Universities in the Age of Reform, 1800–1870

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

   PDF

2. Introduction: The Age of Reform

   • Matthew Andrews

   Pages 1-23

3. Bold Endeavours: London University, Its Imitators and Critics

   • Matthew Andrews

   Pages 25-41

4. The Idea of Durham University

   • Matthew Andrews

   Pages 43-74

5. Establishing the New Universities

   • Matthew Andrews

   Pages 75-108

6. Recruitment of Academic Staff

   • Matthew Andrews

   Pages 109-145

7. What to Teach

   • Matthew Andrews

   Pages 147-180

8. Higher Education in Newcastle

   • Matthew Andrews

   Pages 181-198

9. Growth and Decline

   • Matthew Andrews

   Pages 199-218

10. Durham’s Royal Commission

    • Matthew Andrews

    Pages 219-251

11. Reform and Survival: Sealing Durham’s Reputation

    • Matthew Andrews

    Pages 253-282

12. Back Matter

    Pages 283-296

    PDF

This book considers a crucial moment in the development of English higher education, and also provides a new and comprehensive history of the early decades of Durham University. During the Age of Reform innovative ideas about the role and purpose of a university were moving at an unprecedented pace. Proposals for new institutions in all parts of the country were developing quickly and resulted in the foundation of Durham University, London University (later re-styled University College, London), and King’s College, London. While normally overshadowed by the London institutions, this book demonstrates not only that Durham attempted to produce a far broader institution than any historian has given its founders credit for, but that a remarkable attempt at a third-way in English higher education has been neglected. Matthew Andrews therefore not only provides the first fully researched account of this important national institution since 1932, but also carefully situates Durham in its contemporary context, and alongside the two other most prominent emerging institutions of that time.

• higher education
• academic institutions
• University College London
• King's College London
• Durham University

“Andrews’ book is valuable for drawing attention to these wider trends, and has some interesting pieces of information as well as useful graphs of student enrolments. … The book is aimed more at specialists in university history and the broader history of Victorian culture, and they will appreciate its scholarly contribution to understanding a still neglected period.” (Robert Anderson, History of Education, Vol. 48 (6), 2019)

• Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

  Matthew Andrews

Matthew Andrews is University Secretary and Registrar at the University of Gloucestershire, UK.

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