Religion and Education in Victorian London: Secondary, Adult, and Higher Education

Abstract

hristianly motivated people transformed secondary education in London, which until 1870 was largely provided through ancient endowed foundations teaching the classics, and private schools teaching modern and commercial subjects, all of which were small-scale. Clergy and laypeople promoted the reform of ancient endowments to increase the provision of modern education, including for girls to be educated to the same level as boys, and established numerous new schools on sound financial educational bases. Similarly motivated groups also provided opportunities for adult education for working people. The initiative to provide higher education in London in the 1820s, on a different model from the ancient universities, came from religiously motivated groups, as did pioneering initiatives to provide higher education for women. These initiatives fed the expanding need for secondary school teachers and the growing newer professions.