Pioneers of adult education
Co-founders of the Workers' Educational Asociation (WEA)
10 January 1876, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England — 22 August 1952, Torquay, Devon
Frances Jane Mansbridge (née Pringle; 19 September 1875 — 24 July 1958) was a British educationist who co-founded the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) ...
Albert Mansbridge and Frances Pringle marry at St Mark's Church
[NB Edward Thomas born: 3 March 1878 was his near-contemporary. ]
Mansbridge was born the son of a carpenter, Thomas Mansbridge (whose Rank or Profession when Albert was married at the age of 25 was recorded as 'Gentleman'), and due to his family's tight finances had to leave school at 14. As a result was largely self-educated. However he still managed to attend university extension courses at King's College London. He eventually taught evening classes himself in economics, industrial history, and typing, all while taking up clerical work.
He married Frances Jane Pringle in the Parish of Battersea, Wandsworth, London, in July 1900 and they had a son, Thomas John, the following July.
Albert had growing concerns over the fact that the extension courses, started in 1873, were aimed at the upper and middle classes. To help the situation he and his wife Frances founded the WEA at a meeting in their home on 16 May 1903, [2] using two shillings and sixpence from the housekeeping money.[3] Originally called An Association to Promote the Higher Education of Working Men, the name change took place in 1905, after pressure from the Women's Co-operative Guild.[4] The association and its aims was quick to be recognized by universities, and Mansbridge left clerical work in 1905 to become its full-time general secretary.
Wikipedia: Albert Mansbridge.
Were they living in Battersea in 1903? says they were living in Winsham Grove
Frances Jane Pringle was born in Cape Town South Africa in 1875 but grew up with her brother, mother and father in Hampshire. Frances first met Albert Mansbridge while the two of them were working as Sunday school teachers, sharing their ambition to do good and help educate others.
The next few years were a busy time for the couple and saw them marry in Wandsworth in 1900, move to Battersea and welcome their son into the world in 1901. It was in 1903 that Frances and Albert set up the Higher Education of Working Man, which would later become the Workers' Education Association, using two shillings and sixpence from the housekeeping money. That today would be approximately £10.
In 1907, Frances and a number of other members convened a WEA women's group that developed into the Women's Advisory Committee, a big step forward in terms of female equality at the time. What's more, during their years spent spreading the WEA word, Frances and Albert went across the country to set up various branches, as well taking things international. Their travels took them to a number of countries, including Australia. It was here that they spent 17 weeks with the aim of forming branches, as well as in New Zealand, America and Canada, where Frances lectured to women's groups and delivered speeches.
After years of dedication and servitude to the cause of making education accessible to all, the couple semi-retired to Devon in 1945. A great-niece recognised that 'Frances must have been as dynamic as he' while Albert noted that without 'Tot', his pet name for Frances, he would never have achieved his success.
WEA: Link.
Albert and Frances, his wife, lived at 52 Winsham Grove, Battersea, London SW11.
WEA founded in January 1903 by Albert and his wife Frances in their home 52 Winsham Grove, off Clapham Common.
In this symbolic meeting at their terraced house, Frances famously contributed 2s.6d. from her housekeeping money as a working fund and voted Albert `hon. sec. pro tem’.
Mansbridge attended Bolingbroke Road and Surrey Lane schools before winning a scholarship in 1885 to Sir Walter St John’s and hence onward to Battersea Grammar School on St John’s Hill.
In 1890, aged fourteen, he went to work as a City clerk, while pursuing his studies via a university extension course at Munt’s Hall Clapham Junction which became The Imperial cinema later renamed The Ruby. This closed in 1981. and that was the end for this 91 year old building as the Theatre was then demolished to make way for a branch of Barclays Bank.
https://sheelanagigcomedienne.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/albert-mansbridge-founded-the-workers-education-association-in-battersea
The establishment of Battersea Grammar as a separate school was prompted by the changes resulting from the Elementary Education Act 1870. There was considerable debate as to how best to proceed, but eventually a proposal for a new trust scheme, under the Endowed Schools Act 1869, was put before Parliament and approved at a meeting of the Privy Council on the 9 August 1873.[3]
The new scheme would create a new Upper School, with the existing site housing a public elementary school and a new middle school if the governors so decided.[4] A building for the new school was purchased in 1874, and the post of headmaster of the Sir Walter St John's Upper School advertised. Edmund A. Richardson, was appointed to the post on 19 January 1875 and the school opened on 12 April 1875. [3] The old school continued to be known as the Sir Walter St John's School, with both schools under the control of the Sir Walter St John's Schools Trust. [2]
The name Battersea Grammar School was not formally recorded in the scheme of the trust until 1893, [5] however the school had been known by that name almost from the beginning [4]
Development and relocation
The first few years of the new Battersea Grammar School were not promising, with the number of pupils declining and proposals to close the school. The appointment of William H. Bindley as headmaster in 1880 or 1881 (sources disagree) turned matters around in both the quality of education and pupil numbers, which increased from 48 in 1881 to 160 by 1891. [5]
The original school building purchased to house Battersea Grammar School was known as St John's Lodge and stood on St John's Hill, on the corner of Plough Road, Battersea.[6] This was enlarged by the addition of an East Wing in 1906 as the number of pupils rose to 250, and pupil numbers increased still further, reaching 450 by 1919. [7]
Jeanne Rathbone: Link.
Sally Harkness, Advocating for the Ignorant: The Ministry of Enthusiasm One Hundred and Twenty Years of the Workers' Educational Association.
WEA: Frances Mansbridge.
Wikipedia: Albert Mansbridge.
Spartacus Educational: Albert Mansbridge.
TUC: Albert Mansbridge.
Britannica: Link.
Wikipedia: Frances Mansbridge.
Wikipedia: Battersea Grammar School.
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