ABSTRACT
When Wilderspin returned to Cheltenham from Dublin at the beginning of October 1837, after advising the Board of National Education on the organisation of their projected Model Infant School, he had no thoughts of any further involvement in the national education question. He was waiting to be recalled by the Irish Board and intended to spend his time in rest and recuperation, having been away from Alpha House for nine months.I Within a matter of weeks, however, he was caught up in one of the most violent controversies of his career, the ultimate outcome of which was profoundly to affect his future prospects.
