Pioneering Bradford: New exhibition marks city's major role in shaping education

Since the famous Education Act of 1870, Bradford has been a national pioneer in education and child development.

The Elementary Education Act of 1870 was commonly known as Forster’s Education Act, after the Bradford MP William Edward Forster.

It aimed to combat the horrific child labour conditions of the era and to educate a new workforce for the emerging manufacturing economy.

It introduced national standards for education and was part of a number of Acts passed by Parliament at the time to create compulsory education in England and Wales for children between the ages of 5 and 13.

The Educating Bradford exhibition at Bradford Industrial Museum began yesterday and will run until November 8.

Heather Millard prepares the exhibition pieces 

The exhibits show how modern teaching methods are still influenced by 19th and 20th century educational and child healthcare reforms.

It also charts the development of adult learning and the recognition that an educated workforce helped support the development of Bradford as an international powerhouse.

The exhibition is inspired by the landmark book Education in Bradford 1870-1970, which provided a detailed description and celebration of learning in the city.

A stone saved from Hutton Middle School, where renowned Bradford artist David Hockney was a pupil

This year marks the 50th anniversary of its publication.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: “This is a fascinating exhibition charting Bradford’s role in education from the Forster’s 1870 Act to more recent developments.

“It is an evolving exhibition that, like a child, will develop and grow throughout the year. We seem to take the free education of our children for granted and this exhibition helps us to realise how far we have come over the last 150 years.”

Mr Forster, a passionate social reformer, was best-known for the introduction of the Education Act of 1870, which opened the doors of learning to all children over the age of five.

A 1900-1901 calendar from the Bradford Municipal Technical College

It paved the way for compulsory universal education in Britain and allowed all children, rich and poor, to be offered the chance to attend school.

He went on to become Chief Secretary for Ireland which, during the struggle for Home Rule, made him the subject of death threats.

He remained an opponent of Home Rule until his death in 1886, when following a funeral at Westminster Abbey, he was interred at God’s Acre Cemetery.

A bench presented in memory of a Miss M Bowden, who was headmistress at Hutton Primary School 

Forster Square and its rail station in Bradford bear his name.

Visitors from around the world and campaigning for children

Margaret McMillan was also a pioneer of education in Bradford.

She campaigned for improved conditions for children and her work included research into the conditions faced by children.

She was a member of the Bradford School Board who along with Bradford MP Fred Jowett lobbied Parliament to introduce free school meals.

Her contribution to the city was recognised in the naming of the Margaret McMillan College of Education, which opened its doors in 1952.

It then merged with the College of Art and Technology in 1975 and later became part of Bradford College.

The former Bradford Central Library building, on Prince’s Way, is now Bradford Council offices called Margaret McMillan Tower.

Another name synonymous with Bradford’s influence in education is Miriam Lord.

She was born in Bradford in 1885, the daughter of a baker and founder member of the Independent Labour Party.

She studied at Saffron Walden College and taught at Belle Vue Girls’ School and Whetley Lane Infants’ School before becoming head of Lilycroft nursery.

Lilycroft became a prototype for the new nursery schooling movement and attracted interested visitors from around the world who came to Bradford to learn from its practices.

Meanwhile, Wapping Road First School, one of Bradford’s most importance and historic buildings, was the site of England’s first ever school swimming pool.

It later played a central role in Margaret and Rachel McMillan’s efforts to improve conditions of children in the country’s schools.

It shut in 2000 and in recent years the Grade II-listed building has suffered arson attacks and vandalism that left it a shell.

The Life Church now owns the building. Its plans to demolish much of the school buildings and replace them with a college building hit a major roadblock in 2018. After a planning committee raised major concerns about the loss of the listed building, the Church agreed to go back to the drawing board with their plans for the site.