Joseph Lancaster
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Joseph Lancaster (25 November 1778 – 23 October 1838) was an English
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
and
public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...
innovator. He developed, and propagated on the grounds both of economy and efficacy, a monitorial system of primary education. In the first decades of the 19th century his ideas found application in new schools established in growing industrial centres.


Early life

He was born in
Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
, south
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, on 25 November 1778, into a large family, the son of Richard Lancaster who had been a soldier and made cane sieves, and his wife Sarah Faulkes who was a shopkeeper. He was interested as a teenager in missionary work in Jamaica. He is said to have run away from home, and to have been returned through naval connections of the minister Thomas Urwick. Lancaster joined the Society of Friends, with the intention of becoming a teacher.


Schoolmaster

In 1798, Lancaster founded a free
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
, with support from his father. He went on in 1801 to start in Borough Road, Southwark a free school using a variant of the monitorial system. Lancaster's ideas were developed simultaneously with those of Andrew Bell in
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
whose system was referred to as the " Madras system of education". Without wishing to "detract from the praise so justly due" to Lancaster, Elizabeth Hamilton noted they had been also "anticipated" some forty years before by the
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
schoolmaster David Manson (1718-1792). The method of instruction and delivery is recursive. As one student learns the material he or she is rewarded for successfully passing on that information to the next pupil. This method is now commonly known as peer tutoring. The use of monitors was prompted partly by a need to avoid the cost of assistant teachers.Pen Vogler: "The Poor Child's Friend", ''History Today'', February 2015, pp. 4–5. Lancaster wrote ''Improvements in Education as it Respects the Industrious Classes of the Community'' in 1803. It brought him positive publicity, and the Borough Road school numerous visitors.


Support

The Borough Road school called itself the Royal Free School, and Lancaster was granted an audience with George III in 1805, at Weymouth. This apogee of recognition built on the support of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, and involved two royal dukes, Kent and Strathearn and
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
. Lancaster's supporters have been defined as "influential Nonconformists, utilitarian liberals and radicals." They included Edward Wakefield and James Mill. In his education book '' Chrestomathia'' (1816),
Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. 5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S.– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...
supported a version of the monitorial system, for which he gave both Bell and Lancaster credit, but moved from Lancaster's non-sectarian religious stance to a secularism hostile to
Anglicanism Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
. The year 1808 saw the creation of "The Society for Promoting the Lancasterian System for the Education of the Poor". A major figure in it was William Allen, another Quaker, who acted as treasurer. It went by the name Royal Lancasterian Society. According to Henry Dunn, writing in 1848, the others on the initial committee were William Corston, Joseph Foster (of Bromley), Joseph Fox, John Jackson and Thomas Sturge. This group, without Sturge, raised £5600 for Lancaster's school. Lancaster, himself, travelled the British Isles to advise on his methods. Addressing a school committee in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
he appeared to reduce these to a question of economy. Lancaster described a "mechanical system of education" whereby "above one thousand children may be governed by one master only, at an expense reduced to five shillings per annum". He did, however, make a stipulation, critical in the
Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
context, that pupils should never be asked whether they belonged to "Church, Meeting, or Chapel". A year in advance of his visit in 1811, two schools on his model had already been established in Ulster: in Belfast, and in
Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...
. The merits of the system was debated at length in the pages of the Belfast Monthly Magazine. The editor, the former United Irishman and founder of the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, William Drennan, prefaced the discussion with the observation that "notwithstanding the public benefit from making man a machine, we cannot help thinking that the personal enjoyment gained by knowledge of reading, and figures, with the uses to which such knowledge may in future be applied, is in itself a value worth a great deal of cloth, a great many scissors, and a great many pins".


Opposition

The context in England for the Lancasterian school was the array of elementary
dame school Dame schools were small, privately run schools for children aged two to five. They emerged in Great Britain and its colonies during the Early modern Britain, early modern period. These schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman ...
s (typically fee-paying),
charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...
s,
Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...
s (such as those set up by Robert Raikes around Gloucester) and the Mendip Hills schools run by the evangelical Hannah More. Sarah Trimmer, involved in the London area in both Sunday school and charity school work, and concerned for the evangelical
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
parent, attacked Lancaster's use of pupil monitors in ''A Comparative View of the New Plan of Education Promulgated by Mr. Joseph Lancaster'' (1805). "A Churchman", writing to the ''
British Critic The ''British Critic: A New Review'' was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high-church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution. The headquarters was in London. The journa ...
'' in October 1805, commented that
Granting ..that a dissenter may ''teach'' only what he calls "the leading and uncontroverted principles of Christianity," is it not to be feared that the disregard shown to all religious systems and creeds, may so confound the distinctions between right and wrong, that it may eventually occasion the rejection of Christianity altogether?"
After initial successes, the Lancasterian schools were criticized for poor standards and harsh discipline. Lancaster had rejected
corporal punishment A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...
, but misbehaving children might find themselves tied up in sacks, or hoisted above the classroom in cages. Robert Southey was an opponent of corporal punishment, also: but he wrote in 1812, after giving examples of shaming punishments listed in Lancaster's writings:
However objectionable the rod may be ..it becomes a wise and humane engine of punishment when compared to the yokes and shackles, the cords, and fetters, and cages of Mr. Lancaster.
After Lancaster's initial royal recognition, the monarchy turned away in the 1810s, and the Church of England sustained its hostility.


Controversy and ouster

Lancaster fell out with the Society over a number of issues. There was poor financial management, and he was imprisoned in a sponging house for debt. According to Francis Place, a committee member from 1812, they had information that Lancaster had been privately beating a number of the boys. Critics accused him of
deism Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...
and
homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...
. He was ousted from the Society in 1814. A group of young teachers had come up through the Lancasterian System: Thomas Harrod, James George Penney, John Pickton, John Veevers, John Thomas Crossley. It was Pickton who replaced Lancaster at Borough Road. The Society renamed itself the British and Foreign School Society (BFSS), a contrast with the Anglican National School System. Lancaster, by then a bankrupt, resented the new name. He still travelled the United Kingdom, lecturing and creating local organisations.


In the Americas

In 1818, backed by the mill owner David Holt and other friends, Lancaster and his family sailed to the United States. He had significant American supporters: Roberts Vaux and Robert Ralston in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, and
DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York. ...
in New York. Clinton had founded a Lancasterian school in 1806, prompted by Thomas Eddy, who knew of Lancaster's work via Patrick Colquhoun in London. Eddy had recently recruited a BFSS master, Charles Pickton trained by Lancaster, for the New York school, leaving no place for Lancaster himself. Lancaster helped to start the first model school in Philadelphia to train teachers to implement his system. He also started a school in
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, but it was not financially viable. A Lancasterian school was set up in
New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
in 1822, with the help of Timothy Dwight IV, and was run successfully by John Lowell, an American disciple.


Venezuela

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
, the South American revolutionary, had visited the Borough Road School when on a diplomatic visit to England in 1810. At the time it was not clear how successful Bolívar would be in ending Spanish rule in South America, and the British government did not endorse the idea of independence for Spanish colonies. Visiting England was therefore politically disappointing for him, but Lancaster's education system was one of the things he found interesting in the country. In 1823 Lancaster apparently felt that living in the tropics would be good for his health, and he took advantage of an opportunity to renew contact with Bolívar, who was by then president of
Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), also known as Greater Colombia and officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central ...
. Lancaster encountered a soldier with Bolívar's Irish Legion, who took a letter for him to Bolívar. Gran Colombia included the territories of present-day Colombia, Ecuador and
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
. It was to Venezuela where Lancaster sailed with his daughter Betsy and her husband (Lancaster's wife had died in 1820). They arrived at the port of La Guaira in May 1824. Betsy and her husband Jones moved on to
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
in February 1825, and did not return, while Lancaster stayed to 1827 in
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
. There was a small British community in the city. British investors were taking an interest in the area, and a commercial treaty between Great Britain and Gran Colombia was ratified in 1825. However, there was soon evidence that there were limits to what British capital and technology could achieve in what had been an underdeveloped part of the Spanish Empire. The engineer
Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...
visited Venezuela in 1824 with a brief to survey the route of a railway line between La Guaira and Caracas, but the project was considered unviable. As well as his educational work, Lancaster involved himself with Scots settlers based at an agricultural estate called Topo. The Scots were brought to Venezuela in 1825 by John Diston Powles and associates, as part of a project which has been described by the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
as a predictable failure. Lancaster and Robert Ker Porter, the British consul from the end of 1825, concurred in supporting the relocation of the Scots in Canada. However, on other matters Lancaster clashed with Porter, who regarded him as an imposter. Much of the population in Caracas was illiterate and there was a need for more access to primary education. Lancaster's educational work did not go smoothly, however. Some of the problems were attributable to Lancaster himself. His lack of Spanish, for example, impeded his work. Also, Lancaster appears to have moved from his non-sectarian Christian stance to a refusal to teach religion, a position which caused a problem with the council in Caracas. Arguably, this was a difficulty caused by the weakness of the Colombian state rather than Lancaster directly. It has been said that the Spanish American elites wanted to reduce superstition and make the population more rational. Bolívar went further than some other South American leaders by endorsing the
separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...
in his Cartagena Manifesto. However, he struggled to control the vast Gran Colombia, and his approach to religious matters was often pragmatic. In 1827 Lancaster married for the second time, with Bolívar attending the wedding. However, Bolívar and Lancaster fell out over non-payment of the promised sum to support the educational work. Lancaster left Caracas covertly in April 1827, sailing first to Saint Thomas and Saint Croix, and arriving in New Haven in June. He left his wife Mary and her children to make their own way back to Philadelphia. There was at least one school in
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
that retained Lancaster's name in the longer term, but the Lancasterian method seems to have had more success in Mexico.


Canada

The Rev. Thaddeus Osgood had set up schools using Lancaster's system in
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...
, one in
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
in 1814, another in
Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...
. Lancaster was there in 1829, and opened a school in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, but his attempts to obtain funding floundered and he moved back to the United States.


Death and legacy

Lancaster died on 23 October 1838 in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
from injuries sustained in a street accident. At the time of his death, between 1,200 and 1,500 schools were said to use his principles. The BFSS was widely successful in the early part of the 19th century, but the waning popularity of monitorial methods during the 1820s and 1830s meant that it became a more conventional school society. There is just one remaining Lancasterian schoolroom, built to the specifications of Lancaster himself. It is at the British Schools Museum, in
Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...
,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
, England.


Works

*
Improvements in Education
' (London, 1803; New York, 1807) *
The British System of Education
' (Washington, 1812) * ''Epitome of the Chief Events and Transactions of my own Life'' (New Haven, 1833). See ''Life of Lancaster'', by his friend William Corston.


Family

Lancaster married: #In 1804, Elizabeth Bonner (died 1820), daughter of Henry Bonner of Southwark; they had a daughter, Elizabeth (known as Betsy). Elizabeth suffered from mental illness, and died in Baltimore. #In 1827, Mary Robinson, in Caracas. She was the widow of John Robinson, a British miniature painter who had moved to Philadelphia in 1817, and had three children from her first marriage. Robinson had been Betsy's drawing master in 1819, and died in 1825. On 20 April 1824, Betsy married Richard Madox Jones in Philadelphia: he had crossed the Atlantic with the Lancasters, and formed part of the household. This wedding took place shortly before the family moved to Caracas. Jones was trained in the System at Borough Road in 1812, and had then taught at
Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...
, followed by a period in Cornwall. He became a Lancasterian organiser in Mexico, dying in 1855. Joseph Lancaster's descendants still live in Mexico: see Ricardo Lancaster-Jones y Verea.


References


Further reading

* Hassard, John, and Michael Rowlinson. "Researching Foucault's research: Organization and control in Joseph Lancaster's monitorial schools." ''Organization'' 9.4 (2002): 615-639
online
* Hogan, David. "The market revolution and disciplinary power: Joseph Lancaster and the psychology of the early classroom system." ''History of Education Quarterly'' 29.3 (1989): 381-417
online
* Kaestle, Carl F., ed. ''Joseph Lancaster and the monitorial school movement; a documentary history'' (1973), includes primary sources;
online
* McCadden, Joseph J. "Joseph Lancaster and Philadelphia." ''Pennsylvania History'' 4.1 (1937): 6-20
online
* McCadden, Joseph J. "Joseph Lancaster and the Philadelphia Schools." ''Pennsylvania History'' 3.4 (1936): 225-239
online
* Muller, Jennifer. " 'Engines of educational power'–The Lancasterian monitorial system and the development of the teacher's roles in the classroom: 1805-1838" (PhD dissertation, Rutgers University, 2015
online
* Parkerson, Donald, and Jo Ann Parkerson. ''Ten Days that Shook the World of Education: A Close Look at the People who Facilitated Educational Change'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021) pp. 15–2
online
* Spragge, George W. "Joseph Lancaster in Montreal." ''Canadian Historical Review'' 22.1 (1941): 35-41.


External links




British Schools Museum, Hitchin, UK

A Film about Lancasterian Monitorial School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster, Joseph English Quakers Heads of schools in London English educational theorists Road incident deaths in New York City 1778 births 1838 deaths Founders of English schools and colleges British emigrants to the United States People from the London Borough of Southwark