Colonel Colchester and Robert Nelson
MAYNARD COLCHESTER, Squire of Westbury-on-Severn, was born in 1665, four years after the restoration of the monarchy. From his family home, which was a Royalist outpost during the Civil War, he soon established himself in the Middle Temple and as a County Member of Parliament, 1701-08. By the time he succeeded on the death of his father in 1694 he had already established a reputation as a social reformer, with a special interest in education and especially the Charity Schools, having established a School of his own for 67 local boys and girls.
Recognising the need for action Colchester was joined by three others (Lord Guilford, son of a former Lord Chancellor, Sir Humphrey Hackworth, a lawyer and an MP, and Mr Justice Hooke), with the strong support of Robert Nelson, who became Chairman in its first year. Together they became the Founding Fathers of SPCK and the precursor to a 300 year history of Christian commitment to Literacy, Literature and Libraries on a worldwide scale.
ROBERT NELSON (1646-1715), at that time one of the leading spirits of the Church of England, also played a prominent role in the Charity School Movement, wrote several Christian books, supported many good causes, and left a manuscript containing a closely reasoned case for a whole series of ecclesiastical and social reforms, all of which have long since been taken for granted, to be published posthumously.
He also joined the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) in its first year, was a benefactor of Sion College and regarded by the Associates of Dr Bray as a pioneer of their parish libraries.
Commitment and Action
For more than twenty years, Colchester and Nelson, together with close allies Lord Guilford, Sir Humphrey Mackworth and John Hooke, and with Thomas Bray always a driving force in the background, the extent of their commitment is legendary, meeting every Thursday afternoon at 4 o’clock, easing back to once a month only when the immediate pressures were off, and even then with an Intermediate Committee midway. That their main business was education (rather than religion, social or political affairs) is apparent from some of the Minutes. One, for example, (bearing in mind the religious and social atmosphere of the time) was to set up Catechetical Schools in every parish in and around London. Another was to press for a Clause to be inserted in a Bill going through Parliament to provide for ‘employing the poor and having children taught to read and be instructed in the Church catechism’.
Within eight years they had established 54 Charity Schools within a ten mile radius of London catering for 1,400 boys and 750 girls plus 34 similar schools in other parts of the country.
Catechetical Schools was Step One was to make the churches aware of the situation and to inspire tham to action in every parish. Step Two was the establishmeet of Charity Schools, moving out into the community offering a service to those (mainly poor families) for whom basic education was a non-starter. Arithmetic, reading, writing (including spelling, punctuation and legibility) were the basics. Their commitment was surpassed only by the speed at which they worked. Rules were strict and clear. Alongside they encouraged manual work, were diligent in procuring employment and apprenticeships, and engaged seafaringmen to advise on the most suitable ships and sympathetic commanders. They also encouraged evening classes and established centres to teach navigation and mathematics.
By the end of the century, with a steady move towards a state education system, SPCK was one of the leading lights in the formation of the National Society in 1811 to encourage national religious education. From that point much of SPCK's concern for schools passed to them, but co-operation continued as SPCK transferred their emphasis to tools for the clergy and tools for education in general at less than cost, in some cases providing free grants of books where a school was too poor to buy them.
By now, however, SPCK was no longer the only ‘kid on the block’ and the 19th century dawned with the arrival of two new agencies, both forerunners to Feed the Minds, specialisng in literature and education and embracing both Anglicans and Nonconformists: first, the Religious Tract Society (RTS) in 1799 with a similarly broadbrush approach to Christian literature in general, and the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804 focusing on the Bible.