Science, Society and Politics in Late Nineteenth-Century England: A Further Look at Mechanics' Institutes

Abstract

The need to complement studies of Mechanics' Institutes which are limited to the first half of the nineteenth century with studies of a later period is suggested by showing that Institutes in the north of England, where they were most influential among working-class people, were still very active in the last decades of the century. An analysis of data concerning enrolments in Science and Art classes in Yorkshire Mechanics' Institutes follows, which indicates that working-class people attending these classes were often preferring non-vocational subjects such as geology and physiology. It is also shown that, in a number of cases, Institute libraries contained a preponderance of books on these and related subjects. A study is then made of some Institutes' connections with the late nineteenth-century Labour movement, and evidence is given for links between working-class intellectual activity associated with the Institutes, and the development and spread of socialist ideas based on evolutionary theory.

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