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Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Catholic Poor School Committee was founded in 1847 under the auspices of the Catholic Bishops of Great Britain to provide primary education for the children of poor Catholics in the UK. At this time there was an urgent need to address the lack of schools and teachers for Catholic children, who either attended non-Catholic schools or had no formal education at all.
The Committee consisted of 24 members comprising a clergyman and two laymen from each of the eight ecclesiastical districts into which England and Wales was then divided.
Chaired by the Hon Charles Langdale, the committee was recognized as the body nominated to act as intermediary between the Catholic body and the Committee of the Privy Council on Education, with a view to obtaining a share of the Government Grant for National Education, providing assistance for the building and support of Catholic schools and establishing training colleges for teachers.
In December 1847, the Committee of Council on Education set the conditions for aid grants to the Roman Catholic Schools
It was this Catholic Poor School Committee who purchased the Hammersmith site on which St Mary's College was established in 1850.
From 1888, this committee was known as the Catholic Schools Committee, and in 1905 its was converted into the Catholic Education Council, a much larger body with 80 members. The Catholic Education Council continued and enlarged on the work of its predecessor, fostering the building and extension of schools, promoting and establishing training colleges and secondary education to meet the needs of a growing Catholic population. It continued to by chaired by the 15th Duke of Norfolk until his death in 1916.
[The Committee of Council on Education consisting of four ministers of the Crown, was created in 1839 to superintend the application of any sums voted by Parliament for the purpose of promoting public education. The Education Committee of the Privy Council became the Board of Education and subsequently the Education Department.]