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Harriet Martineau and the Unitarian tradition in education

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 37; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03054985.2011.621682

1465-3915

Ruth Watts,

Religious Education and Schools

Abstract This paper examines the role of Harriet Martineau as a public educator in the light of her Unitarian upbringing and heritage. First, it explores the Unitarian contribution to educational philosophy, psychology and practice at the end of the 18th century and then subsequent developments in the 19th, singling out the work of those people who particularly influenced Martineau. Secondly, the paper looks at selected works of Martineau which illustrate and take further the educational principles and interests in which she herself had been educated. It shows that, throughout Martineau’s life, her prolific writings on and participation in a wide variety of political, economic, social and cultural issues were underpinned by a deep desire to educate the public, unfailingly optimistic that if everyone was correctly educated necessary social change would take place. She remained true to the Unitarian emphasis on rational morality, thinking for oneself and questioning cherished assumptions even when she eschewed actual Unitarianism. The final section briefly assesses Martineau’s place as a public educator and what she owed to her Unitarian heritage. Notes 1. Principal biographies are by R.K. Webb and Deborah Logan; Ella Dzelzainis and Cora Kaplan’s edited book on Harriet Martineau has much useful recent analysis of her life. 2. It reopened in York 1803–1840, moved back to Manchester until 1853 when it moved to London affiliated to University College, finally moving to Oxford in 1889. It is now Harris Manchester College, Oxford. 3. The Revolution commemorated by this Society is the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688. 4. The school of Rev Isaac Perry who lost his pulpit and most of his boys’ school when he changed from orthodox dissent to Unitarianism. Martineau thoroughly enjoyed the rigorous teaching of Latin and French, writing composition and doing arithmetic. 5. Martineau was writing this at a time when there was no national system of education and the government involvement which did exist, although increasing, was only in elementary education for the working classes. Martineau wished the latter to increase until education was provided for all children but this was long before it was considered that middle-class education would be part of a national system. 6. Jane Marcet’s Conversations on political economy of 1816 became an immensely popular and successful book as did other of her works on political economy and science. 7. The Daily News was established in 1846 as a Liberal counterpoise to The Times. It became successful from the 1850s (Webb, Citation1960, pp. 314–315 and ff., to 358). 8. Mary Somerville gained European fame for her insightful and wider ranging scientific works from 1831. She also became part of the Unitarian networks in which Martineau still moved. 9. After Wollstonecraft’s death, shortly after the birth of her daughter Mary, her husband William Godwin published a memoir of his wife (Godwin, Citation1798) in which he told the story of her life including her sexual relationships. In the atmosphere of conservative political reaction against the French Revolution in the early 19th century, which was accompanied by more general social conservatism, Wollstonecraft’s name was maligned and she became a by-word for immorality.