Shaping a Nation (Hardback)

It was in 1869 that Bradford MP Edward Miall who, standing alongside that champion of education, fellow Bradford MP William Edward Forster, proclaimed that without the influence of women, men were naught. ‘Happy will be the day throughout the whole world,’ he said, ‘when woman takes up her real and proper position.’ It was a good point. Women have influence over their offspring from the day they are born, whether that be lessons in morality, support in adversity or counsel in decision making. Not only that – the voluntary elementary schools that were educating children in 1869 were mainly staffed by women. And the situation was about to improve; women’s influence was to expand further. A year after Miall’s speech, Forster’s Elementary Education Act didn’t just pave the way for compulsory and free education for all, it also gave women their first real opportunity to have their political voices heard by being elected to school boards. And, with their significance in educating future generations from their earliest schooldays, women’s soft power was to be the foundation of developing hearts and minds for ever.

But, as always, women had to push hard to be recognised. Campaigning vigorously for election onto school boards, they proved their value as citizens worthy of the franchise by working diligently for no pay once elected, supporting the rights of girls and women in elementary education. And, with secondary education for girls generally an afterthought for most, it was women who took up the mantle to raise money for buildings and equipment for the new endowed girls’ schools after the Endowed Schools Act 1869. Some, frustrated by the sluggish speed of the apportionment of endowments to girls, proposed new ways of funding secondary schools, establishing joint-stock companies and persuading local residents to buy shares so that such schools could be built, staffed and equipped and their daughters educated. Soon these schools stretched nationwide, headed by capable women who inspired and led other young women into worthwhile careers and independence. Headmistresses such as Frances Buss, Dorothea Beale and Mary Porter, all born before Queen Victoria came to the throne, were the bedrock of girls’ education. Education gave other women the platform from which to advance, and advance they did. Their influence began to be recognised; they were invited to contribute to enquiries into secondary education that helped shape future policies. They networked, they pushed for university education for girls; thus, women were able to choose rewarding careers and financial independence. Victorian men might have built towns, cities and businesses, but it was Victorian women who really shaped the nation.