ABSTRACT
Before 1800 there was very little in the way of adult or continuative education, apart from one or two isolated examples of philanthropic teachers with a deep sense of religious or social mission, who took in hand small groups of youths and adults in order to provide them with a minimum of literacy. The development of the revolution in industry and science led many adults to realize their sheer inadequacy in a world of business, in which they often possessed some skill in management and administration but were baulked by an inadequacy in knowledge and learning. Gradually there arose both religious and philanthropic groups anxious and willing to deal as best they might with the situation. Between 1800 and 1850 there was a considerable expansion of such voluntary movements, which sought to help their students at least to read and write, as well as to do some simple arithmetic.
