Overview

This book tells the little known story of the Army's regimental and garrison schools established in 1812 to provide schooling for soldiers' children and subsequently for enlisted men, some almost 30 years before public money was first provided for elementary schools in England and Wales. This is the first published work on the Army's schools during the 19th century for almost 50 years and the author takes a fresh approach, placing the narrative within the context of contemporary opinion about the need for educated soldiers and the schooling appropriate for the lowers classes ( from which the Army predominately drew its recruits), whilst also explaining the hitherto neglected, but crucial part played by the responsible ministers at the War Office in establishing and ensuring the survival of the schools. There were no published government reports on these regimental schools until 1859 and previous literature has been largely silent on the workings of the schools during the early years, when they were conducted by untrained schoolmaster-sergeants selected by their commanding officers from within the ranks of their regiments. This book breaks new ground by drawing on the archives of more than 40 regiments of infantry and cavalry preserved in their regimental museum and county records offices, including standing orders, digests of service and personal diaries, together with and other contemporary material from a larger number of regiments in the UK National Archives, in order to construct an unprecedented account of the workings of the schools during the years. 22 b/w illustrations, 4 b/w maps, 25 tables

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9781912866472

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Howard Clarke was born in Sheffield in 1943 and has lived for most of life in the north of England. After attending grammar school he obtained degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Oxford University. Following a short spell working in accountancy, he taught economics, government and politics before moving into college management. In his capacity as a college principal and chairman of the Association of Sixth Form Colleges, he represented the interests of this part of the further education sector with government at the national and local level. Since retirement he has pursued his lifelong enthusiasm for political and military history and has developed a particular interest in the origins and early years of the British Army’s schools for soldiers’ children and enlisted men. Because of family connections, his research focused initially on the Royal Hibernian Military School (RHMS).In 2011 he published A New History of the Royal Hibernian Military School, Phoenix Park Dublin 1765-1924 andhis articles on the school have appeared in a number of journals in Great Britain and Ireland. In 2015 he was a contributor to the BBC Radio Ulster series: WWI at Home. He is currently working on a history of the Royal Military Asylum Chelsea (1800-1892). When not reading and writing, he spends much of his time walking his spaniel, travelling at homeand overseas and adding to his collection of old toy soldiers.

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