ABSTRACT
During the second half of the nineteenth century, a new set of institutions which aimed to provide higher-level forms of education up to university standard was founded in the principal industrial and commercial towns and cities. They originated at the nodal points of a complex of national educational movements and local urban factors. To a large extent, they emulated the pioneer of modern urban university education, University College, London, in providing cheap, relevant and accessible curricula to the middle classes. These provincial colleges also gave local expression to the two great educational campaigns of the mid-Victorian period to expand scientific and technical education, and disseminate Oxbridge extension lectures. Certainly, a large number of institutions across the country took on aspects of these educational initiatives, but only the largest towns were able to support colleges with the resources and facilities necessary for more advanced study. While embracing a wide range of educational activity, the colleges in the principal towns were able to aspire to higher things. Civic pride added a virtuous circle of competition between the major towns to make possession of a university college a hallmark of civic status and identity. Thus, around a dozen institutions emerged as an identifiable cohort and constituted a significant new sector of university level education, yet each one bore the impression of the local social, political and economic circumstances surrounding its birth.
