ABSTRACT
One of the curiosities of the literature on the history of English education is that on the one hand there are the general historical accounts dealing with legislative and other changes taking place mainly in London, and on the other hand a very large number of school histories dealing principally with the local aspects of school development and only rarely relating the story of a particular school to general educational history. Comparatively little attempt has so far been made to relate these two main categories of historical scholarship. Yet the importance of making such a link is surely vital. Certainly for the period before 1870 and the large-scale intervention of the central Government in education, it is almost impossible to consider general educational developments without basing one’s conclusions on local examples; equally, it is highly undesirable to consider the history of one particular school without being aware of what was happening in other schools of similar type. All too often one finds that entirely commonplace changes are stressed in school histories, while new ideas go almost unnoticed. The time has surely come, however, when fresh attempts should be made to correlate the painstaking work of the numerous writers of school histories, and other local historians who mention education en passant, for this could lead eventually to a reinterpretation of many aspects of general educational history.
