I. 工部大学校建築がイギリス建築界に与えた影響

・1880年代、ロビンズというイギリス人建築家によってイギリス建築界に工部大学校建築は「最も優れた科学技術教育施設用デザイン」であるとして紹介されました。ロビンスはもともと建築環境に関心を持っていましたが、しだいにイギリス社会が技術教育を必要としていく中で、その実験･実習用の施設の最適な設計方法を確立していきました。その彼が、1874年から設計の始まる工部大学校の物理実験室の基本設計に関わったと述べています[Boinville1880, Builder]。ロビンスは工部大学校物理学教授のエアトンと旧知で、エアトンの求めに応じて物理実験室の素案を提供したと語っています。建物の配置計画はウォータースが、実施設計はボアンヴィルが行い、1876年に完成したときには世界で最も完成された科学技術教育用建築であるとイギリスの「ネーチャー」誌他は評価しました。

・ロビンスは1880年の「ビルダー」誌で工部大学校校舎をすぐれた科学技術教育施設建築として紹介しましたが、そこには設計者のクレジットが入っていませんでした。設計者であるボアンヴィルは、『ビルダー』誌上でそれに対して苦言を呈したところ、すぐにロビンスから「エアトンの依頼で設計案を提供したので、設計図面を自由に使わせてもらった」との返答がありました。

・ボアンヴィルは、1881年帰国すると、Robins and Boinville Brothersという設計事務所をウエストミンスターに開設しました。さて、この協同経営者のロビンスは先のロビンスなのでしょうか。

・エアトンは工部大学校との勤務任期を終えてイギリスに戻ると、創設されたばかりのフィンスベリー工学校Finsbury Technical Collegeの教授に就任しました。エアトンはロビンスと一緒になって、実験･実習用教室を整備していきます。この時、工部大学校の校舎設計例が大変役立ち、参考にされました。このフィンスベリー工学校は、後にインペリアル・カレッジImperial Collegeに改名され、工部大学校Imperial College of Engineeringが帝国大学に吸収され、その名前が無くなってしまう時期に重なっています。校舎の設計においても名称において、インペリア･カレッジと工部大学校は具体的にどのような関係にあったのか、大変興味深いことです。

・『ビルダー』誌によれば、1882年にボアンヴィルはバターシー・ポリテクニックの設計競技に応募し、4点の優秀案に選ばれました。この時、トーマス･ロジャー･スミス案は落選となっています。優秀案4点は展示され、その中でボアンヴィル案が最も優れているとの評判がありましたが、実際は実施案はこれらを参考にして別の建築家によって作成されるというわけの分からない記事内容です。ボアンヴィルにとって日本の工部大学校の校舎設計の経験が大変役に立ったことは間違いなく、イギリスでの大活躍が約束されていたはずでした。

II. PRIMARILY SOURCES

(1) Buildings for secondary educational purposes, "The Builder" 1880.

The Physical Department of the Imperial College of Engineering at Yedo, Japan.

From the particulars given to me by Professor Ayrton, I have been enabled to prepare a ground plan of the department of which he was professor, and it is no small satisfaction to me, as a member of the Executive Committee of the City and Guilds Technical Institute, that his able services have been secured to develop the physics classes at Cowper-street, for which costly buildings are in course of realization, such as it is hoped may give full play to his talents, to the great advantage of the youth and working classes of the City of London.

Room No.1 is the demonstration-room, 50ft. square, and occupying the whole height of this portion of the building. It was fitted up in the following manner: — On a level with the first floor, a gallery about 3 ft. wide ran round the whole room, from which wires and other apparatus were suspended for experiment; it also gave access tot he shutters by which the upper windows could be closed to darken the room for optical and other experiments. The students’ benches occupied the centre of the room, and around three sides of the room, next the walls on the ground-floor level, were instrument and working cases, the under-side of the gallery being utilized for cupboards, entered from behind.

Room No.2 is the general laboratory, fitted up with instrument cases, covered in working-cases, the tables being on concrete foundations, and uncovered instrument cases on brick piers.

Room No.3 is the Professor’s private room and private laboratory.

Room No.4 is the instrument-room.

Room No.5 and 6 are for electrical experiments, No.5 being fitted up with six brick pillars, each about 2 ft. square, and descending 6 ft. into the ground. No.& has long tables on brick piers.

Room No.7 is the lavatory attacked to the laboratory, for washing bottles, & C.

Room No.8 is a small, artificially-dried room, in which experiments with frictional electricity could be conveniently performed.

On the first-floor, which extended over all but the demonstration-room, were rooms for experiments on light, a small class-room for the teaching of applied physics, rooms for special experiments, store-closets, and the battery-room. The detail drawing, which I have had prepared from these made by Professor Ayrton, are exceedingly interesting sf valuable on account of their originality, and because they have took the test of use in the college at Yedo.

Fitting in Demonstration-room. — The sloping platform, or students’ gallery, is shown on the drawings, and in the side sectional view I have indicated in dotted lines the brick piers which sustain the students’ tables distinct from the general flooring, so as to be quite free from vibration. There si also a front, back, and top view of the students’ bench, and a section showing thinks and gas-fittings. By this special arrangement of students’ benches (which is believed to be unique of its kind), it was possible for the students, without leaving their places, to repeat the experiments made by the Professor during the lecture, with apparatus placed ready for them on these firm benches. Between the lectures, these benches or tables could be utilized as part of the laboratory proper.

Illustrations are also given of the instrument cases, with folding-doors and glass panels, as arranged around a portion of the demonstrating-room, which are also used in the laboratory.

Details are shown of the Professor’s lecture-table in this room, resting on a platform, the whole of which was sustained on a concrete foundation distinct from the general flooring, and its fittings include a pneumatic trough sink.

Fitting in the Laboratory. — Besides the instrument cases, the drawing also exhibit the working cases, the drawings also exhibit the working cases, furnished with glazed sash windows, as used in the general laboratory and in the Professor’s private laboratory. The tables in the cases rested on a concrete foundation, quite distinct from the flooring, to avoid the transmission of vibrations; so that except where the sash was closed, after work, to exclude dust or meddling fingers, no part of the case rested on the table, there being no connection between the table carrying the apparatus and the floor, on which rested the sash-frames and glazed inclusive, and on which the experimenter stood. With such working cases a delicate investigation could be carried on from day to day, the apparatus being always ready whenever the experimenter had leisure to work at it. Some of the working cases, so enclosed and fitted with window-sashes to exclude dust, & C., not being required for very delicate experiments likely to be spoiled by small vibrations, stood upon the common floor, without concrete foundations. There is the charm of novelty in these arrangements, so far as I know, and of the following fitting for the battery-room.

Battery-Room, — Illustrations are given of these designs as carried out in the aforesaid Technical College of Yeddo, under Professor Ayrton’s direction. Accommodation was provided for about 200 Gove’s cells and 300 Daniell’s, used for general electrical work and for the electrical testing of the students of telegraph engineering. The peculiarity of these special fitting was that all the cells were under glazed covers, and, therefore, dust was excluded; yet all the cells were visible, dust was excluded; yet all the cells were visible, and all obnoxious gases were led up the flues; the cells were easily got at by opening any portion of the double-hinged cover. When taking a Grove’s battery apart, after use, the zincs were put at once into the long, narrow leaden sink, immediately in front of the battery-stand; and the porous cells to soak in the long leaden sinks immediately behind the operator. After soaking, the porous cells were put on the racks to dry, and were ready for use within reach of the operator putting up the battery on the next occasion.

Of Professor Ayrton’s drawing I have seen ten, and of these I have chosen the most interesting examples. It is to be observed that the fittings of the physical department at Yeddo were contrived to enable the students to learn by advancing the bounds of knowledge, and not merely by assimilating editing information, as in evidenced by numerous published accounts of original research conducted in that laboratory; and it is this method of teaching which has given to Professor Ayrton the prestige which he enjoys.

(2) The Builder, August 4, 1880. IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, JAPAN.

SIR,-My attention has been called to a paper by Mr. E. C. Robins, entitled “Buildings for Secondary Educational Purposes,” which appeared in the Builder of the 10th and 17th of April last. In this paper Mr. Robins dwells at length on the excellence of the arrangements in the Physical Department of the Imperial College of Engineering of Tokio (Yedo), Japan, and on the satisfactory results obtained there.

The writer at the same time gives a plan and detail drawings of the same, and I must express my surprise that an architectural paper such as the Builder should publish drawings of a new building and its fittings without the signature or sanction of the architect.

It may not be generally known that the Japanese Government, while behaving with great liberality to their foreign employés, are averse to the publication of any of the designs made by those in their employ. This, you will understand, is a sufficient reason in itself to explain why I should object to any drawings of public buildings I have de signed being published. The writer of the paper is perhaps not aware, when giving Mr. Ayrton sole credit for using benches fitted up so that the pupils can repeat the experiments made by the professor, “which is believed to be unique of its kind,”—that others before him employed the same means for instructing their pupils (Professor Williamson, of King's College, for example).

Before the Physical Department Buildings were thought of, the chemical class-room of the Imperial College of Engineering was fitted up with similar benches.

As much, if not more, credit is due to the principal, Mr. Henry Dyer, and to Dr. Divers, the Professor of Chemistry, than to Mr. W. E. Ayrton, for the happy results which that gentleman's friends would claim for him alone.

C. A. CHAstEL DE BoINVILLE,

Architect to the Board of Public Works of Japan.

11, Yamato Yashiki Tokio (Yedo), Japan,

18th June, 1880

(3) The Builder, Aug.28, 1880. THE COLLEGE FITTINGS AT YEDO, JAPAN.

Sir,—I have seen the letter of M. De Boinville, taking exception to the good opinion I have formed of the Physical College fittings at Yedo, which were suggested by Professor Ayrton, and ably carried out by the architect.

Dr. Williamson, of University College, who took the chair at my lecture (but who is not a professor of Kind's College), admitted the original character of the fittings to which I referred, so far as he knew, and I have said no more.

I am not aware that I have given any privileged information, or described anything not justified by the subject under discussion. I certainly did not wander awav into a description of the architectural excellences of the buildings forming the College at Japan, nor did I allude to any defects ; but I simply drew the

attention of the audience to a class of specially designed fittings in one department only, the particulars of which were given to me by their originator, though not their executor, and I still think them highly creditable to both, and to the enterprising founders of a technical college the like of which is scarcely equalled out of Japan.

Edw. C. Robins.

Proceed to the consideration of*—

   The Physical Department of the Imperial College of Engineering at Yedo, Japan.—From the particulars given to me by Professor Ayrton, I have been enabled to prepare a ground plan of the department of which he was professor, and it is no small satisfaction to me, as a member of the Executive Committee of the City and Guilds Technical Institute, that his able services have been secured to develop the physics classes at Finsbury, for which costly buildings are in course of realisation, such as it is hoped may give full play to his talents, to the great advantage of the youth and working classes of the City of London.

Room No. 1 is the demonstration room, 50 feet square, and occupying the whole height of this portion of the building, which is shown in the exterior perspective view of the same. It was fitted up in the following manner :—On a level with the first floor, a gallery about 3 ft. wide ran round the whole room, from which wires and other apparatus were suspended for experiments ; it also gave access to the shutters by which the upper windows could be closed to darken the room for optical and other experiments. The students' benches occupied the centre of the room, and around three sides of the room, next the walls on the ground floor level, were instrument and working cases; the under side of the gallery being utilised for cupboards, entered from behind.

Room No. 2 is the general laboratory, fitted up with instrument cases, covered-in working cases, the tables being on concrete foundations, and uncovered instrument cases on brick piers.

Room No. 3 is the professor's private room and private laboratory.

Room No. 4 is the instrument room.

Room Nos. 5 and 6 are for electrical experiments, No. 5 being fitted up with six brick pillars, each about two feet square, and descending six feet into the ground. No. 6 has long tables on brick piers.

Room No. 7 is the lavatory attached to the laboratory, for washing bottles, &c.

Room No. 8 is a small, artificially-dried room, in which experiments with frictional electricity could be conveniently performed.

   On the first floor, which extended over all but the demonstration-room, were rooms for experiments on light, a small class-room for the teaching of applied physics, rooms for special experiments, store-closets, and the battery-room.

   The detail drawings, which I have had prepared from those made by Professor Ayrton, are exceedingly interesting and valuable on account of their originality, and because they have stood the test of the use in the college at Yedo.

   Fittings in Demonstration-room.—The sloping platform, or student's gallery, is shown on the drawings, and in the side sectional view I have indicated in dotted lines the brick piers which sustain the students' tables distinct from the general flooring, so as to be quite free from vibration. There is also a front, back, and top view of the students' benches, and a section showing sinks and gas-fittings.

   By this special arrangement of students' benches (which is believed to be unique of its kind), it was possible for the students, without leaving their places, to repeat the experiments made by the professor during the lecture, with apparatus placed ready for them on these firm benches. Between the lectures, these benches or tables could be utilised as part of the laboratory proper.

   Illustrations are also given of the instrument cases, with folding-doors and glass panels, as arranged around a portion of the demonstration-rooom, which are also used in the laboratory.

   Details are shown of the professor's lecture-table in this room, resting on a platform, the whole of which was sustained by a concrete foundation distinct from the general flooring, and its fittings included a pneumatic trough sink.

   Fittings in the Laboratory.—Besides the instrument cases, the drawings also exhibit the working cases, furnished with glazed sash windows, as used in the general laboratory and in the professor's private laboratory.

   The tables in the cases rested on a concrete foundation, quite distinct from the flooring, to avoid the transmission of vibrations ; so that, except where the sash was closed, after work, to exclude dust or meddling fingers, no part of the case rested on the table, there being no connection between the table carrying the apparatus and the floor, on which rested the sash frames and glazed enclosure, and on which the experimenter stood. With such working cases a delicate investigation could be carried on from day to day, the apparatus being always ready whenever the experimenter had leisure to work at it. Some of the working cases, so enclosed, and fitted with window sashes to exclude dust, &c, not being required for very delicate experiments likely to be spoiled by small vibrations, stood upon the common floor without concrete foundations.

   There is the charm of novelty in these arrangements so far as I know, and of the following fittings for the battery-room.

Battery-room.—Illustrations are given of these designs as carried out in the aforesaid Technical College of Yedo, under Professor Ayrton's direction.

Accommodation was provided for about 200 Grove's cells and 300 Daniell's, used for general electrical work and for the electrical testing of the students of telegraph engineering.

   The peculiarity of these special fittings was that all the cells were under glazed covers, and, therefore, dust was excluded ; yet all the cells were visible, and all obnoxious gases were led up the flues ; the cells were easily got at by opening any portion of the double-hinged cover.

   When taking a Grove's battery apart, after use, the zincs were put at once into the long, narrow leaden sink, immediately in front of the battery-stand ; and the porous cells to soak in the long leaden sinks immediately behind the operator. After soaking, the porous cells were put on the racks to dry, and were ready for use within reach of the operator putting up the battery on the next occasion.

   Of Professor Ayrton's drawings I have seen ten, and of these I have chosen the most interesting examples. It is to be observed that the fittings of the physical department at Yedo were contrived to enable the students to learn by advancing the bounds of knowledge, and not merely by assimilating existing information, as is evidenced by numerous published accounts of original research conducted in that laboratory ; and it is this method of teaching which has given to Professor Ayrton the prestige which he enjoys.

   Now, I trust that I have not wearied you already, but I was anxious to take this opportunity to give publicity to a series of very ingenious contrivances, which I hope one day to see more or less realised in the higher class secondary schools of the country.

   The need of technical knowledge, based on scientific principles, is daily becoming more apparent, and our secondary school teachers will find it to their own interest, no less than that of the middle classes generally, to give increasing attention to it.

   In conclusion, while thanking you for the patient hearing you have given me, let me express a hope that buildings for secondary educational purposes will no longer be considered unimportant accessories to the fuller development of the teaching power of the master, and the acquiring capabilities of the students, and, whether the authority of Government is applied to the removal of the present inconsistencies or not, that the good sense of the English people will in this, as in most other things upon which it exercises independent thought, achieve its own emancipation from the thraldom of habitual apathy and contented submission to things as it commonly finds them.

DISCUSSION.

   The CHAIRMAN, in inviting discussion, said he felt sure that all who were interested in the great work of education must feel the extreme importance of having the arrangements suited to the work, and must appreciate, as he himself did, the able and thoughtful address which had just been delivered by Mr. Robins. He had been asked to submit a few remarks bearing not directly on the architect's question, but rather on the state of technical education at the present time, and with the permission of the meeting he would do so before the discussion upon the paper closed.

   Mr. J. G. FITCH said the important matter always to be considered was, first, how to get the most effective teaching, and then how to adapt the mechanical arrangements to that teaching. Two or three things had struck him during the reading of the paper, which he

should like to have considered by teachers, and by architects who built for teachers ; one was that architects generally considered it sufficient if they provided a seat at a desk for every scholar ; they built upon the theory that that was the scholar's place, and that he would seldom leave that seat ; but his own feeling was, that in order to keep up the intellectual life and animation of a school, it was desirable that at least one lesson out of every three or four should be given standing.

   It was not desirable that children should remain seated during the whole of the time, and, therefore, he hoped that, in planning class-rooms, architects would remember that it was not wise to fill them up with desks, so as not to leave room for the scholars to take one lesson while standing. There was a great contention as to the character of the desks, whether they should be long continuous desks, dual desks—like those adopted by the School Board—or Swedish desks, in which the children had each a separate seat like a chair.

   He was not going to try to settle this question, but he hoped those that did try would bear in mind that the comfort of the teacher in teaching had to be considered as well as the comfort of the scholar in sitting. The more you scattered the scholars over a wide area, the more you increased the difficulty of a teacher in getting the class into a proper focus. That seemed to be a great objection to the arrangements as proposed, because if the scholars were spread over too wide an area, the teacher could not teach effectively without a trying expenditure of voice.

   No doubt class-rooms should be in the main isolated from each other, and if the class consisted of 30 scholars, it was well that the teacher should have them all to himself ; but he would remind architects that there were some lessons which could be given with advantage to two classes at the same time, and therefore it would be as well to have the class-rooms separated by a moveable partition.

   After all, it was the character of the teaching staff, and a proper consideration of the sort of subjects to be taught in separate rooms or not, which should be looked at in determining the construction and fitting of a school ; and, therefore, he hoped teachers would consider that, when they came into council with architects and others who looked at the matter from a purely mechanical point of view.

   Mr. C. MAST thought that too much attention was paid to large schools to the neglect of the smaller ones, in which the greater part of secondary education was taught. He hoped that the system of designing large schools would not be extended, because he believed that the grouping of a great number of children under one roof was a bad plan. Every teacher would admit that, if his teaching was to be effective, he must act upon a small number, and though it was, no doubt, more economical to have large buildings, still the object of the teacher was better attained in a small room. He thought the desks ought to be moveable, and agreed with the last speaker that there was nothing more objectionable than the present system of giving all the lessons to the scholars while seated. The difficulty of arranging a school to meet the requirements of every master was, no doubt, very great, but he thought every practical

teacher would soon find the means of adapting a building to his purposes.

   Mr. T. ROGER SMITH said he could not add much to the careful account which had been given of school buildings, as they were being designed and erected now ; but, speaking as an architect, it struck him that a good deal was being done to give to buildings that kind of adaptation to the requirements of modern tuition which Mr. Fitch pointed out was necessary, and which he hinted architects hardly thought of sufficiently. But there was nothing which an architect was so pleased to get as the ideas of the person for whom he was building, and a definite account of the requirements to be met. The difficulty was not so much to provide for the requirements as to ascertain them thoroughly and consistently. He was glad to hear the advocacy which Mr. Robins gave to the system of class-rooms clustering round a central hall, without that abomination called a corridor ; and he felt sure that a great many schools,

even those for primary education, would be built on the improved system, and the number of

class-rooms increased. There were one or two points with regard to class-rooms, which it

might be desirable to dwell upon, not that they would be overlooked by men engaged in the

construction of schools, but because upon occasions like the present hints might be thrown out

which would bear fruit hereafter. Nothing should be neglected to make the class-room as

good for its purpose as possible, and it should be made easy to hear and speak in. A perfectly

square room was convenient for arrangement, but was not usually successful for hearing and

speaking in ; and, therefore, it was desirable that the room should be oblong, but not very far

removed from a square. Then came the question how the children were to be ranged ; were

the windows to be at the end or the side of the room. The advantages and disadvantages were,

briefly, these : if the children sat along the side of the room, they formed a wide group, but if

at the end, they formed a narrow group, and were more under the eye of the teacher. This

arrangement would generally be found to be successful, besides having the advantage of a

greater spread of light. Another point to be considered was that of having sufficient provision

for ventilation. The difficulty of working and of teaching in a hot or close room was so great

as to neutralize every other provision for comfort ; and ill-designed rooms, if they were only

thoroughly ventilated, would, in many cases, be more happy places to work in than the best lighted

rooms if they were allowed to become close. He felt sure that they had not yet reached

the culminating point in the designs for schools; probably they would obtain greater

simplicity, compactness, and completeness than they had hitherto reached, and in time a model

would be produced capable of general adoption, though he did not flatter himself that any one

had hit upon that model yet.

Mr. WM, J. SPRATLING said, upon the subject of cloak-rooms, he might mention that,

having had occasion to go over some plans for the enlargement of a secondary school, he found

the architect had arranged for a long room, with forms for the children to sit upon to change

their shoes, along the length of the room, the cloaks being hung upon each side of the form.

It occurred to him that was rather inconvenient, because if there were a large number of

children the crowding would be excessive, and he suggested that a corridor should be made

down the centre, the sides being divided into cubicles, with a door in the centre, thereby

obtaining a larger space upon which to hang the cloaks. Mr. Robins had suggested that the

lavatories should be in the cloak-room, but he questioned whether it should be desirable to

have them in a room where you wished to dry wet clothes, as children very often threw the

water about the room. Architects seemed to take a class-room as a type, and said because a

lecturer would stand in a room and have the black board behind him, therefore the room

would be good for a class-room ; but the teacher had to keep his audience in order, and if he

had to turn his back to the class, little pranks would sure to be carried on. He thought it

would be desirable that the teacher should stand at an angle, so that he might, when writing

on the board, have his eye upon the class. As singing was generally taught in schools, it was

important they should have a gallery, which might be used also upon occasions such as the

distribution of prizes, when the children might be massed in the gallery, facing the chairman

who distributed the prizes, the audience being in the middle of the room.

Professor AYRTON said, as Mr. Robins had referred to the physical department in

Japan, he might, perhaps, be allowed to make a few remarks. It was pretty generally admitted

that the only way to acquire a knowledge of a language was to hear it spoken, and that a

grammatical study, however perfect, would not fit a person to converse with a foreigner. One

could not be said to know a language until you spoke it properly, and to do this it was

necessary to have a large amount of experimental practice ; and as in the study of a language,

so it was in the study of science. Advance in science must be brought about by the combination

of mathematics and experiments, and he ventured to think that the same sort of course must

be followed in teaching science. As a rule, boys and girls could only give a small portion of

their time to experimental work ; hence arose the important question, what sort of laboratory

practice should they be set to ; should they, for example, repeat the experiments, or, at any

rate, some of the experiments, which they had seen the lecturer perform. That was very good

practice, no doubt, for teaching them the physical manipulation, and impressing on their minds

the well-known laws of physics, but it was open to this objection, that in their experiments

they would be aiming to arrive at the result given in the text-book, and not really searching

for the true principles of the matter ; they would be more inclined to manipulate the experi

ment, so as to agree with the book, than to acquire habits of scientific research. All young

children were really experimental philosophers ; they were always trying to find out something

that they did not know. A very much better kind of experiment for boys and girls in

laboratories, would be an experiment that had for its object the advancement, in some small

degree at any rate, of existing knowledge.

Me. FLUX begged to call attention to the fact that they were met that evening to

discuss a paper on school building, and he thought Professor Ayrton was going rather wide of

the subject.

Professor AYRTON said he was rather trying to come to the point how the building

should be constructed to suit the education given in it ; but if the meeting thought the question

was too far apart from the subject before it, he would not proceed further.

The CHAIRMAN said the meeting would, no doubt, be glad to hear the outline of

Prof. Ayrton's general ideas as well as their application.

Professor AYRTON said he wished to show the necessity for the architect and

instructor going hand-in-hand in the designing of a physical laboratory. The illustrations on

the wall of the laboratories at Yedo might seem, at first sight, to be complicated, if the object

were simply for the purpose of repeating experiments ; but if it were accepted that the more

important branch of experimental work was the doing of original work by lads, then the

necessity would be seen for not throwing difficulties in the way of students, by unsuitable

accommodation, or by the necessary appliances not being forthcoming, because the difficulties

inherent in any original investigation were quite large enough in themselves.

The CHAIRMAN said it was wished that the technical education to be given to the

young people of the country, should be of such a kind as would prepare them for a useful

career in life. It would lead them too far if he gave any outline of the various principles

which had been proposed to guide a system of technical education, but he had recently formed,

in his own mind, a notion which he should be glad to submit to the consideration of the

meeting, and partly for the reason that it differed essentially from one which he had brought

forward on other occasions, and which he was still inclined to think correct as far as it went.

The technical education, which is now being taken up by the great and powerful corporations

in the City of London, ought to do something really great. The rich can take care of them

selves ; they can easily get, more or less efficiently, the various good things of life, but the

poorer classes cannot, and it is these whom it is most important to reach. What had been

done up to the present time fell short of what was intended. Mechanics' institutes, as the

name denoted, were intended to give education to the sons of mechanics, but they had not

thoroughly succeeded. They had been useful, and successful to a great extent, but they were,

in the main, attended by the middle classes. It was a difficult problem to solve what kind of

instruction was suited to children of from 14 to 18 ; and in order to render what he was about

to say more clear, he might contrast it with the opposite view which he had previously referred

to. The general notion which was entertained of the most complete system of technical edu

cation, is that it should consist of two phases ; first, a most thorough scientific teaching ; and

secondly, actual experience in the workshop. Of course, for the children of the poorer classes,

it was utterly out of the question that they could have anything approaching a thoroughly

scientific training, and the difficulty was to see what could be done for them in that direction.

The idea which had latterly been assuming shape in his mind was this, that it would be

natural, and practical, to begin at the other end ; not to begin, as was at present done in the

higher schools, with science itself, but to begin with the workshops and factories. In the case

of lads in factories performing operations which they did not understand, but which they had

learned to do empirically, they might be taught by competent teachers, in laboratories fitted

up at the works, the particular conditions upon which the success of their different operations

depended ; as, for instance, in the case of dyeing, they might be taugbt the common impurities,

and how to detect and remove them ; they should be taught just as much, and no more, of the

scientific principles as was needed for the clear and accurate performance of the operation in

which they were engaged. In some cases, this was already being done, as, for instance, in the

art of brewing, where Dr. Graham had already instructed many pupils how to detect and

remedy defects which had existed for years. The difficulty of doing this was, no doubt, enor

mous, owing to the fact of their not having the necessary teachers ; and these teachers would

have to be grown, so to speak, before the difficulty was overcome. For secondary training, he

believed that laboratories were destined to occupy a more prominent place ; in fact, that

technical education for the masses would consist in teaching them, not merely to perform the

operations of their respective trades, but to understand the nature of the conditions required

for the success of those operations. In the interest of science, very great results might be

anticipated from such work as he had described. He could hardly doubt that, if perfectly

accurate, though not high, instruction were given to large numbers of the youth of working

classes, many would be stimulated, from the dehght of doing things in an accurate and intelli

gent way, in which they had never done them before, to educate themselves further by any

available means. He trusted that what he had said was sufficient to render his general idea

intelligible. The great thing to aim at was to give the lower classes an accurate knowledge of

rudimentary scientific facts, so that they might, after a short time, be able to earn higher

wages than they did now, and so encourage others to follow their example.

Mk. ROBINS, in reply, said he was indebted to Mr. Fitch for reminding him that he

had not mentioned the fact that, in each of the schools described, it was provided that two or

more class-rooms could be thrown into one ; but he thought the charm of a separate class-room

was that it gave the teacher a private room. He considered that single desks were very useful

things under all circumstances, as you had more space in which to move about, and the books

could also be kept in the desks. As to the remarks about the form of the class-room being

oblong, he had found that a great difference of opinion existed upon this point among teachers,

some preferring one shape and some another, depending very much upon their long or short

sightedness. And as to the acoustic proportion of the class-rooms, they were rarely of such

dimensions as to cause any difficulty of hearing. Ventilation in schools was an important

matter, but the architect must be treated with some tenderness, on account of the public not

liking new inventions. It was quite a common thing to enter a class-room and find the

ventilators closed, and he had often heard it remarked, that it would be as well if the ventila

tors were made so as not to close ; but his own opinion was that the teachers ought to have

the sole control of the ventilating apparatus, and to be interested in its success. He trusted

that the valuable remarks of the Chairman would be well pondered, and exert that influence

which they decidedly merited.

Upon the motion of the Chairman, a vote of thanks was voted to Mr. Robins, for his

paper.

III. SECONDARY SOURCES

Architecture of Science edited Galison and Emily Thompson, the MIT Press, 1999.

8. Bricks and Bones: Architecture and Science in Victorian Britain by Sophie Forgan, p.184.

a contrasting sort of practice and career may be seen in the architect Edward Cookworthy Robins(1830-1918), who specialized in the technical requirements of scientific buildings and laboratories in particular, publishing in 1887 Technical School and College Building. This manual included a great deal of information on foreign laboratories and provided a compendium of up-to-date wisdom. He became involved in the design of Britain’s first technical college, the Finsbury College, and was a devoted supporter of the T.H. Huxley, whose fame and campaign for technical education was at its height in the late 1870s and early 1880s.

The development of the laboratory: essays on the place of experiments in industrial civilization, edited and introduced by

Frank A.J. James, Macmillan press, 1989, p.159

included laboratories and workshops for mechanics and chemistry teaching. it was Clifton who was initially given the task of designing a cheep two-story laboratory complex for the City & Guilds, to supplement the school’s facilities.

Well over 100 students — bankers, builders, engineers, insurance company clerks, chemists and druggists — attended Ayrton’s and Armstrong’s classes in the first few months. Armed with this evidence, and with the support of Robins, who was acting in his capacity as the Dyer’s Company architect and surveyor, Ayrton and Armstrong were able to persuade the City and Guilds to erect a much larger and better-equipped building in the school’s playground on Tabernacle Raw (now Leonard Street). The Drapers’ Company gave 10,000 for the purpose. As Ayrton later acknowledged., it was because Robins ‘strenuously exerted himself to further technical education in Finsbury, that the carious electrical, physical and mechanical laboratories now in Leonard Street, Finsbury became in to existence’.Indeed, it was Robins’s report to the Guides on 31 December 1880, in which he over-optimistically argued that a middle-grade technical school for engineering and applied art could be erected in the Cowper Street school grounds for 12,000, that persuaded the Guilds to proceed.

The foundation stone of England’s first technical college was laid at Finsbury by Queen Victoria’s youngest son, Leopold, in May 1881. However the building was not ready for use until February 1883, because legal, labour and cash-flow problems caused delays.

Notable Teachers at Finsbury Technical College and the Central Technical College.

Posted 12 June 2011 by Richard & filed under Biographies & Pen Portraits.

H. Armstrong (1848-1937), W. Ayrton (1847-1908), J. Perry (1850-1920) and S. Thompson (1851-1926).

Two pioneering technical institutions namely Finsbury Technical College (Leonard Street) and the Central Institution (South Kensington) – (see this website for pen portraits) attracted some remarkable individuals. Both these institutions were the result of the creation of the City and Guilds Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education (CGLI). Finsbury Technical College came to be seen as the feeder to the Central Institution which had a focus on higher education provision. The practical work developed at Finsbury was later expanded and enhanced at the Central Institution because of its well equipped and modern laboratories.

The brief biographies of four of the teachers involved at the two institutions are given below. These four remarkable individuals all ahead of their time and their ideas on how to teach mathematics, science and technical subjects was truly amazing and still have relevance today. If only their ideas had been implemented on a larger scale the parlous state of technical and scientific education and training could have been dramatically improved. They all had to deal at times with traditional and entrenched attitudes associated with the supposed superiority of academic studies and subjects over technical ones.

Henry E Armstrong

Born in Lewisham in 1848 and educated at the Royal College of Chemistry, (now the department of Chemistry at Imperial College). Between 1865 and 1867 studying under Edward Frankland who had succeeded Hofmann as Professor of Chemistry. During this time he attended lectures by such notable scientists as Thomas Huxley, William Ramsay and John Tyndall. These experiences established an independent thinking, confident and brilliant chemist. Frankland suggested that Armstrong continued his studies and research with Hermann Kolbe another famous chemist based at the University of Leipzig, Germany. During this period he visited and worked at Berlin and Dresden Universities and completed his studies and dissertation in 1870. After three years in Germany, (1867 to 1870), he returned to England and was appointed lecturer in chemistry at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1870. Henry was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the London Institution in 1871. He worked with William Ayrton at the Cowper Street Schools which later became the Finsbury Technical College and then Professor of Chemistry at the Central Technical College which later became the City and Guilds College between 1884 and 1913 (see biographies on this website).

Amongst other achievements he established a three- year diploma programme in chemical engineering arguing as did his other enlightened colleagues ‘that there was an urgent need for a more scientific attitude of mind among British industrialists.’ When he was appointed with William Ayrton, as the first professors at Finsbury Technical College they both shared the same view that examinations must not drive the teaching and learning process. This view was also held by other teachers such as John Perry and Philip Magnus. They all believed that teachers must have liberty of action and fortunately they were at that time supported by the committees of CGLI.

(Comment: Sadly currently examinations and continuous assessment regimes dominate the education system in many countries and particularly in England. This culture has made the awarding bodies become businesses driven by the market and are now more interested in implementing questionable government education policies and making money. Education and all the associated elements e.g. examinations should not be a hardnosed business enterprise based on market forces.)

In addition to being a notable chemist Henry was also an outstanding person in the teaching of science particularly active in this field during the last two decades of the 19th century. He was dis-satisfied with science teaching methods in schools. He strongly argued that pupils should be allowed to discover things for themselves and in a sense be in the position of the original experimenter and observer. His particular method of teaching became known as the heuristic method and was introduced at St. Dunstan’s College where he was a governor. This method has influenced science ever since, although the inevitable constraints of time modified its basic premises. His criticisms also helped to motivate science teachers and reduced the possibility of them becoming complacent. His ideas of on science teaching closely parallels those of John Perry on mathematics teaching. The Nuffield programmes in science were greatly influenced by their ideas. He was president of the Chemical Society from 1893 to 1895 and Emeritus Professor at Imperial College, London.

His obituary stated he was the major figure in chemistry and science education during two generations possessing a rare gift of expression and writing. He died in 1937.

References:

Praagh. G. Van. (Ed) ‘Henry Armstrong and Science Education.’ Selection from the Teaching of Scientific Method by Armstrong. H. E. John Murray. ISBN 0 7195 2893 3. 1973.Eyre. J. V. ‘Henry Armstrong, 1848-1937. Butterworth Scientific Publications. London. 1958

William E Ayton

William Edward Ayrton was born in London in 1847 and studied at University College School and University College London where he passed with honours the first ever Bachelor of Arts at the University of London in 1867. After this he studied in Glasgow during the late 1860s with Lord Kelvin. He later worked for the Indian Government Telegraphic Service between 1868 and 1873 after gaining the highest grade in their examinations. Between 1873 and 1878 he was Professor of Natural Philosophy and Instructor in the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo, Japan. In both these appointments he made fundamental discoveries in fault detection systems in high tension electrical transmission lines and introduced electric lighting to Japan in 1878. He was a brilliant physicist, electrical engineer, pioneer of electrical engineering and teacher making many important discoveries and inventions both with joint collaborators and alone. He published extensively again alone and jointly on engineering and scientific disciplines particularly in their application in such areas as electrical technology and its measurement e.g. inventing with John Perry the dynamometer, the first electric tricycle, railway electrification, various ammeters and the wattmeter. He was the first to advocate high power electricity transmission. His career often crossed with that if John Perry (see below). He and Perry published 70 important scientific and technical papers between 1876 and 1891. He worked with Perry in Japan, Finsbury College, Central College and Imperial College.

On his return from Japan he took up a number of key appointments at the City and Guilds of London Institute in 1879, professor of applied physics at the Finsbury Technical College in 1881 and in 1884 professor of electrical engineering at the Central Institution at Kensington. In addition he was an outstanding teacher often using his own apparatus and inventions in the classes to demonstrate the concepts and processes. Both he and John Perry (see below) believed that teaching must be accessible to students and equally importantly with an emphasis on practical work. He believed that a machines workshop/facility was essential to effective teaching and learning and that an emphasis on practical work linked to lectures was crucial. The first year course comprised the core subjects of chemistry, mechanics, mathematics and physics and was offered both at the Finsbury Technical College and the Central Institution in order to lay strong foundations to students’ technical studies.

While teaching at Finsbury College he met and later married in 1885 Hertha (Sarah) Marks (see her biography on this website). In 1892 he became President of the institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and in 1896 was a member of the editorial committee of the Science Abstracts of the IEE. He died in 1908.

References:

Chisholm. H. (ed). ‘William Edward Ayrton.’ Encyclopaedia Britannica. 11th Edition. CUP. 1911

Institute of Engineering and Technology Archives Biographies.

The National Archives and various Dictionaries and Encyclopaedia of Science and Technologies.

John Perry

Born in Londonderry, Ireland and studied at Queens College, Belfast. He left school early to support himself and worked as an apprentice at the Lagan Foundry from 1864 to 1870. During the last three years of his apprenticeship he studied Engineering at Queen’s College on what we would now call a sandwich course. In 1870 he took up a teaching post in mathematics and science at the boys’ laboratory and workshop. Whilst studying and as a result of all this pressure he began to lose his sight. However his sister used to read text books with him and he became fascinated with the electrical sciences. Later he became interested in steam power and a book he wrote became the seminal text for the US navy. He became a gifted mathematician and pioneering engineer. He taught at Clifton College, Bristol leaving in 1874 to study a year under William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) in a small laboratory in Glasgow. He then emigrated to Japan and took an appointment as Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the newly established Imperial College of Engineering, Tokyo, (then the largest technical institution in the world), where he worked with William Ayrton. They collaborated very successfully on problems associated with applied electricity. They also introduced some novel methods of teaching mathematics and engineering. One often cited technique was the use of graph (or squared) paper as a method of teaching and analysing functional innovations relationships in mechanics and electricity. They used this technique in Tokyo and at Finsbury Technical College. This teaching technique was to become one of the defining features and innovations at the Finsbury College which are now referred to as the ‘Finsbury Method’.

On his return to England he was appointed Professor of Engineering and Mathematics at Finsbury Technical College in 1879, again joining William Ayrton and then in 1896 became Professor of Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering at the Central Institution. He retired from the Central Institution in 1914 but continued his work advising the British military on gyroscopic compasses. Mathematics to Perry was a branch of science being ’merely an inductive science based on experience’. One of his guiding rules was ‘that we ought to use, as illustrations, those things with which the pupils have most to do (and) must begin in the middle of the subject, working backwards and forwards. He was elected President of the Institute of Electrical Engineering in 1900 and was President of the Physical Society (later the Institute of Physics) from 1906 to 1908. Like Ayrton is believed in teaching science and engineering from a practical point of view. John Perry was a remarkable teacher who encouraged his students to develop a wider set of interests such as reading novels, taking an interest in literature and especially a greater emphasis in mathematics in order to move away from the rather narrow technically training and instruction that was dominant at the time. He attracted controversy and criticism from the academic mathematics community by publishing a book entitled ‘Calculus for Engineers’, It treated the subject as a purely practical tool e.g. there as an absence of abstract reasoning and presented a simplistic set of rules on differentiation and integration. The book maintained a focus on practical applications to electricity, mechanics and thermodynamics. He used the same approach to such subjects as algebra, arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry etc. He reinforced his ideas by publishing extensively from 1880 arguing strongly for major reform of teaching mathematics – sadly we are still waiting for such reforms considering the parlous state of mathematics teaching in England and some of the home countries! Indeed a man well ahead of his time.

However his ideas were picked up by the newly created Board of Education (BoE) that had succeeded the Science and Art Department in 1899 and it incorporated some of his ideas and techniques into an examination called ‘Practical Mathematics’. Following the creation of an educational section within the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) in 1900 Perry organised a series of discussions groups at the 1901 Glasgow meeting on themes associated with the teaching of elementary mathematics in military, secondary and technical education. The meeting highlighted the massive divisions between the academic approach of teaching i.e. the formal study of mathematics for its own sake as opposed to its practical applications and the essential importance of its utility that Perry was advocating. Interesting that one of the major themes identified in the history of technical education on this website mirrors this tension that has produced the so-called academic- vocational divide – nothing changes! Perry’s ideas are still very relevant and valid today and sadly await recognition and implementation and what little progress has been achieved since his time has been painfully slow. Many of his Irish predecessors, and he and others since, have been progressive thinkers and innovators in astronomy, mathematics, science and technical education. Their pioneering work has so often been overlooked or marginalised by the English. Perhaps it is another example of the inability of the English to recognise and celebrate the achievements of the other home countries? John Perry has not been given the recognition that he deserves and was truly a very remarkable individual well ahead of his time.

He was elected president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and was president of the Physical Society, (now the Institute of Physics), from 1906 to 1908. He died in 1920.

References:

Nudds. R. N., McMillan N. D., Weaire. D. L and McKenna Lawlor. S. M. P. ‘Science in Ireland 1800-1930. Tradition and Reform.’ ISBN 0:9513586 1 8. Dublin.1988.

John Perry. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Silvanus P Thompson

Born in York in 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition, he started teaching science at Bootham School in 1873. He was greatly influenced by a lecture given by William Crookes which inspired him to become interested in electromagnetism and optics. In 1876 he was appointed lecturer in physics at University College, Bristol and was made a professor in 1878 at the age of 27 and he stayed at Bristol for nine years. He was very interested in technical education and made a number of fact finding trips to Europe and presented a seminal paper at the (R) Society of Arts in 1879 entitled ‘Apprenticeships, Scientific and Unscientific’ (see chronology on this website) which again like others, (Huxley, Playfair, Magnus et.al – see biographies on this website), highlighted the deficiencies in technical education in England. He recognised that technical education was critical in transferring and translating scientific knowledge into action and practical application and enhancing technical and technological innovation. He was totally committed to this endeavour and spent the rest of his life working to improve technical education and training. Following the creation of the City and Guilds of London Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education, the Finsbury College was founded and Thompson was appointed its Principal and Professor of Physics. Thompson organised classes in optics at Finsbury Technical College which was then at the centre of the spectacle making district in Clerkenwell, He held those positions for 30 years and in 1907 the City and Guilds of London College along with other institutions merged to create Imperial College, London.

Thompson was a recognised authority on acoustics, electricity, magnetism and optics writing a number of seminal text books some of which went through innumerable editions. He later became a widely respected biographer and historian of science writing a biography of Lord Kelvin. He was a very gifted speaker, a skilful artist, and linguist and greatly interested in literary, antiquarian and artistic subjects. His range of interests and vision was truly remarkable and he bridged the scientific and artistic divide – C. P Snow, (Two Cultures), would be impressed with such an individual!

In 1882 he was elected a member of the Society of Telegraph Engineers and Electricians and in 1886 a member of the Royal institution where he delivered some excellent lectures. He became the first president of the Rontgen Society, (Rontgen discovered x-rays), between 1897 and 1898. He died in 1916.

References:

Thompson. J. S. And Thompson. H. G. ‘Silvanus Phillips Thompson, His Life and Letters,’ T. Fisher Unwin. London 1920. New edition published with and edited by Martin Gardner.

Lynch. A. C. ‘Silvanus Thompson: teacher, researcher, and historian.’ IEE Proceedings. 1989.

Hertha (Sarah) Marks Ayrton (1854 – 1923)

Posted 12 June 2011 by Richard & filed under Biographies & Pen Portraits.

Born in Portsea, Hampshire, England and named Phoebe Sarah Marks – she later adopted the first name Hertha after the Teutonic earth goodness. Her father who had emigrated from Poland died when she was only seven and left the family heavily in debt, and who then struggled financially to survive. At the age of nine she went to live with her maternal aunt in London and attended the school that her uncle and aunt ran for their children. Both influenced the young Sarah her aunt teaching her mathematics and uncle philosophy. She supported herself and her family by tutoring and doing needle crafts. Her ambition of going to university was realised by the generosity of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon* one of the founders of Girton College, (Girton was the first residential college for women established at Cambridge), and this allowed her to enter the college in 1876 after passing the Cambridge University Examination for women in 1874, with honours in English and Mathematics. In spite of problems with bouts of illness and consequent poor examination results she eventually completed the Mathematical Tripos with a relatively poor grade 3rd class from Cambridge in 1880. It is important to note that women were not eligible for the university degree at this time and were only granted certificates. However she then successfully completed an external examination and received a BSc degree from the University of London in 1881. She was greatly helped during this difficult period by Richard Glazebrook who provided extra coaching. So in spite of immense prejudice and resultant negative attitudes created by the male dominated education system towards women, she survived and triumphed – a remarkable achievement at the time.

Very few women were involved in such subjects as engineering, mathematics and science whether in teaching or research. Hertha began to violate and break down this deplorable situation. Between 1881 and 1884 she continued to support herself by tutoring in mathematics and other related subjects. Up to then her main interest was mathematics but she inherited from her father a practical ability, (he was a clockmaker and jeweller), and started patenting scientific and mathematical instruments such as a line divider for drafting. She also wrote and set problems in mathematics that were published in the ‘Educational Times’ and became acknowledged as a gifted mathematician particularly in spatial and geometrical reasoning. Her main interest then began to switch to science and she attended physics classes at Finsbury Technical College and was tutored by William Ayrton, (see biographies on this website), who she married in 1885. William Ayrton was a widower with a young daughter and besides being an outstanding teacher and physicist was supportive of women’s education and legal rights.

Hertha then began to work with her husband on electricity and other aspects of physics but developed her own research interests especially on electrical arc lighting and soon became an acknowledged expert in this rapidly emerging technology. She published extensively in such journals as the ‘Proceedings of the Royal Society’ and the ‘Electrician’ and wrote a seminal book on The Electric Arc which received international acclaim. She became recognised as a respected and renowned researcher in electricity and is now seen as a pioneer of plasma physics. Again it must be remembered that very few women were active in science and mathematics.

She was elected as the first female member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) in 1899 which possesses a commendable record in encouraging and recognising women in their discipline. Sadly the same cannot be said of the Royal Society for when she was nominated as the first woman for a fellowship she was refused on the excuse that she was married. The charter excluding women from fellowship was reversed in 1923 but it was another twenty years before a woman was elected. The Royal Society has a very poor record in recognising the achievements of women scientists and mathematics. However she did present a paper to the Royal Society in 1904 – the first women to do so and she later received the Society’s Hughes medal, an achievement yet to repeated by a woman. She was an amazing trail blazer!

Hertha had to reduce her research activities to look after her ailing husband and even during this period when at the seaside with William carried detailed analysis of the formation of sand ripples which later formed part of the recognition in the Hughes Medal, along with her pioneering work on electric arcs. William died in 1908 and she continued her research in such areas of hydrodynamics and invented a fan for ventilating the trenches in the First World War and also improved the design and efficiency of search lights. She was an active member of the Women’s Social and Political Unions and was a founding member of the International Federation of University Women and the National Union of Scientific Workers (1920). She served on a number of national and international committees associated with women’s rights. After WW1 she improved the design of the fan and continued her research on vortices. She died in 1923 leaving her not inconsiderable estate to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), the organisation that had encouraged and recognised her achievements throughout her career without prejudice or reservation. She is now recognised and accepted as an exceptional woman in her own right. Her approach to research was pragmatic and founded on engineering traditions; not for her were the theoretical physical models and concepts. Her background and education created this unique and productive individual. An example of this approach was her seminal work on sand ripples which initially was based solely on observation. Quite rightly she subsequently became a role model for future generations of women wishing to enter the scientific and engineering professions. Below she is delivering a lecture in 1899 to the Society of Electrical Engineers note the majority of males in audience and the visual aids she is using – a very remarkable lady.

City and Guilds of London Institute – more background.

Posted 23 March 2011 by Richard & filed under Biographies & Pen Portraits.

(More background on City and Guilds of London Institute (CGLI), Finsbury Technical College, the Central Institution and the City and Guilds of London Art School).

Founded in 1878 by a number of Livery Companies and the City of London in order to contribute to the development of a national system of technical education. Following a review by a number of Livery Companies recommendations were made about the structure and scope of City and Guilds of London Institute. There were to be five branches to the Institute namely:

· The transference of the Society of Arts Technological examinations to the Association of the Livery Companies which had been constituted as the City and Guilds of London Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education. The resulting Technological Examinations Department was to register and inspect classes in technology and manual training and to hold annual examinations in the subjects taught in these classes.

· The creation of a Trade/Technical College/School north of the Thames at Finsbury: “An intermediate College’ with day courses in mechanical and electrical engineering and chemistry and evening classes in the same subjects and in applied art.

· The creation of a South London Technical Art School at Kennington offering courses in such areas as drawing, house decorating, modelling and painting.

· The creation of a Central Institution which would be a high quality training school for teachers in London. An Institution of a ‘university character’, in mechanics and mathematics; civil, mechanical and electrical engineering; chemistry and

· Grants for supporting certain technical classes already established at King’s College, London and elsewhere; and grants for the proposed chairs of Chemical Technology and Mechanical Technology at University College, London.

Subsequently a number of meetings were held to consider taking forward these proposals and on 11thNovember 1878 at the Mercers’ Hall sixteen Livery Companies and the Corporation of London in attendance that would formally decide to establish a national system of technical education.

The funding came from the seventeen organisations present at the meeting and initially a sum of £11,582. 1Oshillings (£11,582.50p) was provided.

The sixteen Companies present at the founding meeting were:

Armourers and Braziers/Brasiers, Carpenters, Clothworkers, Coopers, Cordwainers, Drapers, Dyers, Goldsmiths, Fishmongers, Ironmongers, Leathersellers, Needlemakers, Mercers, Pewterers, Plaisters and Salters.

Eventuallyin 1880 the educational association comprising 14 of the founding Companies established was incorporated under the Company Acts as the City and Guilds of London Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education. In 1900 the Institute was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria.

The locations of CGLI headquarters in London since its founding:

1879-80: Mercers’ Hall

1881-1913: Gresham College

1913: 3, St Helen’s Place – whilst Gresham College was rebuilt

1914: Leonard Street at the CGLI Finsbury technical College whilst the rebuilding of Gresham College continued

1915-57: Gresham College, Basinghall Street

1958 -1995: 76, Portland Place

1995+: 1, Giltspur Street.

Technological Examinations:

1879 – 80: Mercers’ Hall

1881 – 87: Gresham College

1887 – 91: City and Guilds of London Central Institute, South Kensington

After 1891 the technological examinations became part of the examination department and between:

1891 – 1903 were based at Exhibition Road (Royal School of Needlework), South Kensington and at various locations namely:

1903 – 22: Exhibition Road

1922 – 31: 29,Roland Gardens, South Kensington

1931 – 58: 31, Brechin Place

1958 – 1995: 76, Portland Place

1995 –present: 1, Giltspur Street

Some other dates:

1879 – 1926: City and Guilds Technical College, Finsbury – Leonard Street. Initially located in the premises of the Middle Class School in Cowper Street, classes started in November 1879 with teachers such as H. E. Armstrong and W. E. Ayrton. Eventually a new college was built in Leonard Street –foundation stone laid May 1881 and opened in 1883 as Finsbury Technical College.

1879 – 1923: South London Technical Art School – 122-124 Kennington Park Road

1932 – 37: City and Guilds of London Institute Kennington and Lambeth Art School – 118-71 Kennington Park Road

1937 – 71: City and Guilds of London Art School – 118-124 Kennington Park Road

1884 – 93: Central Institution – Exhibition Road

1893 – 1910: Central Technical College – Exhibition Road

1911 – 1962: City and Guilds College – Imperial College of Science and Technology, South Kensington

The Central Institution

The Object of the Central Institution:

‘To train technical teachers, proprietors and managers of chemical, civil and electrical engineers, architects, builders and persons engaged in art industries’.

Building completed in June 1884 with extensive facilities including: classrooms, laboratories, lecture theatres, specialist workshops and studios with engines and other forms of machinery for practical work. Clearly it was an expensive initiative as it focused on high level work and initially student numbers were low e.g. in 1885 there were only 35 students. In 1909 student numbers were 408 but even with fees from them the Institution struggled to be financially viable. The shortfall of £5,000 was covered by the Livery Companies but the high cost of updating equipment was a real concern. Eventually following recommendations from a Royal Commission regarding university education in London a faculty of engineering was created within the University of London and the City and Guilds Central Technical College as it was then called became one of its schools. Finally in 1907 it became one of the constituent colleges of Imperial College and in 1910 became known as the City and Guilds College.

Finsbury Technical College

The Objectives of Finsbury Technical College:

‘One of the yet unsolved problems of education is to discover subjects of instruction which a schoolboy, in after life, shall not cast aside as unprofitable, either for the purposes of his daily work or recreation, and the teaching of which shall have the same disciplinary effect as that of other subjects, which for so many centuries have been the sole instruments of education. In this college, an attempt will be made to partially solve this problem, by teaching science with this double object’. (Philip Magnus)

It is interesting to see what occupations the students represented at Cowper Street in 1880 included the following:

Brewers, Cabinet makers, Chemists, Dentists, Distillers, Drug brokers, Dyers, Electricians, Engineers, Engravers, Fire hose makers, Gas engineers, Glue makers, Hair and felt manufacturers, Inspectors of the Telephone Company, Leather dressers, Perfumers, Philosophical instruments makers, Photographers, Printers, Scale makers, Surgical instrument makers, Telegraphic instrument makers. Telegraphists, Varnish and colour manufacturers, Whitesmiths and Wine merchants,

A remarkable range! I wonder what Philosophical instrument makers were! Something about Natural Philosophy?

Lambeth School of Art/City and Guilds of London Art School

The Institute took over the Lambeth School of Art in 1878 when it faced closure. It was renamed the South London School of Technical Art on Kennington Park Road. The premises were extended by adding extra studios. Most of the classes were offered in the evening and students from local industries particularly the Doulton potteries. Classes were offered in calligraphy, drawing, a wide range of masonry techniques, painting and pottery modelling. The school proved very successful and trained many noted artists and designers. The premises were further extended in 1932 and in 1938 and it was renamed the City and Guilds of London Art School. The running costs of £20,000 in 1970 were relatively modest but the Institute decided that its work was out of kilter with its main business. A separate charitable trust was created supported by a number of Livery Companies and in 1971 the formal links with the Institute ceased.

This brief account does not do justice to the contribution the City and Guilds has made to the development of technical education. It created a number of fascinating institutions and has become a major examining body offering over 500 qualifications in a wide range of industrial sectors throughout 8,500 colleges and training providers in over 80 countries. The City and Guilds Group comprises: the Hospitality Awarding Body (HAB), the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), National Proficiency Tests Council (NPTC) and the Pitman Examinations Institute (PEI).

References:

CGLI. ‘Reflections Past and Future’. By Andrew Sich CGLI. 2000.

Lang. J. ‘City and Guilds of London Institute. Centenary 1878 – 1978. CGLI. 1978.

City and Guilds of London Institute. ‘A Short History’. CGLI. 1993.

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