ABSTRACT

For the historian who seeks to understand the social complexities of educational expansion throughout the nineteenth century, the ethics of Christian Nonconformity, cannot be ignored. While it would be inaccurate to claim that these were the only significant determinants for the multitudinous educational initiatives which burgeoned throughout that century, there is strong evidence that the influence of Nonconformity (not least through the auspices of powerful Nonconformist businessmen), was pervasive and far from inconsequential in the unprecedented development of education, particularly that provided for the ever growing numbers of the working classes.