THE LONDON SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION OF 1894: A STUDY IN VICTORIAN RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY.

When the 1902 Education Act abolished the school board system in Great Britain and transferred its schools to the new local councils' education committees, it ended a period of Victorian history noted for religious controversy. The most important single controversy in the period was that over the issue, in 1894, of a circular to its teachers by the London, England School Board regarding religious instruction, and the election debate which followed. One Nonconformist leader, John Clifford, described the debate thus, "indeed in this century of religious, political and social warfare, there has not been a controversy in which such momentous interests have been imperilled or such bewildering and confusing issues raised. He who can enter such a war with a light heart must surely want a well-trained head."