Joseph Lancaster

Joseph Lancaster 1778-1838, English educator. In 1801 he founded a free elementary school, using a type of monitorial system for which he acknowledged his debt to Andrew Bell . The Royal Lancasterian Society was later established (1808) to direct the school. However, Lancaster, embittered by controversy with the society and with Bell, whose system had the support of the established church—Lancaster was a Quaker—went to the United States in 1818 to lecture. His efforts to establish a school at Baltimore were ended by his failing health. He moved to Venezuela, and later to Canada and New York City, to promote his educational ideas. Although Lancaster's ideas were generally well received during those journeys, he was unable to establish another school outside England. His writings on his system include Report of Joseph Lancaster's Progress from 1798 (1810) and The Lancasterian System of Education (1821).

Bibliography: See study ed. by C. F. Kaestle (1973).

Lancaster, Joseph (1778–1838). Founder of the Lancasterian system of education. The son of a nonconformist, Lancaster opened a school at Borough Road, south London, in 1798, offering free education to those unable to pay. He divided it into small classes each under a monitor; a group of these classes was supervised by a head monitor. Recognition came in 1805 when George III met Lancaster and promised his support. A Royal Lancasterian Society, later the British and Foreign School Society, was set up in 1808, but Lancaster quarrelled with the trustees and emigrated to America.

Lancaster, Joseph (1778–1838). Founder of the Lancasterian system of education. The son of a nonconformist, Lancaster opened a school at Borough Road, south London, in 1798, offering free education to those unable to pay. He divided it into small classes each under a monitor; a group of these classes was supervised by a head monitor. In this way, and by using mechanical methods of learning, he could accommodate 1,000 boys. Recognition came in 1805 when George III met Lancaster and promised his support. However, Lancaster opposed the notion that education should be Anglican and encountered rivalry from a Church of England clergyman, Andrew Bell. A Royal Lancasterian Society, later the British and Foreign School Society, was set up in 1808, but Lancaster quarrelled with the trustees and emigrated to America. He died in a street accident in New York in 1838.

Peter Gordon