Joseph Lloyd Brereton - Educational Reform

Educational Reform

Brereton's interest in educational reform among the agricultural and middle classes was stimulated by his father's studies of the Poor Laws and also by the influence of Dr. Arnold at Rugby School. Having been appointed rector of West Buckland in North Devon, with the encouragement and practical assistance of Hugh Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue (d.1861), KG, lord-lieutenant of Devonshire, and his son Viscount Ebrington (d.1905), Brereton established in 1858 at West Buckland the farm and county school to supply education suitable for farmers' sons. Earl Fortescue owned much land in the parish but was not patron of the living, and therefore not responsible for Brereton's appointment. The Earl founded at the same time Filleigh School, near his mansion of Castle Hill, Filleigh. The school was soon renamed the "Devon County School", and in 1912 was renamed "West Buckland School". The object was to provide a fee-paying boarding school, with liberal and religious education, at fees which whilst large enough to cover the cost of board and tuition and to return a fair interest on capital invested, were at a fraction of what was charged by the public schools. In recognition of his work in Devon, in 1858 Brereton was made prebendary of Exeter Cathedral.

In contrast to the work of Nathaniel Woodard, who also founded schools for the middle classes, Brereton's foundations were not high church. Indeed, although religious instruction and worship were part of the curriculum at Brereton's schools the low church approach was less discouraging to non-conformist elements of the middle classes. Secondly, the main feature of the scheme was that the county rather than the diocese should be the unit of the area of organisation, and that upon the county basis the whole scheme of national education should be co-ordinated. Finally, Brereton did not rely wholly on endowments as did Woodard, but he operated mainly on a proprietary basis, forming companies of investors to raise the capital needed to found his schools.

Brereton's removal to Little Massingham in 1867 as rector led in 1871 to the foundation there of the Norfolk County School, which was transferred in 1874 to North Elmham. His next step was to connect the county school system with the universities. After an unsuccessful attempt at Oxford, he founded at Cambridge in 1873 a 'county' college, which was named Cavendish College, after the chancellor of the university, the Duke of Devonshire. Brereton described his scheme in his book County Education. Cavendish College was instituted as a public hostel of the university, students in residence being eligible for a university degree. The undergraduates were younger than was customary, and the cost of board and tuition, which was covered by an inclusive charge of eighty guineas a year, was much lower than in the established colleges. The venture received educational and ecclesiastical support. However, the proprietary principle was not welcomed by some, and the public schools withheld their recognition. Other factors were the distance of the college from the centre of Cambridge, (more than 1 mile), and inferior accommodation. The scheme proved financially unsuccessful, and the college was dissolved in 1892. The buildings were sold in 1895 and were used as a training college, Homerton College, for women teachers, which in 2001 finally became a full college of Cambridge University.

In 1881, Brereton formed the Graduated County Schools Association, whose aim was the establishment of self-supporting schools and colleges for girls and women, the last step in his practical scheme for a national system of county education. The association collapsed in 1887 leaving Brereton with large debts.

A contributing factor in the failure of some of his schools was the agricultural depression in the 1880s and the competition which arose as a result of the increasing responsibility for secondary education being assumed by counties, e.g. the Free Education Act of 1891 provided some access to low cost secondary education. A key feature of all Brereton's schemes was the proprietary principle. Significant foundation funds were to be raised from investors arather than from charitable endowments. In the end this was a millstone too great for some schools to sustain in times of hard competition.