Durham E-Theses Her Majesty's inspectorate of schools in England and Wales 1860-1870 Dunford, J. E. How to cite: Dunford, J. E. (1976) Her Majesty's inspectorate of schools in England and Wales 1860-1870, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9794/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to examine in detail the Inspectorate in the 18b0s and in particular the effect of the 1862 Revised Code on the inspectors1 work. The background to the Revised Code is outlined, with emphasis on the early development of the Inspectorate and the extent to which the I846 Pupil-Teacher Minutes changed the nature of the inspectors' task. After a chapter on the Report of the Newcastle Commission, the evolution of the Revised Code and the debate which led to its"alteration are examined and placed in the context of contemporary social attitudes. This includes a section on inspectors' opinions of the Revised Code and, in the following chapter, the effect of the new Code on the inspection of schools. Throughouts attention is given to the influence of the religious bodies on elementary education and its inspection. The careers of the inspectors, which are given fully in an appendix, are analysed and, using their own writings as evidence, the inspectors' attitudes to their work are summarised. This examination of the writings of the H.M.l'.s is then broadened to cover their opinions on the educational issues of the 1860c* The extent to which these writings were subjected to censorship by the Privy Council Office is discussed in the context of the developing relationship between the government and. its officials and the emphasis by the Office on the subordinate nature of the Inspectorate. After studying the effects of the Revised Code on the inspectors, teachers and 3chool managers, this discussion is then extended into a fuller exploration of the relationship between the Education Office and its Inspectorate in the 1860s. The thesis includes a brief survey of other school inspectors and ends with an account of the part that the H.M.I.B played in the genesis of the 1870 Education Act. HER MAJESTY'S INSPECTORATE OF SCHOOL: IN ENGLAND AND WALES 1860-1870 by J.E. DUNFORD B.So. THESIS SUBMITTED TO TEE UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION MAY 1976 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. CONTENTS Page List of Tables ii. List of Illustrations iii. Acknowledgements iv. Preface v. Chapter 1. Advice or Control? - The Early Years, 1839-1859 1. 2. The Newcastle Commission 19. 3. The Revised Code 36. 4. The New Inspection 71. 5. Her Majesty's Inspectors 94« 6. The Inspectors and Education 126. 7. Censorship or Freedom? - Conflict with Robert Lowe 171. 8. Inspectors and Teachers 199. 9. Inspectors and Managers 2 31. 10. Inspectors and the Office 249. 11. Other Inspectors 281. 12. Up to the 1870 Education Act 293. 13. Conclusion 504• Appendices 1. Biographical Details of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools before 1870. $11. 2. Biographical Notes on the Senior Officials in the Education Department, 1360-70. 359. 3. Instructions to Inspectors, 1362. 370. 4. H.M.I. Fearon's Circular to Inspected Schools in Wales, 1868. 388. Bibliography 397. Documents and inspectors' reports relating to inside Castle Eden Boys School, Co. Durham back flap Summary of Inspectors' careers, arranged chronologically. ii. LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Number, age and experience of new inspectors of elementary schools in England and Wales appointed up to 1857* 2. Results of school inspections, 1858-61. 3. Opinions of H.M.I.s for England and Wales on the subject of the Revised Code, 1862-65. 4. Percentage pass rates of certain inspectors in the Revised Code examination in the years 1865 and 1869. 5. Backgrounds of H.M.I.s, appointed 1839-69. 6. Number of inspectors and the number of their school visits, by denomination, 1859-69. 7* . Cost of inspection and administration, and the total cost of elementary education, 18^; 7;-- • 8. Remuneration of certain inspectors, I80O. 9. How H.M.I. Watkins spent the years 1855 and I863. 10. Higher subjects taught in a sample of elementary schools, 1862-67- 11. Number of pupil-teachers under apprenticeship. 12. Government grants to Training Colleges as a percentage of the Colleges' total income, 1854-59. 13. Percentage of applicants admitted to male Training Colleges, 1061-66. 14. Number and salaries of employees of the Education Department in November I867. Hi.. ILLUSTRATIONS aft or page 1. Sir Joshua Pitch, H.M.Io 30- 2. Lord Granvil;e 41. 5. Matthew Arnold, H.M.I. 56. 4. E.M. Sneyd-Kynnersley, K.M.I. 101. 5. Rev. Frederick Meyrick 118. 6. Robert Lowe 179- iv. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS No one who has read Dr. Nancy Ball's work on the first ten years of H .^.Inspectorate will fail to realise the enormous debt that I owe her. For someone like m.yseif coming new to the field, there could have been no better example than that set by Dr. Ball. I am also grateful to Dr. Ball for the information which she gave me in correspondence and I must also thank Dr. Gillian Sutherland and Dr. Richard Johnson for helping me in this way. In the initial stages I was also grea.tly assisted by Mr. R.B. Grove, Mr. John Partington and Dr. Paul Wilding of Nottingham University and I am indebted to Mr. Trevor Lightbown who first suggested this as a topic for research. For information concerning the finance of education and the Poor Law Board, I am grateful to Mr. R. Pallister of Neville's Cross College, Durham. My thanks are also due to the staff of the Public Record Office in London and Ashridge, the staff of the Department of Education and Science library, notably Mr. Mark Staunton, the County Record Offices of Durham and Somerset, and the Durham University library, particularly Mrs. Heather Summers. For the loan of the log books of St. Paul's C.E. Schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, I am indebted to Lhe Diocesan Education Adviser and the school's headmaster, Mr. Noel Todd. I am extremely grateful to Mr3. Linda Mcpherson for her accurate typing and her forbea.rance of my many alterations. None of this would have been possible, however, without the continuing guidance of Mr. Richard Goodings of. Durham University, whose help and encouragement throughout the preparation of this thesis have been invaluable. Finally, I am most grateful to my wife who, having been through the experience' of a thesis on her own account, knew what was involved and yet remained ray main source of assistance, inspiration and patient understanding. PRSFAC3:J The development of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools during the nineteenth century passed through a number of stages, each merging with the next but having certain distinct characteristics. Of these periods, the most significant and interesting, it could be argued, was the 1860s, during the time between the Newcastle Report (l) and the Education Act of 1870. The first ten years of the Inspectorate, from its inception in 1839» has been chronicled by Dr. Nancy Ball in a. monograph which put the early inspectors into their proper place on the map of nineteenth century educational history. (2) This thesis, although concentrating on the sixties, looks back to the period covered by Dr. Ball and in particular to the effect of the Pupil-Teacher Minutes of I846. It also looks at the development of the Inspectorate in Lhe light of the educational stalemate of the fifties, when religious controversy and weak government prevented the passing of any effective legislation on the subject of elementary education. After the Newcastle Report, the early sixties saw the introduction of the notorious Revised Code which, it has been suggested, brought about a sudden, and dramatic change in the role of the H.M.I.s. Studied in the context of what went before, however, it can be seen that this change was of a more gradual nature. The Revised Code was certainly a signpost of things to come but, for the Inspectorate, it was not 00 much a clear dividing line between phases as an important (1) Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the State of Popular Education in England, 1861, Crand.Paper 2794» 6 vols. (2) N. Ball, Her Majesty'a"inspectorate 1839-1849, Educational Monograph No.6, Birmingham, 1963* event in a period of continuing development. The instability inherent in this evolutionary process was due primarily to the effects of the relationship between the government and the Inspectorate. As in many other branches of the civil service, this was undergoing changes of a kind that could only lead to difficulties between the sort of men who occupied the high offices of the Education Department and the inspectors, whose background and experience gave them a confidence and authority that schoolteachers recognised only too well.