ABSTRACT
Nineteenth-century reform reached into many obscure corners of contemporary life as well as affecting the major issues of political equality, education and social welfare. Throughout the nineteenth century and down to 1918, in fact, the franchise was restricted to males, and to those males who could make some minimal claim to property. The first Reform Act of 1832 had merely got rid of the worst absurdities of the old unreformed Parliament. The widening of the franchise held certain implications for the state's role in education. Private schools run for profit, together with charitable institutions, had helped create the class of educated skilled artisans that was enfranchised in 1867. New regulations concerning railway safety followed after increased fatalities from accidents, as shipping controls followed disasters at sea.
