The collection comprises two pamphlets and associated material: An Experiment in Education made at the Male Asylum of Madras (1st Edition) by Andrew Bell, signed by the author to the Lord Bishop of London (1797); An Experiment in Education made at the Male Asylum of Madras (2nd Edition) by Andrew Bell, signed by the author to the Lord Bishop of London (1805); also including a handwritten draft of the pamphlet, A Short Account of my New System of Education for the Poor by Bell, with annotations and corrections (59pp) (21 December 1807); two pages of an unidentified draft, possibly by Bell (n.d.)
Bell , Andrew , 1753-1832 , educationalistScrapbook of material, printed and manuscript, by and relating to Robert Owen, collected and in part copied by William Pare, and annotated by him throughout, 1819-1855. The manuscript items include:
Copy by Pare of a receipt, 4 Aug 1819, for £500 from Robert Owen to Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, annotated by Pare in 1872.
Copy of a letter from Pare to Owen, 1829.
Copy of letter from Owen to Sir Robert John Wilmot-Horton, 3rd Bt, 1831, with a covering letter from H. Belstead to Pare of 1839.
Notes made from the Leeds Mercury, [1833-1834], written in ink over pencilled jottings (in Pare's hand?) on single leaf of an account book.
Account by Pare of a visit by Owen on 21 Mar 1834 to female convicts at Newgate prison about to be transported, written on a manuscript copy of Owen's address to them.
Holograph draft of Owen's address 'to the government and population of the United States of North America', 6 June 1837.
Two architectural plans of Harmony Hall, East Tytherley, Hampshire, 1839.
Letter from Dr. John Borthwick Gilchrist to Owen, 21 Mar 1839.
Holograph draft by Owen of the address of the Congress of the Association of All Classes of All Nations, and of the National Community Friendly Society to the General Convention of the Industrious Classes 'now sitting at Birmingham', 16 May 1839.
Holograph draft by Owen beginning 'The influence which may be obtained by society over the young mind', 1839.
Holograph draft by Owen of his address 'to intending emigrants and those who are dissatisfied with the present condition of society', 1839.
Single sheet headed 'Social Congress' and endorsed 'Journal', being an account of proceedings of the Congress of the Association of All Classes, 1839.
Incomplete holograph draft of address made by Owen on 'home colonization', at the Birmingham Congress [of the Association of All Classes], 25 May 1839.
Draft of Pare's address to Owen on his 68th birthday, 1839, with Owen's holograph reply.
Extract from The Chronicle, 18 Nov 1841.
Draft inscriptions, partly in Owen's hand, for the towers at Harmony Hall, 1841.
Memorial to Owen from the unemployed tradesmen of Glasgow, 15 Dec 1842.
Copy by Pare of a description of Owen in the Aberdeen Banner, 31 Dec 1842.
'Twelve question to be answered, according to promise, by Mr Owen in Mr Robertson's Hall this present evening', 30 Dec 1842.
Incomplete holograph draft by Owen on 'Causes remote and proximate of the present evils of society', [1843].
Letter of John Finch to Owen, 9 Mar 1843.
'Address [to Queen Victoria] of the members of branch 63 of the Rational Society and the inhabitants of Tower Hamlets in a public meeting assembled at their institution, Whitechapel, 10 Apr 1843, with covering letter by the Secretary, Thomas Marshall, to Owen, 15 Apr 1843.
Copy of the petition to Queen Victoria by the inhabitants of Halifax, 1843.
Bill made out to Owen for his stay at the Royal Hotel, Dundee, from 3-9 Jan, with his own annotations.
'Address to her most gracious Majesty, from a meeting called by public advertisement, in Sydney's Building, Bradford, 16 Feb 1843, signed by Owen who acted as chairman.
Address to Queen Victoria by the Congress of the Rational Society, 25 May 1843, signed by Owen as President of the Society.
Address of the participants of the first Concordium, held at Allcott House, Ham Common, Surrey, 28 Apr 1843, with 17 signatures.
Copy of two letters to The Times from Samuel Wilderspin, concerning infant schools, 6 Aug 1846.
Copies of letters by Owen to George William Frederick Howard, Viscount Morpeth (later 7th Earl of Carlisle), on progress in the United States, and to Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey, on 'education and employment of the industrious classes', 1846.
Holograph draft of an address by Owen on 'The requisites for the permanent happiness of mankind', [1848].
Copy of a letter from Owen to [William] Cox, written from Paris and describing the revolution, June 1848.
Letter from William Offord to Owen, concerning members of Offord's family living with William Evans, 8 May 1855.
Incomplete holograph draft by Owen beginning 'The distress of the country has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished', [1848].
Draft [by Owen] entitled 'The convictions of Robert Owen, founder of the Rational System of Society, on the past, present and future state of the population of the world'.
Anecdote about the reaction of Thomas Say, Professor of Natural History, on reading Owen's works while in North America, [1851].
Silhouette sketch of Owen signed by Augustin Amant Constant Fidele Edouart, 1838.
Miscellaneous printed items include: sketches of Owen, prints of New Lanark, memorial card and order of Owen's funeral procession, printed programme of the 100th anniversary of his birth, 16 May 1871, and newspaper cuttings.
Files containing photocopies of articles, manuscripts, notes and a thesis concerning the career and life of infant educationalist Samuel Wilderspin (1792-1866).
McCann , Philip , fl 1987-2005 , Professor of EducationPapers of Samuel Wilderspin, 1823-[1980], chiefly comprising letters received by Wilderspin, although there are a few in series 6 (Manuscripts) written by him. The rest of the collection comprises material collected by Wilderspin, including notices of his lectures, a few sample lessons and promotional literature on literary, scientific and educational societies, and Wilderspin's and Thomas Young's printed works laying out their theories of education. There are also two theses on Wilderspin. Series 7 (Local Infant Schools), is material collected by Wilderspin's biographers Dr Francis A. Young and Dr Phillip McCann, about schools founded by Wilderspin, in the course of writing their book on him.
Particular points of arrangement:
- Although the material is arranged in classes there are many items that appear to be in the wrong class or which could belong to more than one. Cross-references, especially for the Gaskell letters and material relating to lectures, have been made but it would be advisable to read all the class descriptions when looking for items. References to individuals other than the Gaskells have not been cross-referenced as the class and list descriptions are a guide only to the nature of the papers.
- Generally the collection within classes is arranged chronologically. Where material in a class was packaged in date sequences which overlapped it was resorted chronologically on arrival at the archive. The exception is 6/Manuscripts which contains three sets of material each with different provenance.
- Endorsements - Many pieces are endorsed. Some are by Wilderspin, in ink. He tended to write the sender's name on the back of the letter. Others are in pencil and are by Dr. Francis Young who added possible dates, explanations and possible readings of illegible words. He also wrote some explanations in biro on separate sheets of paper. These have been left with the originals and are numbered in the same sequence.
- Some letters refer to "enclosed" items. The whereabouts of these are no longer known.
- For counting purposes note that the previous counting of pieces and items has been confused. The number of items quoted in the class descriptions and recorded on the envelopes containing the papers may not therefore reflect the exact size of the class. For a definition of items and pieces see Cook, M The Manual of Archival Description 2nd edition (1989).
- For some years there is copious material while for others there is very little.
- Where possible the main subjects in a class, in terms of quantity, have been identified in the class description. Some classes, however, were too diverse to do this.
- Many of the dates have been added to the documents in pencil by Dr. Francis Young, brother to John Young, who deposited the papers.