Welsh Journals

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education came in connection with the Monmouth foundation. The value of the endowment had increased rapidly during the nineteenth century. As a result, in 1889 it was decided to open a grammar school for girls at Monmouth to provide a good education for young women in the area. It was also decided to open a new grammar school in another part of the county. Several important centres, Newport and Pontypool being the most important competitors, vied with each other to win the siting of the new grammar school. An interesting document outlines the reasons "why Newport Council are of unanimous opinion that the best site for the West Monmouth grammar school would be in or near the borough of Newport." It was argued that Newport was an accessible centre, that it was a town conveniently situated, that it was a healthy town which needed a superior educational establishment to educate the growing population of the town and district. The Council might also have added the advantages which would accrue to the trade of the town if a grammar school was established in the town. In addition in a society as prestige-conscious as late Victorian Britain, a successful grammar school endowed a town with a certain authority and dignity. In the event Newport's hopes were dashed and the new school was built at Pontypool. Changes in grammar school education in the nineteenth century which we have noticed, meant that Monmouthshire grammar schools continued to play an important part in the education of Monmouthshire children in the twentieth century. But such changes, which I believe had their origins in the local communities may have had a much wider effect on the direction of government policy. It seems no great coincidence that at a time when people in the localities were demanding a more practical education for their children, the government was also anxious, through a series of Technical Instruction Acts, to equip British children with an education which was more compatible with the emerging technological age in Britain.