The growth of technical education in Darlington 1825-1915

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to give an account of the development of technical education in Darlington from 1825 to 1915. These limits have been chosen, because, in 1825, the Darlington Mechanics' Institute was founded, while, ninety years later, the town gained County Borough status and complete control of technical-education. The first period, 1825-1857, is concerned with the efforts of the local Mechanics' Institute to supply working class mechanics with theoretical instruction in the scientific principles behind their trades. However, it was with the establishment of the Darlington School of Art in 1857, earning the grants in aid of the Department of Science and Art, that technical education was really launched. Science instruction at the Training College, the Grammar School, and in various evening classes in the 1880's,was the prelude to the idea of a technical college. The opening of the Darlington Technical College in 1897, the responsibility of the Technical Instruction Committee, represented the prime achievement in the town's technical education facilities. The final section examines the progress of the work of the Technical College from 1897 to 1915. The system of dual control of technical education and the relationship between the local committee and Durham County Council was the controlling factor in this period. The development of technical education in Darlington is traced against the background of national developments, including the growth of basic elementary education, the confusion and overlapping between secondary and technical education, and the belated provision of State support for technical instruction. The economic development of Darlington in the nineteenth century, particularly the impact of the railways, is also considered. This survey concludes with a brief assessment of the main factors and agencies, national and local, which contributed to the state of technical education, when Darlington became a County Borough in 1915.