ABSTRACT
The argument presented in this chapter challenges orthodoxies both in the history of education and in the study of ‘race relations’ in the UK. In many histories of education great emphasis is placed on the different types of education which developed in the nineteenth century for different social classes in Britain. In describing why a national system of education was a relatively late development in England and Wales, great stress is placed on the disagreements between and competition of the various Protestant churches. The more ambitious histories integrate these two aspects with an understanding of the history of the state and the development of British identity in the nineteenth century. However, it is rare to find reference to the significance of immigrants in British cities for these historical developments.
