The three decades before the passing of the

Elementary Education Act 1870 The Elementary Education Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75), commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between the ages of 5 and 12 in England and Wales. It established local education authorities wit ...

( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75) saw a national education campaign in the United Kingdom, carried out by a wide range of activist groups. In this period the debate on education was usually framed in terms of "national education" (i.e. universal

state 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 ...

) and its characteristics: fee-paying or free, compulsory or voluntary (and to what age), religious, non-denominational, or secular, inspection. A committee of the Privy Council on national education was set up in 1839. The National Public Schools Association (NPSA), founded 1850, was a significant and prominent English pressure group campaigning for

elementary education Primary education is the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle schools, de ...

. It built on strong feelings in favour of education that was independent of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, centred on Manchester. Those who took part had often been involved in other reforming and radical causes. But no one group can be said to have determined the eventual shape of the 1870 Act.

1830s

At the beginning of the reign of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, state control of the education system was opposed by Anglican churchmen, such as

James Shergold Boone James Shergold Boone (1799–1859) was an English cleric and writer. Life Boone was born on 30 June 1799. In 1812 he was sent to Charterhouse School, and in 1816 he became a student of Christ Church, Oxford, where in 1817 he obtained a Craven sc ...

. The ''status quo'' in England and Wales consisted of the two elementary school systems run by the

National Society for Promoting Religious Education The National Society (Church of England and Church in Wales) for the Promotion of Education, often just referred to as the National Society, and since 2016 also as The Church of England Education Office (CEEO), is significant in the history of ed ...

(Anglican) and the

British and Foreign School Society The British and Foreign School Society (BFSS) was founded in the early 19th century to support free and non-denominational British Schools in England and Wales. These schools competed with the National schools run by the National Society for Promo ...

(non-sectarian). The 1830s saw efforts to change elementary education to a system more effective in educating children in the major industrial cities, in particular. The Central Society for Education of 1836, drawing its ideas from the USA, with its non-religious schools, and

Richard Whately Richard Whately (1 February 1787 – 8 October 1863) was an English academic, rhetorician, logician, philosopher, economist, and theologian who also served as a reforming Archbishop of Dublin (Church of Ireland), Church of Ireland Archbishop of ...

's national education pilot in Ireland, had a strong base in parliament. Yet it proved vulnerable to the claim that secular education would disadvantage the poor, and was short-lived. The Manchester Society for promoting National Education (1837) followed the lead of the Central Society, and opened three schools in 1838. It too did not survive long: the government showed no interest in non-sectarian education.

1840s and 1850s

The Lancashire Public Schools Association (LPSA) was founded in 1847, by a group of seven including Alexander Ireland and

Samuel Lucas Samuel Lucas (1811 – 16 April 1865) was a British journalist and abolitionist. He was the editor of the ''Morning Star (London newspaper), Morning Star'' in London, the only national newspaper in Britain to support the Unionist cause in the Am ...

, drawing heavily on Anti-Corn Law League activists; and was dominated by Unitarians. A setpiece debate between

William McKerrow William McKerrow (7 September 1803 – 4 June 1878) was a Scottish minister of the Presbyterian Church of England who had a particular interest in education. He lived for most of his life in Manchester, England, where he immersed himself in the r ...

and George Osborn on 28 March 1849 in Manchester saw the amendment by Osborn and

Hugh Stowell Hugh Stowell (3 December 1799 – 8 October 1865) was a Church of England clergyman with a reputation as a "vigorous and inspiring preacher". He was an implacable opponent of Catholic emancipation whose supporters built Christ Church in S ...

to an Association petition, to ensure a Christian education, carried by a small margin. In 1850 the LPSA became the National Public Schools Association (NPSA). During the 1850s it campaigned for an education system that was secular or non-sectarian, having financial support from local rates and under political control.

Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radicals (UK), Radical and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician, manufacturing, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti–Corn Law L ...

and

William Johnson Fox William Johnson Fox (1 March 1786 – 3 June 1864) was an English Unitarian minister, politician, and political orator. Early life Fox was born at Uggeshall Farm, Wrentham, near Southwold, Suffolk on 1 March 1786. His parents were strict Calv ...

were national leaders of the NPSA, and the educational system of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

taken as a model. In the mid-1850s, a number of education bills were introduced in parliament, one drafted for the NPSA originating in 1855 with Cobden,

Thomas Milner Gibson Thomas Milner Gibson PC (3 September 1806 – 25 February 1884) was a British politician. Background and education Thomas Milner Gibson came of a Suffolk family, but was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where his father, Thomas Milner Gibson, ...

and Thomas Emerson Headlam. Nothing came of them. At the local level, John Watts in 1852 there was common ground for the NPSA and campaigners against the "

taxes on knowledge Taxes on knowledge was a slogan defining an extended British campaign against duties and taxes on newspapers, their advertising content, and the paper they were printed on. The paper tax was early identified as an issue: "A tax upon Paper, is a ta ...

1860s

Locally, the NPSA in Manchester was followed in 1864 by the Manchester Educational Aid Society, which campaigned for compulsory

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

. It involved particularly McKerrow.

Aftermath

National Education League (1869)

National Education Union (1869)

The National Education Union was founded in 1869 also, in reaction to the National Education League. Its support was Anglican, with some Methodists and Roman Catholics.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:National education campaign in the United Kingdom (1837-1870) Education in the United Kingdom