population.35 Sunday schools played an important role in the commemoration of the fallen by local communities. As previously explored, many British Tommies had passed through
Sunday school during their childhood, and some were still members when they joined the forces.36 This meant that the memorials the schools adopted would have been important and close to the hearts of many in the local area. Some schools opted for memorials which took a more decorative form. The United Methodist Church in Derbyshire opted for a ‘Roll
Book of Honour’ to commemorate those from the churches and the Sunday school in the
Ripley circuit who fell.37 Vickerstown Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School, in Barrow-in-
Furness, decided to remember those who served and died in conflict with a list of names inside a decorative border.38 Longsight Methodist Church, in Manchester, likewise opted for a memorial tablet to commemorate those connected to the church and school who fell.39
Below this list there is an acknowledgement of all those who served and returned.40
Similarly, Wesley Church in Higher Tranmere dedicated a brass plaque to those who fell and adjacent to it was a Roll of Honour of all those who served.41 Given that these memorials where made by those in the churches and schools, they were more personal than town or village memorials. As Adrian Gregory suggested, the organisational committees of these memorials only involved a small number of representatives from the
35 D. Todman, The Great War: Myth and Memory (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2005), p. 50. 36 See Introduction and Chapter 3. 37 DRO, D2192/JMM/47/1, Ripley Methodist Circuit Roll of Honour for Church and Sunday School members of the Circuit who joined the Army or Navy during the First World War. 38 BALSC, BDFCBWM/11/7/1, Vickerstown Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Roll of Honour. 39 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1921, p. 7. 40 Ibid., p. 8. 41 IWM, K03-1602 – Wesley Church Higher Tranmere Order of Service for the Unveiling of the Memorial to those men from this Church and Sunday School who fell in the Great War, 1914–1919, p. 2.
174 local community.42 The Sunday school memorials appear to have involved workers from both the churches and the schools and fundraising events were attended by members.43
Others chose to commemorate scholars in a practical way. The NSSU established a scheme allowing schools to donate money to provide a cot for children at its convalescent homes in memory of their fallen.44 These homes were run to provide scholars from poor homes the chance to experience some sea air.45 The scheme proved so popular that the
NSSU had to propose another scheme in which schools could provide money to furnish a room in the home.46 It was suggested in the Sunday School Chronicle that schools should provide a scheme to support the children of fallen soldiers.47 One article proposed that
a committee of Church and School, men and women, should be formed to do in some way the work of a father for these children. Such a Welfare Committee would be a living memorial of the fallen heroes, and one dear to the heart of Christ.48
These very different methods of memorialisation support the conclusions of Adrian
Gregory. He suggested that ‘depictions of Britain in the 1920s as a traumatised society, with a shattered sense of itself, should be understood for what they are: constructions to cover up a much more complex social reality of winners and losers, continuities and changes’.49
An exploration of soldier scholar epitaphs, shown in Appendix 13, also reveals the important role Christianity played in commemoration and remembrance. Of the soldiers
42 Gregory, The Last Great War, p. 261. 43 GA, DBAP42/28/1 – Tabernacle English Baptist Church, Penarth Minutes of Meetings of Sunday School Teachers 1902–1926, 2 March 1919 and BALSC, BDFCCU/2/3 - Ulverston (Soutergate) Independent/Congregational Church Minute Book, 1916–1927, 29 October 1919. 44 CRL, NCEC Part One, D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘Memorials of Fallen Heroes’, 14 March 1918, p. 122. 45 CRL, NCEC Part One, D13 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1913/1914 to 1915/1916, 1914/1915, pp. 24-25. 46 CRL, NCEC Part One, D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘Memorials of Fallen Heroes’, 26 September 1918, p. 460. 47 CRL, NCEC Part One, D72 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1920, ‘The Children of the Fallen’, 15 January 1920, p. 34. 48 Ibid., p. 34. 49 Gregory, The Last Great War, p. 257.
175 who have known graves, the inscriptions chosen by their families largely used hymnody, biblical verses, or biblical language. ‘Peace perfect peace’ was used by some families from the hymn ‘Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?’, written by Edward Henry
Bickersteth.50 Likewise a line from the hymn ‘The King of Love My Shepherd is’, based on
Psalm 23, ‘In death’s dark vale I fear no ill with the dear Lord beside me’, was inscribed on two brothers’ graves.51 Bible verses were also chosen, the most common being variations of
John 15.13., ‘Greater love hath no man than this that he gave his life for others’.52 One family opted for the inscription ‘A good soldier of Jesus Christ 2 Tim 2.5’.53 Another family chose the epitaph ‘Well done thou good & faithful servant’ from Matthew 25. 23.54 Verses from the Apocrypha were also used, such as ‘Their glory shall not be blotted out’ from
Ecclesiasticus 44. 13.55 This demonstrates the familiarity that most of the population had with biblical language, verses, and hymnody. It also illustrates that families chose these verses as they thought were appropriate for their loved ones. The war, rather than a destroyed faith, caused many to turn to the familiar language of the Bible to comfort them and to sublimate their loss.
Sunday schools turned to the Bible for comfort in their grieving. Their members’ deaths were interpreted as a worthy sacrifice in a just and holy conflict. The Sunday School
Chronicle printed a ‘Hymn of Thanksgiving for Victory’ which read:
Glory and thanks to God! For gallant souls at rest, For all the living valiant hearts Who brought and gave their best; For that vast kneeling host, Who could not do or dare, Yet fought the fight behind the lines
50 See Appendix 13. 51 Ibid. 52 Ibid. 53 Ibid. 54 Ibid. 55 Ibid.
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With agony of prayer.56
The editors of the Chronicle very much believed that the war was a just conflict and that those who had fought were right to do so. The Old Scholars’ Union Magazine ran an article which stated:
The dramatic way in which the war so suddenly collapsed, the downfall of Prussian Militarism, the complete triumph of right and liberty over tyranny and wrong […] ‘Babylon the Great’ has fallen, and great is the fall. Prayer was never more directly answered, a righteous cause more signally vindicated or retribution more dramatically administered.57
It is interesting that the editor of the magazine is relating the First World War and the fall of
‘Prussian Militarism’ to John’s vision in Revelation 18. 2. The comparison of the ancient enemy of Israel to Britain’s enemy Germany further supported claims that this was a righteous war.
However, despite the belief that the conflict was righteous, there were workers who were keen to remind their colleagues that simply because a soldier died for a just cause it did not mean that they had been saved. An article in the Sunday School Chronicle gave the following reminder to workers:
Sometimes a comfort has been offered to their poor mothers which is altogether false. People have spoken of our soldiers as if they believed in the Mohammedan and not in the Christian creed. The Mohammedans believe that if a man dies in battle he goes straight to Paradise. […] Sin is sin, and whatsoever a man soweth, that he also reap. The great Christian truths are not changed by a European War, neither can resolutions of Parliament alter the eternal principles of God.58
Likewise, a speaker at a Sunday School anniversary reportedly remarked: There were many crosses there [France] of unknown soldiers, and some held only the description; ‘A British Soldier. Known to God.’ When those present wanted to do things which they would not like other people to know about they should think of the inscription on the crosses of the unknown British soldiers in France. It might
56 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘Hymn of Thanksgiving for Victory’, 14 November 1918, p. 543. 57 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1918, p. 2. 58 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D69 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1917, ‘Our Fallen Soldiers: What Of Their Future?’, 1 March 1917, p. 99.
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help them to remember that they must live as men and women ‘known to God.’ to Whom they must account for their actions.59
Sunday school workers vowed to renew and reform their work. This would not only honour the sacrifices of those who fell but also ensure their deaths would not be in vain.
Members of the younger generation that Tommy had fought to protect needed to be given the opportunity to have their souls saved by Christ. The sacrifices of these men could not be in vain. For example, George Croydon Marks, the chairman of the NSSU council, warned that ‘the war will have failed of the greatest lesson unless the young are more earnestly directed into paths where righteousness alone will be the impelling motive and beacon’.60
Addressing a meeting, the Reverend R. Carey Bonner from the Wesleyan Methodist Church noted that ‘from the silent battlefields there was going up the challenge to make the world a better place through the children’.61
Sunday schools and their associated organisations felt that the end of war had given the country a renewed sense of the importance of youth. The Committee on the Religious
Instruction of Youth for the Church of Scotland concluded in 1919:
In view of the great sacrifices which the nation has been called upon to make, home life, and particularly child life, has assumed a new value. Youth is being guarded with greater care and solicitude. New efforts are being made for the improvement of our boys and girls, physically and mentally.62
Similarly, for the NSSU the coming of peace signified a new era of Sunday school work: To British Sunday School workers the coming of peace means the dawning of a new era of opportunity. The difficulties created by war conditions have been enormous. But ‘the Lord reigneth !’ Faith is ours, and faith is ‘the victory that overcometh.’ […] To win the ‘coming generation’ for Christ will mean ceaseless
59 ‘Wesley Hall Sunday School’, Gloucester Citizen, 28 April 1925, p. 8. 60 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – Sunday School Chronicle, ‘The Sunday School and the New Era’, 2 January 1919, p. 6. 61 ‘The Children’s Era’, The Daily Telegraph, 17 February 1920, p. 7. 62 NRS, CH1/2/355 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1919, fol. 16, p. 343.
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effort, genuine sacrifice, and the using of every means God has placed within our power.63
It was argued by another writer that ‘if Tommy’s younger brother is to be ready for the new world, not only as an instrument of production and a citizen, but as an instructed
Christian, there is need for a close fellowship in generous understanding of all who deal with him’.64 The end of the war was the time to win the next generation for Christ.
However, Sunday school organisations were quick to warn about placing false hope in a revival when the Tommies returned home. One soldier had the following warning for readers of the Sunday School Chronicle:
With regard to religion, the hope that the return of our soldiers would mean spiritual revival is already dead. In any event it was absurd and unfair. We cannot reasonably expect that the men who saved our bodies are likely to return to save our souls also. The soldier’s religion is mainly subconscious, and so is not likely to create piety where none previously existed.65
Likewise, an inquiry carried out in 1920 by Reverend Doctor F. B. Meyer, an associate of the
NSSU, concluded that those who had not been connected to a church or school before they departed for war were unlikely to attach themselves to them on their return.66
This is perhaps why Sunday schools have been given such a bad press in the historical record. The revival that some expected after the war did not occur and the Sunday school was an easy scapegoat. As examined in the previous chapter, Sunday schools were identified by some as one of the reasons British Tommies were irreligious.67 Therefore, it is not surprising that some continued to be unimpressed by the schools. These views will be examined later in this chapter. This expectation that Sunday schools would be the engine of
63 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/1918 to 1921/1922, 1918/1919, p. 13. 64 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘Tommy’s Younger Brother’, 7 February 1918, p. 62. 65 Ibid., ‘The Demobilised Army’, 14 November 1918, p. 555. 66 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D72 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1920, ‘The Demobilised Men and the Church: An Inquiry’, 1 April 1920, p. 215. 67 See Chapter 3.
179 revival was not helped by those who claimed that they were the only chance of success of regaining those outside of the churches.68 Some felt the pressure of disappointment. The
President of the Yorkshire Association of the NSSU commented, ‘I can only say that in my judgement the attitude of the demobilised men towards the Churches is such as to cause profound disappointment to those who prophesied such great things “when the boys come home”’.69 Indeed it appears that the Archbishop of York was a disappointed prophet. In his
Christmas message of 1922 he said, ‘[I]s it to be a Happy New Year for us? Have we not had four weary years of disillusionment after the brief rapture and hope kindled by the
Armistice?’70 As Michael Snape observed, many in the churches had hoped for ‘spiritual dividends’, signified by the Church of England’s National Mission started in 1916.71 Some were aware that the war had been a disadvantage to their work, depriving them of teachers and undermining ‘a sense of obedience and reverence among the young’.72 As discussed previously, the schools had again been expected to do more than what was actually possible.73 They were very aware that without some reform the war would not bring revival.
This did not, however, mean that there was not some recovery from the war. As discussed in Chapter 2, in late 1918 and early 1919, Sunday schools across the country were forced to close their doors due to outbreaks of influenza and measles.74 However, numbers started to recover. As can be seen in Appendix 14, until 1932, figures remained stable and
68 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘The Sunday School and the New Era’, 2 January 1919, pp. 3 and 6. 69 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D72 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1920, ‘The Demobilised Men and the Church: An Inquiry’, 8 April 1920, p. 230. 70 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D74 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1922, ‘The Note of Challenge’, 28 December 1922, p. 389. 71 Snape, God and the British Soldier, p. 170 and pp. 168-169. 72 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D72 – The Sunday School Chronicle, ‘The Roll Call for 1920: Some Hindrance to Progress’, 23 September 1920, p. 586. 73 See Chapter 3. 74 See Chapter 2.
180 even increased, especially in 1927.75 Anecdotally, schools and their organisations believed that they were recovering ground they had lost during the war. One commentator observed that ‘the steady increasing number of young men returning from war services to their Bible-classes is mentioned by several correspondents. […] Several of the churches report an increase of church membership from the Sunday school’.76 The Annual Report of the NSSU for 1920 noted:
Though civilization is still so sorely shaken, great things may be achieved; for the quickening among religious teachers and leaders, coupled with the membership increases recently reported, and the growth of secular welfare organisations, show that the Holy Spirit is stirring in the hearts of men and women.77
In 1922 the NSSU reported that the year’s work signified ‘signs of revival’.78 The Wesleyan
Methodist Sunday School Committee was frustrated at the misreporting of statistical returns in the press, arguing they were better than perceived.79 This statement, however, rather optimistically assumed that scholars who were still serving would return to their former schools.80 There was not a dramatic revival, but some schools regained the losses they had suffered during the war.
Sunday Schools and Society
The schools remained highly influential in British culture and society during this period. For instance, one local newspaper ran a serial story for children in which friends were playing games before Sunday school. Tensions rose when
suddenly, ‘Ting-ting-ting’ – the bell began to ring for Sunday school. […] but when they got to the stone Letty’s shoes and stocking were nowhere to be found. The bell began to ring faster. Short, sharp notes it gave now. It was time they were all in Sunday school. Poor Letty burst into tears. It was really the most awful thing
75 See Appendix 14. 76 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D72 – Sunday School Chronicle, ‘The Sunday School Roll Call: III Some Encouraging Signs’, 30 September 1920, p. 602. 77 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/1918 to 1921/19221920/1921, p. 11. 78 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/23 to 1927/28, 1922/1923, p. 11. 79 JRL, GB 135 DDEy/7/1 – Minutes of the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Committee 1908–1924, 19 June 1919, p. 258. 80 Ibid., p. 258.
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imaginable not to be able to go into Sunday School. They all felt terribly sorry for her, but they daren’t miss Sunday school.81
Children’s books of this era, such as Richmal Crompton’s Just William series which centred around the antics of the fictional William Brown, also featured the schools. Several storylines in the series involved William causing chaos at his school’s annual treat and disrupting another school’s treat.82 These examples demonstrate the extent to which the schools were part of British culture. Authors wrote their stories knowing that their audience could identify with these characters as attending Sunday school was something they did each week.
The importance of Sunday schools in society is also shown by the significance that political and societal figures attached to them. For example, a policeman commented that if the schools were shut down ‘the Government would include Sunday Schools in their scheme of reconstruction, and whatever party was in power a million or two pounds would be granted to the Churches to subsidise the schools work’.83 Politicians too attributed great importance to the schools. James Parker, an MP at a presentation,
expressed his pleasure that the meeting was held in the United Methodist (Halifax) Church and School, where he had received so much good in his earlier life, where he had met with friends and ideals which, in the stress of politics and economic problems, had saved him from material views of life, and had been his ‘political salvation’.84
Likewise, David Lloyd George argued in an article he wrote for the Sunday School Chronicle that
[t]he university of the people is the Sunday School. Think of what they learn there. The quality of the knowledge is higher and better than anything they get elsewhere. They come into contact with, and they study, the most exquisite body
81 ‘The Mystery of the Missing Stockings’, Sheffield Independent, 16 June 1938, p. 11. 82 R. Crompton, William the Conqueror (London: Macmillian Children’s Books, 2016), pp. 179-198 and R. Crompton, William the Bad (London: Macmillian Children’s Books, 2016), pp. 214-247. 83 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘A Policeman’s Reflections’, 5 December 1918, p. 593. 84 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘An M.P.s Tribute to the Sunday School’, 23 January 1919, p. 60.
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of national literature ever complied. For refinement, imagination, vision, exaltation of purpose, inspiration – for these combined qualities there is no national literature in the world like that which is studied at Sunday School.85
Political figures not only valued their time at Sunday school but also knew that talking about the schools might help their electoral success. Identifying themselves with the movement demonstrated their respectable character, which Sunday school attendance indicated during this era.86
Sunday schools also continued to receive support from higher levels of society. Earl
Jellicoe thanked the NSSU personally for its contribution to remembrance funds in 1930.87
He had commanded the British fleet at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and received his peerage in 1925. It also appears that the royal family continued to take an interest in their work.88
For example, the Duke of York wrote to delegates at the World Sunday School
Convention:
I deeply regret my inability, as Convention Patron, to extend personally to you a welcome […] You are welcome as co-workers in the great world task of winning the young people of the world for truth, righteousness and God, and of creating a high moral standard which cannot fail to be reflected in the national outlook of every land.89
Likewise, Queen Mary, the mother of the Duke of York, expressed to the National Sunday School Union the interest with which she has heard of their endeavours to make the year 1918-19 a children’s year, and her wish for the success of their efforts to encourage the children of this land to make the coming Christmas season one of happiness to those whose fathers are still serving in his Majesty’s Forces.90
85 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D75 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1923, ‘The Sunday School: The People’s University’, 10 May 1923, p. 286. 86 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark, p. 165 and McLeod, Religion and Society in England, p. 78. 87 CRL, NCEC Part One, D82 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1930, ‘Earl Jellico’s Thanks’, 24 December 1930, p. 1031. 88 See Chapter 1. 89 CRL, NCEC Part One, D76 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1924, ‘The Call of the World’s Children’, 26 June 1924, p. 385. 90 The Daily Telegraph, ‘The Queen has expressed to the National Sunday School Union’, 9 December 1918, p. 6.
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There also seems to have been a long-standing appreciation by the royal family of the support they received from the NSSU. For example, the NSSU sent messages of congratulations on the marriage of the Duke of Kent and Princess Marina, which were well received by the couple.91 The royal family also thanked the NSSU for its good wishes and prayers for the King in his illness.92 These extracts show how the schools continued to permeate the lowest to the highest levels of society in this period.
Sunday schools continued to confront issues that faced British society after the war.
They were highly attuned to the conditions that some of their scholars lived in and the difficult circumstances they faced. An article in the Sunday School Chronicle reporting on a meeting discussing housing conditions in London stated:
One wishes that all the moving, heartbreaking incidents arising out of the bad housing conditions in London […] The Bishop of Southwark gave us the first glimpse of the appalling conditions under which the poor are compelled to live owing to the housing difficulty […] Then the Bishop referred to the insanitary and verminous condition of some of the houses in a way that made one feel sick.93
Another article reminded readers of the broken homes some of their members came from, further adding to the importance of their work.94 For some, Sunday school may have been the only good and Christian influence in their lives.95 Individual schools also had concerns about their scholars. For example, Windsor Congregational Sunday School was concerned at reports received about the food and clothing situation of scholars and appointed members to investigate.96 Likewise, Barrow-in-Furness’s Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School
91 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D17 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1934/1935 to 1939/1940, 1934/1935, p. 62. 92 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D16 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1928/1929 to 1933/1934, 1929/1930, p. 27. 93 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D77 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1925, ‘The Greatest National Menace’, 22 January 1925, p. 46. 94 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D76 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1924, ‘The Pagan Homes of England’, 7 August 1924, p. 474. 95 Ibid., p. 474. 96 GA, DECONG10/24 – Windsor Congregational Church Sunday School Minutes 1928–1952, 7 November 1933, p. 51.
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Council believed that its work had been made more difficult due to unemployment in the town.97 School workers therefore sought to help improve conditions for their scholars. For instance, a non-denominational Sunday school was set up for children who did not feel that their clothes were good enough to attend worship.98 Another teacher appealed for donations to enable his school to take children who lived in slums on an excursion.99
New ideas within society were also challenging Christianity. As Pugh suggested, the collapse of the coalition in 1922 brought about three-party politics.100 This, along with the rise of the parliamentary Labour Party, which formed its first government in 1924, and the formation of the British Communist Party in 1920, meant that politics was taking a different direction.101 Groups such as the Socialist Sunday Schools experienced a resurgence after the
First World War in these circumstances.102 The origins of these schools can be traced back to 1892, and it has been argued that they were a distinct part of socialist community life.103
Reid contended that ‘Socialist Sunday Schools developed not along rationalist lines, but along the lines of a working class sect dedicated to the teaching of socialism to children in the language of traditional Christian ethics’.104 The movement aimed to offer an alternative to the Sunday schools offered by the churches.105 It borrowed heavily from its religious counterparts as the schools were run by ‘superintendents’, the central features of sessions were ‘lessons’ concerning ethics, and the schools ascribed to the ‘Ten Socialist
97 BALSC, BDFCBWM/1/4/1 – Barrow Wesleyan Methodist Circuit Sunday School Council Minute Book 1912– 1948, 18 March 1924, p. 45, 13 March 1925, p. 47 and 20 March 1933, p. 65. 98 Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Non-Denominational Venture By Miners Wife’, p. 4. 99 The Daily Telegraph, ‘Fresh Air For Slum Children’, 19 July 1921, p. 4. 100 Pugh, We Danced All Night, p. xi. 101 Ibid., p. xi. 102 J. Gerrard, ‘Little Soldiers’ For Socialism: Childhood and Socialist Politics in the British Socialist Sunday School Movement’, International Review of Social History, 58(2013), 71-96 (p. 72) 103 Ibid., p. 72. 104 F. Reid, ‘Socialist Sunday Schools in Britain, 1892–1939’, International Review of Social History, 11(1996), 18-47 (p. 22). 105 Gerrard, ‘‘Little Soldiers’ For Socialism’, p. 88.
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Commandments’.106 This was perhaps in part due to the organisers’ familiarity with church traditions, again reflecting the permeation of Sunday schools in British society.107
Therefore, given the similar nature of the socialist Sunday schools to the churches’ versions, those in the Sunday school movement were concerned about what they were teaching. For instance, an article in the Sunday School Chronicle commented that
in ‘Socialist Sunday Schools ; a Review, and how to open and conduct a Proletarian School,’ by Tom Anderson appears the following ‘Christ on the Cross dying for sinners is so ridiculous that one despairs of the hold this superstition has on the minds of the working class […] To teach the children the idea of the Revolution should be the primary end of a Socialist Sunday School ; all other teaching is of no avail […].108
This echoed the concerns of some in society. For example, letters to the Daily Telegraph complained about socialist Sunday schools, especially about the content of lessons.109
However, the Socialist Sunday School movement was never powerful in numerical terms. As Gerrard suggested, the movement never attracted great numbers of children; their heyday came in the 1920s but was short-lived.110 It suffered during the 1930s and
1940s due to economic depression, the Second World War, and the split of the Labour
Party and Independent Labour Party.111 Correspondingly, an article in the Daily Telegraph commented ‘that the Socialist Sunday School movement was not taken seriously by the adult socialists ; in fact, they treated it rather contemptuously’.112 The Sunday School Chronicle seemed unconcerned by the movement, but warned teachers to ensure their scholars were
106 Reid, ‘Socialist Sunday Schools in Britain’, pp. 30-32. 107 Gerrard, ‘‘Little Soldiers’ For Socialism’, p. 86. 108 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D75 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1923, ‘Training Child Rebels’, 8 February 1923, p. 82. 109 ‘Socialist Sunday Schools’, The Daily Telegraph, 6 December 1922, p. 7 and ‘Socialists and Atheists in the Making’, The Daily Telegraph, 27 February 1907, p. 11. 110 Gerrard, ‘Little Soldiers’ For Socialism, p. 72. 111 Ibid., p. 72. 112 ‘“Cutting Out” Religion. The Socialist Sunday School’, The Daily Telegraph, 26 January 1925, p. 5.
186 taught well to counteract the teaching at the socialist schools.113 Socialist Sunday Schools seem not to have been discussed in the Annual Reports of the NSSU during this period.114
Perceptions of Sunday Schools
The churches, compared with in previous periods, were more supportive of the work of the schools. The biggest improvement in relations was within the Church of
England. For example, in a report concerning religious education the following view was put forward:
THE Sunday School has sometimes been regarded as a necessary but burdensome and expensive part of the organisation of a self-respecting parish. It is coming to be used and enjoyed as an opportunity for one of the most effective kinds of service. The reason is that during the last twenty years there has been definite and steady progress in the application of educational principles to the work.115
Likewise, the Archbishop of York, William Temple, sent a message to a teachers’ conference stating that ‘all that has been done in the country in regard to Sunday schools had laid new emphasis upon the necessity for maintaining them and making them efficient and effective’.116 Similarly, the Wesleyan Methodist Church praised its schools, arguing that
‘we have wonderfully efficient organizations and institutions in the Sunday School […] The influence of all this work is magnificent’.117 A congregational minister also argued that
eighty or ninety per cent. of their church members came from Sunday Schools. He was convinced that any church without a Sunday School was a failure before it started. The Sunday School had been the bulwark of the Kingdom of God because it was its cradle.118
113 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D75 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1923, ‘Training Child Rebels’, 8 February 1923, p. 82. 114 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/18 to 1921/22, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/23 to 1927/28, D16 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1928/29 to 1933/34, D17 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1934/35 to 1939/40. 115 Church of England, Church Assembly Report of the Commission on Religious Education appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York (Westminster: Press and Publications Board of the Church Assembly, 1929), p. 18. 116 ‘Bishop on Sunday School Inefficiency’, Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 30 April 1929, p. 6. 117 H. J. Holloway, ‘The Church’s Attitude to the Youth of To-Day’, in Methodism: Its Present Responsibilities, The Proceedings of the Methodist Church Congress, ed. by Methodist Church Congress (London: The Epworth Press, 1929), pp. 111-115, (p. 112). 118 ‘Sunday Schools: What They Have Done for England and the Churches’, Northampton Mercury, 28 October 1927, p. 6.
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It appears that there had been some improvement in relations between the churches and the schools compared with earlier periods.119 The schools had slowly become a tool of the churches rather than an organisation on their periphery.
This, however, did not mean that relations between the churches and the schools were always harmonious. Sunday school workers still believed that the churches were not doing enough to support the schools. For example, a booklet was published by the NSSU which aimed to encourage its workers; it argued that some churches were not regarding their work in the way they should. It was claimed:
[W]e still find the Sunday school movement despised and neglected by Christian people who ought to know better. Too often Church officials and members are absolutely indifferent to the work being done among the children, and it is customary to regard the Sunday school as beneath the support of respectable middle-class people.120
Morningside Congregational Church in Edinburgh likewise felt that its accomplishments during one particular year might have been greater if it had had more support and encouragement from the congregation.121 It was also reported that ‘a Church in the north which held a Sunday School anniversary and took £58 out of the £60 collected. Another
Church charged its Sunday School rent’.122
There were also some in the churches who felt the schools were not making satisfactory progress. The Bishop of Gloucester, Arthur Headlam, stated that ‘Sunday school teaching […] has always been amateurish and unsystematic. I do not think it will ever be possible to make it seriously systematic’.123 It is rather interesting that the bishop of the
119 See Chapters 1 and 2. 120 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D157 – Sunday School Advance: The Adolescent Campaign, Your Sunday School Job A Survey and A Challenge, p. 4. 121 NRS, CH14/26/9/2/5 – Morningside Congregational Church Sunday School Minutes 1919–1963, Annual Report 1936, p. 4. 122 ‘Village Sunday School’, Bedfordshire Times and Independent, 20 April 1934, p. 12. 123 ‘What Wesley Did Not Recognise’, Western Daily Press, 3 October 1930, p. 9.
188 place which is popularly held to be the home of the Sunday school believed them to be so ineffective. Likewise, the Bishop of Coventry, Mervyn Haigh, suggested that while some improvement had been made to the schools, there were still ‘deficiencies to be remedied’.124
The Daily Telegraph reported that the Bishop of London’s Sunday School Council, headed up by the Bishop himself, Arthur Winnington-Ingram, had encountered ‘prejudices of old- fashioned though devoted superintendents and teachers, and the tendency of the clergy to leave their Sunday schools in the hands of loyal workers, whose age and long experience seemed to have earned for them the right to be left alone’.125 These examples demonstrate that some in the churches felt that Sunday schools were not making the improvements they thought were necessary. As one writer for the NSSU observed:
There are other critics of the Sunday school who should be our allies, yet whose attacks upon us cannot be ignored. There are parsons and Church officers who condemn the Sunday school as obsolete, and openly advocate that it should be scrapped entirely in favour of something more to their taste.126
This therefore suggests that some of the criticisms made of the schools had more to do with ongoing discussions as to the aims of the schools and their relation to the churches than with condemning the schools themselves. These tensions over this debate will be considered in greater depth in Chapters 5 and 6.
However, overall the schools themselves were pleased with their efforts. For example, the Wesleyan Methodist Circuit Sunday School Council in Barrow-in-Furness concluded that ‘although there is a general decrease in the numbers of teachers & scholars, all the schools are in a normal state and working efficiently. The Council has every confidence in the present position of the various schools’127 Likewise, Ferne Park Baptist
124 ‘Work in the Sunday School’, Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser, 1 June 1935, p. 7. 125 ‘Evangelical Difference’, The Daily Telegraph, 23 March 1922, p. 13. 126 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D157 – Sunday School Advance: The Adolescent Campaign, Your Sunday School Job A Survey and A Challenge, p. 5. 127 BALSC, BDFCBWM/1/4/1 – Barrow Wesleyan Methodist Circuit Sunday School Council Minute Book 1912–1948, 1 March 1921, pp. 33-34.
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Church Sunday School in London believed its ‘Beginners’ section was in a flourishing condition and that other departments had also had a successful year.128 It was not just individual schools that were pleased with their work. The secretary of the Bristol Sunday
School Union argued:
As to the calibre of Sunday School teachers, the increased number of weekly teacher training classes in connection with our individual Sunday Schools and the activities, in each local Union, of the Graded Schools Association are all producing a constant improvement in the standard of our teaching.129
Similarly, the Methodist Sunday School Council concluded that ‘in reviewing the work since
Methodist Union [the council] are impressed by the magnitude and scope of the work afforded in the Sunday Schools and among the young people of Methodism’.130
Workers were very aware of the shortcomings of the schools. In fact, Sunday schools often reminded their workers that there was always room to improve. The NSSU put forward the following view in a pamphlet:
The standard of education the scholars receive in the day schools is so much in advance of the quality of teaching given in the Sunday Schools that many scholars feel that the latter are not worth attending, and consequently drop off. The reason is that the teachers do not take their task seriously enough.131
Likewise, at a Sabbath School Convention a speaker remarked: The so-called teachers in the Sunday Schools are all too frequently unfitted to teach. Their mental qualifications are not such for them to deal with the modern child, who often has probably as much knowledge of the subjects, if not more, than the person in charge of the class.132
128 LMA, ACC/1361/05/004 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1924–1928, 8 November 1926. 129 ‘The Standard of Sunday School Teaching Upheld’, Western Daily Press, 4 October 1930, p. 10. 130 JRL, GB 135 DDEy/7/3 – Minutes of the Connexional Council of the Sunday School Department 1932– 1943, 6 June 1935, p. 68. 131 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D158 – What the Churches Expect from the Sunday Schools, p. 4. 132 ‘The Sunday School’, Hull Daily Mail, 10 July 1924, p. 4.
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However, scholars appreciated their Sunday school experience. Although these opinions are harder to trace, some do remain. For example, a teacher wrote to the Sunday
School Chronicle recalling a conversation with a former scholar. The scholar noted:
I am Dick, your old scholar, over here to see the old people, but I could not return to Canada without seeing you to thank you for all your kindness you showed me […] I have often laid upon the veldt out there, seeing the stars, and thought of the lessons you gave us and I could not return without saying ‘Thank you’.133
Another scholar wrote to his old school stating, ‘I owe a great debt, unpayable, for the privilege of being allowed to do something amongst you in those glorious days of yore ; their influence and inspiration will ever live in me.’134 Similarly, another former scholar from the same school stated, ‘I cast my mind back to some pleasant memories at the old school.
It has been a place of inspiration to me in the past.’135 It was also reported that scholars donated their pocket money, which they normally spent on sweets, to fund a new school building.136 While some higher church figures may have felt the schools were not performing to satisfactory levels, those who attended them believed otherwise.
Sunday Schools and the World
During the interwar years, Sunday schools continued to support and engage with other school workers across the globe. As demonstrated previously, the schools were highly aware of the world around them.137 They continued to make collections for missionary efforts in other countries and it seems that scholars willingly participated in fundraising for missionaries. For instance, Appendix 15 shows that scholars belonging to the
NSSU raised large sums of money for foreign missions.138 In the immediate years following
133 CRL, NCEC Part One, D91 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1939, ‘You Cannot Turn the Lad Out’, 31 August 1939, p. 558. 134 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1926, p. 2. 135 Ibid., 1930, p. 4. 136 ‘Scholars Give Pocket Money to Help Build Sunday School’, Western Times, 14 April 1939, p. 12. 137 See Chapters 1 and 3. 138 See Appendix 15.
191 the war, these efforts focused upon countries and populations that had been affected by the conflict. As Peter Gatrell has argued, ‘[F]our uninterrupted years of mass bloodshed in chief theatres of war did not make the postwar world a more peaceful place. Revolutions, civil wars, wars of independence, ethnic conflicts, and anticolonial uprisings occurred around the globe.’139 In early 1919 worrying reports came out of Eastern Europe of famine, disease, and inter-allied fighting.140 Likewise, in the Middle East between 1919 and 1923 there were conflicts in the Caucasus, Russia, Central Asia, and Afghanistan.141 The Sunday School
Chronicle encouraged its readers to donate to the Syria and Palestine Relief Fund and highlighted the plight of children living in what had been war zones.142 Individual school records show that schools collected money for a wide range of international causes. For example, Tabernacle English Baptist Church Sunday School, in Penarth, decided to collect for the Palestine Relief Fund.143 Likewise, Ferne Park Baptist Church collected for the
Serbian Boys Fund and the Russian Famine Fund.144
Missionary work continued to play a significant role in the curriculum of the schools.
The NSSU passed a resolution reminding its members that ‘every Sunday School should therefore place missionary work in the forefront of its activities’.145 As Appendix 16 shows, suggested lessons for this period included lessons on this work.146 Schools would often welcome visiting missionaries to their schools. For example, the president of Longsight
139 P. Gatrell, ‘War after the War: Conflicts, 1919–1923’, in A Companion to World War One, ed. by J. Horne (Chichester: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2012), pp. 558-575 (p. 558) 140 C. Fink, ‘The Peace Settlement, 1919-39’, in A Companion to World War One, ed. by J. Horne (Chichester: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2012), pp. 541-557 (p. 545). 141 R. Johnson, ‘The First World War and the Middle East’, Asian Affairs 48(2017), 471-487 (p. 484). 142 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘Children in the French War Zone’, 26 June 1919, p. 386 and D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘Syria and Palestine Relief Fund’, 14 November 1918, p. 549. 143 GA, DBAP42/28/1 – Tabernacle English Baptist Church Sunday School Minutes 1902–1926, 12 January 1919. 144 LMA, ACC/1361/05/003 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1918–1924, 12 November 1918 and 9 June 1922. 145 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D16 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1928/29 to 1933/34, 1930/1931, p. 24. 146 See Appendix 16.
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Wesleyan Methodist Old Scholars’ Union, in an address to its annual meeting, described his experiences as a missionary and encouraged members to support and participate in this work.147 A letter written by a missionary to the readers of the Young Crescent in May 1919 contained the following comments:
My object in writing from far-off China is to ask you, now you have faced & overcome the enemy to turn your thoughts to China or any other mission field & for the rest of your life fight the powers of darkness in heathen lands. Won’t you become missionaries now? […] You will never regret this life out in the mission field, as you will never regret the stand you took for right on the battlefield.148
The language used to justify the war was being further utilised to claim former scholars for the mission field. The Sunday School Chronicle also published the stories of famous missionaries. For example, it reported on Eric Liddell’s move from the running track to the mission field and praised his good work for the Kingdom of God.149 Eric Liddell ran Sunday schools in China as part of his missionary work and spoke at youth gatherings with other workers.150
The schools’ awareness of the world was also fostered by scholars and teachers emigrating. Emigration levels declined during the war; however, from the start of 1920 to the end of 1921 approximately seventy-five thousand Britons left the country.151 Some cited these factors as the reasons for decreases in school attendance. For example, the
Committee of Religious Instruction of the Church of Scotland stated in reports in 1923 and
1924 that due to emigration there was a reduced pool of children to take scholars from.152
147 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1922, pp. 2-3. 148 LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, May 1919, p. 5. 149 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D76 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1924, ‘From Olympic Race to Mission Field’, 24 July 1924, p. 451. 150 ‘Gossip on Sport and Players’, Dundee Courier, 28 August 1926, p. 7 and ‘Congregational Union Assembly’, Dundee Courier, 29 April 1932, p. 4. 151 D. Baines, ‘Population, Migration and Regional Development, 1870–1939’, in The Economic History of Britain since 1700 Volume Two: 1860–1939, 2nd edn, ed. by R. Floud and D. N. McCloskey (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 29-61 (p. 46). 152 NRS, CH1/2/359 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1923, fol. 28, p. 767 and CH1/2/360 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1924, fol. 25, p. 481.
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Barrow-in-Furness Wesleyan Methodist Circuit Sunday School Council also believed that the decreases in the number of scholars in 1923 had resulted from bad economic conditions and emigration from the town.153 The NSSU set up a transfer department to keep scholars within the movement, to prevent them from ‘drifting’.154 The Australian Sunday schools affiliated to the NSSU appealed to teachers to inform them of any scholars who were moving to the country so that they could ‘put the travelers in touch with some church or school, if possible, of their own denomination, and so prevent an undesirable break with
Sunday school life’.155
International cooperation between Sunday schools grew further during this period.
Before the war, the schools were working together, but the end of the war brought new opportunities to advance this movement.156 International conferences were held until the outbreak of the Second World War. The World Sunday School Association Convention for
1924, held in Glasgow, appears to have generated great excitement and interest among
British Sunday school workers. The Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union provisionally applied for fifty places for its workers to attend the conference and donated fifty pounds to support the association.157 The conference itself emphasised the importance of friendships and cooperation with other countries, believing Britain and America’s close interactions acted as an example to others.158 In order to achieve these links, organisations sent workers to visit other countries to obtain ideas for improvement and to further cooperation. The
153 BALSC, BDFCBWM/1/4/1 – Barrow Wesleyan Methodist Circuit Sunday School Council Minute Book 1912–1948, 18 March 1924, p. 45. 154 CRL, NCEC Part One, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/23 to 1927/28, 1923/1924, p. 54. 155 CRL, NCEC Part One, D74 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1922, ‘Emigrants to South Australia’, 28 September 1922, p. 177. 156 See Chapter 1. 157 JRL, GB135 DDEy/7/1 – Minutes of the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Committee 1908–1924, 8 March 1923, p. 341 and p. 343 and 6 March 1924, p. 363. 158 J. Fairs, ‘How the Convention Messages Were Given’, in The Sunday School and World Progress: The Official Book of the Eighth World’s Sunday School Convention, ed. by J. Faris (New York: World’s Sunday School Association, 1920), pp. 56-66 (p. 61).
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NSSU sent a committee member on a tour of America and hoped his experiences would benefit scholars in Britain.159 The Sunday School Chronicle published articles reporting on interviews with workers from various countries to compare their methods, work, and results.160 The magazine of the Church of England’s St. Christopher’s Training College for
Sunday school teachers published similar articles, with former students reporting on their experiences of Sunday school work in countries such as India and New Zealand.161
Considering these international friendships, it is not surprising that the schools supported movements which sought to maintain peace after the First World War. Peace movements and organisations during this time gained support from the general population, politicians, and leading church figures. Over two thousand local branches of the League of
Nations had been formed by 1925.162 As Mark Conway has suggested:
The pervasive sense of a ‘crisis of civilisation’, symbolised by mass slaughter of the First World War, appeared to demonstrate the bankruptcy of the liberal model of society and the need for a distinctively Christian solution. This goal combined a spiritual and political dimension, or more frequently an admixture of the two.163
Many Sunday schools and their organisations believed that such a solution could be achieved through the League of Nations. One writer suggested:
The problem of the hour is to create the public opinion which will make the idea of the League a victorious power in international policies. We have to help make the peoples wish goodwill and reason to become the deciding factors instead of the sword. And it is at this point that the Church, and the Sunday School especially, have a service to render. […] We can arrange that in the Lesson Courses provision is made for special lessons on the League and its objects, and that suitable text books are provided.164
159 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/18 to 1921/22, 1921/1922, p. 32. 160 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D76 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1924, ‘The Religious Training of Young Australia’, 5 June 1924, p. 341 and ‘After-War Conditions in Belgium’, 6 March 1924, p. 133. 161 CERC, SSI/SCC/10/1/49 – St. Christopher's College Terminal Magazine, December 1926, p. 4 and SSI/SCC/10/1/31 – St. Christopher's College Terminal Magazine, December 1920, p. 6. 162 D. Gorman, ‘Ecumenical Internationalism: Willoughby Dickinson, the League of Nations and the World Alliance through the Churches’, Journal of Contemporary History, 45(2010), 51-73 (p. 63). 163 M. Conway, ‘The Christian churches and politics in Europe, 1914–1939’ in The Cambridge History of Christianity Volume XI: World Christianities c. 1914–2000, ed. by H. McLeod (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 151-178 (p. 164). 164 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D72 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1920, ‘The Sunday School and the League of Nations’, 7 October 1920, p. 614.
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Similarly, a minister at a gathering of Sunday school teachers argued that schools should teach scholars about world peace.165 He stated that
he was sure if the Sunday schools did not take up this subject there would come a day where no churches or Sunday schools are left. They would have to play a greater part than they had ever done before working for world peace.166
Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday school supported the movement by appealing for support for one of its demonstrations in 1922 and it later formed a Junior League of Nations
Union.167 Alongside support for the League of Nations there were arguments in favour of the churches forming a ‘World Alliance’. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson, served as the ‘President of the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship
Through the Churches’.168 It expanded from fourteen national councils in 1919 to thirty-two in 1928.169 It was suggested in an article in the Sunday School Chronicle that ‘the League of
Nations provides the machinery for the preservation of peace. The Christian Churches so allied must supply the power to make that machinery effective in the spirit of reconciliation’.170
During this period, Sunday schools and their organisations were concerned by growing international tensions. For example, one article highlighted the plight and treatment of Protestants in Spain.171 They were also concerned by the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany. An article appeared in the Sunday School Chronicle in 1933 arguing that
[p]eople in this country have been greatly perturbed at the Anti-Semitic character of the programme, long announced, and now put into operation by the party which has gained power in Germany. […] In printing it we wish to register our opinion that our friend is mistaken in attributing to ‘International Judaism’ such evils as he
165 ‘Churches and War Peril’, Northampton Mercury, 5 May 1933, p. 4. 166 Ibid., p. 4. 167 LMA, ACC/1361/05/003 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1918–1924, 9 June 1922 and ACC/1361/05/004 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1924–1928, 23 June 1924. 168 Gorman, ‘Ecumenical Internationalism’, p. 59. 169 Ibid., p. 59. 170 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D74 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1922, ‘Forces That Make For Peace’, 9 November 1922, p. 277. 171 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D90 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1938, ‘Protestants in Spain’, 2 June 1938, p. 346.
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says have reigned in official Germany since the war. We also call to mind several great Germans who have led the German nation since the war, whom it is difficult to associate with ‘materialism, atheism and fraud.’172
Another article published extracts from Education in Nazi Germany in 1938 stating,:
The way in which the dictators in Totalitarian States direct the education of the rising generation is one of the most ominous signs of the times. Christian people will hesitate to criticise the internal affairs of another nation, but it would be foolish as well as unchristian to ignore what is happening on the Continent.173
Adrian Hastings has suggested that there were two responses to the events that occurred in
Germany. The first was pacifism and the second was concern for those suffering under
Hitler’s regime.174 The NSSU, working alongside the World Sunday School Association, helped to support schools in affected areas such as Austria.175 The organisation believed that the events in Europe demanded action.
With tensions rising and war looking like an increasing possibility, the schools appealed for peace until it was no longer a viable option. As Hastings has argued, there was a pragmatic commitment to peace in the form of pacifism, which sought to prevent war until it was the last solution.176 For example, at a meeting of the Burnley and District Sunday
School Union in March 1939, a member of the Peace Council asserted:
Hitler has already given us very broad hints that this liberty of speech and criticism and free voting does not please him, and that unless we toe the line he may remove his favour from us and issue a new ultimatum with his threat of ‘Do as I tell you or I will precipitate another European war.’ Consequently the Peace Council stands for active defence of democratic rights in England.177
172 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D85 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1933, ‘What is Happening in Berlin?’, 6 April 1933, p. 210. 173 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D90 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1938, ‘Education and Religion in Nazi Germany’, 2 June 1938, p. 341. 174 A. Hastings, A History of Christianity 1920–1985 (London: Fount Paperbacks, 1987), p. 337. 175 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D17 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1934/35 to 1939/40, 1938/1939, pp. 37- 38. 176 Hastings, History of Christianity, p. 331. 177 ‘Stimulate Faith in Peace’, Burnley Express, 11 March 1939, p. 17.
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An article in the Sunday School Chronicle stated that the reason that peace was certain to fail was because it relied on the principles of men rather than Christ.178 The schools were not opposed to the coming war as they felt other solutions had been exhausted; during the whole year of 1939 there was no objection to the war.179
Conclusion
The years following the end of the First World War posed several challenges for
Sunday schools. While there was excitement that soon their members would return home, they also were reminded of those who would not return. Schools had to organise events of thanksgiving, welcome, and commemoration. It was felt that this period of national reconstruction gave the schools new opportunities to reform their work. The sacrifices that
British Tommies had made demanded such change. Memorial practices during this time reveal the important role Christianity played in the lives of the population. Biblical imagery, hymnody, and verses were all used to commemorate the fallen and justify Britain’s involvement in the war. However, there were some who were concerned that the idea of a revival was just a false hope.
The schools also continued to occupy a place in British culture, society, and politics.
Important political and societal figures attributed great importance to the schools and what they did for society. The schools used their influence to demand societal changes such as changes to poor housing conditions. Significant figures in society appear to have been pleased with the work of the schools. Relations between the churches and Sunday schools generally improved, although they were not always harmonious. It was felt by the schools that some in the churches were not giving their full support to the work of the schools or
178 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D91 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1939, ‘Peace on Earth’, 12 January 1939, p. 17 and p. 31. 179 Ibid., p. 17 and p. 31.
198 putting enough effort in. The Sunday schools thought that their work was of a good standard but that there was a need to improve. Those who attended the schools were thankful for their time there and believed that the teaching they had received helped them immensely. During the interwar period, the schools were highly aware of the world around them. Scholars were educated about missionary activities and encouraged to donate to countries that received assistance. Sunday schools sought to cooperate with fundraising activities and were keen to exchange ideas at conferences and by sending visitors to each other’s countries. This period also saw the schools become increasingly concerned by international events. While it was possible they encouraged others to pursue peace, but they stopped doing so when it was no longer a possibility.
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Chapter 5 – Teaching, Training, and Reform, 1900–1939
Introduction
From the beginning of the twentieth century to the outbreak of the Second World
War, Sunday schools changed both their purposes and methods. They had been an institution which had provided a basic level of education to the masses.1 With the gradual introduction of compulsory schooling throughout this period, Sunday schools were freed from teaching children basic literacy skills. They did, however, face the challenge of keeping up with the standards of education offered by the day schools. Alongside these changes was an increased awareness of childhood as a unique stage of human development. During the nineteenth century childhood was romanticised by writers, artists, philosophers, and philanthropists.2 In 1909 the English edition of the Swedish writer Ellen Key’s book entitled
The Century of the Child was published. Key believed that the future of a nation would be shaped by the way children were treated by society.3 This reflected commonly held beliefs of the time. For instance, parliamentary reformers and philanthropists also believed in this vision of ‘the century of the Child’ and sought to protect this stage of human life.4 Likewise, an NSSU publication noted that its ministry was to ‘the men of to-morrow’.5 Psychologists also ‘discovered’ adolescence, and according to Colin Heywood, the publication of G.
Stanley Hall’s Adolescence in 1904 helped to popularise this concept of human development.6
Children were increasingly seen as distinct from adults.7
1 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service in Modern Britain, p. 41. 2 P. Fass, ‘Viviana Zelizer: Giving Meaning to the History of Childhood’, The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth 5 (2012), 457-461 (pp. 457-458). 3 E. Key, The Century of the Child (London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1909). 4 H. Cunningham, Children and Childhood in Western Society Since 1500, 2nd edn (London: Pearson Education, 2005), p. 172. 5 W. H. Groser, A Hundred Years Work for the Children: The Centenary Record of the Sunday School Union (London: The Sunday School Union, 1903), p. 95. 6 C. Heywood, A History of Childhood (London: Polity Press, 2001), p. 28. 7 Cunningham, Children and Childhood, p. 139.
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With developments such as childhood being seen as a unique and precious stage of life and the rise of compulsory education, it was felt that Sunday schools required reform.
Influential thinkers in the Sunday school movement started to introduce methods of teaching which embraced the latest educational and psychological developments. While the basic content of the curricula changed little, the way in which they were delivered did.
There was also increased importance placed on Sunday school teachers receiving some level of training. Workers and organisations also believed that some of their aims and purposes had changed. They were no longer under pressure to provide a secular education and therefore they could focus their attention on providing scholars with a religious education.
This aimed to bring scholars into a relationship with Christ and to prepare them for church life. Sunday school organisations also sought to collaborate with other denominations and religious organisations to further their work. This chapter will explore these themes and will demonstrate that Sunday schools were far from stagnant. Throughout this period they were constantly reflecting upon their work and attempted to reform accordingly.
Sunday Schools and Childhood Psychology
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, children increasingly became a subject of study. As Hugh Cunningham has suggested, this was due to multiple factors, such as decreasing infant mortality rates and the rise of compulsory schooling.8 He suggested that as a result it became necessary to make an assessment of children’s mental and physical abilities.9 Heywood also suggested that compulsory schooling resulted in children and adolescents being increasingly separated from adults.10 These developments should be treated with caution. Even until the 1960s children were still seen as what
8 Cunningham, Children and Childhood, p. 173 and p. 175. 9 Ibid., p. 175. 10 Heywood, A History of Childhood, p. 29.
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Heywood describes as ‘deficient vis-à-vis adults’.11 These ideas about and thoughts on children and childhood were very much in their infancy. However, these ideas confirmed the belief of leading Sunday school figures that children had always been afforded special status, according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. It is interesting to note that Christ said to his followers:
Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.12
Sunday school workers used this teaching as the basis for their work. For instance, in an address to Sunday school workers, the speaker from the NSSU, James Rutherford, said:
Read what Christ says in Matthew xviii., upon the child and the kingdom. Who is greatest in the kingdom? ‘Except ye become as little children.’ ‘These little ones, which believe on Me,’ etc. Jesus, the pattern child, ‘grew in stature, and in wisdom, and in favour with God and man.’ Paul afterwards wrote, ‘that ye may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.’13
As Cunningham suggested, the idea of the child having a special place in society was in accordance with Christian teaching.14
Sunday school organisations were interested in new ideas concerning child psychology and pedagogy. They were keen for schools to adopt these findings in the hope that these theories would make their schools more effective and professional. The theory that particularly caught the imagination of Sunday school workers and organisations was that
11 Ibid., p. 3. 12 Matthew 18. 3-6. 13 BL, 1321e84(16) – Young Disciple: An Address before the Lancashire Association of Sunday School Unions, Good Friday 1904, p. 5. 14 Cunningham, Children and Childhood, p. 26.
202 of Friedrich Froebel. His research, published in the late nineteenth century, as Meike Baader has argued
laid chief emphasis upon the importance of the child, upon self-activity as the basis of the method of all instructions, upon natural interests as the initial point of all instruction, upon play, constructive work, and study of nature as the chief means of instruction.15
It is interesting to note that Froebel’s father and uncle were both Lutheran pastors.16 He recalled memorising biblical texts, hymns, and the catechism.17 Despite the important role that hymns had on his life he believed that ‘church songs are not adapted to the understanding of children’.18 Marion Smith observed that he ‘placed his confidence in children growing into a genuine understanding of fundamental religious (and for him,
Christian) attitudes through experience and participation, rather than by being presented with authoritative statements to be accepted and acted upon’.19 For Froebel the child was central to the learning process; he believed that teachers needed to let the child lead and that children should play an active rather than a passive role in their education. This theory would be adopted by leading Sunday school thinkers.
One of the leading voices of the Sunday school movement, George Hamilton
Archibald, heavily subscribed to the Froebel method of teaching and learning. He moved to
England in 1902.20 Building upon his experiences in Sunday schools in Canada and the United
States, he became an extension lecturer for the NSSU.21 Archibald stressed three fundamental principles for Sunday school workers: ‘1. The child’s interests must be considered and followed. 2. The child can be trusted to think for himself. 3. The child learns
15 M. S. Baader, ‘Froebel and the Rise of Education Theory in the United States’, Studies in Philosophy and Education’, 23 (2004), 427-444, (p. 431). 16 M. Smith, ‘Froebel and Religious Education’, Early Child Development and Care, 12 (1983), 303-317, (p. 303) 17 Ibid., p. 311. 18 Ibid., pp. 312. 19 Ibid., p. 313. 20 CRL, WH – Records of Westhill College, Box 255, George Hamilton Archibald: Crusader for Youth, p. 4. 21 CRL, WH, Box 255, Westhill College of Education: A Brief History, p. 1.
203 through his activities.’22 It has been claimed by Sang-Wook Lee, Roy Evans, and Peter
Jackson that Archibald popularised the use of the Froebel methods among Sunday school and church workers.23 His contemporaries also believed that he had a powerful influence on the life of Sunday schools. In 1911 a leading lecturer for the Church of England’s Sunday
School Institute, Hetty Lee, commented in her publication:
This book is the result of the attempts made, and still being made, by the writer and others to adapt to Church of England Sunday Schools what has been so admirably worked out by our Nonconformist friends, under the inspiring leadership of Mr. George H. Archibald, who, as Extension Lecturer to the Sunday School Union, has done so much throughout the country to arouse enthusiasm and interest in Sunday School reform and in child study generally.24
Archibald was the subject of a poem that appeared in Punch in 1904, entitled ‘Whenever you say ‘Don’t to a child you crush the creativity within him, which is the richest and most precious thing he has’.25 The fact that Archibald’s thoughts on educating the child received a satirical makeover suggests that he played an important role within the realm of educational thought at this time.
Leaders within the Sunday school movement argued that Froebel’s educational principles should be embraced by workers. Archibald contended that Sunday schools had not always been concerned about whether their lessons were the most effective for the child. Reflecting in 1926, he recalled:
TIME was when the chief business of the Sunday school was to read the Scriptures, memorize the Catechism, learn the names of the Kings of Israel and so called ‘Golden Texts’ by heart. It mattered little whether the passages read, or the answers and texts memorized, were within the comprehension of the scholar.26
22 CRL, WH, Box 255, George Hamilton Archibald and the Beginning of the Graded School Movement, p. 28. 23 S. Lee, R. Evans and P. Jackson, ‘Froebel in the Sunday School Movements of England and the USA’, Early Child Development and Care, 110 (1995), 89-99, (p. 97). 24 H. Lee, New Methods in the Junior Sunday School based on Froebelian Principles (London: National Society’s Depository, 1911), p. 6. 25 M. Lemon, Punch Volume CXXVI: January – June 1904 (London: The Whitefriars Press, 1904), p. 154. 26 G. H. Archibald, The Modern Sunday School: Its Psychology and Method (London: The Pilgrim Press, 1926), p. 38.
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Believing that this approach was not beneficial for scholars, Sunday school leaders proposed a new system by which the schools should operate. The ‘Graded Movement’, also known as grading, proposed that teachers should no longer give the same lesson to the whole school.
Instead teachers were encouraged to teach children in smaller classes.27 These were classified by age, which is shown in Appendix 17.28 As Stephen Orchard suggested, Sunday schools tended to follow general educational practices.29 These age classifications appear to reflect the age divisions of day schools of the time.30 Each class was then taught lessons which were appropriate for the scholars’ level of understanding. It is interesting to note that these age categories are still in use today; a comparison can be seen in Appendix 18.31 The
Sunday School Chronicle seems to have advocated the distinction of scholars according to age since 1900.32 It was not until 1906 that this system was officially adopted by the NSSU for its future curricula.33 Only in 1911 were its lessons fully graded.34 Likewise, the Church of
England’s Sunday School Institute had only started to consider whether to introduce a system of grading in 1906.35 By the end of 1911 it had adopted its own scheme of grading for its schools to use, as shown in Appendix 19.36
New psychological and pedagogical developments also seemed to have inspired new methods of teaching as well as organisation. For example, some advocated for a method
27 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D56 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1904, ‘The Organisation and Grading of a Sunday School’, 14 January 1904, p. 49. 28 See Appendix 17. 29 S. Orchard, ‘Introduction’, in The Sunday School Movement: Studies in Growth and Decline of Sunday Schools, ed. by S. Orchard and J. H. Y. Briggs (Bletchley: Paternoster, 2007), pp. xiii-xix, p. xvii. 30 Board of Education, Report of the Committee on the Primary School (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1931), pp. 3-8. 31 See Appendix 18. 32 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘The Classification of Scholars’, 1 February 1900, p. 79. 33 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D10 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1906/1907 to 1909/1910, 1906/1907, p. 15. 34 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D12 – Volume containing Annual Report for 1911/1912, p. 16-17. 35 CERC, SSI/2/1/8 – Sunday School Institute General Committee Book 1900–1907, 2 October 1906, p. 541. 36 See Appendix 19.
205 called ‘self-teaching’. This appears to have been a suggestion proposed by the Church of
England Sunday school workers.37 An article in the Sunday School Chronicle informed readers that ‘the object of self-teaching is to encourage self-dependence – initiative, independent thought, decreased reliance on the teacher’.38 The article also outlined what this method entailed:
Each scholar must be provided with a notebook for his own work and with a ‘guide’ for his own self-teaching. […] There will perhaps be an introductory collective lesson by the leader, and then the scholars will work through the questions, such as, for example –
1. Where did our Lord live when He was a boy? (see Luke ii. 39.) Study a picture of the place. 2. Draw a map of Palestine and put in Nazareth. 3. Copy a sketch of an Eastern Street, with city gate.39
Perhaps this may explain why the British forces had a relatively good knowledge of the geography of the Holy Land.40 In Nonconformist circles some adapted this idea and called it
‘expression work’.41 A similar method was followed, with scholars colouring and drawing maps or sketches, answering questions, or even writing prose from the perspective of biblical figures.42 Teachers were advised that ‘the supreme aim of this part of their work is to help the children to express their own thoughts and develop their own individuality. A mere repetition of the teacher’s or the Bible language is not expression work’.43 These new methods embraced Froebel’s educational theories, which were popular among the upper circles of the Sunday school movement.
37 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D75 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1923, ‘Self-Teaching in the Sunday School’, 13 April 1923, p. 225 38 Ibid., p. 225. 39 Ibid., p. 225. 40 See Chapter 3. 41 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D157 – The Sunday School Advance Handbooks, No. 3 The Junior Section (1930s), p. 12. 42 Ibid., pp. 12-13. 43 Ibid., p. 13
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Generally, grading and other new methods received a warm reception among Sunday school organisations and church figures. The NSSU report of 1910 noted:
At Wakefield the whole of the Anglican Clergy, as well as the Free Church Ministers, united together in attendance at the meetings, as well as interest in the lectures. In many cases the lectures have been organized and carried on under a large and representative local committee, consisting of members of The Sunday School Union, Church of England Sunday School Teachers’ Association, National Union of Teachers. Free Church Councils, Church of England Temperance Societies, Christian Endeavour Unions. Froebel Associations and other organizations.44
One worker wrote to the Sunday School Chronicle stating that ‘many of the best-attended schools are graded schools, and certainly in the most fruitful in spiritual results – in church membership and in Christian service’.45 Another argued that ‘the Graded School Movement advocated the application of modern psychological principles to methods of teaching, and a very considerable effect not only upon Sunday-school but upon day-school work also in field of religious education’.46
These proposed schemes, however, were not popular with all those in the movement. Some expressed concern about the use of psychological and pedagogical developments in Sunday schools. One author remarked that
the latest fad […] deals with ‘manual work’ or ‘expressional activities.’ […] All of these activities […] are unobjectionable in themselves, but their relationship to the aims of the Sunday school are remote at best. […] but in many schools today they overshadow all else in instruction.47
Even those who were supportive of these new methods thought that not enough consideration had been given to the spiritual side of Sunday school work. For instance, one worker admitted that
44 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D11 – Volume containing Annual Report for 1910/1911, p. 49. 45 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D67 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1915, ‘The Religious Value of Gradation’, 4 March 1915, p. 139. 46 CRL, WH Box 255, Westhill College of Education: A Brief History 1907–1971, p. 1 and p. 2. 47 E. Porter, ‘A Criticism of Pedagogical Fads in the Sunday School’, The Biblical World, 35(1910), 318-326, (p. 321-322).
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perhaps the gravest weakness in the whole movement was, however, its failure to develop a theology which was firmly grounded in the Biblical Doctrines of God and Man. […] Psychology may describe the nature of Man and give us much help in understanding both our children and ourselves, but it does not describe the grace of God.48
Grading was not uniformly popular either. For instance, one article reported on the ongoing conflict in America between those who wanted uniform lessons and those who wanted graded lessons.49 The Sunday School Chronicle reassured schools that grading did not lead to decline. It was argued that ‘so far from causing religious decline, the decreases would have been much more serious but for the measure of graded methods now in use’.50 Philip Cliff highlighted, however, that even as late as 1932 correspondence sent to the Sunday School
Chronicle linked grading to Sunday school decline.51
In addition, it is difficult to assess the extent to which these new methods and systems of organisation permeated Sunday schools across the country. The existence of these ideas does not mean that they were followed. It has been suggested by Naomi Stanton that local Sunday School Unions had a powerful influence over each school and teacher. She contended that ‘the Unions did not relinquish enough control to allow Sunday school teachers to facilitate such an education defined by the learner’.52 This perhaps puts too much emphasis on the influence of the unions over their associated schools. Affiliation was voluntary, so schools therefore chose to associate themselves with the NSSU.53 Perhaps joining was confirmation that they supported the work of their union. Furthermore, simply because a direction was written down did not mean that it was necessarily followed by the schools. For instance, as shown in Appendix 20, by 1931, 54.3 per cent of the Wesleyan
48 CRL, WH, Box 255, George Hamilton Archibald, p. 45. 49 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D55 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1903, ‘Graded Versus Uniform Lessons’, p. 139. 50 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D77 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1925, ‘The Wesleyan Methodist Outlook’, 16 July 1925 p. 437. 51 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 231 52 Stanton, ‘From Raikes’ Revolution to Rigid Institution’, p. 74. 53 GA, DBAP6/3 – Horep Baptist Church, Sunday School Minutes 1910–1928, 24 September 1911.
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Methodist Sunday Schools still had just one department.54 Only 4.4 per cent of the schools were fully graded.55 However, there was some use of the proposed scheme of grading in the records of schools examined for this research. For example, Windsor Congregational
Church Sunday School, in Barry, opted to introduce grading to the school after a visit by
Archibald.56 The school register recorded this decision, arguing that ‘this is a day of great changes’.57 The change seems to have been greeted with enthusiasm, according to the notes.58 Ferne Park Baptist Church, in London, discussed whether to grade its school in
1911 and decided to implement the scheme as quickly as possible.59 It seems that lectures given by Archibald were well attended. It was claimed that in Walthamstow in November
1906 evening attendances for his lectures averaged one thousand people during the week and one thousand five hundred on the Sunday.60 In lectures given in Wrexham, two thousand were present at the first meeting.61
It could be suggested, however, that some graded their schools for practical reasons rather than educational considerations. For example, Llanishen Baptist Church in Cardiff proposed that its classes should be divided because they were becoming too big and the ages of the children varied too much.62 Other schools still retained the old system alongside the new. Bethel Baptist Sunday School in Barry also adopted graded lessons but still allowed classes to follow their old lessons if they so wished.63
54 See Appendix 20. 55 See Appendix 20. 56 GA, DECONG10/25 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Register and Notes 1903–1933, 6 May 1906, p. 88. 57 Ibid., p. 88. 58 Ibid., p. 88. 59 LMA, ACC/1361/05/001 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1897–1911, 7 November 1911. 60 CRL, WH, Box 255, George Hamilton Archibald, p. 27. 61 Ibid., p. 27 62 GA, DBAP8/1/3/1 – Llanishen Baptist Church Sunday School Minutes 1911–1932, 19 January 1913. 63 GA, DBAP52/2 – Bethel Baptist Barry Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1910–1928, 5 December 1914.
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Teaching in Sunday Schools
As Philip Cliff and Gerald Knoff have suggested, the history of Sunday school lessons and curricula is rather difficult to trace.64 It appears that British schools were pressured to adopt the International Lessons designed by the American Sunday School Union.65 These lessons had replaced the unpopular and chaotic system of lessons in America.66 The new system became known as the Uniform Lesson, in which all ages, from adults to the youngest child, examined one Bible passage.67 The International Lesson Committee stated that its purposes were that
the entire Bible is to be surveyed during the course of six years. One and the same lesson is to be chosen for each Sunday for the whole school and for all schools. The work of the Committee is confined to the selection of Scripture passages and Golden Texts, giving to each lesson a suitable title. The interpretation of these selected Scriptures is left entirely to lesson writers and teachers, thus furnishing as a uniform basis for the study the simplest outlines, with the largest liberty to individuals and to denominations.68
The NSSU began to follow this pattern of lessons from 1874.69 Additionally, a section of the
Uniform Lesson Committee, which had devised the Uniform, or International, Lessons, was established in Britain.70 The lessons along with a guide for teachers were printed by the
NSSU for British schools.71 Denominations and organisations associated with the NSSU were encouraged to use these lessons and adapted these courses to suit their situation and theological position.72
64 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 183 and G. Knoff, The World Sunday School Movement: The Story of a Broadening Movement (New York: The Seabury, 1979), p. 32. 65 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 183. 66 Knoff, The World Sunday School Movement, p. 33. 67 Ibid., p. 33. 68 A. E. Dunning, ‘Report of the International Lesson Committee’, in International Executive Committee, The World’s Third Sunday School Convention: Held in London, July 11th to July 16th, 1898, ed. by The International Executive Committee (Chicago: International Executive Committee, 1898), pp. 137-140 (p. 137). 69 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 183. 70 Knoff, The World Sunday School Movement, p. 35. 71 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 183. 72 Ibid., p. 230.
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This system continued until the First World War. By 1915 the arrangement had come to an end.73 The British section of the committee felt it could not support what was in effect one lesson for the whole school rather than distinct lessons for different ages.74 It was agreed that Uniform Lessons would be produced separately for the United States and
Britain.75 A new body was created called The British Lessons Council. The board had eight educationalists, eight Sunday school experts, seventeen representatives from different denominations, and six biblical scholars.76 Again, the NSSU published lists of lessons but allowed each denomination to adapt them into their own lesson notes.77 This system ensured that the NSSU could cater to a wide range of denominations, very much reflecting its aim to be a non-denominational organisation.78
Throughout this period, the basic content of suggested Sunday school lessons did not undergo drastic change. The schools’ original purpose was teaching children to read so that they could read the Bible. Although schools did not now have to teach as many children to read, the Bible was still central to their work. The Bible was considered to be the unchanging word of God and therefore the basic content of lessons remained unchanged. As
Cliff suggested, for the NSSU,
material was ‘dated’, that is, the lists and the lesson notes were published annually, by deliberate policy. The material might be ten thousand years old, its illustrations might have got no nearer than two hundred years from the actual calendrical date, but if the current year was on the cover, it was ‘up to date’.79
Likewise, he suggested that the SSI produced even more outdated material, only producing new sets when it had sold out of each edition.80 This is perhaps a rather simplistic
73 Ibid., p. 230. 74 Ibid., p. 230. 75 Knoff, The World Sunday School Movement, p. 64. 76 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 230. 77 Ibid., p. 230. 78 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/1923 to 1927/1928, 1922/1923, p. 11. 79 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 231. 80 Ibid., p. 231.
211 interpretation of decisions made by Sunday school organisations. The SSI made decisions yearly on which books of the Bible it would recommend that its schools studied through its
Bible Reading Union.81 On the other hand, the British Lessons Council decided on a cycle of work that lasted four or five years.82
Sunday schools did not just focus on teaching children the Bible. As discussed previously, they were encouraged to introduce scholars to church catechisms, missionary work, and temperance.83 The SSI encouraged its schools to teach their scholars about the
Book of Common Prayer and catechisms. For instance, in 1905 it began to devise a four- year curriculum which included teaching from the Bible alongside catechisms, the Prayer
Book, and church seasons for schools to use.84 Sunday school lessons likewise included missionary lessons in their curricula.85 Other efforts were made such as inviting missionaries to speak in the schools and holding magic lantern shows to educate scholars.86 The NSSU heavily advocated for temperance lessons in schools. Through its publication, the Sunday
School Chronicle, it encouraged workers to teach lessons on temperance.87 In 1923 it even set up a Temperance Committee, which later extended to include child welfare in 1929.88 Its purpose was to get ‘into direct touch with Sunday School Teachers, urging upon them the desirability not only of getting Scholars to sign the pledge, but of leading them to understand how essential to their welfare total abstinence is’.89 This very much reflects, then,
81 For example, see CERC, SSI/2/1/8 – Sunday School Institute General Committee Book 1900–1907, 31 July 1900, p. 42, 2 July 1901, p. 121 and 1 July 1902, p. 210. 82 CRL, NCEC, Part 2, A1 – British Lessons Council Minutes 1908–1918, 21 May 1915, pp. 2-3. 83 See Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4. 84 CERC, SSI/2/1/8 – Sunday School Institute General Committee Book 1900–1907, 7 February 1905, p. 412. 85 See Appendix 16 and BL, 133 e.1187 – Sunday School Missionary Lessons (1899–1902). 86 See Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4. 87 For example, see CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘Temperance Notes’, 4 January 1900, p. 13, D76 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1924, ‘A Pledge Signing Campaign’ 29 May 1924, p. 330. 88 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D16 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1928/1929 to 1933/1934, 1929/1930, p. 64. 89 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/1923 to 1927/1928, 1923/1924, p. 20.
212 temperance tones of working-class, particularly Nonconformist, religion that was prevalent from the 1820s to the 1920s.90 According to David Bebbington, the churches’ biggest competitor was the public house.91 Perhaps it was also thought that teaching children about the dangers of alcohol at a young age could stop leakage from the churches at a later stage.
A manual for Wesleyan Methodist Sunday schools argued that many scholars did not become church members because ‘this lamentable defection from Christian ordinances is largely owing to prevalent drinking customs. It is proposed, therefore, to raise a barrier against the influence which those customs exert’.92
It is, nevertheless, difficult to tell whether these lessons were widely used and even how they were used. Just because a lesson was written down, it does not mean it was followed. This is made more difficult as schools were encouraged to adapt the lessons that were published. Nonetheless, there are some records which may indicate the permeation of materials within Sunday schools. The Church of Scotland’s Committee on the Religious
Education of Youth reported annually on the sales of the materials it produced. As indicated in Appendix 21, from 1915 to 1916, 132,179 booklets of lessons were sold in total, while in
1916 to 1917 the total was 136,351.93 But this does not tell us whether the materials were used or how they were used. There are some later records which state how many parishes used their lessons. In 1927, 742 parishes used the lessons printed by the Scottish Sunday
School Union, and 835 did so in 1928.94
90 Brown, Death of Christian Britain, p. 55. 91 D. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s (London: Routledge, 2003), p. 113. 92 The Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union, The Manual of the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School (London: J. W. Butcher, 1912), p. 80. 93 NRS, CH1/2/352 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1916, fol. 34, p. 481 and CH1/2/353 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1917, fol. 10, p. 510. 94 NRS, CH1/2/364 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1928, fol. 43, p. 703 and CH1/2/365 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1929, fol. 30, p. 368.
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The influence of the lessons that were produced on other schools in the country is harder to trace. According to the records of some schools, it appears that at ‘Teachers’
Meetings’ there would be a decision or vote passed deciding which curricula would be used.
For instance, Vickerstown Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School in Barrow-in-Furness opted to use International Lessons.95 Similarly, Ferne Park Baptist Sunday School in London voted upon the structure of its school sessions, which included the use of International Lessons.96
Bethel Baptist Sunday School did not record the material it used but emphasised that its teaching would be consistent with ‘distinct Baptist principles’.97 Roxburgh Street Primitive
Methodist Sunday School in Scotland, however, opted to stop using International Lessons and instead purchase another scheme.98 Likewise, in 1903 the Primitive Methodist Sunday
School Union expressed concerns that there had been a drop in the number of schools using International Lessons.99 The NSSU ran a campaign in 1925 to encourage more schools to adopt and regularly use its British Lesson Course.100
It seems that lessons regarding catechisms and temperance were not utilised as expected by Sunday school organisations. The Primitive Methodist Sunday School
Committee in Barrow-in-Furness expressed its displeasure that one of the schools in the circuit did not send more of its scholars to catechism classes.101 In the same town, the
Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Council also complained at the lack of use of catechisms
95 BALSC, BDFCBWM/11/7/1 – Vickerstown Sunday School Teachers’ Minute Book 1908–1922, 5 February 1913, p. 73. 96 LMA, ACC/1361/05/002 – Ferne Park Baptist Church, Sunday School Minute Book 1912–1918, 13 January 1912. 97 GA, DBAP52/1 – Bethel Baptist Church Barry, Sunday School Minutes 1901–1910, 8 December 1908. 98 NRS, CH11/21/10 – Roxburgh Primitive Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1907–1916, 5 December 1912. 99 JRL, GB135 DDEy/1/3 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1897– 1903, 15 April 1903. 100 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/1923 to 1927/1928, 1925/1926, p. 25. 101 BALSC, BDFCPM/1/6 – Barrow-in-Furness Primitive Methodist Circuit, Sunday School Committee 1900– 1917, 28 February 1902.
214 in its schools.102 Similarly, it is hard to find direct reference to temperance lessons in the record of the schools examined for this research. These schools, however, did sometimes refer to Band of Hope or Anti-Cigarette League groups. For instance, Windsor
Congregational Sunday School decided in 1907 that the school needed to take more responsibility for the Band of Hope group that met in the school.103 Bethel Baptist Church referred to its satisfaction with its Band of Hope group.104 Perhaps it was felt by schools that temperance would be taught in Bands of Hope and therefore did not need to be taught in the schools. National organisations also expressed some annoyance at a lack of temperance teaching. In 1932 the Wesleyan Sunday School Union proposed that more attention needed to be given to the dangers of alcohol consumption and gambling.105 Likewise, in 1930 the
NSSU reported on the lack of response it had had from its schools to its appeal for information about their temperance teaching.106 This reflects the declining power of the evangelical temperance movement in the 1930s to 1940s.107 Alan Wilkinson suggested that arguments for total abstinence weakened after the First World War as opening hours were introduced and decreased drunkenness.108
Another problem was that the curricula devised were not always popular or universally agreed upon. The International Lessons scheme underwent dramatic reform in
1907. Professor A. S. Peake, a prominent figure in the Primitive Methodist Church, raised concerns about the lessons. He argued that ‘the execution is vicious, the omissions are
102 BALSC, BDFCBWM/1/4 – Barrow-in-Furness Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Council Minute Book 1912–1948, 20 November 1913, p. 8. 103 GA, DECONG10/23 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1907–1928, 11 September 1907. 104 GA, DBAP52 Bethel Baptist Church Barry, Sunday School Minutes 1901–1910, 30 November 1901. 105 JRL, GB135 DDEy/7/2 – Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union General Committee Minutes 1925– 1932, 9 June 1932, p. 167. 106 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D16 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1929/1930 to 1933/1934, 1930/1931, pp. 64-65. 107 Brown, Death of Christian Britain, p. 85. 108 Wilkinson, Dissent or Conform, p. 60.
215 glaring and inexcusable, and the habit of dropping a subject when it is half thorough, whether there is a natural break or not, to resume it again six months later, is educationally disastrous’.109 The principal of New College London, Dr A. E. Garvie, was also appalled at the scheme and brought in new biblical scholars to improve the situation.110 It is interesting to note that both these men would later be on the committee which produced The Army and Religion (1919).111 This book was heavily critical of the education soldiers had received at
Sunday school.112 Perhaps they were never happy with what was taught at the schools. This was not the only time the British Lessons Council was criticised. The Wesleyan Methodist
Sunday School Union agreed to appeal to it to include more biblical subjects as it was felt that biblical lessons had been excluded.113
Denominations also had difficulties with their own proposed curricula. The Scottish
Sabbath School Union produced lessons one year which greatly upset its Baptist members.114
The dispute seems to have been caused by a doctrinal difference, although the exact complaint is not recorded.115 It was resolved that Baptists could omit the material which they felt was not suitable for their schools.116 Likewise, in 1936 the Methodist Sunday School
Council recorded that its curriculum had been referred as ‘Unitarian in character’.117 The committee said that it believed that this was not the case and that it had full confidence in its colleagues.118
109 A. S. Peake, Reform in Sunday School Teaching (London: James Clark and Co.,1906), pp. 41-42. 110 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, pp. 226-227. 111 Cairns, Army and Religion, pp. xi-xii. 112 See Chapter 3. 113 JRL, GB135 DDEy/7/1 – Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union General Committee Minutes 1908– 1924, 9 March 1922, p. 319 and p. 317. 114 NLS, ACC.12132/1 – Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Scottish Sabbath School Union 1926– 1931, 11 June 1926, p. 2. 115 Ibid., p. 3. 116 Ibid., p. 3. 117 JRL, GB135 DDEy/7/5 – Methodist Sunday School Council Minutes 1932–1943, 11 June 1936, p. 75. 118 Ibid., p. 75.
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While considering what was taught at Sunday school, it is useful to consider the backgrounds of those who taught. As discussed in the Introduction, there are have been debates concerning the working-class nature of Sunday schools. Laqueur asserted that they were exclusively the domain of the working class.119 However, Snell and Dick have argued that the schools were primarily attended by working-class children but were generally organised by the middle classes.120 An examination of local newspaper obituaries supports the conclusions of these two historians. They indicate that Sunday school teachers were either skilled workers or from families who were well off. For example, David Lloyd
George’s Sunday school teacher had been a clerk on the Cricceth School Board, the chairman of the building society, a town councillor, and a member of the Old Age Pensions
Committee.121 Some teachers were drawn from the working classes, though. The Derbyshire
Courier reported the death of Thomas Bullock, a teacher who had spent sixty years of his life as a miner.122 The tragic death of another Sunday school teacher was reported as having happened in a railway accident while he was working as an acting station master.123
Some of the women who taught in the schools were not engaged in full-time employment, which indicates that they were middle class. For instance, The Essex Newman reported the death of Mrs Florence Elizabeth Overall, a former Sunday school teacher who was the wife of an upholsterer.124 In an obituary for Miss Emily Rose Stanton, it was mentioned that she spent her whole life living on the family estate, where she would hold a
Sunday school class weekly.125 Mrs Hayman, who was discussed in Chapter 3, was the wife
119 Laqueur, Religion and Respectability, p. 147. 120 Snell, ‘The Sunday School Movement in England and Wales’, pp. 163-164 and Dick, ‘The Myth of the Working-Class Sunday School’, p. 36. 121 ‘Death of Premier’s Sunday School Teacher’, Liverpool Echo, 24 March 1917, p. 2. 122 ‘40 Years a Sunday School Teacher’, Derbyshire Courier, 10 February 1912, p. 11. 123 ‘Railway Smash at Holme’, Todmorden Advertiser and Hebden Bridge Newsletter, 4 October 1907, p. 2. 124 ‘Great Baddow’, Essex Newman, 23 December 1922, p. 4. 125 ‘Death of Miss Stanton’, Cheltenham Chronicle, 9 October 1915, p. 5.
217 of a doctor.126 She hosted her Bible classes for her boys in the large villa she lived in.127
Other women who taught in Sunday schools had some form of skilled employment. The
Gloucester Journal reported the death of Miss Winifred Muriel Cullimore, who was a teacher at St Paul’s School, Cheltenham.128 Miss Ellen Dixon, who had been a Sunday school teacher in Burnley, owned a drapery and millinery business with her sister before their retirement.129
Additionally, it seems that some politicians had taught in Sunday schools. Arthur
Henderson, three times leader of the Labour Party, commented in 1907 that he
had been struck with the fact that in every branch of public life, not excluding Parliamentary life, there was a vast majority of men who had their beginnings in the Sunday schools. There was a larger number of Sunday school teachers and old teachers in the House of Commons to-day than there had ever been in the history of that old-established Parliamentary institution.130
John Henry Whitley, the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1921 until 1928, had also served as a Sunday school teacher.131 Peter Catterall has highlighted that figures within the
Labour movement acknowledged the important role Sunday schools and Nonconformist churches played in the origins of the parliamentary party.132 Sunday schools played a significant role in working-class culture because they helped to maintain ‘a mentality of self- help’.133 As Green has suggested, those who attended Sunday school had an opportunity to learn new skills which might otherwise not have been available to them.134 Indeed, being a
Sunday school teacher or serving on a committee provided opportunities to develop skills
126 J. Broom, Fight the Good Fight of Faith: Voices of Faith from the First World War (Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books, 2015), p. 88. 127 Ibid., p. 88. 128 ‘Valued Church Worker’, Gloucester Journal, 5 December 1931, p. 4. 129 ‘The Late Miss Dixon’, Burnley Gazette, 15 August 1908, p. 5. 130 ‘Sunday School Teachers in the House of Commons’, Yorkshire Evening Post, 2 July 1907, p. 4. 131 ‘The Speaker and Nelson’s Sunday School’, Burnley Express, 9 October 1926, p. 16. 132 P. Catterall, ‘Morality and Politics: The Free Churches and the Labour Party between the Wars’, The Historical Journal 36(1993), 667-685 (p. 668). 133 Green, Religion in the Age of Decline, p. 215. 134 Ibid., p. 216.
218 such as money management, communication, and public speaking. Some schools provided extra training for their scholars such as shorthand, reading, and elocution classes.135
This culture of self-improvement that Sunday schools fostered and encouraged perhaps explains why obituaries indicated that some teachers had climbed the social ranks.
The Shields Daily News reviewed an autobiography of John Wilson.136 He worked in the mines from an early age in County Durham.137 He then became a secretary in a local cooperative store and a Sunday school teacher.138 After his involvement with the local
Trades Union he became a parliamentarian.139 A Mr Alfred Strange, who served as a Sunday school teacher for forty years, started his working life as an employee at a printers and stationers in Burnley.140 Eventually, he became the sole owner of the business and was also appointed to the Borough Bench of magistrates and became the vice-president of the
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.141
The Purpose of Sunday Schools
The rise of compulsory education challenged the purpose of the Sunday schools.
They had previously taught children some basic literacy skills so that they could read the
Bible. However, the state increasingly provided a broader education. Therefore, many within the Sunday school movement believed that the purpose of the schools had changed.
One author said the following about Sunday schools after the First World War:
What are they for? Children, little and big, gather in their millions ; teachers meet them ; time, energy, and money are spent ; what for? We are repeatedly being told
135 BALSC, BDFCBWM/14/2/3 – Abbey Road Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Minute Book 1906–1915, 9 September 1912 and GA, DECONG10/24 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Minutes 1928– 1952, 10 July 1928, pp. 1-2. 136 ‘From Pit to Parliament’, Shields Daily News, 23 June 1910, p. 3. 137 Ibid., p. 3. 138 Ibid., p. 3. 139 Ibid., p. 3. 140 ‘Death of Mr Alfred Strange, J.P., This Morning’, Burnley Express, 26 October 1904, p. 4. 141 Ibid., p. 4.
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that Sunday Schools are a failure ; but the people who say that are often the most devoid of any clear idea of what they want from the schools.142
However, there were very different opinions as to what the new aim and purpose of the schools would be. The vice-president of the NSSU in 1926 similarly argued:
In my opinion we so often miss the mark in our Sunday School work because we have not a clear idea of what our aim really is. If we were more decided on this point – if we knew the goal of our service – for the little people, for the Intermediates and for the Seniors – we should at any rate, be able to aim definitely at it.143
For many workers the main purpose of the schools was to bring scholars into a relationship with Christ. This belief very much fitted with the teaching of Christ: ‘Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven’.144 In the interwar years this viewpoint gained an increased emphasis due the belief that the schools needed to win the next generation for Christ.145 One worker proposed that ‘simply and definitely stated our aim is to bring every scholar into personal, conscious, and vital relationship with Jesus Christ ; to make them just like branches of the True Vine’.146 An article in Longsight’s Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, published in Manchester, commented that ‘the REAL AIM of our work is not simply to interest young people and children for a short time, not simply to educate them in Bible History, and the life of Jesus, but to bring them to His feet as willing, trustful followers’.147 Correspondingly, at a conference of the
Scottish Sunday School Union in 1927 a speaker reminded workers that ‘their great aim was to bring the children of Scotland to the feet of Christ’.148
142 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D161 – The Greater Things of the Sunday School (1920), p. 14. 143 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D78 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1926, ‘Is Anything Wrong With The Sunday School?’, 21 January 1926, p. 26. 144 Matthew 19. 14. 145 See Chapter 4. 146 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D73 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1921, ‘Some Fundamental Aspects of Sunday School Work’, 3 November 1921, p. 662. 147 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1919, p. 2. 148 ‘Sunday School Union’, The Scotsman, 24 February 1927, p. 6.
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There were some who believed that the schools should be providing a good religious education for their scholars. In 1915, A. E. Garvie, who would later become the principal of Westhill Training College, stated:
The object of the Sunday School is moral and religious education, and education remains education, whether in the day school or the Sunday School ; it includes instruction as well as influence ; it must move the soul by enlightening the mind, to live in time so fully as to be worthy of life eternal.149
Likewise, A. S. Peake suggested that ‘the third function of the Sunday School is to impart instruction in the Bible. […] Even for his primary duty of imparting sound and systematic religious instruction it is to the Scriptures that the teacher must chiefly resort his matter’.150
Records of individual schools also reflect these desires. It appears that schools generally encouraged their scholars to sit ‘Scripture Examinations’.151 This was taken very seriously; for instance, some schools asked their ministers to guide their children through the content and offered extra lessons for scholars.152 The NSSU published handbooks to help scholars in their preparations.153
Another aim for Sunday school organisations was to create the next generation of churchgoers. An NSSU publication contended that ‘the work of the Sunday School is crowned by the entry into Church membership of the senior scholars of the school’.154
149 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D67 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1915, ‘The Religious Value of Gradation’, 4 March 1915, p. 139. 150 Peake, Reform in Sunday School Teaching, pp. 12-13. 151 NRS, CH2/852/74 – Crown Kirk Session, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1900–1912, 23 February 1904; GA, DBAP52/1 – Bethel Baptist Church, Sunday School Minutes 1901–1910, 4 January 1903 and DECONG10/22 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Minutes 1868–1906, 8 February 1900. 152 NRS, CH3/342/26 – Arthurlie United Free Church, Sunday School Association Minutes 1909–1931, 29 January 1914; DRO, B/Da 11 – Darlington Baptist Church Annual Report 1915, p. 2; GA, D1232/1/2/1 – Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Committee 1912–1923, 9 January 1916 and DBAP8/1/3/1 – Llanishen Baptist Church, Sunday School Minutes 1911–1932, 21 January 1912. 153 CRL, NCEC Part One, D141 – Early Sunday School Union Examination Handbooks, D142 – The Junior Handbook and D143 – The Senior Handbook. 154 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D158 – What the Sunday Schools Expect from the Churches, p. 9.
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Windsor Congregational Sunday School lamented at the ‘outstanding non-success’ of senior scholars transferring into church membership.155 It also seems that the churches expected the schools to provide them with new members. For instance, the Church of England stated that:
[t]he primary and distinctive aim of the Sunday Schools should be to draw the whole life of the children into the wider life of the Church, and to prepare them for an intelligent and life-long share in the exercise of its highest activity, namely, that of worship.156
Similarly, an NSSU publication reminded workers that
the Church expects the School to feed it with the material with which it can build. There is no better material for the fabric of the future Church than these boys and girls, who from their earliest days have been imbued with Christian ideals and principles. ‘The Church advances upon the feet of little children’ ; and it had no future without them. ‘One generation passeth away and another generation cometh.’157
Sunday schools also believed that the church was built upon their former members. Bethany
English Baptist Sunday School secretary’s report for 1903 argued that ‘in our Church life as also in the life of other Churches, […] the greatest proportion of those who join the
Church come from the Sunday School’.158 This was perhaps why some church figures were critical of the schools during this period. With decreasing adult congregations, the churches turned to the schools to fill the pews. When this did not occur, the schools were blamed for this deficit. The degree to which this was the fault of the schools will be considered in
Chapter 6.
On the other hand, others reminded the workers that the Sunday school was about much more than the church. At a conference for Sunday school teachers, a speaker
155 GA, DECONG10/23 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1907–1928, 18 January 1911. 156 Church of England, Church Assembly Report, p. 22 157 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D158 – What the Churches Expect from the Schools, p. 4. 158 GA, DBAP15/3/2/19/2 – Bethany English Baptist Church, Sunday School Minutes 1902–1909, 4 November 1903.
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ridiculed the idea that the Sunday School existed merely to expand Church membership, and stated emphatically that the movement was not a failure because 80 per cent. or any other startling proportion of Sunday scholars did not become church members. The existence of the Sunday School, he said, found ample justification from the fact that generation after generation they produced good men and women.159
Likewise, at a Sunday school teachers’ conference in 1925, Sir Harold Mackintosh, of toffee manufacturing fame, said:
I am sometimes asked if I do not think it very dreadful that such a large proportion of children fail to pass on to Church membership. Of course, it would be much better if they did, but I do not think, for that reason, for that the Sunday Schools fail. We get children at the most impressionable age, and they can never quite lose what we give them ; that is a stratum of moral conscience, which helps more than anything else to keep the national life sound and steady.160
An article in the Sunday School Chronicle commented that ‘if the minister has the hearty help of teachers who are Church members and regard it as the one aim of all their work to lead their classes to Christ, he may more hopefully try to induce the scholars to join the
Church’.161
Often the purposes of the schools were a combination of all these aims. For example, Bethel Baptist Sunday School, as part of its rules of governance, stated that ‘the object of the School shall be the imparting of religious instruction based upon the Holy
Scriptures, paying strict attention to the distinctive principles of the Baptist denomination and to secure the early conversion of the scholars’.162 Some also viewed their work as one of the ministries of the church. The Sunday school was the place where children started their lifelong Christian faith and would, hopefully, later join the church. One writer observed that ‘a Sunday School has for its first duty the bringing of young people into the Church of
159 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D73 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1921, ‘The Church and Youth’, 19 May 1921, p. 299. 160 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D77 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1925, ‘Sir Harold Mackintosh and the Sunday School’, 11 June 1925, p. 369. 161 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D75 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1923, ‘The Sunday School as a Training Ground for Church Membership’, 12 July 1923, p. 438. 162 GA, DBAP52/1 – Bethel Baptist Church, Sunday School Minutes 1901–1910, 2 December 1908.
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God ; one of its secondary duties is to bring these young Christians into active membership of the denominations to which the school belongs’.163 In another article it was argued that
[s]o much of adult life was once in the School that all the activity of the adult community is quite obviously aftercare work from the standpoint of the Sunday School teacher. The Church’s efficiency in its service of the old and middle aged can become therefore a matter of real and affectionate concern for the youngest worker in the School. What boots it that you win the child at 5 or 15 if the Church sacrifices him at 50? Our work is one.164
Likewise, a Sunday school magazine remarked that ‘our work is only half done if it ends in losing touch with young people of 16 or 17 years of age. Let us prayerfully do our utmost to win them for the Saviour and for the Church which he founded’.165 These examples illustrate the complex and diverse role the schools played in the life of the churches. They were expected to provide religious education, new church members, and followers of Christ.
With so many aims, it is perhaps not surprising that they could not fulfil them all.
Training
The passage of various Education Acts resulted in Sunday school organisations desiring more trained teachers. Day school teachers, who were professionally trained, were seen as being in competition with Sunday school teachers. It was feared that if the Sunday schools did not close this gap, they would be greatly disadvantaged. For example, one author commented:
It is said that a horse knows at once whether the reins are being held by a skilled or an unskilled driver. […] The greater the progress in general education, the greater must be the advance in religious education which is offered in the Sunday school. Can the clumsy tools of educational method used on the Sunday compete in the effect produced on the children with the delicate machinery employed during the week?166
Another writer contended:
163 CRL, NCEC Part One, D161 – The Greater Things of the Sunday School (1920), p. 108. 164 CRL, NCEC Part One, D82 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1930, ‘The Sunday School’s Duty to the Church’, 7 August 1930, p. 625. 165 JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1919, p. 2. 166 JRL, R53056 – Religious Education (1901), p. 50.
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The scholars we teach in these days on the Sunday are well taught during the week, by trained and capable teachers who know how to use the books from which they teach. And young minds are quick to make comparisons. Efficiency is now the keynote of the day school. There must not be less efficiency in the Sunday school.167
The Canterbury Diocesan Sunday School Teachers’ Association also felt that children in the day schools were receiving a much more sophisticated education and that Sunday school teachers required some training to keep up with them.168
Likewise, the schools’ teaching and workers were heavily criticised.169 They came under especially heavy condemnation during the First World War.170 It was these criticisms that lead some in the movement to demand that teachers should undergo some basic level of training. For instance, an article in 1919 in the Sunday School Chronicle asserted:
Any attempt to formulate a reconstruction policy for the Sunday Schools of to-day must surely take into account both the lessons taught by war and the weaknesses revealed in our organisation and methods by the decline in membership and dearth of teachers that have been a blight on the movement for the past twenty years. […] We must bring the Bible back into the schools, and not fritter away the precious lesson time in the mere telling of secular ‘illustrations.’171
It was not only criticisms after the war that caused the schools to demand trained teachers.
In 1903 one commentator suggested:
The efficiency or inefficiency of the average Sunday School teacher, as contrasted with the day school worker, has been commented on with adequate copiousness of diction, if not with conspicuous wisdom or discrimination. On one point we shall be all agreed : viz, that the Sunday worker should be as fully qualified for his duties as the secular teacher for his.172
167 Bodleian Library, 1321e84(14) – A Call for Efficiency: An Address to Sunday School Teachers (1905), p. 13. 168 LPL, Davidson 88 – Correspondence 1903, fol. 103. 169 See Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4. 170 See Chapter 3. 171 CRL, NCEC Part One, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘A Reconstruction Policy’, 3 July 1919, p. 396. 172 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D55 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1903, ‘A New Century Policy for the School’, 12 February 1903, p. 111.
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Another author believed that teachers had a general appetite for reform and that this could be achieved by teachers studying Sunday school methods.173
Therefore, to meet this demand for training, Sunday school organisations offered a wide range of opportunities for their workers. The most common training offered was through lectures held for teachers. For example, Ferne Park Baptist Sunday School held a week of talks by Archibald and commented on the great success of the event.174 Similarly,
Horeb Baptist Church in Treorchy asked for a paper to be read which was entitled ‘The
Difficulties of Sunday School Teachers’.175 Roath Road Sunday School in Cardiff held Bible lectures during the winter months of 1907 given by the then president of the NSSU Dr G.
Campbell Morgan.176 It even purchased a large blackboard to aid this work.177 Alongside lectures, schools offered weekly training classes for their staff. For instance, Sardis
Calvinistic Methodist Sunday School in Penarth decided that weekly teachers’ preparation classes would be conducted by its minister.178 Crook Primitive Methodist Sunday School
Union in County Durham hosted a ‘model lesson’ which used scholars from the circuit so that teachers could practice what they had learnt.179 The lessons appear to have gone down well with scholars.180 These preparation classes were made compulsory by schools for their staff.181 Not all schools adopted the use of training classes or lectures. One school felt that it had enough support in the form of written material. Roxburgh Street Primitive Methodist
173 BL, 1321e84(19) – How Can We Improve our Methods of Teaching in Sunday Schools? (1908), p. 14. 174 LMA, ACC/1361/05/01 – Ferne Park Baptist Church, Sunday School Minute Book 1897–1911, 12 December 1906. 175 GA, DBAP6/2 – Horeb Baptist Church, Sunday School Minutes 1873–1909, 1 April 1904. 176 GA, DWESCCR/265 – Roath Road Record, January to February 1907, p. 9. 177 Ibid., p. 9. 178 GA, D1232/1/2/1 – Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Committee 1912–1923, 5 December 1915. 179 DRO, M/BDV 1 – Crook Primitive Methodist Circuit, Sunday School Union Minute Book 1906–1930, 5 September 1914. 180 Ibid., 5 September 1914. 181 BALSC, BDFCPM/1/6 – Barrow-in-Furness Primitive Methodist Sunday School Committee Minutes 1900– 1917, 1 September 1900; BDFCBWM/1/4/1 – Barrow Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Council Minute Book 1912–1948, 7 June 1912 and NRS, CH11/21/10 – Roxburgh Street Primitive Methodist Church, Teachers’ Minutes 1907–1916, 4 January 1914.
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Sunday School, in Greenock in Scotland, argued that training classes were not needed as teachers had access to magazines and materials which provided advice to workers.182
There was also recognition that not everyone could attend these lectures or classes, and Sunday school organisations provided alternatives for those not able to attend. For instance, both the NSSU and the SSI provided correspondence schools for teachers. The
NSSU offered different courses for teachers to study which culminated in an examination.183
Four courses were offered, which were the same as those offered to residential students at their training college.184 The evidence suggests that those running and participating in the courses felt that it had been successful.185 In terms of numbers it was claimed that hundreds of teachers participated in correspondence classes.186 However, as shown in Appendix 22, this was a small number compared with the number of Sunday school teachers affiliated to the union.187 Likewise, the SSI also offered correspondence classes to its teachers. They included courses on Sunday school organisation, practical teaching, and child study.188 These examples, therefore, demonstrate that the schools were not run in as amateur a manner as some historians have suggested. They were complex and multifaceted organisations which had to meet ever-changing educational and societal shifts.
The professionalism of Sunday schools is also revealed by the setting up of training colleges for teachers. The NSSU established its Westhill Training College for Teachers in
Selly Oak, Birmingham, in 1907. It appears to have emerged from an informal system of
182 NRS, CH11/21/10 – Roxburgh Street Primitive Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1907– 1916, 8 January 1913. 183 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D10 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1906/1907 to 1909/1910, 1907/1908, pp. 37-39. 184 Ibid., pp. 37-39. 185 Ibid., p. 39. 186 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D16 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1928/1929 to 1933/1934, 1929/1930, p. 49 and 1930/1931, p. 47. 187 See Appendix 22. 188 CERC, SSI/2/1/9 – Sunday School Institute, General Purposes Committee 1907–1914, 6 December 1910, p. 278.
227 training through model lessons run by George H. Archibald in Bournville, Birmingham, in which teachers practised their teaching craft on children from the local area.189 In 1905
George Cadbury attended a lecture by Archibald and challenged him to put his theories into practice and offered the use of Ruskin Hall as a demonstration school.190 Soon after a hall called ‘West Hill’ was rented and Archibald hired two qualified staff to work with his daughter.191 Archibald toured the country giving lectures, which caught the attention of several denominational leaders.192 A conference in 1912 agreed that a training institution would be formed with a permanent base for training.193 George Cadbury gave a gift of four acres of land, which was located in Selly Oak.194 This training centre would be called
‘Westhill’.195
A history of the college noted:
Students gained experience in the world-famous Bournville Sunday School, and by ‘criticism classes’ with groups of children from the industrial end of Selly Oak. […] After an experimental period of three or four years it became clear that there was a place for a permanent and enlarged College under the aegis of the Free Church denominations.196
At the time of the college’s formation, those attending the courses were those who could afford to pay for them.197 As time went on, it seems that scholarships and bursaries were offered to those who could not pay.198 Free Church denominations were given a set number
189 CRL, WH, Box 255, Westhill: An Informal History of Seventy-Five Years, p. 5. 190 J. Priestly, ‘The Lumber Merchant and the Chocolate King: The Contribution of George Hamilton Archibald and George Cadbury to the Sunday School Movement in England and Wales’, in The Sunday School Movement: Studies in Growth and Decline of Sunday Schools, ed. by S. Orchard and J. H. Y. Briggs (Bletchley: Paternoster, 2007), pp. 124-141, p. 130. 191 Ibid., p. 131. 192 CRL, WH, Box 255, Westhill College of Education: A Brief History 1907–1971, p. 2. 193 Priestly, ‘The Lumber Merchant and the Chocolate King’, Ibid., pp. 131-132. 194 Ibid., p. 132. 195 CRL, WH, Box 255, Westhill: An Informal History of Seventy-Five Years, p. 6. 196 Ibid., Westhill College of Education: A Brief History 1907–1971, p. 2. 197 Ibid., Westhill: An Informal History of Seventy-Five Years, p. 6. 198 CRL, WH, Box 252, A Record of Achievement and a Challenge, p. 7.
228 of free places and asked to nominate candidates.199 An outline of courses offered at Westhill can be seen in Appendix 23. During a typical course of study, a student would cover topics such as child psychology, pedagogy, and the Bible, including its history.200 Students would also complete practical work in the Sunday school attached to the college.201 Those organising Westhill very much viewed the college as being the training centre for the Free
Churches.202 Indeed, the council of the college had representatives from most of the
Nonconformist churches.203
Similarly, the SSI established St. Christopher’s Training College for Teachers in
Blackheath, South East London, in 1911. This was in response to the perceived success of
Westhill and the feeling that the Church of England was losing ground to Nonconformists.
Randall Davidson, the Archbishop of Canterbury, commented:
While we are thus on the brink of despair and are being slowly edged out of the elementary schools on which we have hitherto relied, the Nonconformists are forging ahead – absolutely unanimous in their faith in the Sunday school system, and determined by the attraction of efficiency to win over as many children as they can. They already have a training College for teachers at Bourneville, under the management of Mr G. H. Archibald, financed largely by Mr R. Cadbury.204
It was hoped that more well-off ladies who attended courses would ‘return home to act as centres of influence, to advise as to methods to train teachers, to solve problems and to raise the whole tone of religious education in their neighbourhoods by their own informed, trained, consecrated enthusiasm’.205 The courses on offer were similar in content to those at
Westhill. Students would study dogmatics, early church history, the Prayer Book,
199 JRL, GB135 DDEy/1/9 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1924– 1927, 16 January 1925 and 8 April 1925 and GBDDEy/7/1 – Minutes of the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Committee 1908–1924, 11 March 1920, p. 274 and 3 March 1921, p. 294. 200 See Appendix 23. 201 See Appendix 23. 202 CRL, WH, Box 255, Westhill College of Education, p. 5. 203 CRL, WH, Box 252, A Record of Achievement and a Challenge, inside cover. 204 LPL, Davidson 496 – Education, Sunday Schools, fol. 258. 205 Ibid., fol. 259.
229 psychology, child study, methods of teaching, and the Bible.206 This would also include some practical work in Sunday schools.207
It is difficult, however, to assess the overall effect of these colleges on the Sunday school movement. For example, as indicated in Appendix 24, the number of teachers who attended courses was very small in comparison to the total number of affiliated teachers.208
However, it seems that societal figures attached great importance to the work of these colleges. Westhill received praise from the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Right
Honourable J. H. Whitley. An article in the Times reported that at a fundraising event for the college he commented that
what he had learned about Westhill Training College made him wish that it had existed 35 or even 40 years ago, so that he might have had some advantage from it. He knew that religious teaching, whether in day or Sunday school, was a much more difficult thing than mathematics or chemistry. […] He believed there could be no better work than that at Westhill College.209
Likewise, another article reported that during a celebration of twenty-one years’ work at St.
Christopher’s College, Archbishop Lord Davidson stated that
it was with very real satisfaction in every sense that he was present that day at the coming-of-age of St. Christopher’s. The adolescent had had a remarkable career. It had managed to comprise in its 21 years what most individuals and institutions could only accomplish in double that time. The range of its interests and the far- reaching character of its work inspired them not only to thank God but to take courage and hope for the future.210
Local newspapers also reported on these training centres. One article commented that a speaker at a church meeting remarked that members who had attended the college felt that it had helped to improve their work.211 Another paper reported on a meeting of the
206 CERC, SSI/SCC/2/1/4 – Minute Book of St. Christopher’s College Council 1923–1926, 15 July 1925. 207 Ibid., 15 July 1925. 208 See Appendix 24. 209 ‘The Speaker on Sunday School Teaching’, The Times, 9 October 1924, p. 12. 210 ‘St. Christopher’s College’, The Times, 21 February 1930, p. 11. 211 ‘Archidiaconal Conference in Derby’, Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal, 24 May 1912, p. 3.
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Rotherham and District Sunday School Union, located in South Yorkshire, where teachers were encouraged to attend Westhill in order to become better teachers.212
The training offered by Sunday schools and their organisations appear to have been well received by the churches and workers. It was felt that the training that was offered had led to an improvement in the work of the schools. For instance, the Church of England, in its report concerning religious education, stated:
[W]e heartily commend the guidance and assistance offered by the three agencies to which we have already referred, namely, the Sunday School Institute, St. Christopher’s College, and the National Society. We are satisfied that they are working on the most fruitful of modern, educational lines, and that the advice and the materials they supply are the best available.213
Similarly, a Sunday school lecturer, J. C. Meggitt, argued in 1905 that [t]here is scarcely a county throughout the kingdom where some of these appliances are not to be found in various schools. Remarkable testimony has reached me spontaneously from scores of earnest workers as to the greater interest and enthusiasm that has been aroused. […] Indeed, there are abundant signs that our schools are being aroused from lethargy into more active and ethusiastic devotion, as well as sacrifice.214
The Canterbury Diocesan Sunday School Teachers’ Association also believed that its schools had made good improvements as teacher training had helped to increase the knowledge of workers.215 Likewise, the NSSU thought that its correspondence classes had greatly benefitted the work of those teachers who participated in the scheme.216
On the other hand, there were workers who believed that efforts to train teachers were not improving the work of the schools. Some raised concerns about the training on offer. The magazine of St. Christopher’s College suggested that there was
212 ‘Sunday School Work’, Sheffield Independent, 17 October 1922, p. 5. 213 Church of England, Church Assembly, p. 21. 214 GA, DECONG10/91 – Windsor Congregational Church, Publication – Sunday School Reform (1905), preface. 215 LPL, Davidson 88 – Correspondence 1903, fol. 65. 216 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D16 - Volume containing Annual Reports for 1928/1929 to 1933/1934, 1928/1929, p. 49.
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the danger of mechanical imitation […] People go to Training Weeks, see demonstrations, and go home and imitate. Mechanical imitation of methods, mechanical gathering of apparatus, which, in turn, leads to the rigid programme, the lack of interest, the lack of ideal, to deadness and abuse of all that is intended.217
Another article suggested that there was a danger that poorly equipped teachers would attend training and quit rather than try to improve.218
Others felt that improvements could still be made to Sunday school work and training. The Canterbury Diocesan Sunday School Teachers’ Association declared that the schools were still ‘far from perfect’.219 George Hamilton Archibald suggested:
Some schools are impossible and a hindrance to the Kingdom of God. The one satisfactory thing is that most workers in the schools are dissatisfied with present conditions, so there is hope for improvement. If the Sunday School movement as a whole is going to remain where it is we had better turn to a more hopeful field.220
Likewise, an article in the Sunday School Chronicle reported on the unveiling of a statue of
Robert Raikes, popularly held as the father of the Sunday school, by the Bishop of
Gloucester, Doctor A. C. Headlam, who commented that ‘Sunday School teaching has always been amateurish and unsystematic’.221 The editors of the Sunday School Chronicle responded to this statement, arguing, ‘[T]hat is true of much of our work is an unfortunate fact, but it is also true that in an increasing number of Sunday Schools systematic work of a high educational standard is being done by well trained (even if amateur) teachers’.222
217 CERC, SSI/SCC/10/1/13 – St. Christopher's College Terminal Leaflet, December 1914, p. 7. 218 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D82 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1930, ‘Do Teachers Realise the Need for Training?’, 13 February 1930, p. 128. 219 LPL, Davidson 88 – Correspondence 1903, fol. 65. 220 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D78 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1926, ‘Is Anything Wrong With The Sunday School?’, 21 January 1926, p. 26. 221 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D82 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1930, ‘The Sunday School in Modern Life’, 9 October 1930, p. 800. 222 Ibid., p. 800.
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Working with Others
The period between 1900 and 1939 also saw Sunday school organisations and workers cooperating with different organisations and denominations. There was a recognition that working with other groups could help to reform the schools and enable them to hold onto scholars. For instance, in 1922 the NSSU reported on its United Board of Sunday School Departments of the Free Churches, noting:
The Council learn with much pleasure that, during the past year, the Board has been reconstructed, and that now the Church of England has appointed six delegates to act in conjunction with representatives of other Churches for mutual conference upon Sunday School problems, with the aim of ‘promoting a common policy and unity of effort among the various Sunday School organizations.’223
The board had been in existence since 1914.224 The NSSU also supported the efforts of denominational unions to increase Sunday school attendance. It was decided that the NSSU would cooperate with the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union’s ‘Children’s Week’.225
Likewise, the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church cooperated over issues linked with working with the young, and both found the partnership beneficial.226 At a local level,
Sunday schools regularly cooperated with one another. For example, the Wesleyan,
Primitive and United Methodist Sunday schools from the Barrow-in-Furness area opted to hold a procession through the town in 1922.227 In Aberdeen there was a gathering of ministers and teachers from various denominations for a model Sunday school session.228
This reflected the more ecumenical nature of Christianity during the twentieth century. David Thompson reiterated the conclusion of Horton Davies that this was the
223 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/1923 to 1927/1928, 1922/1923, p. 11. 224 Ibid., p. 11. 225 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/1923 to 1927/1928, 1925/1926, p. 26. 226 NRS, CH1/2/358 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1922, fol. 12, p. 491. 227 BALSC, BDFCBWM/1/4/1 – Barrow Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Council 1912–1948, 29 March 1922, p. 41. 228 ‘Sunday School Demonstration’, Aberdeen Press and Journal, 5 December 1919, p. 6.
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‘ecumenical century’.229 In 1907 the United Methodist Church was formed with the bringing together of the Methodist New Connexion, United Methodist Free Churches, and the Bible
Christians.230 In 1932 the United Methodist Church, the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and the Primitive Methodist Church joined to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain.231
Additionally, the interwar years brought about discussions whose aim was to make unprecedented efforts to bring about church unity. The Lambeth Appeal in 1920 as well as the publication of J. H. Shakespeare’s The Churches at the Cross Roads (1918) gave many hope that a union between the Church of England and Free Churches could be achieved.232 Britain was united by the losses of the First World War and there was also a strong desire to commemorate the fallen, so some of the ecclesiastical barriers were weakened.233 Wilkinson argued that ‘ecumenicalism with its message of diversity-in-unity fitted well with the post- war faith that tolerant pluralism could alone bring reconciliation between classes, sexes, creeds, races, and nationalities’.234
However, this ecumenical venture was not new in Sunday school circles. Laqueur noted that the NSSU was always intended to be a non-denominational organisation.235 The schools began as separate institutions from the churches. As Knoff suggested, ‘[T]he Sunday school movement was an independent, self-constituting development, existing to support the work of the churches, in this respect not unlike the nature of the early Y.M.C.A. movement.’236 It was only during the nineteenth century that they started to became part of church life.237 Sunday school workers were used to working with others. For instance, the
229 D. M. Thompson, ‘Ecumenicalism’, in The Cambridge History of Christianity Volume IX: World Christianities c. 1914-2000, ed. by H. McLeod (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 50-70 (p. 50). 230 Bell, Faith in Conflict, pp. 149-150. 231 Ibid., p. 150. 232 Wilkinson, Dissent or Conform, p. 66 and p. 74. 233 Bell, Faith in Conflict, p. 154. 234 Wilkinson, Dissent or Conform, p. 67. 235 Laqueur, Religion and Respectability, p. 38. 236 Knoff, The World Sunday School Movement, p. 29. 237 Thompson, Young People and Church Since 1900, p. 32.
234 training they received from the NSSU meant that they came into contact with other teachers from different denominations. Knoff argued that ‘the early Sunday school people gave voice to the best they knew: fraternity, forbearance with one another, Christian affection, and cooperation in good works’.238
Likewise, by the end of the nineteenth century, Sunday schools were internationally connected. The World’s First Sunday School Convention was held in 1889.239 The convention would later become the World Sunday School Association in 1907.240 Cliff claimed that the Sunday schools ‘became the first post-Reformation ecumenical movement
[…] The trust engendered within the World Sunday School Association provided a basis for closer collaboration between missionary societies, and later, between denominational bodies’.241 Indeed the Uniform, or International, Lessons reinforced and reflected desires for a unified global church. The original purpose of these lessons was to provide a ‘uniform’ lesson for all age groups at Sunday school.242 This expanded to become a ‘uniform’ lesson for all schools in all the countries in the Protestant world.243
This, however, did not mean that denominations were always prepared to cooperate with one another. Long-standing tensions between the Church of England and the
Nonconformist churches continued to spill into Sunday school work.244 In 1904, during a conference organised by the YMCA to discuss Sunday school problems, representatives from the SSI reported that a proposal had been formulated to join all Sunday schools to the organisation.245 It was later recommended that the SSI should not adopt the proposals.246
238 Knoff, The World Sunday School Movement, p. 30. 239 Ibid., p. 5. 240 Ibid., p. 32. 241 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 6. 242 Knoff, The World Sunday School Movement, p. 34. 243 Ibid, p. 34. 244 J. Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, 1800–1970 (London: Routledge, 1971), p. 2. 245 CERC, SSI/2/1/8 – Sunday School Institute General Committee Book 1900–1907, 5 April 1904, p. 348. 246 Ibid., 7 June 1904, p. 369.
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Sometimes the compromise could depend on the denomination involved. In 1922 St.
Christopher’s College reported to the SSI about
a difficulty which had arisen because two students – one a Presbyterian and one a Dane had been admitted to the College, and because – with the permission of the Bishop of Southwark – the Presbyterian had been allowed to communicate in the College Chapel. With this in mind the Principal enquired if he were to admit a third Presbyterian. It had been made quite clear that there was no idea of taking English Nonconformists.247
The welcoming of Presbyterian and Danish students was perhaps part of the building of working relations with Scandinavian churches in the twentieth century. This culminated in the passing of Resolution 69 at the Lambeth Conference of 1948 which welcomed ‘the steady growth in friendship between the Scandinavian Churches and the Anglican
Communion’.248
Sunday schools also increasingly believed that weekday groups were an essential part of their work. George Hamilton Archibald argued in 1926 that ‘one of the chief differences between the old and new Sunday-school is that the modern school had introduced week- day activities into its programme ; the idea that the Sunday-school is a one-day-a-week affair is passing away’.249 One pamphlet similarly advised those who worked with teenagers:
To attempt to carry on Sunday School work for young adolescents on Sunday afternoons only is to deprive the teachers of any real opportunity to get know their scholars as they really are, and directly tends to divorce religion from real life by making it a thing apart, to be put away with Sunday clothes during the week.250
247 CERC, SSI/2/1/10 – Sunday School Institute General Committee Book 1914–1922, 3 January 1922, p. 618. 248 Project Canterbury, The Church of England and the Churches of Norway, Denmark and Iceland Report of the Committee Appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1951(London: Project Canterbury, [n.d.]) < http://anglicanhistory.org/lutherania/scand1951.html> [accessed 7 June 2017], Introduction. 249 Archibald, The Modern Day Sunday School, p. 163. 250 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D157 – Sunday School Advance Handbooks, No. 4 The Teenage Section (1930s), p. 13.
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The annual report for the NSSU also noted that ‘opinion was strongly expressed that if the
Sunday School would hold its young people it would be imperative to provide for their activities between the Sundays’.251
This belief that weekday activities would assist in the retention of scholars was embraced by other workers. For instance, at the Lambeth Conference in 1930, a report concerning the Boy Scouts argued that hosting such groups could aid Sunday school attendance.252 This was because the Scout movement insisted that its members attended church on Sunday.253 Guidance from the NSSU for the junior department of the schools advised that they should have weekday activities for their scholars such as Scout, Brigade, and Girl Guide organisations.254 One teacher wrote to the Sunday School Chronicle arguing that the introduction of a Boys’ Brigade had helped the school to retain older boys and had improved the discipline of the school.255 He stated that ‘of course, other influences have been at work, but the Boys’ Brigade has been the most potent. In twenty-five years’ work in the Sunday-school, I have made a careful study of various plans for interesting and retaining boys, but I have found nothing to equal the Brigade system’.256
Some workers were not happy with all weekday organisations. There was a heated argument at Vickerstown Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School as some believed that Boy
Scouts did not belong in Church.257 Nevertheless, by 1912 the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday
School Union had decided that its schools could run Boy Scouts and Girl Guide groups
251 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D16 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1928/1929 to 1933/1934, 1928/1929, p. 25. 252 LPL, H5021.12 – Lambeth Conference 1930, Agenda VI, p. 10. 253 Ibid., p. 10. 254 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D157 – Sunday School Advance Handbooks, No. 3 The Junior Section, p. 15. 255 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D56 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1904, ‘Retaining our Boys’, 26 May 1904, p. 526. 256 Ibid., p. 526. 257 BALSC, BDFCBWM/11/7/1 – Vickerstown Sunday School Teachers’ Minute Book 1908–1922, 5 February 1913, p. 80.
237 along with the Boys’ and Girls’ Life Brigades.258 This perhaps had more to do with the fact that many schools already had scout groups. As suggested by Tammy Proctor, the highest membership the Boys’ Brigade reached was 161,976 in 1939, while in the same year the Boy
Scouts numbered over four hundred thousand.259 The manual of the Wesleyan Methodist
Sunday School Union confirmed the decision of its committee in 1909, which stated:
Recognising the wide-spread influence of the Scouts movement the Committee is of opinion that in the majority of instances our schools will find all that they need in the B.B. and B.L.B movements. At the same time the Committee urges that such schools with troops of scouts as associated with our schools should be brought into definite connection with the church and that Sunday-scouting should not be allowed.260
Along with concerns about Sunday Sabbath observance, perhaps there was also a concern that the Scout movement prompted militarism and jingoism.261 The Primitive Methodist
Sunday School Union’s preferred weekday group was the Boys’ Life Brigade due to its religious foundations, respect for Sunday observance, and the non-use of rifles.262
However, one group that gained support from most Sunday school organisations was the Young Men’s Christian Association. After the First World War, the YMCA and the
NSSU believed that the success of YMCA huts along the fighting front could be built upon back in Blighty.263 The YMCA believed that its work could assist the work of the churches and schools by directing men from its clubs to those institutions. For instance, an article written by a YMCA worker stated that
opportunity is taken, when a boy joins a club, to ask him if he belongs to any church, or Sunday school, or if there is one in which he is interested. If he is a Sunday School member he must not attend any Y.M. meeting held at the same time
258 Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union, The Manual of the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School, pp. 91-92. 259 T. Proctor, ‘(Uni)Forming Youth: Girl Guides and Boys Scouts in Britain’, History Workshop Journal, 45(1998), 103-134 (p. 105). 260 JRL, GB135 DDEy/7/1 – Minutes of the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Committee 1908–1924, 14 October 1909, p. 38. 261 Proctor, ‘(Uni)Forming Youth: Girl Guides and Boys Scouts in Britain’, pp. 117-118. 262 JRL, GB135 DDEy/1/9 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1924– 1927, 4 July 1924. 263 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘Demobilisation and After’, 2 January 1919, p. 6.
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as the Sunday School session, and he must retain his allegiance to his own church.264
Likewise, the YMCA approached the Church of Scotland and asked if it could assist in preparing examination courses, which was very much appreciated as it was felt its involvement improved the content.265 The SSI was also approached by the YMCA and decided to accept an invitation to attend a conference on Sunday school work.266 The
YMCA’s work was an endeavour which many denominations could support as it encouraged its members to be part of a church. Additionally, it was reflective of the increasingly interdenominational cooperation in youth work.267
For Sir Arthur Yapp, head of the YMCA, it was natural to turn to the schools. He remarked in an interview, ‘I need scarcely say that we are anticipating much encouragement and help from the Sunday Schools.’268 This was possibly because of earlier cooperative work carried out between the YMCA and Sunday schools in the years before the war. In 1903 the
YMCA appealed for support from Sunday schools.269 The Sunday School Chronicle seems to have wanted its readers to financially support the organisation.270 One article argued:
The Y.M.C.A., […] has a fine record. It is a genuine helpmate of the Church and School. Stepping in at the critical period when boyhood is passing into manhood, it carries on the work of the Sunday School class, and shields youth from the temptations that allure to vicious courses and rob the Church of her legitimate fruit.271
The President of the YMCA in 1902, Sir George Williams, wrote a message to the
NSSU congratulating it on a hundred years of work. He commented, ‘I count it an honour that I have for many years been officially connected with the Sunday School
264 Ibid., ‘The YMCA and the Sunday School’, 13 February 1919, p. 91. 265 NRS, CH1/2/357 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1921, fol. 15, p. 380. 266 CERC, SSI/2/1/8 – Sunday School Institute, General Committee Book 1900–1907, 1 December 1903, p. 320. 267 Thompson, ‘Ecumenicalism’, p. 51. 268 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘Demobilisation and After’, 2 January 1919, p. 6. 269 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D55 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1903, ‘Our Young Men’, 12 February 1903, p. 110. 270 Ibid., p. 110. 271 Ibid., p. 110.
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Union, and I pray that the Centenary year will be one of unprecedented success.’272
There was an understanding between the two organisations that their work was very much linked and that cooperation would benefit them both.
Conclusion
This chapter has demonstrated that Sunday schools and their overarching organisations attempted to run a more professional and organised movement than some have previously suggested. They were quick to adopt the latest educational developments into their work. For instance, George Hamilton Archibald was heavily influenced by
Froebel’s theory that the child should be central to learning. As a result of his lectures on educating the child, the NSSU and SSI proposed that their schools should adopt a system of grading. New teaching techniques were also proposed which embraced new ideas regarding education. While these ideas were well received by some, others felt that worldly ideas rather than the grace of God were guiding teachers. It seems that some schools embraced grading for a variety of reasons, such as improving the spiritual life of their scholars. The content of Sunday school lessons changed little. Given that the Bible was widely viewed as the unchanging word of God, the basic content of lessons was not going to alter. However, children were not just taught about the Bible. Schools were encouraged to provide lessons on catechisms and missionary work. There was also a different emphasis on certain lessons depending on the denomination concerned. This did not mean, however, that schools actually used these lessons. It is hard to establish how widely these lessons were used especially given that teachers were encouraged to adapt lessons to their circumstances.
Additionally, the lessons proposed did not always strike a chord with teachers, who sometimes raised concerns about their content.
272 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D54 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1902, ‘After A Hundred Years’, 11 December 1902, p. 853.
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During this time, the government increasingly provided compulsory education for children, so they did not require the schools to teach them basic literacy skills. It was felt by some organisations that their aims had changed. Most commonly it was considered that their primary role was to introduce scholars to Christ. It was also argued that they needed to provide children with a good religious education and prepare them for church life. In practice, the schools often provided for all three aims. The churches, however, expected that new members of their congregations would come from the schools. Given the increasing professionalisation of education, Sunday school organisations wanted their workers to receive some training. This was also perhaps to answer criticisms levelled at the schools during this period. Sunday schools and Sunday school organisations offered lectures, correspondence classes, and training courses at training colleges for teachers. It seems the training was well received, and it was felt by some that it had helped schools to improve.
But others were still concerned that there were further improvements to be made.
This period also saw Sunday school workers cooperating with other denominations and organisations to improve their efforts. It was believed that they could discuss common issues that arose and work together to provide solutions. Denominations joined together to provide training and to formulate lessons for their schools, although old denominational tensions did sometimes surface. Sunday school organisations also joined with other groups that provided activities for older scholars. It was thought that this might help schools to retain older scholars. This chapter has demonstrated how Sunday school organisations wanted to operate. They had sophisticated and well-thought-out plans. Perhaps it was other factors rather than their teaching and training that caused the schools to decline.
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Chapter 6 – The Decline of British Sunday Schools
Introduction
Throughout the period from 1900 to 1939 there were concerns about declining
Sunday school attendance. Statistical returns completed by the schools suggest that in 1900 there were approximately 6,041,119 scholars but by 1939 the number stood at just
3,663,131.1 Some historians have assumed that the First World War resulted in a decline of church and Sunday school attendance due to a loss of faith.2 Many factors, however, were blamed by contemporaries for this decline, such as the rise of commercial leisure, societal changes, and ineffective teaching.3 For instance, the opinion of Ernest Hayes, a leading figure of the Sunday school movement in 1930, was as follows:
The shadows of pessimism and unemployment – the results of the war – lie athwart our time ; the race for more armaments, and the problems of maintaining peace between the nations without and the classes within, press heavily on all. The growth of materialism, the provision of cheap transit, and the commercialising of recreation are destroying Sunday observance. A superficially educated democracy has little or no interest in, nor use for, organised Christianity.4
British society during this period changed dramatically. During the late nineteenth century the government increasingly began to provide what the churches and schools had previously offered, such as the provision of education.5 Better wages and government intervention improved living standards between 1870 and 1938.6 Families also became smaller and leisure more affordable to a larger section of the population.7 Sunday school workers recognised that these changes were affecting their work.
1 Currie, Gilbert, and Horsley, Churches and Churchgoers, pp. 167-190. 2 See Introduction. 3 See Chapter 3 and 5. 4 E. Hayes, Raikes the Pioneer: Founder of Sunday Schools (London: National Sunday School Union, 1930), p. 121. 5 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service in Modern Britain, pp. 28-60. 6 G. Bower, ‘Living Standards, 1860–1939’, in The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain Volume II: Economic Maturity, 1860–1939, ed. by R. Floud and P. Johnson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 280-313, p. 313. 7 Stevenson, The Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 149 and pp. 165-166.
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In the historiography of British Christianity, debates concerning its decline have tended to focus on the churches, and Sunday schools are not discussed in their own right.8
When the schools have been briefly discussed, a great proportion of blame is placed at their doors.9 This chapter intends to explore the decline of the schools and the factors that contributed to their demise. It will consider external causes, such as societal changes, and internal causes that lay within both the churches and the schools. The chapter will demonstrate that the First World War was not a major factor in the decline of Sunday schools. Other factors, both internal and external, contributed to decreases in Sunday school attendance.
First World War and Sunday School Decline?
The First World War has traditionally been portrayed as an event which resulted in the loss of faith of the British population and a major cause of religious decline.10 For instance, Alan Wilkinson concluded that the war was disastrous for the Church of England.11
Philip Jenkins also believed that ‘the Second World War supports the view that religion – or at least Christianity – was wrecked beyond recovery by 1918’.12 Correspondingly, Cliff argued that
[f]ew had to come to understand the demoralising effect of war, or the changes that it had brought about. Men and women had worked side by side in the factories; they had worked on Sundays as well as weekdays; many had got out of the habit of worship, and the thought-forms of those who had witnessed the wholesale horror of war had changed. The theological questions that remained unanswered for many were, ‘How can a God of love allow war?’ or variants of the same theme.13
8 See Introduction. 9 Stanton, ‘From Raikes Revolution to Rigid Institution’, pp. 71-91, p. 79. 10 See Introduction. 11 Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, p. 230. 12 Jenkins, The Great and Holy War, p. 368. 13 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 211.
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This is a more nuanced assessment of the effect of the war. However, in recent years this position has been challenged by historians.14 Yet this historiographical development has focused heavily on the impact of the war on the churches rather than on the Sunday schools.
Statistical data reveals that the schools had been in decline long before the war. Even
Wilkinson contended that ‘it would be a gross oversimplification to ascribe the decline of institutional religion to the First World War. It had already begun to ebb in the Edwardian period’.15 The number of Protestant scholars peaked at 6,326,762 in 1905, nine years before the war began, as indicated in Appendix 25.16 Patterns vary between denominations. For instance, as Appendix 26 indicates, the Church of England’s figures peaked in 1905 with
2,398,000 scholars before slightly declining until 1909. Numbers started to increase, peaking in 1910 at 2,437,000 before declining again.17 On the other hand, the Presbyterian Church of
Wales peaked in 1905 with 195,227 scholars and declined steadily until 1939, as demonstrated by Appendix 27.18 Meanwhile, the Methodist churches collectively peaked in
1906 with 1,871,683 scholars before declining steadily until 1939.19 Assessing patterns of
Sunday school attendance in Scotland is made slightly more complicated because of the majority of the United Free Church of Scotland unifying with the Church of Scotland in
1929.20 Nevertheless, until this union the number of the Church of Scotland’s scholars peaked at 236,964 in 1906 before declining until 1929, with a brief increase in 1922.21 The
United Free Church’s scholars peaked in 1903 with 249,312 members before following a
14 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture; Snape, God and the British Soldier; Field, ‘Keeping the Spiritual Home Fires Burning’ and Bell, Faith in Conflict. 15 Wilkinson, Dissent or Conform, p. 55. 16 See Appendix 25. 17 See Appendix 26. 18 See Appendix 27. 19 See Appendix 28. 20 C. Brown, Religion and Society in Scotland since 1707 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997), p. 145. 21 See Appendix 29.
244 general pattern of decline, although there was a brief increase in 1910.22 As Appendix 29 demonstrates, in 1929 the reunited Church of Scotland saw an increase in its scholars to
362,570 from 186,713 in 1928 as the result of the union.23 The number of scholars peaked in 1931 to 369,115 members before continually declining until 1939.24 The Baptist Sunday schools also saw a decline during this period, with some brief periods of increase after the
First World War.25 Appendix 30 indicates that figures peaked in 1906 with 586,601 scholars before declining until 1939.26 This demonstrates that decline had set in before the war, and the pattern merely continued along the same trajectory.
However, in the aftermath of the war, there were some increases. As Appendix 14 shows, the number of Protestant Sunday school scholars increased from 4,037,327 in 1918 to 4,733,886 in 1919.27 The Sunday School Chronicle reported in 1920 that,
the outstanding feature of the figures before us is the fact that whereas last year almost every denomination reported a decrease, this year 14 Denominations Report an Increase of scholars, and nine an increase of teachers, and nine an increase of both scholars and teachers.28
There was also a peak in 1927 when the number of scholars increased to 5,017,388 from
4,520,836 in 1926.29 Some denominations fared better than others during the interwar period. For instance, the Church of Scotland saw increases from 1919 until 1922, which can be seen in Appendix 29.30 Likewise, Baptist Sunday schools saw the number of their scholars increase from 498,460 in 1919 to 508,759 in 1920, and this increase continued until 1924,
22 See Appendix 29. 23 See Appendix 29. 24 See Appendix 29. 25 See Appendix 30. 26 See Appendix 30. 27 See Appendix 14. 28 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D72 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1920, ‘The Sunday School Roll Call’, 16 September 1920, p. 574. 29 See Appendix 14. 30 See Appendix 29.
245 when there were 526,306 scholars.31 In fact it was the 1930s that saw the largest decline in scholars after a relatively stable period in the 1920s.32
These figures must also be considered in the context of the conditions of British society during this period, especially during the difficult years following the First World
War. As demonstrated in previous chapters, the disruption caused by the war meant that the pool of children able to attend was significantly reduced.33 War losses, influenza, and outbreaks of other contagious diseases meant that many schools had to shut their doors for the majority of 1919, some into 1920.34 This makes some of the post-war gains more remarkable. Additionally, during this time the birth rate decreased.35 In 1918 it stood at 17.7 per 1000 of the population, when in 1900 it had been 28.7 per 1000.36 It briefly flourished in
1920 to 25.5 per 1000 but declined to 16.3 per 1000 in 1930.37 Likewise, events during the interwar years had a negative impact on religious life, in the form of factors such as uneconomic unrest, the General Strike, economic depression, and mass unemployment.38
Considering these factors, it is not surprising that there was some decline after the war.
However, the fact that some denominations such as the Baptists saw brief periods of growth suggests that, while the war was disruptive, it was not a major cause of the decline of the Sunday schools.
Significantly, contemporaries within the Sunday school movement did not attribute the decline in attendance to a loss of faith during the war years. For instance, it was reported in the Times that
31 See Appendix 30. 32 See Appendix 14. 33 See Chapter 2. 34 See Chapter 2. 35 Stevenson, Penguin Social History of Britain, p. 149. 36 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 33. 37 Ibid., p. 33. 38 Field, ‘Gradualist or Revolutionary Secularization’, p. 60.
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[a] steady decline in the numbers attending the Sunday School has been a marked feature in all the Churches of Great Britain during the last 20 years. […] This falling off, which has been accentuated in the years following the war, has been attributed to the decline in the child population of the country. Investigation, however, proves that the Sunday School decline is in a higher ratio than the child population decline.39
The newspaper was keen to point out that the conflict had been disruptive to the schools’ work but did not blame them for causing a loss of faith. An article in the Sunday School
Chronicle commented that
the war and post-war conditions have in many cases played serious havoc with this [senior] portion of the School. Girls went to munition centres or to the land, lads to munition works or to the army. It was a terrific wrenching of young life away from its moorings.40
Furthermore, the writer of the article believed that the lack of preparedness of the schools and churches for the return of their men resulted in them not renewing their religious connection. The following thoughts were put forward:
More than one appeal from the writer’s pen appeared in the Sunday School Chronicle during the war that we should prepare for the return of our young men after demobilisation by providing some sort of Institute life or social environment. In the case of a Wesleyan school in the North (Hazel Grove, Stockport), this preparation was made con amore, with the splendid result that they have retained in direct association with the Church and School every man who came back from the war. […] they may still win back some of the lads whom we sent out without plaudits to the hell of war, and who have drifted away, finding no prepared welcome.41
Correspondingly, another article stated that ‘the aftermath of the war has undermined the sense of obedience and reverence among the young, and parents seem to have lost their hold over their children’.42
39 ‘Sunday School Decline’, The Times, 12 October 1925, p. 10. 40 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D75 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1923, ‘The Sunday School and the Nation’s Need’, 19 July 1923, p. 454. 41 Ibid., p. 454. 42 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D72 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1920, ‘The Roll Call for 1920’, 23 September 1920, p. 586.
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During the war and its aftermath some were cautiously optimistic about the number of scholars, feeling that this could be a turning point in the history of the schools. The
Sunday School Chronicle concluded:
There are encouraging signs in the statistical returns of the British Sunday School Movement for 1920, and while the evidence of these figures – which in reality show the condition of the schools in 1919 – is not sufficient to prove that all is well, or that the decline in membership has been finally arrested, there are clear indications in many directions that this is the case, and the chief wastage of the past year has been restricted to two sections of the Church.43
Correspondingly, in 1919 the minutes of the Wesleyan Sunday School Committee stated that ‘arising out of the Report regret was expressed that a false impression had got abroad through the Press as to the numerical returns’.44 It was decided that a letter would be written to the Daily News and Daily Chronicle to ‘counteract’ this impression.45 The committee even suggested that the conflict, in regard to a campaign to increase school numbers, had afforded ‘a splendid opportunity’.46
This therefore shows that the war was not considered to have resulted in a major decline by those in the Sunday school movement. As Stuart Bell suggested, ‘[F]or a host of reasons the impact of the First World War on the faith and religious practices of the people of Britain was far less than that of the social changes of the succeeding years.’47 Similarly,
Field concluded that ‘aggregate average attendances of all registered scholars improved marginally, from 84.7 to 85.7 percent, between 1918 and 1936; absolute numbers may have been falling, but scholars who remained were more committed’.48 This does not suggest that swathes of Sunday school scholars lost their faith during the war; those who remained
43 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D72 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1920, ‘The Sunday School Roll Call’, 16 September 1920, p. 574. 44 JRL, GB135 DDEy/7/1 – Minutes of the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Committee 1908–1924, 19 June 1919, p. 258. 45 Ibid., p. 258. 46 Ibid., p. 174. 47 Bell, Faith in Conflict, p. 209. 48 Field, ‘Gradualist or Revolutionary Secularization’, p. 86.
248 attended more regularly. It was perhaps the changes partially brought about by the war that had more of an impact on the schools, rather than a loss of faith. S. J. D. Green argued that historians must look more broadly at religious change, such as considering the changing political dimensions. He suggested that this approach
points to the importance of the years immediately after the First World War. It does so less in terms of the direct effect of the great cataclysm itself which seems to have wrought profoundly ambiguous religious consequences, than of the indirect impact of that disaster upon the legal integrity and political composition of the United Kingdom.49
Likewise, Robert Beaken proposed that
it may be reasonably concluded that the role played by the First World War in secularisation was not so much the impact of the war upon the Church as its impact upon the wider society in which the Church was located.50
Societal Change
As previously discussed, British society changed drastically during the twentieth century.51 The position of children and their welfare were of increasing concern. From the nineteenth century childhood was viewed as something valuable and therefore required protection.52 Children were increasingly being valued for something aside from their economic contribution.53 The government increasingly legislated to protect and assist the young.54 As Colin Heywood suggested, ‘[B]y the early twentieth century they might find it difficult to avoid the attentions of a whole army of professionals dedicated to their welfare, including health visitors, charity workers, truancy officers, and factory inspectors, not to mention the police.’55 Hugh Cunningham similarly proposed that ‘it began to be argued that
49 Green, The Passing of Protestant England, p. 311. 50 Beaken, The Church of England and the Home Front, p. 246. 51 See Introduction. 52 P. Fass, ‘Viviana Zelizer: Giving Meaning to the History of Childhood’, The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth 5 (2012), 457-461 (p. 458). 53 Ibid., p. 459. 54 Cunningham, Children and Childhood, p. 137. 55 Heywood, A History of Childhood, p. 119.
249 the state must act as the central and co-ordinating agency on behalf of children’.56
Additionally, families were becoming smaller due in part to a declining birth rate and increased access to contraception.57 These changes would have an impact upon living standards, attitudes towards home, and the status of women and children.58 The focus of family life became the private family home.59 Children could be given more individual attention.60 Furthermore, although the welfare state was in its early infancy, the government was increasingly expected to provide what the churches had traditionally provided. As James
Obelkevich noted,
[W]orking-class people […] looked to the churches, and to Anglican parsons in particular, for charity; a constant stream of poor people came to the vicarage door asking for help and they rarely went away empty handed. Most urban churches set up extensive welfare schemes, doling out food, blankets, money and Bibles.61
Green suggested that ‘put bluntly, the welfare state put the churches out of a job’.62
The implications of these changes impacted on the Sunday schools. Green concluded, in relation to declining Sunday school attendance, that
at least part of the problem was grounded in a much broader change ‘in the social habits of the population’. These, many believed, were traceable to a profound, if elusive, transformation of parenting that characterised young, married adults during the 1950s. At the time, it was called the ‘new parenting’. It involved the unprecedented commitment of both parents to the nurture of their offspring. […] Forged in the wake of very different domestic conditions made possible by smaller families, better housing provision and the liberalisation of relations between the generations. To many of these self-consciously modern parents, Sunday school was no longer necessary. It did not even seem desirable.63
Likewise, Rosman suggested that
56 Cunningham, Children and Childhood, p. 154. 57 Stevenson, Penguin Social History of Britain, pp. 149-150. 58 Ibid., p. 143. 59 Ibid., p. 166. 60 Thompson, The Edwardians, p. 276. 61 J. Obelkevich, ‘Religion’, in The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750–1950 Volume III: Social Agencies and Institutions, ed. by F. M. L. Thompson (Cambridge, 1990), pp. 311-356, p. 340. 62 Green, The Passing of Protestant England, p. 287. 63 Ibid., p. 261.
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as society became more child-centred, family life focused increasingly round the activities of children, who dictated what they wanted to do to a greater extent than ever before. It ceased to be possible for non-churchgoing parents to despatch their children to Sunday School, unless the children themselves chose to go.64
These historians were referencing decline in the 1950s and 1960s. However, it is interesting to note that Sunday school workers had been concerned about parents not sending their children to Sunday school throughout the twentieth century. An NSSU publication asserted that
children belong, in the first place to their parents. It is the duty of the father and mother to care for their own boys and girls. This care should cover the welfare of the child’s body, the education of his mind, and the salvation of his soul […] It happens, however, that large numbers of parents cannot, and some few will not attend to these duties.65
Similarly, a local newspaper article reported on a church meeting which concluded that the future of its school would depend on the parents of the children, who had been neglecting their religious duties by not sending their children to Sunday school or worship.66 H. A.
Hamilton, a leading voice within the NSSU, argued that the primary agency of Christian education was the home, meaning that the churches and schools needed to sometimes act as in loco parentis.67
Various efforts were made to encourage parents to send their children to Sunday school and to cooperate with its work. One publication advised its workers to visit the home of their scholars, suggesting that ‘the best introduction will probably be a friendly visit to the home, and it is of especial importance that parents should be made to feel that any
64 D. Rosman, ‘Sunday Schools and Social Change in the Twentieth Century’ in The Sunday School Movement: Studies in Growth and Decline of Sunday Schools, ed. by S. Orchard and J. H. Y. Briggs (Bletchley: Paternoster, 2007), pp. 149-160 (p. 159). 65 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D161 - The Greater Things of the Sunday School. Familiar Addresses on the Work of an Evangelical Sunday School in a Time of Reconstruction, p. 112. 66 ‘The Future of the Sunday School’, Ripley and Heanor News, 8 November 1940, p. 4. 67 H. A. Hamilton, The Family Church in Principle and Practice (London: National Sunday School Union, 1941), pp. 12-13.
251 such visit is the outcome of a desire to be helpful and friendly, and that it is not in any way due to mere curiosity’.68 The NSSU utilised the general interest and excitement of the population in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War to appeal to parents to send their children to Sunday school. One Squadron Leader wrote:
[L]et me get one thing clear – they are going to learn best from the people they know best – at home. […] that Church can help you – and that boy and girl of yours. The teachers in the Sunday School want to help you. […] Can’t we get together about this? Ask a Sunday School teacher in and talk it over. Hear what it is all about. Put your ideas across. Make it an interest of yours. Send your boy or girl along, and encourage them to enter into the happy spirit of it – not only the Sunday worship but the week night activities too. Now – let us work together. Parent, teacher – and God. Co-operation!69
The Sunday School Chronicle also reminded its workers that
CONTACT with the homes of its members is a very great asset to any Sunday School, and one of the simplest ways of achieving it is a thrift club. Parents’ meetings, home visiting, and such things are excellent because they show the interest of the school.70
Changes to housing also affected the schools. Housing Acts implemented by the government started to reduce the number of slums and improve poor living conditions.71
Some of the poorest members of society started to enjoy domestic amenities which had previously only been available to the well off.72 New planning regulations meant that houses could be built in pairs or short blocks rather in long rows of uniform terrace houses.73 The communal garden was gradually replaced by the private, self-contained garden.74 Perhaps families felt that they were less accountable to their neighbours, as it was more difficult to
68 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D161 – The Greater Things of the Sunday School. Familiar Addresses on the Work of an Evangelical Sunday School in a Time of Reconstruction, p. 114. 69 CRL, NCEC, D155 – File of leaflets organised by subject A-P, A Squadron Leader Says Let’s Talk, pp. 1-2. 70 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D90 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1938, ‘A Thrift Club Helps Home Contacts’, 11 August 1938, p. 503. 71 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 178. 72 Pugh, We Danced All Night, p. 58. 73 M. J. Daunton, ‘Housing’ in The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750–1950 Volume 3: Social Agencies and Institutions, ed. by F. M.L. Thompson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 195-250, p. 208. 74 Ibid., p. 212.
252 see who was going in and out of their homes. Maybe some felt that they no longer had to send their children to Sunday school to be seen as respectable parents.75 No one from the neighbourhood could see if they had.
Additional problems arose for the schools as many of these new homes were on new local authority housing estates.76 This resulted in a large number of families moving to these new areas, something which greatly concerned Sunday school workers. An article in the Sunday School Chronicle stated:
THE Sunday School teacher of to-day can no longer be likened unto the Pied Piper of Hamelin. In certain areas of our cities he may pipe his tune as alluringly as the piper of old but the children won’t respond because – the children aren’t there! Wholesale demolition of houses and streets under a progressive slum clearance scheme is bound to affect the number of children living in certain areas.77
Cliff also found that
[m]any of the local reports of this period spoke of the ‘movement of people’ which confused and confounded the work of the Sunday schools. […] Birmingham was concerned about the growth of new housing estates where as yet there were no church buildings, nor Sunday schools. The long period of post-war depression had acted rather like a brake on the activities of less adventurous schools.78
Some schools adapted well to these changes. For instance, it was recorded in the Mass-
Observation Archive that ‘the priest here considered that from the point of view of the clergy it was a definite advantage having parishioners living on the estate: “It definitely makes for a greater community spirit and it’s very much easier for visiting and keeping in touch as people are more stable”’.79 As Alan Wilkinson highlighted, the Church of England, which had greater financial resources than some of the other denominations, was able to build
75 Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture, p. 126-162. 76 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 178. 77 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D90 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1938, ‘Go Ye Into All the – New Housing Areas’, 30 June 1938, p. 407. 78 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 215. 79 Mass-Observation Archive, SxMOA1/2/1/7/A/1 – Topic Collection 1: Housing, Box 7 – Typed Drafts of People’s Homes 1942, p. 518.
253 churches on these new estates but the Free Churches could not respond in the same way.80
However, not all Nonconformist schools struggled. The Sunday School Chronicle reported that one school distributed personal letters to each house in the estate, and this was followed up with a visit to the parents.81 As a result, one hundred children enrolled in the schools.82 This perhaps suggests that the schools that adapted to the new housing estates suffered less than those which remained stagnant.
Rise of Compulsory Schooling
Before the passing of the Education Act in 1870, Sunday schools were one of the few options most children had to receive some form of education. Frank Prochaska has argued that ‘without the Sunday schools and charity schools, millions of children would have grown up without any formal instruction’.83 The early success of Sunday schools was in part due to a lack of universal free education; they supplied a need in their local communities. As Gillian
Sutherland has suggested:
Sunday schools fitted into the interstices of working-class struggles for economic survival peculiarly well. Sunday was the one day when schooling did not compete with any other more immediate gainful work. Chapel or church could be a useful schoolroom; and teachers gave their services free […] All Sunday schools taught reading and a minority taught writing and even, in some cases, arithmetic as well.84
The 1870 Act is widely considered to be a watershed moment in British education.
Prochaska argued that the Act ‘established the principle that every child in the nation had a right to be educated’.85 The passage of the Act also symbolised a commitment to the provision of education nationwide by the government.86 The 1880 Act made school
80 Wilkinson, Dissent or Conform?, p. 66. 81 CRL, NCEC Part 1, D90 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1938, ‘Go Ye Into All the – New Housing Areas’, 30 June 1938, p. 407. 82 Ibid., p. 407. 83 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service in Modern Britain, p. 41. 84 Sutherland, ‘Education’, p. 127. 85 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service in Modern Britain, p. 51. 86 Sutherland, ‘Education’, p. 142.
254 attendance compulsory for children aged between five and ten years old. However, during the twentieth century parliament passed additional Education Acts which further diminished the churches’ monopoly of education.87 The Acts also undermined the role of Sunday schools in education. Griffiths suggested that ‘the social imperative of the initial Sunday schools – the teaching of literacy – was now confined to history’.88
Some in the Sunday school movement were displeased by the passing of various
Education Acts. The main clauses of these Acts can be seen in Appendix 31. This displeasure was due, in part, to long-standing tensions between the established and non-established churches. In the nineteenth century Nonconformists were forced to pay tithes and contribute to church rates until 1868.89 James Munson has contended that by this time the
Nonconformists were strongly committed to the school board system.90 The boards had educated many Nonconformists and given ministers opportunities to engage in political work in their towns.91 Any proposals which challenged the position of school boards in education were never going to be received well by Nonconformists.
The Education Act of 1902 resulted in political and religious controversy. It took fifty-seven days to pass through parliament despite the Conservative Party having a large majority.92 The Act was introduced because the education system required drastic reform.93
Voluntary schools, managed by the churches, were struggling in inner city areas while board schools, funded by rate aid, had better provision.94 Board schools in rural areas were also
87 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service in Modern Britain, p. 54. 88 Griffiths, One Generation from the Extinction, p. 57. 89 J. Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, 1800–1970 (London: Routledge, 1971), p. 2. 90 J. Munson, The Nonconformists: In Search of a Lost Culture (London: SPCK, 1991), p. 246. 91 Ibid., p. 246. 92 Murphy, Church, State and School in Britain, p. 90. 93 Munson, The Nonconformists, p. 246. 94 Ibid., p. 250.
255 not faring well.95 Village schools suffered from small enrolments and low incomes.96 These gaps in educational provision needed closing. The Act dissolved school boards and created local education authorities, which would be managed by county councils and county borough councils.97 It also set up new secondary schools.98 Additionally, it maintained the dual system of education but extended rate aid to voluntary schools.99
During the passage of the bill through parliament, Nonconformist Sunday school workers felt it was simply an attempt to reinforce state control of religious education. Lord
Hugh Cecil did not help matters by suggesting that church schools existed to produce church members.100 Moreover, other commentators felt that the Church of England was attempting to maintain control over religious education. A reader of the Times wrote, ‘For more than a generation Bishops and clergy have been absorbed by efforts in the losing cause of clerical control over national education that they have done little or nothing for that which we have in our own hands, in our Sunday schools.’101 This feeling was also reflected in an article published in the Sunday School Chronicle, which stated:
But what becomes of Nonconformists? On this principle the Church has but one answer. They must be converted into Churchmen. […] In these days, however, Nonconformists are in the majority, and many of them believe that their children should be environed by their own Church life from infancy. If, then, the Church of England is willing to concede what it claims, Denominationalism becomes the foundation stone of national education. And all who have studied the Government Bill must be aware that this principle has shaped it from beginning to end. It is in truth a Bishops’ Bill.102
It is interesting that the writer claimed that Nonconformists were in the majority, when this was not the case. It could be that he was referring to the number of children attending
95 Ibid., p. 250. 96 Ibid., p. 250. 97 Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, p. 92. 98 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service in Modern Britain, p. 53 99 Ibid., p. 53. 100 Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, p. 90. 101 ‘The Improvement of Sunday School Teaching’, The Times, 10 February 1909, p. 23. 102 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D54 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1902, ‘The Rights of the Child’, 5 June 1902, p. 397.
256 board schools rather than denominational schools.103 However, it is more likely that he was reflecting the belief that the Free Churches had ‘come to maturity’ between 1902 and
1906.104
Some believed that the bill gave great power to Roman Catholics in educational terms. One commentator argued that ‘the Bill ousts the State Church into a position to dominate national education, and gives Roman Catholicism opportunities which it has never had in this country since pre-Reformation days’.105 This commentator’s protests reflected the ongoing debates between the different sections of the Church of England concerning education.106
The controversy had reached boiling point with the election of the Conservative
Party into office in 1895, which had partially depended on the agreement of both Anglicans and Roman Catholics over issues of Welsh disestablishment.107 As Rogers observed:
The rapprochement with the Roman church had been made possible as we have seen by the rise of Anglo-Catholicism. They were gradually introducing ‘ritualist’ practices into the Church, and they made much of securing control of the schools. Thus the Kenyon-Slaney amendment to the 1902 Bill, which limited all religious instruction in voluntary schools to the terms of the trust deeds of the schools, provoked a violent outcry on the part of the High Church party.108
The evangelical wing of the Church of England was apprehensive of more powerful church schools and feared that it would ally the Roman Catholic and High Church clergy.109 Meanwhile, as N. R. Gullifer suggested, ‘[T]here was a body of clergy who opposed the extension and acceptance of what they called “denominationalism” in local
103 Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, p. 80. 104 Hastings, History of Christianity, p. 36. 105 CRL, NCEC, Part One, D54 - Sunday School Chronicle Volume 31 January-December 1902, ‘Protestants and the Education Bill’, 19 June 1902, p. 429. 106 A. Rogers, ‘Churches and Children – A Study in the Controversy over the 1902 Education Act’ British Journal of Educational Studies 8(1959), 29-51 (pp. 35-37). 107 Ibid., p. 36. 108 Ibid., p. 42. 109 N. R. Gullifer, ‘Opposition to the 1902 Education Act’, Oxford Review of Education, 8(1982), 83-98, (p. 85).
257 authority schools. […] many clergy had hoped that the 1902 Act would not endorse this, but insist on more distinctive teaching in providing schools’.110 The Act was never going to please all within the Church of England, let alone across the denominations.
Other Acts passed were similarly unpopular with those involved in Sunday school work. For example, in 1918 the Minister of Education, Herbert Fisher, tried to take control of the situation and appeared at the annual meeting of the NSSU. The events were recorded as follows:
But Dr. Fisher frankly told us he could not help us, but we could help him. How? By creating the right atmosphere for the Act to produce the best results. He was convinced that there were in the country a large number of men and women who had the root of the matter in them, and who under proper stimulus and proper direction would be educational forces. And he appealed to the Sunday School Union […] ‘a great and honourable society, which had already a life of more than 100 years’ activity in connection with education’ – to apply that stimulus.111
This suggests that given the tensions and protest that arose from the passing of previous
Acts, Fisher wanted to persuade schools to support the Acts, rather than opposing them, as they had done in 1902. The 1918 Act made many Nonconformists feel that the state was again rescuing the Church of England schools when they could not cope with the new demands of education.112 Indeed, the Act relieved the Church of England of building and repairing schools, which, according to Murphy, extended its influence in the schools.113
As Green suggested, these tensions were never fully resolved until the passing of the
1944 Education Act.114 Hastings likewise argued that ‘the one great remaining rock of offence dividing the churches, especially Free churchmen from Anglicans, had been schools, as the fierce and prolonged battles over the Balfour Education Act of 1902 and many
110 Ibid., p. 86. 111 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – Sunday School Chronicle, ‘The Sunday School and the Education Act’, 8 May 1919, p. 277. 112 Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, p. 102. 113 Ibid., p. 102. 114 Green, The Passing of Protestant England, p. 55.
258 subsequent aborted negotiations had demonstrated’.115 The political climate of 1944 made a compromise more achievable because of the existence of a coalition government alongside a feeling that there was a need to build a better society.116 Wilkinson suggested that the passage of the act was helped by the friendship of R. A. Butler and William Temple as well as a general consensus that a national Christianity was valuable.117 Ecumenical understanding had also improved during this time, something which R. A. Butler respected and utilised during the passage of the bill into law.118 Secular subjects and religious education were fully funded by the state and daily acts of worship were made compulsory in schools receiving state funding.119
Frank Prochaska suggested that the failure of the Nonconformist and Anglican churches to agree upon educational policy earlier during the twentieth century had negative consequences for Christianity in Britain.120 He contended that
in effect, sectarian divisions contributed to the gradual marginalization of the churches in education and religion in the schools. […] The very divisions within Christianity, which had led to the proliferation of religious schools in a hierarchical, pre-democratic age, ultimately contributed to the decline of Christian education in the maelstrom of an emerging representative democracy.121
Steadily, the control of religious campaigners in the sphere of schooling was diminished.122 Hastings argued that without the affiliation of the churches to the schools, religious instruction was given less priority by teachers.123 Butler, twenty years
115 Hastings, History of Christianity, p. 417. 116 Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, p. 110. 117 Wilkinson, Dissent or Conform?, p. 283. 118 Green, The Passing of Protestant England, p. 56. 119 Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, p. 116. 120 Prochaska, Christianity and Social Service in Modern Britain, p. 51. 121 Ibid., pp. 51-52. 122 Ibid., p. 54. 123 Hastings, History of Christianity, p. 421.
259 later, believed that the nature of religious instruction in day schools imperilled ‘the
Christian basis of our society’.124
This reveals another reason for the opposition of Sunday school workers. The provision of education by the state meant that one of the main functions of the schools
— to give a basic education to their scholars — had been taken away. Workers were therefore anxious about the future of the schools. The NSSU believed that day schools could undermine its work.125 Day school teachers with professional training were being compared with Sunday school teachers, who were volunteers. In 1918 the Sunday
School Chronicle published an article in which an interviewee feared that ‘the new education act will tend to empty Sunday School and Church still further’.126 Likewise, in
1922 another article noted that with the introduction of compulsory education, Sunday school teachers ‘felt sorely handicapped in the competition with the standard set by the professional teacher, and not unnaturally felt ill at ease when their pupils were comparing their Sunday treatment with the precision of day school manipulation’.127
Parents also increasingly believed that children could learn about God during the week so they did not need to send them to Sunday school. Doreen Rosman suggested that, after the passage of the 1944 Act, parents desired a religious and moral education but no longer looked to the churches and Sunday schools to provide this.128 For instance, a Mass-Observation report recorded a debate between a husband and wife about whether to send their child to Sunday school.129 The father believed that he
124 Ibid., p. 421. 125 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D70 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1918, ‘The Education Act’, 5 December 1918, p. 583. 126 Ibid., ‘The Education Act. Are the Churches Preparing?’, 5 December 1918, p. 583. 127 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D74 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1922, ‘The Sunday School Teachers’ Turn’, 9 November 1922, p. 277. 128 Rosman, ‘Sunday Schools and Social Change’, p. 157. 129 MOA, SxMOA1/2/47/1/E – Observations, References to Religion in Non-Religious Observers Reports, p. 4.
260 could learn about God in day school and therefore did not need to go to Sunday school.130 However, some had expressed this concern as early as 1900. An article in the
Sunday School Chronicle stated, ‘THE home must be held partly responsible, and bear its fair share of the blame. Since education became compulsory and free, many parents have become perfectly indifferent as to the attendance of their children at the Sunday school.’131
Not all those involved in the Sunday school movement saw these Acts in as bad a light as the previous extracts have suggested. Some saw them as an opportunity to better educate their scholars. The Reverend Allan Cameron concluded:
Their Sunday school teachers and their churches were much indebted to the work done by the teachers in our public schools. The great aim of Sunday school work was not so much to fill the minds of the children with learning as to make them grow up good, Christian young men and women and good citizens.132
Even the Sunday School Chronicle embraced the opportunities that came with these changes for Sunday schools. One writer remarked, ‘[T]he Churches will be required to make more of their Sunday Schools, financing them and equipping them with greater liberality, supplying them with more teachers, and contributing of their best to their best investment’.133 This was not an acceptance of the Act but rather a pragmatic response. In 1939 the magazine advised its workers to unite with its day school counterparts as cooperation was key to ensuring a better religious life for future generations.134 Additionally, the writer of the previous extract also argued that the role of Sunday schools was to provide a very different
130 Ibid., p. 4. 131 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘The School at the End of the Century’, 13 December 1900, p. 850. 132 ‘Sunday School Convention’, Aberdeen Press and Journal, 19 September 1910, p. 6. 133 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D54 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1902, ‘The Education Bill – The Opportunity of the Sunday School’, 11 December 1902, p. 851. 134 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D91 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1939, ‘The New Education Act’, 31 August 1939, p. 568.
261 kind of religious education and that introducing their scholars to the life of the church was increasingly becoming their focus.135
Rise of Commercial Leisure
The period between 1900 and 1939 also saw an increase in commercial leisure and the time to enjoy it. The working week gradually started to reduce and workers were increasingly able to take holidays with pay.136 Additionally, wages began to rise, meaning that families had more disposal income.137 Families could spend this surplus on leisure activities and hobbies such as bicycles, motorcars, home improvements, and gardening.138 These changes impacted on the churches and Sunday schools. As Green observed:
The private motor car furnished whole families with the means to avoid boring Sundays at home, if only opening up the possibility of spending boring Sundays elsewhere […] To a degree that Sunday schools had once been effective recruitment agencies for the churches, the full institutional impact of these developments was delayed for a generation. But their immediate, and damaging, significance did not pass unnoticed, nor indeed, unchallenged.139
Likewise, Rosman suggested that ‘the practice of sending children to Sunday School had fitted in well with the parental habit of treating Sunday as a day to relax at home’. In the post-war period Sunday School attendance increasingly came into conflict with alternative family arrangements.140
Sunday schools had traditionally provided leisure opportunities to children and their families when they were outside the reach of most of the population. For instance, a radio programme on the BBC 1960 made the following observation:
These old Sunday Schools provided a really full social life for the thousands of families that belonged to them, cricket clubs, rambling clubs, debating societies, lantern lectures, concerts and outings, there was something for everybody […] But
135 Ibid., p. 586. 136 Dewey, War and Progress, p. 179. 137 J. Walton, ‘Towns and Consumerism’, in The Cambridge Urban History of Britain Volume III: 1840–1950, ed. by M. Daunton (Cambridge, 2001), pp. 715-744 (p. 727). 138 Ibid., p. 728. 139 Green, The Passing of Protestant England, p. 262. 140 Rosman, ‘Sunday Schools and Social Change’, p. 159.
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times have changed since a Sunday School trip to Colwyn Bay from Manchester by train cost 3/3d each return, and sultana cake for the infants teas party was 4d a pound!141
The famous Sunday school treat was the highlight of the year for many in local communities.142 A picnic held by Windsor Congregational Sunday School, in Barry, attracted five hundred people.143 Likewise, in Cardiff, Roath Road Wesleyan Methodist Sunday
School’s annual treat in 1908 catered for up to one thousand two hundred people to attend.144 A programme for the event shows the wide range of activities on offer for those attending, which can be seen in Appendix 32.145 Sunday schools in local areas joined together and ran sports leagues for those attending the schools.146 Schools also provided libraries or literature for their scholars and teachers.147 This gave many working-class people access to literature which they otherwise would not have had access to.148 Prizes were also given for good attendance or behaviour.149 Some children even received toys from their schools at Christmas or on their annual treat.150 As Rowntree and Lavers argued in their social study of English leisure:
‘[T]he activities of Nonconformist churches appears, however, to point to the fact that although the proportion of young people attending church services may be small, a much larger proportion come under religious influence through the weekday church activities in which they take part.’151
141 BBC Written Article, Films 61/62, Women’s Hour 1.11.60 to 18.4.61, An Honourable Past By Jennette Howarth, 16/2/1960, p. 4. 142 Rosman, ‘Sunday Schools and Social Change’, p. 155. 143 GA, DECONG10/25 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Register and Notes 1903–1933, 13 July 1912, p. 98. 144 GA, DX320/3/2/I – Roath Road Roamer, 1907–1908, July to August 1908, p. 15. 145 See Appendix 32. 146 MOA, SxMOA1/5/5/22/E/6 – Bolton Sunday School Social League, 17 June 1937, pp. 1-14 and NRS CH2/852/75 – Crown Kirk Session, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1912–1934, Annual Report 1934. 147 GA, DECONG10/22 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Minutes 1868–1906, 6 February 1903; DBAP52/1 – Bethel Baptist Church Barry, Sunday School Minutes 1901–1910, 30 November 1901; BALSC, BDFCBWM/14/2/3 – Abbey Road Wesleyan Methodist Church, Sunday School Minute Book 1906– 1915; 28 January 1907 and LMA, ACC/1361/05/004 – Ferne Park Baptist Church, Sunday School Minute Book 1924–1928, 9 November 1925. 148 MacKenzie, Propaganda and Empire, p. 206. 149 GA, DBAP52/1 – Bethel Baptist Church Barry, Sunday School Minutes 1901–1910, 30 November 1901. 150 NRS, CH2/852/74 – Crown Kirk Session, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1900–1912, 17 June 1902 and BALSC, BDFCBWM – Vickerstown Sunday School Teachers’ Minute Book 1908–1922, 10 July 1913 151 B. Rowntree and G. R. Lavers, English Life and Leisure: A Social Study (London: Longmans Green, 1951), p. 414.
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However, this provision of activities may have contributed in part to the decline of the schools. Alan Wilkinson suggested:
Since the chapels often appealed to the socially mobile and the aspiring, they were agents of educational, class and social change, especially as much Christianity was expressed through middle-class culture. Ministers, who had themselves benefitted from their own experience of education […] helped to re-class their congregations. Ironically therefore, the chapels helped to destroy the old pattern where it was possible to spend almost every evening and all Sunday under the control of the chapel ethos. By the 1930s there were so many other agencies providing education and social life that the chapels were left more and more to concentrate upon the strictly ‘religious’ needs of their people.152
Obelkevich also concluded:
‘[A]ltogether these activities made an immeasurable contribution to social and cultural life. But they also carried with them a danger, of diverting the church from its primary religious role, particularly as they became vulnerable to the expansion of commercial leisure and to the growing provision of welfare by the state’.153
When families could afford their own privatised leisure, they felt less inclined to send their children to take part in the activities offered by the churches. For instance, one article noted:
THERE must be many Sunday Schools which find their numbers are depleted during the summer months. The family car, the cheap rail and bus excursions, to say, nothing of the sunshine, are all responsible for the condition of things. Some parents do not seem concerned as to whether their children attend Sunday School regularly or not, and if they feel like going out they do not hesitate to take them.154
Additionally, with fewer working days in the week, parents had more opportunity to relax.
Workers acknowledged that many parents had sent their children to Sunday school simply to obtain some rest. One author stated that ‘if the Sunday School is an institute designed to make it possible for thousands of parents regularly to enjoy a Sunday afternoon nap, it is
152 Wilkinson, Dissent or Conform, p. 63. 153 Obelkevich, ‘Religion’, p. 345. 154 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D90 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1938, ‘Summer Time for the Sunday School’, 30 June 1938, p. 407.
264 certainly not a failure but a brilliant and prolonged success’.155 With the existence of bank holidays and weekends, not all relaxing had to be confined to Sunday afternoons. This was now a time in which some wanted to take their families on trips. Since 1900 there had been concerns about a creeping ‘continental’ Sunday.156 For instance, an article in the Sunday
School Chronicle observed that
[regarding] the use of Sunday as a day of pleasure. One cannot leave unnoticed the widespread use of the bicycle on Sunday. The streams of young men and young women to be seen on our roads on the Lord’s Day go far to account for the withdrawal of many of our elder scholars, and the difficulty of securing a supply of teachers.157
The magazine also ran a series of articles in 1913 investigating secular menaces on Sundays, such as newspapers, sports, amusements, travelling, and trading.158
Decreasing Sabbath observance was blamed by one writer for declining Sunday school attendance. It was argued that there was
growing laxity in the observance of the Sabbath, especially in the large cities. It seems to be pretty evident that this change is influencing church attendance on the part of adults and it need not surprise us if it affects the attendance at our Sabbath Schools, most of which meet on Sabbath afternoons and evenings. The change in church hours and the closing of Sabbath Schools in summer have in some cases been adverse to Sabbath School attendance.159
Sympathy was displayed in the Sunday School Chronicle, which contended that for some workers Sunday was the only day that they could exercise.160 Others felt that Sunday games and amusements created another day of work for the lower classes, which limited their time
155 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D161 - The Greater Things of the Sunday School, pp. 14-15. 156 Green, The Passing of Protestant England, p. 158. 157 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘The School at the End of the Century’, 13 December 1900, p. 849. 158 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D65 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1913, ‘The Secular Menace of Sunday: An Inquiry – The Sunday Newspaper’, 10 April 1913, pp. 307-308; ‘The Secular Menace of Sunday: An Inquiry – Sunday Sport’, 17 April 1913, pp. 331-332; ‘The Secular Menace of Sunday: An Inquiry – Sunday Amusements’, 24 April 1913, pp. 355-6; ‘The Secular Menace of Sunday: An Inquiry – Sunday Travelling’, 1 May 1913, pp. 375-376 and ‘The Secular Menace of Sunday: An Inquiry – Sunday Trading’, 8 May 1913, pp. 395-396. 159 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘The School at the End of the Century’, 13 December 1900, p. 851. 160 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘Sunday Games’, 20 March 1919, p. 155.
265 for rest and to attend church.161 These two standpoints reflected the debate between those wishing to relax Sunday laws and those who argued for stricter controls.162
In statistical terms, it is hard to assess the impact of declining Sabbath observance.
Declining Sunday school attendance was the result of multiple factors, and correlation is not causation. Additionally, denominations tended to give grand totals of their scholars, rather than separating numbers by region. This makes it difficult to assess the effect of the relaxation of Sunday laws on different areas. However, a comparison of statistical returns from schools affiliated to the NSSU from England, Wales, and Scotland could be used to assess whether declining Sabbath observance contributed to decreases in Sunday school attendance. Scotland and Wales have traditionally been associated with greater levels of
Sabbath observance and reverence compared with England.163 As Callum Brown highlighted, even in the 1950s a Sunday in Scotland was still prominently religious in character: pubs were closed, there were no sports played, and swings were tied so children could not play on them.164 It is interesting that in terms of overall decline, the trend line for England is the steepest compared with that of Scotland and Wales, as indicated in Appendix 33.165 This suggests that decline set in sooner for England and that an erosion of Sabbath observance was probably a factor in the demise of the Sunday schools.
There had always been concerns about offering prizes or treats for attendance and good behaviour. For some Sunday school workers, this felt like bribery. The Archbishop of
Canterbury Randall Davidson’s report concerning the condition of the Church of England’s
161 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘Sunday Games’, 20 March 1919, p. 155. 162 Green, The Passing of Protestant England, p. 160. 163 Ibid., p. 154. 164 Brown, Religion and Society in Scotland Since 1707 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997), p. 1. 165 See Appendix 33.
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Sunday schools found that many workers resorted to prizes to keep up with their
Nonconformist counterparts.166 The report observed:
An enormous proportion of the money raised is spent on prizes & treats. We read of parishes-St Anne’s Limehouse-for one- where both have been abolished, but human nature & nonconformist opportunism have forced upon the authorities the choice between prizes & an empty school. Hence prizes & treats have been restored. Many parishes complain of reckless bribery practised by dissenting Sunday Schools. […] Bribery is not prominent in Anglican Sunday Schools, but we cannot say that it is entirely absent.167
Likewise, an article in the Sunday School Chronicle argued:
The element of coaxing has come to play too great a part in the Sunday School, as in other dealings of the Church with the masses. Treats and the like have been overdone. Children move from school to school after the highest bidder. Therefore they lose the spirit of attachment, the esprit de corps so essential to a good school, and they easily leave when they are too old for such attractions.168
Not all were against prizes or viewed them as bribes. One teacher who had worked as a superintendent for fifty-four years believed that prizes encouraged scholars and helped to attach more significance to Scripture examinations.169 Similarly, another article in the
Sunday School Chronicle protested at the suggestion of a local newspaper that prizes were bribery. The article stated:
[D]o adults never give and receive presents? […] Prizes are not given to bribe the children. They are given in recognition of faithful work, punctuality, regular attendance, and the like. […] schools should turn a deaf ear to this doctrine of the supermen, and give youngsters generous and kindly recognition of their interest and efforts, and the encouragement that means so much.170
One school was concerned about prizes for a different reason. A teacher wrote to the
Sunday School Chronicle with the following argument:
Thirty years ago we abolished prize-giving from our school altogether. There was always dissatisfaction amongst the scholars when prizes were distributed. How
166 LPL, Davidson 496 – Education, Sunday Schools, fol. 161. 167 Ibid., fol. 161. 168 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘The School at the End of the Century’, 13 December 1900, p. 851. 169 Ibid., ‘After Ninety Years’, 19 April 1900, p. 247. 170 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘Is the Prize System “Iniquitous”?’, 9 January 1919, p. 17.
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could you be certain the right children got the right prizes? Take the prizes given for early and regular attendance ; think of some homes that these children came from – parents who never cared whether their children went to school or not ; no one to get them ready […] I am glad to say that the principle of coming to school because it is good and right so to do has, in our case, been successful ; and we have still as good a school as when we gave prizes.171
Perhaps this suggests that the schools that simply gave out prizes for the sake of it were the schools that struggled to hold on to their scholars.
Correspondingly, developments in radio and film received a mixed reception from the schools. Radio took off among the working classes during the late 1930s. By 1939 there were thirty-four million listeners out of a population of forty-eight million.172 Most could either afford a set or knew someone with a set.173 Likewise, cinema-going during the 1930s became one of the most popular forms of entertainment.174 It was an activity that expanded across the classes, and it was estimated that there were 963,000,000 visits to the cinema in
1934.175 Some workers expressed concerns about the content of films shown in cinemas.176
Other teachers expressed anger that children could be admitted during Sunday school hours and wanted a ban imposed in order that the children attend school sessions.177
Similarly, one article argued:
No one can worship God by means of a pair of headphones or by listening to a loud speaker. Upon professing Christians there will always remain the duty ‘not to neglect the assembling of themselves together.’ […] it must be obvious to all that united worship and praise cannot be replaced by sitting at home in an arm-chair and listening to a popular preacher speaking from a broadcasting station.178
171 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919, ‘Prize Giving’, 20 March 1919, p. 158. 172 Hannah Elias, Radio Religion: War, Faith and the BBC, 1939–1948 (unpublished doctoral thesis, McMaster University, 2016), p. 54. 173 Ibid., p. 54. 174 R. James, Popular Culture and Working-Class Taste in Britain, 1930–1939: A Round of Cheap Diversions (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010), p. 13. 175 Ibid., p. 13. 176 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D76 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1924, ‘The Cinema and the Child’, 19 June 1924, p. 365. 177 ‘Sunday School v. Cinema’, Dundee Courier, 15 November 1945, p. 3. 178 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D76 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1924, ‘Wireless and the Christian Message’, 24 July 1924, p. 458.
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Others felt that film and the radio could be used to aid the work of the schools and churches. An article in the Sunday School Chronicle reported that at a conference of workers
‘the development of wireless offered immense possibilities and Mr Hayes looked to the time when the services of the most expert teacher would be available for the remotest village
Sunday School’.179 Dr Basil Yeaxlee, who edited the Sunday School Chronicle, cooperated with figures from the BBC such as Charles Siepmann and tried to encourage greater involvement of workers through the magazine.180 Likewise, some proposed that films could be used in the schools as more up-to-date visual aids rather than paper and sandboxes.181 This demonstrates that the schools were not concerned about the cinema or radio as a whole; they were only worried when children missed sessions to partake in these activities. Yet this was another leisure change which competed for the attention of children on a Sunday.
Internal Causes of Decline
Debates concerning secularisation and the decline of Christianity have tended to focus on external factors of decline. While these factors all contributed to decline, the actions of the churches also played their part. As Naomi Stanton has argued, ‘[T]his focus on blaming external influences may have deflected some churches or Sunday schools away from thinking about internal change’.182 However, some Sunday school workers were concerned that their efforts were not good enough. For instance, some were very aware that their scholars were not transferring into church membership. As discussed in the previous chapter, this was considered by many workers to be one of their most important
179 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D82 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1930, ‘The Sunday School of the Future’, 9 October 1930, p. 784. 180 K. Wolfe, The Churches and the British Broadcasting Corporation 1922–1956: The Politics of Broadcast Religion (London: SCM Press, 1984), p. 15. 181 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D88 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1936, ‘The Cinema in the Sunday School’, 2 April 1936, p. 221. 182 Stanton, ‘From Raikes Revolution’, p. 76.
269 aims.183 A BBC radio broadcast highlighted that ‘in fact, six out of seven of the children who
“go to Sunday School” never become Church members at all. And the numbers who go to
Sunday School in the first place are going down’.184 This reflects similar concerns expressed in The Army and Religion (1919) and the Sunday School Chronicle in 1919 that only 20 per cent of scholars transferred into the churches.185
Those working in the schools believed that senior scholars were their biggest concern. Once many of these children reached the school-leaving age or started work, they dropped out of church life too. Field highlighted that in Sheffield, ‘post-school-leaving attendance at church or Sunday school by 14- to 18-year olds in 1930-1931 was found to correlate very strongly with the economic circumstances of the family, especially for boys; for example, where those circumstances were good 51.2 percent of boys attended, but where they were very poor it was only 23.6 percent’.186 The Barrow-in-Furness Wesleyan
Methodist Sunday School Council was concerned by the number of senior scholars who were not church members.187 The NSSU launched a campaign targeted at adolescents in
1930. Its main purpose was ‘to help the young people to reach a deep experience of
Christian fellowship by giving youth a larger part in the activities of the Christian Church’.188
Workers were also concerned that there was a large gap between the churches and the schools. It was suggested that the name ‘Sunday School’ was one reason why scholars left but did not regularly attend church. It was felt that when children reached a certain age,
183 See Chapter 5. 184 BBC Written Archives, Films 37/38 – Religious Scripts, The Way of Life Daily as I Grow, 29/7/1962, p. 2. 185 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D71 – Sunday School Chronicle, ‘The Sunday School and the New Era’, 2 January 1919, pp. 3 and 6 and Cairns, The Army and Religion, p. 122. 186 Field, ‘Gradualist or Revolutionary Secularization’, p. 77. 187 BALSC, BDFCBWM/1/4/1 – Barrow Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Council 1912–1948, 18 February 1927, pp. 53-54. 188 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D16 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1928/1929 to 1933/1934, 1930/1931, p. 54.
270 they were too old to attend. For instance, Robert Raikes Junior, a descendent of Robert
Raikes, who is popularly held to be the inventor of the Sunday school, argued:
We have still to-day an unbridgeable gulf in many places between Church and school. […] it is true that in a great many places there is a separation between Sunday School and Church that ought not to exist and which is harmful to both. So far as one can see, this situation will continue to exist so long as there are two organisations in name; hence my belief that we should drop the name Sunday School.189
A vicar interviewed by the BBC had a similar opinion:
I think nowadays the name is unfortunate, because it still conjures up in the minds of young people a Victorian and Edwardian pattern of Sunday activity for children. The Children’s Council are moving ahead and noting trends in children’s work, and it is interesting that in the more progressive parishes the term “Sunday School” is being dropped entirely.190
The introduction of a school-leaving age through various Education Acts perhaps suggested to some children that once they left day school, they were too old for Sunday school.191
Given the large gap between the churches and the schools, leaving Sunday school did not translate into church attendance. Scholars’ experience of religion had often been gained via the school rather than the church. Sunday school attendance did not translate into church attendance in the minds of some children or their parents.192
Sunday school workers introduced initiatives to ensure that their scholars saw both institutions as one. H. A. Hamilton rose to prominence within the Sunday school movement, beginning with his publication of The Family Church (1941), and he felt strongly that the gap between the churches and the schools was where many adolescents were lost.193 He also argued that ‘at the moment the vast majority of those whom we do have the joy of bringing into church membership have either a Christian home background, or have had the personal
189 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D82 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1930, ‘Abolish the Sunday School! Says Robert Raikes, Junior’, 27 November 1930, p. 923. 190 BBC Written Archives, Films 37/38 – Religious Scripts, The Way of Life Daily as I Grow, 29/7/1962, p. 3. 191 Orchard, ‘Introduction’, p. xvi. 192 Rosman, ‘Sunday Schools and Social Change’, p. 151. 193 H. A. Hamilton, The Family Church, p. 7.
271 friendship of some Christian man or woman in the Sunday-school or week-night organisation. Can these not be vastly multiplied?’194 His proposals ranged from ensuring that every child in the Sunday school had a mentor in the church to changing the time at which sessions were held to ensure children had the opportunity to worship with the congregation.195 However, he gave the following warning to those considering moving
Sunday school sessions:
We are not likely to build a worthy scheme of Christian Education if we are thinking merely to adjust ourselves to social habits, especially if they are the habits of people cooperating with us. The idea of the Family Church does not stand or fall by the success of bringing the Sunday-school life of the morning service, but it does depend very largely on there being frequent occasions as possible when the young and old do share the joy of worshipping together.196
Changing the time to suit some would not solve all of their problems; the key to family church was young and old worshipping together. Hamilton was arguing for an approach which ensured ‘no child in the school [was] without a friend in the Church’.197 Experienced teachers and leading voices within the movement also stressed the importance of mentoring scholars and ensuring that workers got to know them on an individual basis.198
However, Hamilton’s proposals were often implemented wrongly by churches. Many simply merged Sunday school into the morning service. As Stanton noted, ‘[I]n the merging of Sunday school and church, Sunday school was bound to take a lower priority. In most cases the church did not adapt as suggested, Sunday school adapted to church, e.g., moving classes from the afternoons to the morning to fit with established service times.’199 Cliff observed:
194 Hamilton, The Family Church, p. 18. 195 Ibid., p. 24 and p. 36. 196 Ibid., p. 36. 197 Ibid., p. 24. 198 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D52 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1900, ‘After Ninety Years’, 19 April 1900, p. 247 and D63 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1911, ‘The Inter-Relations of Home, Church, and School’, 11 May 1911, p. 432. 199 Stanton, ‘From Raikes’ Revolution’, p. 85.
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When Hamilton began his work in 1933, he noted that 80% of the children in Sunday School came from non-churchgoing homes. When he died in 1977, about 80% of the children came from churchgoing homes. The move to morning satisfied the personal habits of the middle classes, but children from non-churchgoing homes lost out. The churches had not risen to the notion of Church Friends, Church Parents, or Sponsors.200
Likewise, Rosman concluded:
The new arrangements reflected support for the idea of a ‘Family Church’ among church leaders, and also solved the problem of finding people willing to teach on Sunday afternoon, and who had no desire to accompany them to a morning service. Changing the time at which Sunday Schools met did nothing to stem, and may even have exacerbated, the decline in attendance.201
Furthermore, Stanton contended that ‘the adoption of the family church model marks the mid-twentieth century change from Sunday schools serving a majority of non-church young people to becoming little more than a childcare facility for the adults attending church’.202
The churches did not always help the schools to thrive. As explored previously, the relationship of the churches and Sunday schools was not always harmonious.203 Mark
Griffiths highlighted that Sunday schools had for much of their history operated outside the control of the churches, for instance they often elected their own committee.204 This often resulted in friction between the churches and the schools.205 Stephen Orchard found that there was ‘considerable hostility within the churches to the old kind of Sunday School and the name itself, building in strength after 1945’.206 Naomi Thompson highlighted that some in the churches, rather than being concerned with decline, simply blamed the schools, and during the 1970s and 1980s some even believed that decline was ‘a blessing in disguise’.207
This sort of attitude was not encouraging for either those working in the schools or those
200 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 246. 201 Rosman, ‘Sunday Schools and Social Change’, p. 158. 202 Stanton, ‘From Raikes’ Revolution’, p. 86. 203 See Chapters 1, 4, and 5. 204 Griffiths, One Generation from Extinction, p. 267. 205 Ibid., p. 267. 206 Orchard, ‘Introduction’, pp. xiii-xix, p. xviii. 207 Thompson, Young People and Church Since 1900, p. 46.
273 attending. It helped to reinforce the idea that the schools and churches were two different institutions and widened the gap between them. Stanton concluded that ‘the fact was that the Sunday schools were successfully engaging large numbers of young people well into the twentieth century – but the churches were failing to attract them into church membership’.208 Rosman highlighted the findings of Bartlett, who suggested that the schools provided a steady trickle of new members and that it would have been worse without them.209
The Sunday schools themselves also played a role in their own decline. As demonstrated in Chapter 5, attempts to train teachers and reform teaching methods were made.210 Yet this does not mean that all teachers changed their teaching in light of their training or were good teachers.211 Likewise, Robert Raikes Junior argued that ‘there are faults on both sides [the churches and the schools] for this unfortunate situation. Many schools are run by officers and teachers who have little sense of loyalty to the Church, and some of them are not even in membership with it, and are seldom seen at its services’.212 If scholars saw that their teachers were not committed members and attenders, it was not surprising that they did not see the need to attend church in their adulthood. Moreover, there was at times a lack of flexibility and imagination from Sunday school organisations and workers. Hamilton suggested that some workers lacked the imagination that was needed to suggest ways in which the schools and the church could be united.213 Likewise, the graded movement in the schools received criticism even into the 1930s.214
208 Ibid., p. 44. 209 Rosman, ‘Sunday Schools and Social Change’, p. 155. 210 See Chapter 5. 211 See Chapter 5. 212 CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D82 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1930, ‘Abolish the Sunday School! Say Robert Raikes Junior’, 27 November 1930, p. 923. 213 Hamilton, The Family Church, p. 23. 214 See Chapter 5.
274
On the other hand, Stanton suggested that teachers were often demoralised by their
‘institutional’ authorities.215 This is perhaps an exaggeration, as previous chapters have shown that many prominent figures in the movement were very supportive of their teachers.216 However, it is an interesting argument to consider. Stanton found that local unions regularly criticised the quality of their teachers and informed them that they needed to improve both their personal and their spiritual lives.217 She contended that ‘twentieth century volunteers may not have felt as valued, confident, and competent as Raikes’ paid teachers’.218 Alongside a lack of support from the churches, this would not have increased morale among Sunday school workers. Being a Sunday school teacher was sometimes a thankless task. Perhaps encouragement from others may have helped some to feel freer to adapt and reform their work.
Conclusion
Sunday schools had been in decline from around 1905. It is easy to ascribe blame to one cause, such as the First World War, but religious decline is more complicated than that.
As this chapter has demonstrated, there is no single explanation for decline, but rather several interconnected explanations. This chapter has also shown that those in the Sunday school movement attributed decline to many factors. However, the First World War was not a major factor in decline. Statistical analysis has shown that numbers remained stable during the interwar period despite a declining birth rate and difficult economic circumstances. It was the changes in society, which were exacerbated by the war, that started to deeply affect the schools. Family life was changing, and families were becoming smaller and more home-centred. Housing conditions improved and were more private.
215 Stanton, ‘From Raikes’ Revolution’, p. 83. 216 See Chapters 1, 4, and 5. 217 Stanton, ‘From Raikes’ Revolution’, p. 83. 218 Ibid., p. 83.
275
Welfare initiatives that the schools had set up were increasingly taken over by the state, and
Sunday schools and churches were no longer the sole providers of education.
Tensions revealed during the passage of the Education Acts not only displayed old denominational grievances but also highlighted concerns that the state would undermine the work of the schools. The rise of commercial leisure affected the work of the schools.
Increasing disposable family incomes and more free time to enjoy leisure meant that Sunday schools faced fierce competition. Traditionally they had provided the leisure that so many now started to enjoy outside the realm of the churches. Sunday schools and the churches also contributed to their own decline. There was an awareness that once children graduated from Sunday school they were not transferring into church membership. It was felt that there was a large gap between the two institutions, as Sunday schools had started independently from the churches. This situation was not helped by the churches’ attitude towards the schools and their decision to merge Sunday school into their morning services.
The schools were also to blame. Some teachers did not regularly attend church or enter church membership, and this was not the best example for teachers to show. The changing circumstances in society caught Sunday schools and churches off guard. As Cliff suggested,
‘[T]oo many times the schools, agencies, and the churches had been overtaken by events of which they were not fully aware.’219
219 Cliff, The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement, p. 295.
276
Conclusion
British Sunday schools were a significant tool of religious socialisation and education throughout much of the twentieth century. Those who lived through the First World War had their early religious experiences and education at the schools. While the schools are not attended as widely today, their importance should not be underestimated. The Sunday school movement, invented in Britain, inspired churchmen in North America to adopt a similar institution and it is still deeply ingrained in American Christian culture.1 For instance,
Russell Moore, the President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern
Baptist Convention in the United States, recently argued as follows in an article:
I’ve often said that I wouldn’t want to have to choose between my seminary education and my childhood years in Sunday school, but if forced I would choose Sunday school each time. Now that’s saying something since I believe so strongly in seminary education, and gave most of my ministry to it. I’d never want to give that up. But as important as theological education was for me, Sunday school was more so.2
Likewise, the influence of the schools lives on through those who passed through the schools in the 1950s and 1960s.3 Popular celebrities of today, such as Ewan McGregor,
Melvyn Bragg, Richard Wilson, and Anthea Turner, all attended Sunday school at some point during their childhood.4 To understand the influence of Christianity in Britain requires a better understanding of the history of the Sunday schools. This was the institution where many were exposed to Christian faith, hymnody, and imagery.
However, despite the important role Sunday schools have played in the religious and social life of the British nation, there has been little research that takes their history beyond
1 W. H. Watson, The First Fifty Years of the Sunday School (London: Sunday School Union, 1862), p. 80. 2 Russell Moore, The Cosmic Importance of Children’s Sunday School (The Gospel Coalition, 2016)
277 the outbreak of the First World War. Studies that have briefly mentioned schools after the war rarely consider the schools in their own right. For instance, the research of Callum
Brown, Hugh McLeod, and Sarah Williams are excellent studies but are focused mainly on the lives of adults and the churches.5 Additionally, the little attention the schools have received has been rather critical. Historians such as Jeffrey Cox and Alan Wilkinson have suggested that the schools were ineffective tools of religious education.6 Wilkinson even argued that they did not prepare their scholars for the fighting front.7 Likewise, the experience of Sunday schools during the interwar years has received little scholarly attention.
Therefore, given the limitations of and existing debates in the historiography, this thesis addresses the significance of British Sunday schools through its six chapters. Chapter
1, ‘British Sunday Schools in the Pre-War Era, 1900–1914’, demonstrated the powerful influence of the schools in British society before the outbreak of the First World War.
Their presence was pervasive, featuring not only in popular fiction but also in local and national newspapers. Royalty and politicians gave their public support to the schools, both financially and morally. The position of the schools within society meant that they could voice their concerns about the conditions their scholars lived in. The chapter also revealed that the work of the schools was far more effective than some scholars have previously suggested. Those directly involved with the schools believed them to be performing well.
However, there was an awareness that more could be done to improve their work. The schools were also internationally minded and connected. They not only introduced their scholars to missionary work but also exchanged ideas through international conferences.
5 Brown, The Death of Christian Britain; McLeod, Religion and Society in England and Williams, Religious Belief and Popular Culture. 6 Cox, English Churches in a Secular Society, pp. 95-97 and Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, pp. 239-240. 7 Wilkinson, The Church of England and the First World War, p. 97.
278
Furthermore, some scholars’ lives were profoundly influenced by the time they spent at the schools. These were the formative years which shaped the religious outlook of many men who would serve in the British forces during the First World War.
Chapter 2, ‘British Sunday Schools and the First World War’, explored the previously under-researched experience of the schools during the conflict. It revealed that the conflict, while disruptive to the schools, was not the cataclysmic event that some scholars have painted it to be. The work of the schools was disrupted by the loss of workers, war regulations, and the outbreak of influenza and Sunday school treats were cancelled or changed because of food shortages and transportation issues. The schools adapted to these challenges, though. The chapter also demonstrated that the schools offered both spiritual and practical support to those on the fighting front. Teachers were encouraged not only to pray for their former scholars but also to send them letters and parcels. Additionally, the chapter demonstrated that those who were directly involved with the schools felt that their work was satisfactory. Furthermore, it illustrated the relationships that were formed between the schools and their scholars. Many of the letters sent between the schools and their former members reflect the very meaningful relationship between both parties. Those who taught at the schools were also affected by their time there.
Challenging the assumption that the Sunday school contributed to the poor religious state of the British soldier or sailor, Chapter 3, ‘The British Forces and the Sunday Schools’, demonstrated the importance of the institution to these men. In the scholarship of the First
World War, Sunday schools have been largely portrayed as ineffective given the poor religious state of the forces. However, these reports failed to consult the men whose faith they were trying to assess. This chapter revealed that for many of those on the fighting front, the time they had spent at the schools was deeply important to them. Letters from the front demonstrate that they appreciated the ongoing support from the schools. The
279 relationship with their former schools and teachers helped to sustain their faith and morale.
The lessons and hymns they had learnt at the schools provided comfort and reassurance.
Likewise, their biblical knowledge shaped their understanding of the conflict. Soldiers serving in Palestine and Egypt wrote home about their excitement at seeing the sights they had learnt about in their childhood. Some felt that in moments of trial and temptation, the teaching they had received helped them greatly. This shows that Sunday schools had prepared many of their former scholars for the challenges they faced on the fighting front.
Chapter 4, ‘British Sunday Schools in Interwar Britain, 1918–1939’ offered a much- required history of the schools in the immediate years following the end of the First World
War. It assessed how schools dealt with the post-war challenges and revealed how schools commemorated their scholars who died and welcomed home those who survived. An analysis of soldier scholar epitaphs illustrates that the soldiers’ families frequently chose to use biblical verses or lines from popular hymns. This reflects the Christian nature of memorial practices in the interwar period, as indicated by Connelly and Bell.8 The chapter also demonstrated the continuing importance of the schools and Christianity in interwar
Britain. Important figures in British society, such as politicians, continued to attach great significance to the schools. This challenges the conclusion of scholars like MacCulloch, who have suggested that the war killed the Christian faith.9 Additionally, the chapter illustrated further the international emphasis of the schools. They continued to foster interest in missionary work but also increasingly cooperated internationally to improve and expand the work of the schools.
Chapter 5, ‘Teaching, Training, and Reform, 1900–1939’, revealed the attempts of
Sunday school workers to professionalise and improve their efforts. Heavily influenced by
8 Connelly, The Great War, Memory and Ritual, p. 55 and Bell, Faith in Conflict, pp. 100-129. 9 MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, p. 915.
280 new concepts concerning childhood, influential figures such as Archibald proposed changes to the way the schools were organised. New teaching methods were also introduced which put the scholar at the centre of the lesson. However, it is hard to assess how widely these changes were adopted by the schools. Statistical indications suggest that not all schools adopted these changes. Additionally, some believed that grading led to Sunday school decline. However, these efforts reflect the fact that the organisations were attempting to change the way their schools were run. This demonstrates that Sunday schools were not as stagnant as some have believed them to be. The schools that embraced these changes appear to have thought that they were beneficial. The chapter also revealed that the content of curricula changed little in regard to lessons about the Bible and Christian faith. However, lessons on temperance, catechisms, and missionary work were increasingly added to the curricula. Additionally, the introduction of compulsory education meant that schools felt that an obstacle to their work had been removed. This led to debates concerning the purpose of the schools. Many workers felt they were there to introduce scholars to Christ.
The churches, however, believed the sole aim of the schools was to provide them with new members. Another theme highlighted by the chapter was increasing interdenominational cooperation. However, it was not suggested that this was a universal experience.
The final chapter, Chapter 6, ‘The Decline of British Sunday Schools, 1900–1939’, examined some of the causes that resulted in the demise of the schools. The reasons for their decline are rarely discussed in debates concerning secularisation. The chapter revealed that various factors contributed. However, it again demonstrated that the First World War was not a major factor. The numbers attending the schools had been falling for some denominations from 1905. Several factors combined which made it more difficult for the schools to gain members. Families became smaller due to the increased availability of contraception and therefore the pool of children became smaller. Changes in housing
281 conditions and a more privatised family life meant that many parents started to centre their leisure around the home. The rise of compulsory education meant that the schools were competing with trained day school teachers, and the provision of religious education at day schools meant that many parents felt that children no longer needed to attend Sunday school as they were being taught the same tenets during the week. The pursuit of leisure became cheaper, and some families could even go on holiday for the first time. Day trips the schools had provided could not keep up with the commercial activities on offer. The historiography has also generally overlooked the internal causes of the decline of the churches and schools, simply blaming the war and the rise of leisure. However, this chapter suggested that the internal actions, or inaction, also contributed to the decline of these institutions. Tensions between the schools and the churches certainly did not help matters.
For instance, teachers continued to feel unsupported in their work, while the churches were increasingly frustrated that Sunday school scholars were not transferring into membership.
This historical study of the schools may also have practical implications for churches and Sunday schools of today. American schools face the same challenge that the schools in
Britain faced at the beginning of the twentieth century: the prospect of decline. Church attendance in America is declining, particularly among those aged between eighteen and twenty-four.10 It is estimated that 50 per cent of students stopped attending traditional church services when they graduated from high school.11 This was a similar problem for
British Sunday schools during the twentieth century, albeit regarding those who are younger than eighteen. As demonstrated in Chapter 6, Sunday school workers knew that their
10 F. Newport, Percentage of Christians in U.S. Drifting Down, but Still High (Princeton: Gallup, 2015) < http://news.gallup.com/poll/187955/percentage-christians-drifting-down-high.aspx> [Accessed 10 November 2017]. 11 The Fuller Youth Institute, What Makes Faith Stick During College? (The Fuller Youth Institute, 2011)
282 scholars were not becoming church members. It is interesting to note that suggestions that are being made today to prevent this leakage are like those proposed by G. A. Hamilton, discussed in Chapter 6. Hamilton emphasised the importance of each child in the Sunday school having a mentor in the church.12 Research carried out by the Fuller Youth Institute in
2011 indicated that children who had intergenerational relationships with those in their churches were more likely to keep attending church.13 Hamilton also emphasised the importance of working with parents of scholars, as do the researchers at the Fuller Youth
Institute.14 It is interesting that research carried out in the twenty-first century supports the observations of Hamilton written over seventy years ago.
Likewise, this thesis has detailed the tensions between the churches and Sunday schools. An example of such tensions is found in the following anecdote, related by Russell
Moore:
A friend of mine, an amazingly effective Bible teacher, once told me that he was turned down by his church to teach children’s Sunday school. The reason, he said, wasn’t that the church didn’t think he was gifted to teach but that he was too gifted. They wanted him to teach adult discipleship classes, so they didn’t want to ‘waste’ him on children’s Sunday school.15
Just as the British churches failed to take the work of their Sunday schools seriously, it appears the North American churches could be doing the same today. As this research has demonstrated, this attitude could rebound on the churches.
Furthermore, this thesis has identified areas and themes that require further research by historians. The international connections of the schools was an unexpected theme that emerged from the archives. The reports of the World Sunday School
Association offered a new insight into Sunday schools of this time. The more detailed
12 Hamilton, The Family Church, p. 24. 13 Fuller Institute, What Makes Faith Stick During College?. 14 Hamilton, The Family Church, pp. 12-13 and Fuller Institute, What Makes Faith Stick During College?. 15 Moore, The Cosmic Importance of Children’s Sunday School.
283 records of the association are held by the World Council of Churches. With 107 boxes of material, this could bring new insights into the global Sunday school movement.16
Additionally, more research is required into Sunday schools and their experiences of the
Second World War. With the eighty-year anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict nearly upon us at the time of writing this thesis, it is high time a detailed history of the schools during the conflict was researched. As Chapter 6 indicated, the schools faced a variety of challenges such as evacuation, wartime regulations, and the loss of both scholars and teachers. It would be interesting to compare the effects of both conflicts.
In summary, this thesis has demonstrated the significance of British Sunday schools in the era of the First World War. The war was a pivotal moment in their history. To fully understand the significance of this event for the schools, historians must understand how they operated before and after the conflict. This thesis has provided this insight. It has revealed the pervasive influence of the schools in British society throughout much of the twentieth century. The schools reached into many areas of British life. Politicians such as
David Lloyd George and Arthur Henderson believed that the schools provided many with a unique educational experience. Popular fiction series, such as Just William, used the schools as settings as they were places that would have been familiar with their readers.
The time that many spent at the schools was foundational to their faith. Scholars who served as soldiers and sailors found comfort on the fighting front in what they had learnt at Sunday school. They believed that the schools had prepared them for ‘the world of the trenches’. Unlike the conclusions of contemporary reports, such as The Army and Religion
(1919), many scholars seem to have had a good knowledge of biblical events. British soldiers
16 World Council of Churches, World Council of Christian Education and Sunday School Association, 1907–1971 (World Council of Churches, [n.d.])
284 and sailors were not as irreligious as some suggested. The schools remained an important part of their lives. They kept in touch with their old teachers, and the relationships that many scholars and teachers formed lasted a lifetime.
The thesis has demonstrated that the war did not cause a widespread loss of faith.
Indeed, during the interwar period, the schools regained some of the ground they had lost during the chaotic years of the First World War. During this time the schools were as busy and vibrant as in the years before the conflict. Other factors such as the rise of the welfare state, increasing leisure opportunities, and the merging of sessions into church services had a more drastic impact on the work of the schools.
The thesis has also revealed that far from being ineffective and stagnant, the schools were constantly reflecting upon their work and how they could improve. Throughout the twentieth century the NSSU and the SSI sought to train their workers. They provided different training, such as correspondence courses and instruction at training colleges. New methods, such as ‘grading’, were introduced to embrace new psychological findings concerning how children learnt best.
The impact of the schools can still be seen today. As one former scholar remarked,
‘[N]ow in my 70s, my wife and I shop in Tesco-Lotus (in Thailand – we look around and are reminded of the delightful hymn we sang so long ago, “Remember all the children, That live in far-off lands”. Sunday school was my opening to the world.’17 Likewise, an Anglican youth worker confirmed:
I can happily confirm the fact that children's groups on Sundays are still fulfilling their vital role of nurturing, supporting and encouraging children and young people in their growth and development. The core values that Jesus taught are still there – respect for one another, loving the unlovely, making a positive difference in your community, along with the astoundingly good news that we can be friends with
17 Edwards, How Sunday School Shaped Britain, Comments.
285
God and He wants to be friends with us. Sunday school is not dead (although it might be known by a different name nowadays).18
Sunday schools were an integral part of the religious life of the nation throughout the twentieth century. To understand British Christianity during this period historians need to start with an exploration of the history of the Sunday schools. The schools therefore deserve much more thorough consideration in the historiography of British religion.
18 Ibid.
286
Appendices Appendix 1 Protestant Sunday School Scholars 1900–1914 6,400,000
6,200,000
6,000,000
5,800,000
5,600,000
5,400,000
5,200,000 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
1900 6,041,119 1901 6,086,587 1902 6,127,046 1903 6,173,112 1904 6,246,358 1905 6,326,762 Figures from R. Curie, A. Gilbert and L. Horsley, 1906 6,291,435 Churches and Churchgoers: Patterns of Church Growth 1907 6,240,533 in the British Isles Since 1700 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), pp. 167-191. 1908 5,669,111 1909 6,257,664 1910 6,273,530 1911 6,241,771 1912 6,184,177 1913 6,121,098 1914 6,012,567
287
Appendix 2
Teachers’ Home Children’s Children’s Passmore of Rest Country Homes Convalescent Edwards Fund Home Fund Holiday Home 1906-1907 £0 10s 0d £11 18s 2d £13 14s 1d £5 15s 6d 1907-1908 £2 2s 0d £26 7s 10d £11 12s 0d £6 1s 5d 1909-1910 £1 1s 0d £16 11s 7d £13 0s 0d £3 0s 0d 1910-1911 £2 2s 0d £22 3s 1d £14 8s 4d £3 8s 5d 1911-1912 £0 £18 18s 8d £8 4s 91/2d £5 4s 3d
Sums donated by affiliated schools of the National Sunday School Union to various charitable funds. Figures from CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D10 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1906/1907 to 1909/1910, 1906/1907, pp. 202-203, 1907/1908, pp. 222-223, 1908/1909, pp. 214-215, D11 – Volume containing Annual Report for 1910/1911, pp. 220-221, and D12 – Volume containing Annual Report for 1911/1912, pp. 232-233.
288
Appendix 3
Sunday School Bands of Hope connected to Sunday Bands of Hope Scholars Schools Members 1900 967,046 4,092 386,655 1901 965,057 4,145 383,547 1902 971,223 4,240 387,603 1903 987,668 4,211 392,373 1904 1,001,444 4,178 402,249 1905 1,006,515 4,216 396,201 1906 1,013,391 4,801 388,050 1907 1,000,819 4,139 385,321 1908 990,264 4,071 362,725 1909 987,953 3,714 314,070 1910 980,165 3,939 343,843 1911 976,752 4,007 337,582 1912 964,309 3,910 335,308 1913 951,468 4,649 366,525 1914 939,619 4,481 346,084
Figures comparing Wesleyan Methodist Sunday scholars and Band of Hope members from Wesleyan Methodist Church, Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Fifty-Seventh Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1900), p. 459; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Fifty-Eighth Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1901), p. 482; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Fifty- Ninth Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1902), p. 483; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Sixth Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1903), p. 487; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Sixty-First Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1904), p. 485; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Sixty-Second Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1905), p. 488; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Sixty-Third Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1906), p. 478; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Sixty-Fourth Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1907), p. 491; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Sixty-Fifth Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1908), p. 492; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Sixty-Sixth Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1909), p. 508; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Sixty-Seventh Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1910), p. 529; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Sixty- Eighth Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1911), p. 503; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Sixty-Ninth Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1912), p. 520; Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Seventh Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1913), p. 502 and p. 524 and Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Seventy-First Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1914), p. 527 and p. 549.
289
Appendix 4
Israel asking for a King 1 Samuel 8 Saul chosen King 1 Samuel 10: 17-27 Saul rejected 1 Samuel 15: 13-23 David and Goliath 1 Samuel 17: 1-20, 29, 32-36. David and Jonathan 1 Samuel 18: 1-5, 12-16. Death of Saul 1 Samuel 31: 1-6 and 2 Samuel 2: 1, 4-7. David’s trust in God Psalm 23 David bringing up the ark 2 Samuel 6: 1-12. David’s desire to build the Temple 2 Samuel 7: 1-13 and 1 Chronicles 22: 1-10. David and Absalom 2 Samuel 15: 1-12. David’s grief at Absalom’s death 2 Samuel 18: 19-33. David’s charge to Solomon 1 Chronicles 28: 1-10. Solomon’s wise choice 1 Kings 3: 5-15. The kingdom divided 1 Kings 13: 12-20. Jeroboam’s idolatry 1 Kings 12: 25-33. God’s care of Elijah 1 Kings 17: 1-16. Elijah on Mount Carmel 1 Kings 18. Elijah discouraged and encouraged 1 Kings 19: 1-18. Elisha succeeds Elijah 2 Kings 2: 12-22. The widow’s oil increased 2 Kings 4: 1-7. Elisha and the Shunamite 2 Kings 4: 25-37. Elisha at Dothan 2 Kings 6: 8-23. Joash repairs the temple 2 Kings 12: 4-15. Isaiah’s message to Judah Isaiah 1: 1-9, 16-20. Christ the life and light of men John 1: 1-18. Preaching of John the Baptist Matthew 3: 1-12. The boyhood of Jesus Luke 2: 39-52. Baptism and Temptation of Jesus Matthew 3: 13 to Matthew 4: 11. Jesus wins his first disciples John 1: 35-42. Jesus rejected at Nazareth Luke 4: 14-30. Jesus forgives sins Mark 2: 1-12. Sabbath and the life of Jesus Mark 1: 21-34. Hearers and doers of the word Matthew 7: 21-29. Jesus calms the storm Mark 4: 36-41. Jesus feeds the five thousand Matthew 14: 13-22. Peter confesses the Christ Mark 8: 27-38. The transfiguration Mark 9: 2-10. Prayer and Promise Luke 11: 1-13.
290
Watchfulness Luke 12: 35-48. The Prodigal Son Luke 15: 11-24. The bondage of sin John 8: 31-40. The good shepherd John 10: 11-18. The true vine John 15: 1-12. The heavenly home Revelation 22:1-6. Jesus’ prayer for his disciples John 17: 15-26.
Example of a proposed set of Sunday School lessons for 1905, with scripture references. Obtained from A. Nevill, Simple Model Lessons: A Year’s Work in the Sunday School (London: Charles Murray and Company, 1905), pp. xi-xii.
291
Appendix 5
October to January to March April to June July to September December 2016 2017 2017 2017
Suggested lessons for Sunday school teachers for 2016–2017. Obtained from Scripture Union, Syllabus for Light 2016/2017, (London: Scripture Union, 2016)
292
Appendix 6
Church of England Attendance 1900–1914 3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
Sunday School Scholars Easter Day Communicants Linear (Sunday School Scholars) Linear (Easter Day Communicants)
Sunday Easter Day School Communicants Scholars 1900 2,302,000 1,902,000 1901 2,333,000 1,945,000 Figures from R. Curie, A. Gilbert and L. 1902 2,355,000 2,012,000 Horsley, Churches and Churchgoers: 1903 2,341,000 2,037,000 Patterns of Church Growth in the British 1904 2,353,000 2,084,000 Isles Since 1700 (Oxford: Clarendon 1905 2,398,000 1,939,000 Press, 1977), pp. 128-129 and p. 167. 1906 2,337,000 1,988,000 1907 2,334,000 2,023,000 1908 2,380,000 2,108,000 1909 2,400,000 2,158,000 1910 2,437,000 2,212,000 1911 2,433,000 2,293,000 1912 2,415,000 2,195,000 1913 2,409,000 2,304,000 1914 2,350,000 2,226,000
293
Appendix 7
Continental Mission Fund Indian Mission Fund
1906–1907 £626 3s 61/2d £18 13s 5d 1907–1908 £711 14s 2d £10 19s 7d 1909–1910 £628 0s 2d £11 10s 2d 1910–1911 £296 0s 51/2d £24 4s 7d 1911–1912 £288 2s 0d £36 0s 8d
Sums donated by affiliated schools of the NSSU to missionary efforts. Figures from CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D10 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1906/1907 to 1909/1910, 1906/1907, pp. 202-203, 1907/1908, pp. 222-223, 1908/1909, pp. 214-215, D11 – Volume containing Annual Report for 1910/1911, pp. 220-221, and D12 – Volume containing Annual Report for 1911/1912, pp. 230-231.
294
Appendix 8
Protestant Sunday School Scholars 1914–1919 7,000,000 6,012,567 5,813,099 6,000,000 5,624,943
4,733,886 5,000,000 4,371,449 4,037,327 4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
Figures from R. Curie, A. Gilbert and L. Horsley, Churches and Churchgoers: Patterns of Church Growth in the British Isles Since 1700 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), pp. 167-191.
295
Appendix 9
Total Number of Teachers and Scholars at Brandon Colliery Primitive Methodist Sunday School 8000 7086 6913 6616 7000 5808 6035 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 959 660 814 843 889 1000 0 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918
Teachers Scholars Linear (Teachers ) Linear (Scholars)
Average Number of Teachers and Scholars at Brandon Colliery Primitive Methodist Sunday School
250 196.8 197.5 200 170 170.8 167.6
150
100
50 26.6 16.5 23.9 24.1 24.7
0 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918
Teachers Scholars Linear (Teachers ) Linear (Scholars)
Figures from Durham Record Office, M/DDV 384 – Durham and Deerness Valley Methodist Circuit, Attendance Register of Primitive Methodist Sunday School, Brandon Colliery, 1909-1919, 1914-18.
296
Appendix 10
Total Number of Scholars in the Darlington Methodist Circuit 1180 1160 1151 1140 1125 1120
1100 1082 1080 1060 1040 1030 1020 1000 980 960 1914 1915 1916 1917
Figures from DRO, M/Da 725 – Graph showing number of scholars in Sunday Schools in Wesleyan Methodist Church, Darlington Bondgate Circuit, 1885–1917.
297
Appendix 11
Total Number of Teachers and Scholars at Windsor Congregational Church Sunday School 12000 10497 10036 10097 10000 7401 8000 6947
6000
4000 2095 1956 1959 1923 1278 2000
0 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918
Scholars Teachers Linear (Scholars ) Linear (Teachers)
Average Number of Teachers and Scholars at Windsor Congregational Church Sunday School 300 233.3 238.9 250 224.4 198.5 200 176.2 150 100 46.5 46.6 43.5 45.8 36.5 50 0 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918
Scholars Teachers Linear (Scholars ) Linear (Teachers)
Figures from Glamorgan Archives, DECONG10/25 – Windsor Road Congregational Church, Sunday School Register with Notes 1903–1926, 1914–1918, pp. 49-71.
298
Appendix 12
Total Number of Teachers and Scholars at Bethel Baptist Sunday School 6000 5094 5000 4518 4251 3926 4000 3468
3000
2000 704 658 1000 427 291 221 0 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918
Scholars Teachers Linear (Scholars ) Linear (Teachers)
Average Number of Teachers and Scholars at Bethel Baptist Sunday School 120 101.9 100 90.3 86.8 80.1 73.7 80
60
40 14.1 13.2 20 8.7 5.9 4.7 0 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918
Scholars Teachers Linear (Scholars ) Linear (Teachers)
Figures from Glamorgan Archives, DBAP52/26/1 – Bethel Baptist Church, Barry Records, Sunday School Superintendent’s Register 1914–1926, 1914–18. Note: Some figures for teachers’ attendance missing.
299
Appendix 1319 Windsor Congregational Church Sunday School20 Name Date of Age Inscription Symbol Cemetery/Memorial and Death Rank Charlie 22/01/1916 18 N/A Cross Rue-Du-Bacquerot No.1 Martyn Military Cemetery, Laventie Hubert 25/08/1916 22 N/A P.M/C Barry (Merthyr Dyfan) Lewis Burial Ground Raymond 12/01/1917 23 N/A N/A Amara War Cemetery Evans
Splott Road Baptist Church21 Name Date of Age Inscription Symbol Cemetery/Memorial and Death Rank Harold 20/11/1918 20 A Good Soldier Cross Etaples Military Cemetery Davey of Jesus Christ 2 Tim 2.5.
Farnworth Primitive Methodist Sunday School22 Name Date of Age Inscription Symbol Cemetery/Memorial and Death Rank George 09/04/1918 26 Son Of Thomas Vieille-Chapelle New Thomas and Charlotte Military Cemetery, Clare Clare Lacouture Farnworth Lancs. T. 23/09/1916 24 N/A N/A Thiepval Memorial Gallagher H. Hunt 01/10/1916 26 None Cross Warlencourt British Cemetery G. 02/06/1915 N/A N/A Helles Memorial Melling
19 Information about soldier’s graves obtained from searchable database from Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Find War Dead (London: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, [n.d.])
300
J. T. 01/11/1914 N/A N/A Ypres (Menin Gate) Nuttall Memorial D. 19/09/1916 N/A N/A Thiepval Memorial Rollinson A. 22/09/1916 21 Not CWGC Cross Walkden (St. Paul) Seddon headstone Churchyard Thomas 09/04/1918 19 N/A N/A Loos Memorial Tyldsey Lot 25/09/1915 22 N/A N/A Loos Memorial Walker
Crescent Congregationalist Church23 Name Date of Age Inscription Symbol Cemetery/Memorial and Rank Death Sergeant 22/03/1918 31 No grave N/A Pozieres Memorial William F. Barnes Second 31/07/1917 ? No grave N/A Ypres Menin Gate Memorial Lieutenant Albert Bigg Private 17/04/1916 20 No Cross Bucquoy Road Cemetery, Edward inscription Ficheux W. Cross Private 03/07/1916 ? No grave N/A Thiepval Memorial Ben H. Davies Rifleman 20/09/1917 40 No grave N/A Tyne Cot Memorial John Daniels Private 17/01/1916 27 No Cross Carnoy Military Cemetery Samuel inscription Evans W. Foster ? ? ? ? ? Private 01/07/1916 28 “Our Bob, Cross Peronne Road Cemetery Robert one of the Horrocks best.” Private 03/09/1916 ? No grave N/A Thiepval Memorial John E. Hopkinson Corporal 01/12/1918 ? No Cross Liverpool (Kirkdale) Albert inscription Cemetery Hayes
23 Names obtained from LRO, M285 CRE/7/6 – Crescent Congregational Church Programme of Roll of Honour Service, 9 March 1919.
301
Rifleman 07/08/1915 41 No Cross Kirk Patrick (Holy Trinity) William inscription Churchyard Keegan Private 14/08/1918 ? No Cross Heath Cemetery, Frederick inscription Harbonnieres. Moore Corporal 20/07/1917 ? No Cross Cite Bonjean Military Edward inscription Cemetery, Armentieres. Mercer Private ? ? ? ? ? James R. McDonald Private 01/07/1916 21 No grave N/A Thiepval Memorial Harry North Private 05/10/1918 ? ? ? ? Harry Smith Driver 09/09/1917 ? “Gone but Cross Lijssenthoek Military John E. not Cemetery. Smith forgotten. Peace perfect Peace.” Private 30/04/1918 20 No grave N/A Jerusalem Memorial George R. Strawson Private 18/09/1918 40 No grave N/A Vis-En-Artois Memorial. John Skiming
Roath Road Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School24 Name Date of Age Inscription Symbol Cemetery/Memorial and Rank Death G. Wilfred 25/09/1916 23 N/A N/A Thiepval Memorial Abbott Lance 22/11/1916 ? No inscription Cross Etretat Churchyard Corporal T. Bailey Private 17/09/1916 ? N/A N/A Vimy Memorial George Briggs Willie ? ? ? ? ? Brown
24 Names obtained from GA, DX320/3/2/iii – Roath Road Roamer, September to October 1919, insert.
302
Evan C. 01/01/1917 26 Peace Perfect Cross Baghdad (North Gate) Cutter Peace War Cemetery Private 20/02/1916 25 “Absent From Cross Le Touret Military Sidney Home. Present Cemetery, Richebourg- Dare With The Lord.” L’Avoue A. Ernest ? ? ? ? ? Davies W. Percy 03/09/1918 N/A N/A Vis-En-Artois Memorial Deyes Lieutenant 01/07/1916 None None Carnoy Military Tudor E. Cemetery Evans Sergeant 17/10/1915 26 First: “He Cross Cardiff (Cathays) George greatly loved and Cemetery Arthur was beloved.” Henry Second: (Harry) “Greater Love Godfrey Hath No Man Than This That He Lay Down His Life.” Fred W. 18/06/1917 At Rest Cross Mendinghem Military Greenfield Cemetery J. Albert 02/09/1916 23 None Cross Etaples Military Guy Cemetery Leonard H. 03/05/1917 N/A N/A Arras Memorial Haime Joe W. 17/07/1917 N/A N/A Basra Memorial Hatherdale Albert ? ? ? ? ? Heath Fred Hoare ? ? ? ? ? Ernest H. 27/08/1917 28 N/A N/A Tyne Cot Memorial James Gilbert A. 22/09/1917 25 ‘He Hath Cross Dozinghem Military Jenkins Awakened From Cemetery The Dream of Life’ P. Arthur 17/09/1918 24 ‘Ever Loving Cross Lebucquiere Communal Jones Memory Father, Cemetery Extension Mother And Family W. J. Jones, Cardiff’ Oswald R. 13/09/1916 30 ‘Greater Love Cross Heilly Station Cemetery, Knapp Hath No Man Mericourt-L'abbe Than This That A Man Lay Down His Life For His Friends’
303
Hiram ? ? ? ? ? Lewis Will J. 09/03/1917 None Cross Dernancourt Communal Lydiard Cemetery Extension Herbert J. 06/09/1916 21 N/A N/A Thiepval Memorial Morrisey Will J. 09/08/1915 21 N/A N/A Ypres (Menin Gate) Owen Memorial Alec Owen ? ? ? ? ? Hector J. 17/07/1918 None Cross Montcornet Military Page Cemetery Arthur B. 14/05/1919 19 None Cross Cologne Southern Page Cemetery Alec Patten 01/07/1917 23 ‘In Death’s Dark Cross Ramscappelle Road Vale I Fear No Ill Military Cemetery With The Dear Lord Beside Me’ Joe Patten 23/10/1916 20 ‘In Death’s Dark Cross Lahana Military Vale I Fear No Ill Cemetery With The Dear Lord Beside Me’ Will 16/08/1915 ? ‘Their Glory Cross Azmak Cemetery, Suvla Poyner Shall Not Be Blotted Out’ Ernest V. 22/04/1918 34 N/A N/A Pozieres Memorial Radcliffe Charlie Between 27 N/A N/A Villers-Bretonneux Richards 05/05/1917 Memorial and 06/05/1917 Fred ? ? ? ? ? Richards William J. 04/07/1917 25 None Cross Belgian Battery Corner Ring Cemetery Private 21/09/1915 24 ‘To Live in Cross X Farm Cemetery La John Loving Hearts Is Chapelle, D’armentieries Clement Not To Die’ Taylor Lieutenant 12/04/1916 ? Not a CWGC P.M. Bolton Cemetery Arthur grave Thornley Fred 26/04/1915 ? N/A N/A Lone Pine Memorial Salmoni Willie H. 07/02/1916 23 ‘The Dearly Cross St. Vaast Post Military Seager Loved Son Of Cemetery, Richebourg- Sir William and L'avoue Lady Seager Of Cardiff’
304
Arthur L. 07/09/1917 20 None Cross Bard Cottage Cemetery Small Herbert J. 15/11/1917 27 Well Done Cross Bailleul Communal Stone Thou Good & Cemetery Extension, Faithful Servant Nord Alfred H. 25/09/1918 19 Also In Memory Cross Cardiff (Cathays) Warden of 23873 Pte. Cemetery John W. Warden Welsh Regiment Killed in France John 18/07/1916 19 A Good Life Cross Serre Road Cemetery William Nobly Given No.1 Warden Albert 22/10/1917 25 None Cross The Huts Cemetery Watson Bombardier 06/01/1916 23 “Greater Love Cross Y Farm Military Harry Hath No Man Cemetery, Bois-Grenier Winstone Than This That He Gave His Life For Others. Mam.”
Longsight Wesleyan Methodist Church and Sunday School25 Name Date of Age Inscription Symbol Cemetery/Memorial Death Frank 26/10/1914 ? N/A N/A Ypres (Menin Gate) Matthews Memorial Ernest 15/05/1915 21 N/A N/A Le Touret Memorial Frank Beale James Hall 05/06/1915 N/A N/A Helles Memorial Edward T. 04/06/1915 26 N/A N/A Helles Memorial Parker Frank Noel 16/06/1915 20 N/A N/A Ypres (Menin Gate) Waterhouse Memorial Geo. E. 19/08/1915 22 In Loving Cross Wimereux Communal Osbaldeston Memory Cemetery James F. 19/05/1916 ? None Cross Citadel New Military Gospel Cemetery, Fricourt Herbert 31/05/1916 20 N/A N/A Portsmouth Naval Morris Memorial
25 Names obtained from JRL, MAW P7F – Old Scholars’ Union Magazine, 1918, p. 3.
305
Ernest 09/07/1916 29 None Cross Tincourt New British French Cemetery Frank G. 30/07/1916 N/A N/A Thiepval Memorial Robinson John Oakes 15/09/1916 19 N/A N/A Thiepval Memorial Hubert 12/10/1916 28 N/A N/A Thiepval Memorial Craig Edgar 25/05/1916 29 N/A N/A Amara War Cemetery Lockwood Joseph T. 14/04/1917 26 Deeply Cross Foreste Communal Hurst Regretted and Cemetery Missed By Father & Brother & Sister R.I.P. William V. 14/04/1917 19 None Cross Duisans British Cemetery, Riley Etrun Fred Bailey 07/06/1917 ? None Cross Manchester Southern Cemetery Carl C. 31/07/1917 ? N/A N/A Ypres (Menin Gate) Schaefer Memorial Frank 06/09/1917 ? N/A N/A Tyne Cot Memorial Whittaker James R. 04/10/1917 39 Dearly Loved Cross Hooge Crater Cemetery Farmer Husband of Mary Farmer Late of Woodley Cheshire Charles 10/10/1917 ? N/A N/A Tyne Cot Memorial Wright William 16/10/1917 ? N/A N/A Tyne Cot Memorial Sillitoe Wilfred P. 21/10/1917 ? At Rest Cross Lijssenthoek Military Lister Cemetery Albert W. 22/10/1917 37 N/A N/A Tyne Cot Memorial Tinsley Arthur 30/01/1918 ? None P.M. Woodford (Christ Chapman Church) Churchyard Fred N. 20/03/1918 ? None Cross Manchester Southern Uttley Cemetery John Victor 30/04/1918 32 None Cross Ebblinghem Military Kerr Cemetery Harold F. 29/05/1918 21 Sleep On Cross Ligny-St. Flochel British Calverley Dear One Cemetery, Averdoingt And Take Your Rest They Miss You Most
306
Who Loved You Best Harry 01/07/1918 ? None P.P. Manchester Southern Matthews Cemetery John 13/07/1918 ? None Cross Niederzwehren Cemetery, Haworth Kassel Harold S. 23/08/1918 32 N/A N/A Vis-En-Artois Memorial Higson John E. 28/09/1918 22 Our Ways Cross Flesquieres Hill British Harrop Parted But Cemetery Not Our Thoughts Fred Lee 02/10/1918 21 Not Cross Sunken Road Cemetery, Forgotten Boisleux-St. Marc C. William 01/11/1918 26 None Cross Salford (Weaste) Kerridge Cemetery George 28/12/1918 ? Cherished Cross Manchester Southern Wood Memories Of Cemetery Those So Dear Are Oft Recalled With A Silent Tear
Vickerstown Wesleyan Sunday School26 Name Date of Age Inscription Symbol Cemetery/Memorial Death Victor 06/05/1917 ? None Cross Beaulencourt British Whitley Cemetery, Ligny-Thilloy Hugh 05/04/1916 21 N/A N/A Basra Memorial McDowell T. 26/10/1917 19 N/A N/A Tyne Cot Memorial Holliday Thomas ? ? ? ? ? Betts
26 Names obtained from BALSC, BDFCBWM/11/7/1, Vickerstown Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Roll of Honour.
307
Hurdsfield Sunday School27 Name Date of Age Inscription Symbol Cemetery/Memorial Death Stanley 17/11/1918 21 None Cross Don Communal Bradbury Cemetery, Annoeullin Harold 16/08/1915 30 Late Of Cross East Mudros Military Coups Macclesfield Cemetery Formerly of Heaton Mersey England Alfred 15/04/1917 ? N/A N/A Thiepval Memorial Sutton Farr
J. Gosling 30/07/1916 ? None Cross Dive Copse British Cemetery, Sailly-Le-Sec D. R. 22/09/1918 ? None Cross Trefcon British Cemetery, Mackay Caulaincourt
Joseph 19/07/1916 18 None Cross Old Warden (St. Leonard) Potts Churchyard
H. G. 12/09/1915 ? None Cross Portsdown (Christ Ridings Church) Military Cemetery H. ? ? ? ? ? Robinson
H. Rose ? ? ? ? ? A. 13/08/1917 None Cross The Huts Cemetery Wood
27 Names obtained from Imperial War Museum, Higher Hurdsfield Sunday School WW1 (London: n.d.)
308
Appendix 14
Sunday School Scholars 1918-1939 6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
1918 4,037,327 1919 4,733,886 1920 4,733,351 1921 4,697,006 1922 4,711,440 1923 4,709,106
1924 4,677,122 1925 4,604,871 1926 4,520,836 Figures from R. Curie, A. Gilbert and L. 1927 5,017,388 Horsley, Churches and Churchgoers: Patterns 1928 4,748,078 of Church Growth in the British Isles Since 1929 4,843,050 1700 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), pp. 1930 4,784,420 167-191. 1931 4,777,405 1932 4,751,958 1933 4,629,848
1934 4,478,488 1935 4,334,462 1936 4,055,755 1937 3,951,276 1938 3,795,596 1939 3,663,131
309
Appendix 15
Continental Indian China Sunday India and China Mission Fund Mission School Union Mission Fund Fund 1918 £645 12s 11d £53 11s 7d £12 14s 10d 1919 1920 £620 8s 6d £50 0s 3d £6 17s 2d 1921 £648 3s 0d £44 12s 8d £11 2s 8d 1922 £636 7s 2d £40 16s 0d £5 16s 2d 1923 £654 0s 9d £38 1s 8d £5 8s 2d 1924 £535 4s 9d £9 5s 1d £5 1s 4d 1925 £553 6s 9d £10 0s 5d £5 6s 0d 1926 £499 0s 7d £0 14s 0d £5 4s 1d 1927 £460 13s 5d £10 9s 11d £5 10s 8d 1928 £438 8s 3d £13 18s 10d £5 14s 10d 1929 £396 12s 2d £41 15s 4d £2 17s 0d 1930 £353 12s 11d £53 14s 10d £3 6s 0d 1931 £348 7s 8d £18 19s 6d 1932 £281 12s 10d £34 1s 9d 1933 £254 1s 0d £16 11s 6d 1934 £199 10s 2d £23 14s 11d 1935 £197 10s 9d £3 1s 6d 1936 £115 4s 3d £4 11s 0d
Sums donated by affiliated schools of the National Sunday School Union to missionary efforts. Figures from CRL, NCEC Part 1, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/1918 to 1921/1922, 1918/1919, pp. 100-115, 1920/1921, p. 96 and p. 112, 1921/1922, p. 108 and p. 124, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/1923 to 1927-1928, 1922-1923, pp. 100-102, 1923/1924, pp. 96-97, 1924/1925, pp. 111-112, 1925/1926, pp. 103-104, 1926/1927, pp. 130-131, 1927/1928, p. 136, D16 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1928/1929 to 1933/1934, 1928/1929, pp. 117-118, 1929/1930, pp. 110-111, 1930/1931, pp. 112-113, 1931/1932, pp. 115- 116, 1932/1933, pp. 112-113, 1933/1934, p. 75 and D17 – Volume containing Annual reports for 1934/1935 to 1939/1940, 1934/1935, p.79, 1935/1936, p. 104 and 1936/1937, p. 108.
310
Appendix 16 Graded Junior Course Graded Senior Course Peter the Disciple Interpretations of Jesus as Unfolded in the Fourth Gospel A Missionary Course On Becoming a Christian A Shoemaker and Captain Cook In the Sunderbunds. A Stranger in a strange land At Serampore: wuth Krishna Pal and the Printing Press Easter: The New Life of a Hindoo Home Old Testament Course I Old Testament New Testament Course II Am I Guilty of This? World Brotherhood Stories Interpretations of Jesus Blessed are the Merciful: Story of St Bernard of the Passes Proclaiming release to the Captives. Story of St. Vincent de Paul Speaking the things we know: Story of Ober- Ammergau Slavery: the Sin against Love; Story of Uncle Tom’s Cabin Old Testament Course II Wider Work of the Church The Need and Possibility of a New World Is Christendom Christian? The Need of Ancient Civilisations (India, China, etc.) The Need of Primitive Peoples The Contacts of the West with Asia and Africa: a) Through Commerce and Professions b) Through the Government c) Social Contacts between Races d) The Missionary Movement and the Growing Church The Teaching of Jesus about the Kingdom of God The Power of God in Human Life Temperance Course Friends of Freedom Mazzini, the Seer of Italy’s Freedom Lawrence of India, ‘Soldier and Administrator’ The Christmas Festival of Love and Goodwill Lincoln ‘The Emancipator of a whole race’ New Testament Course III At Christmas Time
Proposed lessons for Graded Junior and Senior Scholars for 1924. Lessons with an international or missionary emphasis are listed in more detail. From CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D76 – Sunday School Chronicle 1924, ‘Lesson Index’, p. iv.
311
Appendix 17 Department Age Range The Kindergarten ‘[…] under five and a half or six years.’ The Primary Department ‘[…] five to eight years of age.’ The Junior Department ‘[…] from eight to possibly twelve.’ The Intermediate Department ‘Graded according to the physical development of the young people. The classes should “go up,” or change position once a year[…]’ The Senior Department ‘[…] might also be arranged in two divisions, viz., girls and boys, and each of these should be sub-divided into junior and senior sections.’ The Teacher Training Department ‘[…] two classes – one for juniors, which met on the Sunday, and one for seniors, which met on a week evening. It was the practice, however, to recruit for the teaching staff from senior class, never from the juniors.’ The Adult Department ‘[…] divided into various sections, such as the business men’s class, the young married couples’ class, the students’ class […]’
Suggestions from Archibald Hamilton of how Sunday schools in Britain could be graded. Obtained from CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D56 – Sunday School Chronicle 1904, ‘The Organisation and Grading of a Sunday School’, 14 January 1904, p. 49
Department Age Range Infant or Primary Department ‘[…] up to 8 years of age […]’. Middle School Lower Middle or ‘[…] 8 to 15 years […]’. Department Junior Department Upper Middle Department or Intermediate Department Senior Department ‘[…] (15+).’
Recommended organisation of scholars proposed in 1906. Obtained from CRL, WH, Box 255, George Hamilton Archibald and the Beginning of the Graded School Movement, p. 38.
312
Department Age Range Cradle Roll 1–4 years old Primary Department 4–8 years old The Junior School 9–11 years old Intermediate Department 11–14 or 11–16 years old The Institute or Senior Department From 14 or 16 years old
Recommendations from the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union on how their teachers should organise their scholars. Obtained from The Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union, The Manual of the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School (London: J. W. Butcher, 1912), pp. 36-40.
313
Appendix 18
Scripture Union’s recommended age groups for teaching children for 2017. Obtained from Scripture Union, Understanding the LightLive Brands (London: Scripture Union, 2016)
Click Teaching Material recommended age groups for teaching children for 2017. Obtained from The Good Book Company, Click Complete Syllabus Overview, (Surrey: The Good Book Company, 2012)
314
Appendix 19
Grading Subject of Instruction Kindergarten (3-7 years old) • Simple Church teaching in the form of stories Primary (7-9 years old) • Biographical stories suggestive of Worship and Doctrine Middle (9-11 years old) • Catechism (1) Creed and (2) Commandment Seniors (11-13 years old) • Catechism (3) Means of Grace, • Confirmation and Holy Communion Service • Biographical Sketches from the Old and New Testaments Junior Bible Class (13-15 years old) • Church Doctrine based on the Life of Christ and prepared for in the Old Testament Senior Bible Class (15-17 years old) • Church Doctrine developed in Church History and illustrated by the History and contents of the Prayer Book • Apologetics
The Church of England’s Sunday School Institute proposed ‘Grading Scheme’. Obtained from CERC, SSI/2/1/9 – Sunday School Institute, General Purposes Committee 1907- 1914, 5 December 1911, pp. 365-366.
315
Appendix 20
1930 Percentage (%) 1931 Percentage (%) Fully Graded 264 3.8 309 4.4 (Five Departments) Four 426 6.1 424 6.1 Departments Three 920 13.2 960 13.8 Departments Two 1551 22.3 1485 21.4 Departments One 3798 54.6 3775 54.3 Department
Percentages of Wesleyan Methodist Sunday Schools that were graded. Figures obtained from Wesleyan Methodist Church, Minutes of Several Conversations at the One Hundred and Eighty-Nineth Yearly Conference, (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1932), p. 214.
316
Appendix 21
Elementary Elementary Intermediate Intermediate Junior Graded Booklets Sheets Booklets Sheets Booklets Lessons 1915 34,600 11,485 90,784 41,342 6,795 1916 38,085 10,410 91,491 32,275 6,775 1922 36,500
Number of Schools Number of Scholars 1915 2,139 211,129 1916 2,090 204,264 1922 2,112 197,352
Numbers of teaching materials sold by the Church of Scotland’s Committee on the Religious Instruction of Youth compared with the number of Sunday schools and scholars. Obtained from NRS, CH1/2/352 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1916, Fol. 34, p. 473 and p. 481, CH1/2/353 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1917, Fol. 10, p. 503 and p. 510, CH1/2/359 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1923, Fol. 28, p. 767 and p. 771.
Teachers’ Magazines Number of Teachers 1915 187,581 18,916 1916 186,601 18,082 1917 178,486 17,652 1927 41,926 21,402 1928 41,056 21,558
Number of teachers’ magazines sold by the Church of Scotland’s Committee on the Religious Instruction of Youth compared with the number of Sunday schools and scholars. Obtained from NRS, CH1/2/352 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1916, Fol. 34, p. 481 and p. 474, CH1/2/353 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1917, Fol. 10, p. 503 and p. 510, CH1/2/354 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1918, Fol. 16, p. 333 and p. 327, CH1/2/364 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1928, Fol. 43, p. 706 and p. 703 and CH1/2/365 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1929, Fol. 30, pp. 369-370 and p. 367.
317
Appendix 22
1917 207,019 1918 209,354 1919 206,652 1920 208,571 1921 204,313 1922 203,839 1923 210,135 1924 211,638 1925 212,090
1926 209,019 1927 214,964 1928 220,149 1929 218,389 1930 198,707
Number of teachers affiliated to the NSSU. Obtained from CRL, NCEC, Part 1, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/1918 to 1921/1922, 1917/1918, p. 116, 1918/1919, p. 119, 1920/1921, p. 115, 1921/1922, p. 127, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/1923 to 1927/1928, 1922/1923, p. 110, 1923/1924, p. 126, 1924/1925, p. 118, 1925/1926, p. 140, 1927/1928, p. 122 and D16 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1928/1929 to 1933/1934, 1928/1929, p. 116, 1929/1930, p. 116, and 1930/1931, p. 118.
318
Appendix 23
Psychology Psychology of the Emotions, Psychology of the Intellect, Psychology of Adolescence, Psychology of Suggestion, Child Psychology, Psychology, Evolution and Heredity, Psychology Seminar, and Hygiene Pedagogy Curriculum of the Graded Church, Method in the Upper Grades, Story Telling, Stories and Yarns for Boys, Sunday School Organisation, Adolescent Girls’ Social Activities, Adolescent Boys’ Social Activities, History of Education, Practice of Education, Teaching of Handwork, and Teaching of Mathematics Material of Historical Setting to Bible Study, Preparation for Bible Study, Bible Education Courses, Nature Study, Literature, Mathematics, History, and Music Sociology Economics, Money and Banking, Modern Social Movements, Social Conditions, Social Philosophy, Industrial Law, Sanitation and Hygiene, Statistics, Business Administration. Practical Work Class Teaching, Story Telling, Sunday School Leadership, Play Hours, Adolescent Week-day Activities, and Welfare Work
Examples of courses on offer at Westhill Training College, Selly Oak, Birmingham in 1923–1924. Obtained from CRL, WH, Box 287, Details of Courses Session 1923–1924, pp. 2-4.
319
Autumn Spring Term Summer Term Observation and Term Practical Work Introduction Hebrew Religion Jewish Religion before Class Teaching to the Old Christ Testament Synoptic The Life of Christ The Teaching of Jesus Department Gospels Leadership Psychology of Psychology – General Psychology – General Play Hours, Emotions Course Course including Story Telling Psychology of Psychology of Psychology of Sunday School Intellect Adolescence Suggestion Handwork Sunday School Method in Upper Nature Study Adolescent Week- Organisation Grades day Activities such as Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs. Story Telling Adolescent Girls Sunday School Problems Graded Bible Nature Study Curriculum Historical Sunday School Setting to Problems Bible Study Nature Study Sunday School Problems
Examples of courses offered at Westhill Training College, Selly Oak, Birmingham in 1929–1930. Obtained from CRL, WH, Box 287, Prospectus 1929–1930, pp. 7-8.
320
Appendix 24
Autumn Spring Summer Sunday Students in Number of Term Term Term School Residence Teachers Students associated with the NSSU 1916–1917 19 14 21 1917–1918 19 17 21 207,019 1918–1919 20 29 42 59 209,354 1919–1920 43 41 44 79 206,652 1920–1921 49 68 208,571 1921–1922 73 204,313 1922–1923 59 203,839 1923–1924 62 210,135 1924–1925 71 211,638 1925–1926 55 212,090 1926–1927 71 209,019 1927–1928 57 214,964 1928–1929 43 51 220,149 1929–1930 27 35 218,389 1930–1931 19 28 198,707
Students attending Westhill Training College, Selly Oak Birmingham. Obtained from CRL, WH, Box 252, Report for the Year 1918–1919, p. 3, Report for the Year 1919–1920, p. 1, Report for the Year 1920–1921, p. 1, Report for the Year 1921–1922, p. 4, Report for the Year 1922–23, p. 4, Report for the Year 1923–1924, p. 5, Report for the Year 1924–1925, p. 5, Report for the Year 1925–1926, p. 4, Report for the Year 1926–1927, p. 4, Report for the Year 1927–1928, p. 4, Report for the Year 1928–1929, p. 4, Report for the Year 1929–1930, p. 5, Report for the Year 1930–1931, p. 4.
For references concerning teachers figures see Appendix 22.
321
Average Number of Students
1928–1929 45
1929–1930 43
1930–1931 40
1931–1932
1932–1933 35 1933–1934 34 1934–1935 36 1935–1936 33 1936–1937 32 1937–1938
1938–1939 32 1939–1940 21
Average number of students attending courses at St. Christopher’s College, Blackheath. Obtained from CERC, SSI/SCC/3/1/1 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1928–1930, p. 4, SSI/SCC/3/1/2 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1930–1931, p. 3, SSI/SCC/3/1/3 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1932–1933, p. 5, SSI/SCC/3/1/4 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1933–1934, p. 5, SSI/SCC/3/1/5 – St Christopher’s College Report 1934–1935, p. 4, SSI/SCC/3/1/6 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1935–1936, p. 3, SSI/SCC/3/1/7 – St Christopher’s College Report 1936–1937, p. 3, SSI/SCC/3/1/8 – St. Christopher's College: Annual Report and Accounts 1938–1939, p. 1 and SSI/SCC/3/1/9 – St. Christopher's College: Annual Report and Accounts 1939–1940, p. 2.
322
Appendix 25
Sunday School Scholars 1900–1939 7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
1911 1934 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1900 6,041,119 1922 4,711,440 1901 6,086,587 1923 4,709,106 1902 6,127,046 1924 4,677,122 1903 6,173,112 1925 4,604,871 1904 6,246,358 1926 4,520,836 1905 6,326,762 1927 5,017,388 1906 6,291,435 1928 4,748,078 1907 6,240,533 1929 4,843,050 1908 5,669,111 1930 4,784,420 Figures from R. Curie, A. Gilbert 1909 6,257,664 1931 4,777,405 and L. Horsley, Churches and 1910 6,273,530 1932 4,751,958 Churchgoers: Patterns of Church Growth in the British Isles Since 1700 1911 6,241,771 1933 4,629,848 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 1912 6,184,177 1934 4,478,488 pp. 167-191. 1913 6,121,098 1935 4,334,462 1914 6,012,567 1936 4,055,755 1915 5,813,099 1937 3,951,276 1916 5,624,943 1938 3,795,596 1917 4,371,449 1939 3,663,131 1918 4,037,327 1919 4,733,886 1920 4,733,351 1921 4,697,006
323
Appendix 26
Church of England Sunday School Scholars 1900–1939 3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
1900 1917 1934 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1900 2,302,000 1922 1,976,000 1901 2,333,000 1923 1,966,000 1902 2,355,000 1924 1,948,000 1903 2,341,000 1925 1,915,000 1904 2,353,000 1926 1,880,000 Figures from R. Curie, A. Gilbert 1905 2,398,000 1927 1,860,000 and L. Horsley, Churches and 1906 2,337,000 1928 1,829,000 Churchgoers: Patterns of Church 1907 2,334,000 1929 1,807,000 Growth in the British Isles Since 1700 1908 2,380,000 1930 1,802,000 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 1909 2,400,000 1931 1,798,000 p. 167. 1910 2,437,000 1932 1,801,000 1911 2,433,000 1933 1,778,000 1912 2,415,000 1934 1,715,000 1913 2,409,000 1935 1,645,000 1914 2,350,000 1936 1,562,000 1915 2,255,000 1937 1,506,000 1916 2,167,000 1938 1,471,000 1917 2,100,000 1939 1,434,000 1918 1,999,000 1919 2,011,000 1920 2,010,000 1921 1,994,000
324
Appendix 27
Presbyterian Church of Wales Sunday School Scholars 1900–1939 250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
1908 1919 1930 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1900 177,172 1922 161,836 1901 180,278 1923 162,049 1902 179,190 1924 160,721 1903 179,423 1925 159,782 1904 187,484 1926 155,941 1905 195,227 1927 155,759
1906 193,599 1928 152,070 1907 191,188 1929 146,724 Figures from R. Curie, A. 1908 189,264 1930 145,294 Gilbert and L. Horsley, Churches and Churchgoers: 1909 188,489 1931 142,970 Patterns of Church Growth in 1910 187,024 1932 139,932 the British Isles Since 1700 1911 185,643 1933 136,841 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912 183,698 1934 133,399 1977), pp. 178-179. 1913 182,088 1935 128,970 1914 177,678 1936 122,422 1915 173,444 1937 116,612 1916 170,819 1938 113,961 1917 168,649 1939 108,771
1918 166,624 1919 166,876 1920 165,656
1921 163,512
325
Appendix 28
Methodist Sunday School Scholars 1900-1939 2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
1914 1925 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1900 1,809,997 1922 1,593,994 1901 1,807,335 1923 1,598,246 1902 1,795,274 1924 1,589,604 1903 1,827,297 1925 1,560,100 1904 1,838,442 1926 1,523,509 1905 1,856,803 1927 1,511,188 1906 1,871,683 1928 1,487,014 Figures from R. Curie, A. Gilbert and L. Horsley, 1907 1,844,038 1929 1,460,097 Churches and 1908 1,821,619 1930 1,429,925 Churchgoers: Patterns of 1909 1,826,690 1931 1,424,446 Church Growth in the 1910 1,817,318 1932 1,420,732 British Isles Since 1700 1911 1,806,515 1933 1,345,689 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912 1,790,946 1934 1,297,196 1977), pp. 181-183, pp. 185-187, and pp. 189-190. 1913 1,758,908 1935 1,281,609 1914 1,742,634 1936 1,138,795 1915 1,713,717 1937 1,056,175 1916 1,667,436 1938 1,006,800 1917 1,628,024 1939 980,005 1918 1,614,702 1919 1,596,901 1920 1,593,654 1921 1,567,628
326
Appendix 29
Church of Scotland Sunday School Scholars 1900–1939 400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
1919 1922 1925 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1920 1921 1923 1924 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1900 222,944 1922 197,352 1901 223,140 1923 195,690 1902 226,363 1924 196,445 1903 228,343 1925 195,952 Figures from R. Curie, A. 1904 232,546 1926 191,389 Gilbert and L. Horsley, 1905 233,814 1927 188,714 Churches and Churchgoers: 1906 236,964 1928 186,713 Patterns of Church Growth 1907 235,964 1929 362,570 in the British Isles Since 1700 (Oxford: Clarendon 1908 235,996 1930 355,018 Press, 1977), pp. 169-170. 1909 234,252 1931 369,115 1910 234,980 1932 367,492 1911 230,967 1933 363,456 1912 226,933 1934 356,541 1913 225,405 1935 341,223 1914 218,702 1936 325,397 1915 211,129 1937 369,115 1916 204,264 1938 311,027 1917 199,036 1939 259,534 1918 190,475 1919 192,496 1920 193,616 1921 194,588
327
United Free Church of Scotland Sunday School Scholars 1900–1939 350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1900 235,724 1922 197,859 1901 244,339 1923 196,905 1902 247,461 1924 192,623
1903 249,312 1925 190,230 1904 245,364 1926 187,545 Figures from R. Curie, A. 1905 245,713 1927 185,617 Gilbert and L. Horsley, 1906 244,513 1928 Churches and Churchgoers: Patterns of 1907 241,160 1929 4,227 Church Growth in the 1908 240,303 1930 6,379 British Isles Since 1700 1909 239,049 1931 7,645 (Oxford: Clarendon 1910 240,619 1932 Press, 1977), pp. 172-173. 1911 235,929 1933 8,184 1912 232,720 1934 8,609 1913 229,292 1935 8,823 1914 223,599 1936
1915 217,011 1937 8,848 1916 211,031 1938 8,627 1917 208,559 1939 7,257 1918 1919 201,014 1920 197,602 1921 197,817
328
Appendix 30
Baptist Sunday School Scholars 1900–1939 700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1900 525,136 1922 519,933 1901 529,516 1923 526,223 1902 539,328 1924 526,306 1903 554,337 1925 521,219 1904 566,465 1926 520,822 Figures from R. Curie, A. 1905 577,936 1927 504,419 Gilbert and L. Horsley, 1906 586,601 1928 494,587 Churches and 1907 583,290 1929 483,710 Churchgoers: Patterns of Church Growth in the 1908 1930 477,929 British Isles Since 1700 1909 575,346 1931 473,887 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910 572,686 1932 471,380 1977), pp. 189-190. 1911 572,083 1933 460,079 1912 567,260 1934 448,577 1913 561,007 1935 431,592 1914 558,570 1936 392,182 1915 544,919 1937 388,262 1916 527,937 1938 384,195 1917 1939 381,420 1918 1919 498,460 1920 508,759 1921 514,411
329
Appendix 31
Education Act 1902
• School Boards abolished and replaced with Local Education Authorities • Local Education Authorities were given the powers exercised by school boards and school attendance committees • They were also given control over secular education in voluntary schools • Authorities were empowered to spend rate incomes on secondary schools or training colleges • Rate Aid given to denominational schools • Duty of each Authority to maintain all public Elementary Schools from Government grants and local area rates • Managing bodies of schools to consist of no more than four members from the providing school and no more than two from the Local Authority • Managers allowed to appoint without reference to denominational beliefs • If there were more applicants than positions for pupil teachers the decision would be made by the Local Authority • Denominational schools or colleges who received aid from Local Authority no pupil could be made to receive religious instruction • Religious Instruction should be scheduled so that pupils could withdraw • Any school or college run by the Local Education Authority must not teach religion by any formal denominational distinction unless this was at the request of parents • The Kenyon-Slaney Amendment provided that religious instruction in denominational schools must be in accordance with trust deeds and controlled by the managers of the schools Information obtained from J. Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, 1800-1970 (London: Routledge, 1971), pp. 91-94.
Education Act 1918
• Raised the school leaving age to 14 • Abolished all exemptions from full time education • Local Education Authorities given control over central and day continuation schools • Aimed to not upset the 1902 ‘settlement’ – therefore no changes to the funding of voluntary schools Information obtained from J. Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, 1800-1970 (London: Routledge, 1971), pp. 101-102.
Education Act 1944
• Right to be withdrawn from Religious Education • Right to be withdrawn from Religious Education and given instruction in accordance with wishes of parents
330
• Abolishment of requirement of 1902 Act which allowed religious instruction to be ‘conveniently arranged’ to coincide with withdrawal • Schools maintained by the state required to provide religious instruction and an act of daily worship • No teacher legally compelled to take part and could not be penalised or disadvantaged for not doing so • State would provide financial support for denominational schools: o Voluntary Aided Schools ▪ Fully denominational ▪ State would now pay all Voluntary Aided Schools 50 per cent of approved expenditure on repairs and improvements to keep schools at necessary standard ▪ Would also pay up to 50 per cent of alterations to provide secondary education up to the age of fifteen o Special Arrangement Schools ▪ Practically speaking same as Voluntary Aided Schools ▪ Limited number of teachers who could appointed to give denominational teaching o Controlled Schools ▪ Denominations unable or unwilling to pay share of costs would retain ownership of school but would only appoint one-third of its managers ▪ Teaching would be non-denominational and according to the local ‘agreed syllabus’ but denominational teaching could be given on not more than two occasions a week where parents desired ▪ Denominational teaching could be given by a non-reserved teacher if they volunteered • All teachers would be appointed by the local education authority, denomination could express opinions about the appointment of headteacher Information obtained from J. Murphy, Church, State and Schools in Britain, 1800-1970 (London: Routledge, 1971), pp. 115-117.
331
Appendix 32
Programme for Roath Road Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School’s outing. Obtained from GA, DX320/3/2/i – Roath Road Record, 1907–1908, July to August 1908, p. 14.
332
Appendix 33
Comparison of National Sunday School Union Scholars from England, Wales, and Scotland 2000000 1800000 1600000 1400000 1200000 1000000 800000 600000 400000 200000 0
Welsh Scholars English Scholars Scottish Scholars Linear (Welsh Scholars) Linear (English Scholars) Linear (Scottish Scholars)
Figures obtained from CRL, NCEC Part 1, D10 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1906/1907 to 1909/1910, 1906/1907, pp. 329-333, 1907/1908, pp. 269-273, 1908/1909, pp. 263- 267, D11 – Volume containing Annual Report for 1910/1911, pp. 271-275, D12 – Volume containing Annual Report for 1911/1912, pp. 283-287, D13 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1913/1914 to 1916/1917, 1913/1914, pp. 273-277, December 1914/1915, pp. 229-231, D14 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1917/1918 to 1921/1922, 1917/1918, p. 116, 1918/1919, p. 119, 1919-1920, p. 115, 1920-1921, p. 127, 1921-1922, pp. 116-117, D15 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1922/1923 to 1927/1928, 1922/1923, p. 110-111, 1923/1924, pp. 126-127, 1924/1925, pp. 118-119, 1925/1926, pp. 140-141, 1927/1928, p. 122-123 and D16 – Volume containing Annual Reports for 1928/1929 to 1933/1934, 1928/1929, pp. 116-117, 1929/1930, p. 116-117.
333
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D64 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1912
D65 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1913
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D67 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1915
D68 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1916
D69 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1917
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D71 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1919
D72 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1920
D73 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1921
D74 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1922
D75 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1923
D76 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1924
D77 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1925
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D82 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1930
336
D85 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1933
D88 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1936
D90 – The Sunday School Chronicle 1938
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D141 – Early Sunday School Union Examination Handbooks
D142 – Early Sunday School Union Examination: The Junior Handbook
D143 – Early Sunday School Union Examination: The Senior Handbook.
D155 – File of leaflets organised by subject A-P
D157 – Sunday School Advance: The Adolescent Campaign, Your Sunday School Job A Survey and A Challenge
D157 – Sunday School Advance Handbooks, No. 4 The Teenage Section (1930s)
D157 – Sunday School Advance Handbooks, No. 3 The Junior Section (1930s)
D158 – What the Churches Expect from the Sunday Schools
D158 – What the Sunday Schools Expect from the Churches
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Box 255 – Westhill: An Informal History of Seventy-Five Years
Box 287 – Details of Courses Session 1923–1924
Box 287 – Prospectus 1929–1930
Church of England Record Centre
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SSI/2/1/8 – General Committee Book 1900–1907
SSI/2/1/9 – General Committee Book 1907–1914
SSI/2/1/10 – Sunday School Institute, General Committee Minutes 1914–1922
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SSI/SCC/2/1/4 – Minute Book of St. Christopher’s College Council 1923–1926
SSI/SCC/3/1/1 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1928–1930
SSI/SCC/3/1/2 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1930–1931
SSI/SCC/3/1/3 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1932–1933
SSI/SCC/3/1/4 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1933–1934
SSI/SCC/3/1/5 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1934–1935
SSI/SCC/3/1/6 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1935–1936
SSI/SCC/3/1/7 – St. Christopher’s College Report 1936–1937
SSI/SCC/3/1/8 – St. Christopher's College: Annual Report and Accounts 1938–1939
SSI/SCC/3/1/9 – St. Christopher's College: Annual Report and Accounts 1939–1940
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SSI/SCC/10/1/12 – St. Christopher’s College Leaflet July 1914
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SSI/SCC/10/1/49 – St. Christopher's College Terminal Magazine, December 1926
Derbyshire Record Office
D2192/JMM/47/1 – Ripley Methodist Circuit Roll of Honour for Church and Sunday School members of the Circuit who joined the Army or Navy during the First World War, 1918
Durham Record Office
B/Da 11 – Darlington Baptist Church Annual Report 1915
M/BA 255 – Bishop Auckland Methodist Circuit, Minutes of Teachers’ Meetings of Russell Street Sunday School 1839–1942
M/BDV 1 – Crook Primitive Methodist Circuit, Sunday School Union Minute Book 1906– 1930
M/BT 249 – Teesdale Circuit Sunday School Council Minute Book
M/BT 68 – Barnard Castle Trinity Methodist Church Sunday School Attendance Register
M/Da 725 - Graph showing number of scholars in Sunday Schools in Wesleyan Methodist Church, Darlington Bondgate Circuit, 1885–1917
M/DDV 384 – Durham and Deerness Valley Methodist Circuit, Attendance Register of Primitive Methodist Sunday School, Brandon Colliery, 1909–1919
Englesea Brook Museum of Primitive Methodism
Jackson, L. J., Extracts from Soldiers’ Letters Read on Sermons’ Sunday (London: Alldred and Sons, 1917)
Glamorgan Archives
D1232/1/2/1 – Sardis Calvinistic Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Committee 1912–1923
D4272/2/7 – Bethel Baptist Church Butetown, Sunday School Meetings Minutes 1875–1959
D601/22/1 – Roath Park United Reformed Church, Sunday School Minutes of Teachers’ Meetings 1917–1931
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DBAP6/2 – Horeb English Baptist Church, Treorchy, Sunday School Minutes 1873–1909
DBAP6/3 – Horeb Baptist Church, Sunday School Minutes 1910–1928
DBAP8/1/3/1 – Llanishen Baptist Church Cardiff Records, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1911–1932
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DBAP49/3/2 – Splott Road Baptist Church, Sunday School Minute Book 1911–1920
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DBAP52/2 – Bethel Baptist Barry Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1910–1928
DBAP52/26/1 – Bethel Baptist Church, Barry Records, Sunday School Superintendent’s Register 1914–1926
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DECONG10/23 – Windsor Congregational Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Meeting Minute Book 1907–1928
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DECONG10/25 – Windsor Road Congregational Church, Sunday School Register with Notes 1903–1926
DECONG10/91 – Reform in Sunday School Methods (1905)
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K70695 – Thanksgiving For Victory Order of Worship No. 1. For Use in Sunday Schools or Churches
Q31439 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 11 April 1918
Q56794 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 23 March 1918
Q60775 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 7th September 1918
Q60776 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 23 December 1918
Q60777 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 26th April 1918
Q60778 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 26th September 1918
Q60779 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day, 4th August 1918
Q60780 – Sir Douglas Haig Special Order of the Day: A Message from the King [n.d.]
John Rylands Library
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GB135/DDEy/1/4 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1903–1908
GB135 DDEy/1/6 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1912–1914
GB135 DDEy/1/8 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1918–1924
GB135 DDEy/1/9 – Minutes of the General Sunday School Committee [Primitive Methodist] 1924–1927
GB135 DDEy/7/1 – Minutes of the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Committee 1908– 1924
341
GB135 DDEy/7/2 – Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union General Committee Minutes 1925–1932
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GB135 DDEy/7/5 – Methodist Sunday School Council Minutes 1932–1943
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Liverpool Record Office
M285 CRE/7/6 – The Young Crescent Magazine, 1915–1919
London Metropolitan Archives
ACC/1361/05/001 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1897–1911
ACC/1361/05/002 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1912–1918
ACC/1361/05/003 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1918–1924
ACC/1361/05/004 – Ferne Park Baptist Church Sunday School Minute Book 1924–1928
Mass Observation Archive
SxMOA1/2/1/7/A/1 – Topic Collection 1: Housing, Typed Drafts of People’s Homes 1942
SxMOA1/2/47/1/E – Observations, References to Religion in Non-Religious Observers Reports
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342
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Acc.12132/4 – Scottish Sunday School Union for Christian Education, Minutes of Meetings of the Council 1926–1953
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CH1/2/352 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1916, fol. 34
CH1/2/353 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1917, fol. 10
CH1/2/354 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1918, fol. 16
CH1/2/355 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1919, fol. 16
CH1/2/356 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1920, fol. 22
CH1/2/357 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1921, fol. 15
CH1/2/358 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1922, fol. 12
CH1/2/359 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1923, fol. 28
CH1/2/360 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1924, fol. 25
CH1/2/364 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1928, fol. 43
CH1/2/365 – General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1929, fol. 30
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CH2/852/75 – Crown Kirk Session, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1912–1934
CH3/342/26 – Arthurlie United Free Church Sunday School Association Minutes 1909–1931
CH3/773/20 – Fountainbridge United Free Church Sunday School Magazine, 1908
CH3/773/21 – Fountainbridge United Free Church Sunday School Magazine, 1909
CH3/1495/43 – Musselburgh Bridge Street Sunday School – Miscellaneous correspondence relating to Sunday School, Bible Class and Boys' Brigade
CH11/21/10 – Roxborough Primitive Methodist Church, Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1907–1916
343
CH14/26/9/2/4 – Morningside Congregational Church Sunday School Teachers’ Minutes 1903–1919
CH14/26/9/2/5 – Morningside Congregational Church Sunday School Minutes 1919–1963
Newspapers and Periodicals
National Newspapers
The Daily Telegraph
The Times
Local Newspapers
Aberdeen Journal
Aberdeen Press and Journal
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette
Bedfordshire Times and Independent
Bexhill-on-Sea Observer
Birmingham Daily Post
Bolton Evening News
Burnley Express
Burnley Gazette
Burton Daily Mail
Cambridge Independent Press
Cornish and Devon Post
Cheltenham Chronicle
Daily Record and Mail
Derby Daily Telegraph
Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal
344
Derbyshire Courier
Dundee Courier
Dundee Evening Telegraph
Essex Newsman
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette
Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
Gloucester Citizen
Gloucester Journal
Gloucestershire Echo
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail
Hastings and St Leonards Observer
Hull Daily Mail
Lancashire General Advertiser
Leamington Spa Courier
Liverpool Daily Post
Liverpool Echo
London Daily News
Manchester Courier
Manchester Evening News
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