Memorial to Albert Mansbridge in Gloucester Cathedral

Albert Mansbridge, CH (10 January 1876,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England – 22 August 1952,

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

) was an English educator who was one of the pioneers of

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

in Britain. He is best known for his part in co-founding the

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

(WEA) in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1903, serving as its first secretary until 1915.

Biography

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 King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. 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 Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, 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, using two shillings and sixpence from the housekeeping money. 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. The association and its aims was quick to be recognized by universities, and Mansbridge left clerical work in 1905 to become its fulltime general secretary. The first Scottish branch of the WEA was in

Springburn Springburn ( gd, Allt an Fhuairainn) is an inner-city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, made up of generally working-class households. Springburn developed from a rural hamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its indu ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, although this only lasted until 1909 at that time, the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

Branch coming into existence on 25 October 1912 after a meeting held at the Free Gardeners' Hall, 12–14 Picardy Place, Edinburgh. The meeting was chaired by Lodge and addressed by Albert Mansbridge and Bernard Bosanquet. The meeting was attended by 200 people, including James Munro, who became Secretary of the newly formed branch. Albert founded international branches of the WEA in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1913, and later

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Mansbridge suffered from

spinal meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or a ...

, but after recovering he would go on to form several other adult-education groups. These included the World Association for Adult Education in 1918, the Seafarers' Educational Service in 1919 (

The Marine Society College of the Sea The Marine Society College of the Sea is a distance learning further education college for those who make their living at sea. The college is owned and operated by The Marine Society, and is located at 202 Lambeth Road, in the London Borough of ...

), and the British Institute of Adult Education in 1921. In 1922, he delivered the Lowell Lectures in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and for the

Pacific School of Religion The Pacific School of Religion (PSR) is a private Protestant seminary in Berkeley, California. It maintains covenantal relationships with the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Disciples of Christ, ensuring the schoo ...

with the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

the Earle Lectures in 1926. He also founded the

National Central Library The National Central Library (NCL; ) is the national library of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan), which is located at No. 20, Zhongshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 10001, Taiwan. It will soon have a subsidiary called Southe ...

, a tutorial system and a scholarly library for working people who were not connected to an academic institution. He was a member of numerous government committees of education, including the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education from 1906 to 1912, and from 1924 to 1939. From 1915 to 1918, Mansbridge was on the Prime Minister's Committee on the Teaching of Modern Languages. He was a member of the Royal Commission on the Universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

from 1919 to 1922. He was also on the Statutory Commission on Oxford in 1923. He was a member of numerous church committees, including the Selborne Committee on Church and State from 1914 to 1916. Albert wrote the preface to Economic Justice; a Text-Book of Political Economy from the Christian Point of View by Gerard Collier, published in 1924.Gerard Collier (1924) Economic Justice; a Text-Book of Political Economy from the Christian Point of View London, The Swarthmore Press Ltd. ; New York, George H. Doran Company. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

commemorates Mansbridge at 198 Windsor Road in Ilford.

Selected publications

* 1914: ''University Tutorial Classes'' published by

Longmans Green Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

in 1914. * 1920: ''Adventure in Working Class Education'' London: Longmans Green * 1923: ''The Older Universities of England'', London: Longmans Green * 1929:''The Making of an Educationist'' * 1932: ''Margaret Mcmillan: Prophet and Pioneer''. London: Dent * 1934: ''Brick upon Brick: 50 years f theCo-operative Permanent Building Society''. (Later renamed

Nationwide Building Society Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual financial institution, the seventh largest cooperative financial institution and the largest building society in the world with over 16 million members. Its headquarters are in Swindon, England. ...

) Contains black and white images of

personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

, buildings, has a

chronology Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , '' -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. I ...

, and includes a substantial appendix section and index. Total of 236 pages.Detail taken from a first edition of ''Brick upon Brick'' published by Dent

in 1934 * 1935: ''Edward Stuart Talbot & Charles Gore''. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Limited * 1940: ''The Trodden Road''

References

External links

The Marine Society College of the Sea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansbridge, Albert 1876 births 1952 deaths People from Gloucester Alumni of King's College London Workers' Educational Association Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Adult education leaders

Biography

Selected publications

See also

References

External links