Higher technological education in Britain: The case of the Manchester Municipal College of Technology

Minerva

Volumn 34, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 219-257

  Walsh, James Jackson ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 4143087151     PISSN: 00264695     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/BF00120326     Document Type: Article

References (130)

1. Introductory Lecture, Government School of Mines, 1852. Some ten years later, the institution was renamed the Royal School of Mines; on its origins, see MacLeod, Roy, "'Instructed Men' and Mining Engineers: The Associates of the Royal School of Mines and British Imperial Science, 1851-1920", Minerva, XXXII (Winter 1994), pp. 422-439.
2. Quoted in Cardwell, D.S.L., The Organisation of Science in England (London: Heinemann, 1957), p. 68. Lyon (later Baron) Playfair (1818-98) had been a student of Liebig at Giessen and had translated his Chemistiy in its Relation to Agriculture and Physiology. Playfair's career as a chemist included the posts of chemist to the Geological Survey and professor of chemistry at the School of Mines in the 1840s. "Playfair's expertise in chemistry was surpassed only by his 'scientific statesmanship'."
3. (MacLeod, R., "Instructed Men", The Organisation of Science in England op. cit., p. 424.) He entered parliament in 1868, and played a prominent part in the reform of the Civil Service.
4. On the details of Playfair's career, see Crowther, J.G., Statesmen of Science (London: Cresset Press, 1865);
5. and Reid, Sir Thomas Wemyss, Memoirs and Correspondence of Lyon Playfair, First Lord Playfair of St. Andrews (London: Cassell, 1899).
6. Second Report of the Royal Commission on Technical Instruction, Vol. I, C. 3981. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty (London: Eyre & Spottiswood, 1884).
7. Cardwell, D.S.L., The Organisation of Science in England, op. cit, p. 151.
8. Manchester Mechanics Institution 1824-83, Manchester Technical School and Mechanics Institution 1883-92, Manchester Municipal Technical School 1892-1902, Manchester Municipal School of Technology 1902-18, Manchester Municipal College of Technology 1918-55, Manchester College of Science and Technology 1955-66, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology 1966-to date.
9. Lord Cherwell (1886-1957), born F.A. Lindemann, 1st baron (1941), 1st viscount (1956), was professor of experimental philosophy, i.e. physics, at Oxford from 1919 to 1956. He was personal assistant and adviser on statistical, scientific and technological matters to the prime minister 1940-45, and paymaster-general 1942-45 and - with a seat in the cabinet - 1951-53.
10. Public Record Office University Grants Committee files, UGC 7/878.
11. Public Record Office University Grants Committee files, Ibid.
12. Cabinet Paper CP 56/1, 2 January, 1956.
13. Sir Edward Playfair (1909-) KCB (1957), a great-nephew of Lyon Playfair, held appointments at the Inland Revenue 1931-34, the Treasury 1934-46 and 1947-56, the Control Office for Germany 1946-47, and the War Office 1956-59; he was permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence 1960-61.
14. "Higher Technological Education: A Statement of Government Policy for the Development of Higher Technological Education in Great Britain", Cmnd 8357 (London: HMSO, September 1951).
15. UGC 7/867, 14 November, 1951.
16. Frederick James Marquis (1883-1964), 1st baron Woolton (1939), 1st earl (1956), attended Manchester Grammar School and Manchester University. Entered Lewis' department stores 1920, becoming chairman in 1935. He was director general of equipment stores, Ministry of Supply 1939-40; minister of food 1940-43; minister of reconstruction 1943-45, Lord President of the Council 1945 and 1951-52, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1952-55, chancellor, University of Manchester, 1944-64.
17. Another was a discussion on an election promise - eventually dropped - to restore the university franchise.
18. Oxford and Cambridge must be excepted: they had opposed the notion of a "college of technologists", and Oxford (no doubt influenced by Cherwell) had proposed a solution on the model of MIT.
19. Sir Arthur E. Trueman (1894-1953) KBE (1951), geologist, was professor of geology, University College Swansea 1920-33, Bristol University 1933-37, and Glasgow University 1937-46. He was deputy chairman of the UGC 1946-49 and chairman 1949-53.
20. John Sebastian Bach Stopford (1888-1961) Kt (1941), KBE (1955), baron (1958). He was Manchester University professor of anatomy 1919-38, professor of experimental neurology 1938-56, and vice-chancellor 1934-56.
21. 15 August, 1950, University of Manchester Archives.
22. UGC 7/895.
23. Public Record Office, Education Department files, ED 24/1865.
24. Education Department files, Ibid.
25. William Symington M'Cormick (1859-1930) Kt (1911), GBE (1929) was professor of English, University College, Dundee; St Andrews University 1901 -, secretary to the Carnegie Trust, Scotland; chairman Board of Education Advisory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 1911; chairman, UGC, 1919-1930.
26. ED 24/1865. The UGC was at the time less than a year old; on its origins, see Hutchinson, Eric, "The Origins of the University Grants Committee", Minerva, XIII (Winter 1975), pp. 583-620.
27. Lewis Amherst Selby-Bigge (1860-1951), CB (1905), 1st Baronet (1919), was fellow and lecturer University College, Oxford, 1883, principal assistant secretary 1908-11, and permanent secretary, Board of Education, 1911-25.
28. ED 24/1865.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid., 29 May, 1920.
31. Returns from Universities in Receipt of Treasury Grant 1919-20, Cmnd 1263 (London: HMSO, 1921), p. 13.
32. UGC 1/1, 4 June, 1920.
33. These events are fully recorded in ED 24/1865.
34. Board of Education, Annual Report 1919-20.
35. ED 24/1865.
36. Sir Henry A. Miers (1858-1942) Kt (1912), was assistant keeper, British Museum 1882-95; professor of mineralogy, Oxford 1895-1908; principal, University of London 1908-15, vice-chancellor (and professor of crystallography), University of Manchester 1915-26.
37. ED 24/1865.
38. Information from St John's College, York.
39. Charlton, H.B., Portrait of a University 1851-1951, 2nd edn (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1952), p. 167.
40. Manchester City Council, Finance Committee Reports, Vol. 144, p. 135.
41. University College or Technical School? (Manchester: College of Technology, June 1920).
42. Manchester City Council, Report of the Finance Committee, 13 May, 1920, Appendix B.
43. "Proposals for Developing a National System of Technical and Commercial Instruction", ED 24/1863. The note was in response to an inquiry from the prime minister, Lloyd George.
44. ED 24/1863. Paragraph 10 was deleted in the final version.
45. Facilitated by the Master of Elibank. ED 24/519.
46. ED 24/1865.
47. University of Manchester, Report of Council to Court, November 1920.
48. Report of Council to Court, 1920. Ibid.
49. Manchester Education Committee, Minutes 1920-21.
50. University of Manchester, Special Meeting of the Senate, 7 December, 1920.
51. Manchester Education Committee, Minutes, 21 March, 1921. A clause requiring that "all correspondence with the Board of Education, the UGC, and all correspondence in respect of policy and finance will be under the direction of the Director of Education" was omitted by Spurley Hey, before publication, after a letter from Miers dated 14 November, 1920.
52. Bernard Mouat Jones (1882-1953) was professor of chemistry, Government College, Lahore, 1906-13. After war service, he became professor of chemistry University College of Wales, Aberystwyth 1919-21; principal, Manchester Municipal College of Technology 1921-38; and vice-chancellor, University of Leeds 1938-48.
53. Manchester Education Committee, Subcommittee on the College of Technology [the "A" Committee], Minutes, 21 July, 1921.
54. University of Manchester, Minutes of the Council and Senate, 12 May, 1920-18 January, 1922.
55. University of Manchester, Minutes of the Council, 12 May, 1920.
56. Minutes of the Council, Ibid., 27 July, 1921.
57. Minutes of the Council, Ibid., 18 January, 1922.
58. Minutes of the Council, Ibid., 21 March, 1923.
59. Robson, R., The Cotton Industry in Britain (London: Macmillan, 1957), p. 335.
60. ED 168/1887.
61. "A Report on a Deputation of the Education Committee of the City of Manchester on Their Visit to Certain Continental Cities", September 1929.
62. ED 168/1887.
63. ED 168/1891.
64. The hand of the CVCP may be discernible in this omission. There had - in their eyes - been a public gaffe on the topic by the principal of University College, Nottingham, Professor H.L.S. Wortley. On a fence-mending visit to Sir Robert Wood, deputy secretary, on 24 November, 1942, its chairman, Sir Franklyn Sibley, had suggested that consideration of these matters be put off until after the war. Public Record Office, Education Department files: ED 46/292.
65. ED 136/427.
66. ED 46/295. The Percy committee's report, published in 1945, led the Labour government to appoint in 1947 a large and rambling National Advisory Council for Education in Industry and Commerce under the chairmanship of Sir Ronald (later Lord) Weeks, then vice-chairman of Vickers. The Weeks report in 1950 led to the White Paper of September 1951.
67. Public Record Office, Cabinet files: CAB 87/3.
68. M.P.A. Hankey (1877-1963); 1st lord (1939); first secretary to the cabinet 1916-38; minister without portfolio September 1939-May 1940; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1940-41; paymaster-general 1941-42. "Designer of the Cabinet Secretariat and, with Lloyd George, the joint creator of the modern Cabinet system": Hennessy, Peter, The Hidden Wiring (London: Gollancz, 1995), p. 99.
69. The minutes are in LAB 18/178-181.
70. CAB 66/49.
71. 18 January, 1944. ED 136/689.
72. "Report of the Committee on Scientific Manpower", Cmnd 6824 (London: HMSO, 1946).
73. CAB 132/64-69 and 106.
74. See Part I, p. 222.
75. Draft memorandum, 28 December, 1951. Public Record Office, University Grants Committee files: UGC 7/867.
76. ED 46/754.
77. 27 March, 1952. UGC 7/867.
78. UGC 7/867.
79. Ibid.
80. Ibid.
81. Sir James moved to become director of the university's new School of Education. Although he was not in the best of health, the significance of such a move would not have been lost on the university world.
82. Manchester Education Committee Minutes, Vol. 68, 1951-52.
83. UGC 7/895.
84. Ibid., letter of 24 January, 1952.
85. CAB 124/2716. Woolton had addressed a meeting of the committee in an extensively prepared speech on 27 February. His private secretary, G.M. Nicholson, had described it as "the ideal platform for opening your campaign on the application of science in industry". CAB 124/2792.
86. CAB 124/2716.
87. Hansard (HL), Vol. 177, No. 71, 11 June, 1952.
88. 26 June, 1952. Copied to Stopford. University of Manchester archive. Todd's briefing to Woolton for the debate had also urged the development of the Manchester college. CAB 124/2716.
89. UGC 7/895.
90. Manchester Guardian, 5 July, 1952.
91. There was an element of shadow boxing here. Woolton was slaying with the Stopfords. Writing later to Sir James Myers, Stopford said "I purposely did not consult him as to whether I should speak or as to what I should say, but in confidence when he saw my MS after it had been delivered he approved of the 'strong meat'". University of Manchester Archive.
92. UGC 7/895. Woolton copied both speeches to Butler on 9 July, 1952.
93. See Streat, Raymond, Lancashire and Whitehall, Vol. II (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1987), pp. 632 ff.;
94. and Census of Great Britain 1951, reported in "Proposed University of Technology", note by the town clerk for a conference with the Lord President of the Council, 16 January, 1953. UGC 7/895.
95. Manchester City Council Minutes 1952-53 Vol. II Council Circular IX(b).
96. Report on UGC 7/865.
97. 30 November, 1951. UGC 7/895.
98. UGC 7/872.
99. Ibid.
100. The Memoirs of the Rt Hon the Earl of Woolton (London: Cassell, 1959), p. 402.
101. CP (52) 371 and CP (52) 378.
102. CAB 128/25, 99th conclusions, item 7.
103. 99th conclusions, Ibid.
104. UGC 2/34.
105. 29 April, 1953. Minute from Playfair to Butler's private secretary, UGC 7/872.
106. Minute from Playfair to Butler's private secretary, Ibid.
107. UGC 7/872.
108. Ibid.
109. Ibid.
110. Minute of 15 April, 1953, in UGC 7/895. Hale appears to have conducted much of the committee's business about this time owing to Tnieman's recurrent illness.
111. UGC 2/34.
112. Ibid.
113. Minutes of Manchester Education Committee, 19 October, 1953. Bertram Vivian Bowden (1910-89), baron (life peer 1963), had taught physics at Oundle School 1937-40. He worked on radar research in England and the United States 1940-46, and in industry (computers) 1947-53 . He was principal of Manchester College of Science and Technology 1953-76 (on leave of absence as minister of state, Department of Education and Science 1964-65).
114. Minutes of Manchester Education Committee, 1953. Ibid., Dr Bowden attended this meeting for the first time.
115. Minutes of Manchester Education Committee, Ibid., 16 November, 1953.
116. Konversations-Lexicon (Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1908), Vol. XV, p. 652.
117. John Carswell points out that James Watt might never have conceived his idea had he not been employed by Professor Black of Glasgow University in constructing apparatus for the investigation of heat; and that Matthew Boulton, his partner, was in the thick of the industrial political and scientific scene. "He was intimate with Franklin, Priestley, Darwin, Wedgewood and Edgeworth, and a Fellow of the Royal Society...". Dictionary of National Biography.
118. University of Manchester, Faculty of Technology, Minutes, Vol II.
119. UGC, "A Note on Technology in the Universities", 15 December, 1949.
120. CVCP, "Qualifications for Students of Colleges of Technology", May 1949. UGC 7/864.
121. Qualifications for Students of Colleges of Technology", 1949. Ibid.
122. Memorandum, 16 June, 1920. ED 24/1865.
123. Memorandum of an interview, 22 July, 1918. UGC 5/8.
124. Professor Richard Whiddington (1885-1970), FRS (1925), CBE (1946) was a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge 1911-19, and assistant demonstrator, Cavendish Laboratory 1909-14. After war service he became Cavendish professor of physics, University of Leeds 1919-51; DSIR, Admiralty 1940-42, deputy director of scientific research, Ministry of Supply 1942-45. He was president of the Physical Society 1952.
125. Letter, 6 October, 1949. UGC 7/865.
126. "A Report on a Deputation of the Education Committee of the City of Manchester on Their Visit to Certain Continental Cities, September 1929".
127. Report, 6 December, 1952. UGC 7/868.
128. Carswell, John, Government and the Universities in Britain 1960-80 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), pp. 43-45.
129. Meeting, 1 March, 1956. UGC 2/37.
130. Chancellor of the Exchequer's Memorandum, 23 August, 1956. CAB 124/2040.