This book has three interlocking themes. It is concerned first with the advance and subsequent decline of the Wesleyan Methodist efforts in education during the nineteenth century. Secondly, it is about Dr James Harrison Rigg, an irascible and self-opinionated Victorian minister who became Principal of Westminster Methodist Training College and President of the Methodist Conference. He had a dominant influence over his church for many years and dictated its education policy. He also gained the ear of many in government who were formulating educational legislation, and the book assesses his influence on government ideas. The final and overriding theme of the book is the anti-Catholicism within the Methodist church throughout the nineteenth century, which influenced Wesleyan attitudes towards government education policy in general and towards Anglican `Tractarian' schools in particular. The book is invaluable for students of nineteenth century religious history and is worthwhile for others interested in ecclesiastical history.
Reviews
this is a well-researched study which clearly charts the complex story of Wesleyan education in relation to rival developments. It forms a very useful addition to the growing literature on nineteeth-century Methodism. * Ian Machin, The Catholic Historical Review. *
This important study of the Wesleyan elementary schools project will appeal to scholars from a number of fields ... a well-documented and researched examination of the early battles between government and the churches ... Smith has amassed an impressive amount of detail from extant source materials ... The portrait of this formidable minister and educationalist is presented in a lively and engaging manner. * Rev D J Oakley, Recusant History, Volume 24 no 4 1999 *
provides a perceptive insight into the religious and political motivation of ordinary Wesleyans ... John Smith's study of the Wesleyan community in the ninteenth century has cast additional light upon the general educational history of the period by its clear exposure of the philosophical and theological tensions within the Wesleyan community itself that led to the rapid decline of that community's denominational school endeavour. * V Alan McClelland, Heythrop Journal, Vol 40 no 4, October 1999 *
This book represents a fine piece of scholarship which reveals much about a neglected figure and subject. * Peter B. Nockles, Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, Vol.52 Part 5 *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198269649
Author John T. Smith
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Clarendon Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 474g
Dimensions(mm) 225mm * 147mm * 20mm