Striving for a world transformed by justice and peace - a TL from 1827

[pipisme]

In June 1854, William Morris converted to the Roman Catholic Church from the Church of England. [1] He was then a student at Exeter College Oxford. In 1855 he graduated from Oxford.

So Morris being a Catholic means that in this TL his life from his conversion will be different from OTL, but I don't yet know to what extent. Here is his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/19322.

In OTL Morris considered becoming a clergyman in the Church of England, but I have not decided whether he will become a priest in the Catholic Church, or get married.

[1] It states in the book The Churches and the Labour Movement by Stephen Mayor, London: Independent Press, 1967, that "In 1854 [Morris] was on the point of joining the Roman Catholic Church, but changed his mind."

EDIT: Morris waited until July 1855, after he had graduated from Oxford University, to be received into the Catholic Church, because at that time only members of the Church of England could be students at Oxford.

[pipisme]

In this TL William Morris marries a Catholic woman. I have in mind a particular woman from our OTL.

[pipisme]

Conservative Prime Minister Henry Lowry-Corry wanted to give diplomatic recognition and financial assistance to the Confederate States of America. As a Protestant Irishman he felt an affinity to the Protestant Irish stock in the Confederacy. However, the Foreign Secretary, the Earl of Derby, insisted on Britain remaining neutral in the American Civil War and threatened to resign if Britain if that policy was reversed. Although a small majority of the cabinet backed the Prime Minister, a large minority supported the Foreign Secretary, and that minority was sufficient to block any abandonment of British neutrality.

[pipisme]

The Hobhouse Commission on Education which was appointed in February 1854 [see http://www.alternatehistory.com/disc...&postcount=195], reported in late April 1858. It made the following proposals:

1) A department of education should be created, headed by a minister.

2) Elected school boards should be established in all districts with a population of at least 30,000, with all ratepayers [local property tax payers], including women, having the right to stand and vote for them.

3) The school boards would be financed out of the rates, and would provide religious education in their schools of "a broadly Christian character which is not distinctive of any religious denomination". Any parent who objected to the religious education lessons may remove their child from them. Schools must also provide education in reading, writing and arithmetic. However school boards would have the right to make other subjects compulsory in their schools.

4) School boards would have the right to levy a fee of not more than sixpence a week for every child attending a school provided by the them. [That is two and a half pence a week in OTL decimal currency]. But the boards would have the right to remit fees. The Commission believed that parents would value their children's education more if they had to make a financial contribution towards it.

5) Attendance at school should not be compulsory.

6) Schools would have the right to be independent of the school boards.

[Archangel]

Originally Posted by pipisme

4) School boards would have the right to levy a fee of not more than sixpence a week for every child attending a school provided by the them. [That is two and a half pence a week in OTL decimal currency]. But the boards would have the right to remit fees. The Commission believed that parents would value their children's education more if they had to make a financial contribution towards it.

How many could afford it at the time?

Originally Posted by pipisme

5) Attendance at school should not be compulsory.

This should be the next step.

Keep it up, pip!

[pipisme]

I would guess that most parents could afford sixpence a week for their child's schooling, considering that the Hobhouse Commission proposed that school boards would have the right to remit fees. There is information on incomes in Victorian Britain here: http://www.census-helper.co.uk/victorian-life.

The book A Social History of Education in England by John Lawson & Harold Silver, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1973, states that the Elementary Education Act 1870

laid down that 'every child attending a school provided by any school board shall pay such weekly fee as may be prescribed by the school board' (not more than 9d a week) but boards had the power to remit fees

[pipisme]

Since 1839 a committee of the privy council had been responsible for education policy in the UK. The chairman was the Lord President of the Council and four other cabinet ministers, of which two were the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Home Secretary, were the other members of the committee.

However because the Lord President of the Council was a member of the House of Lords, there was no government minister solely responsible to the House of Commons for education. The Chancellor of the Exchequer or Home Secretary spoke for the government on education matters in the Commons, but they were burdened with other responsibilities.

When Sir George Grey became Prime Minister of a Liberal government he appointed Robert Lowe as parliamentary secretary to the committee of council on education, generally shortened to parliamentary secretary for education. [1] Lowe was not a member of the cabinet and although in respect of education policy he was subordinate to the Lord President, George William Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle, he was in effect the first government minister whose responsibilities were solely in respect of education.

When Henry Lowry-Corry became Prime Minister of a minority Conservative government, he appointed Sir William Jolliffe as parliamentary secretary for education. [2] The Earl of Ellenborough was appointed Lord President
of the Council.

The cabinet met towards the end of April 1858 to discuss its position regarding the report of the Hobhouse Commission. It agreed that no change should be made in the existing system of education.

Former cabinet ministers in the previous Liberal government also met at the end of April 1858 to discuss the Liberal position on the Hobhouse Commission. They agreed that while the report was a basis for the policy of a future Liberal government, it proposed the following changes:

1) The committee of council on education should be replaced by a board of education headed by a president who would be a member of the cabinet. He should also be a member of the House of Commons, rather than the House of Lords.

2) The franchise for the proposed school boards should be the same as the parliamentary franchise, i.e all adult men who owed or rented their own homes and were not in receipt of poor relief. Also all adult women who satisfied the same eligibility requirements, plus the wives of eligible men.

3) All adult men and women who were eligible to vote for the school board franchise should also be eligible to stand for election to them.

4) Education in all schools administered by the school boards should be free.

5) Attendance at school should be compulsory up to the age of thirteen inclusive.

Although Lord Palmerston agreed with the recommendations of the Hobhouse Commission, he rejected the proposed changes to them, except for number 1 listed above. However in this TL there was nothing then analogous to what is now the Shadow Cabinet in OTL from which could resign.

[1] Here is the entry for Lowe in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17088.

[2] Jolliffe will remain as obscure in this TL as he was in OTL.

[pipisme]

The Representation of the People Act 1853 which boosted the adult male franchise to around 65 percent of the adult male population of the United Kingdom, provided an impetus to the formation of national organisations of the political parties.

The Irish Freedom Party were first off the mark with the creation of its national association in Dublin in April 1854.

The Liberals followed with the establishment of the National Federation of Liberal Constituency Parties [usually shortened to the National Liberal Federation] in September 1854.

In June 1855, the Commonweal Party changed its name to the Commonwealth Party and established the National League of Commonwealth Constituency Parties, generally shortened to the National Commonwealth League.

The Conservatives waited until October 1856 before forming the National Union of Conservative Constituency Associations, usually called the Conservative National Union.

In OTL the Conservative and Liberal Parties did not form national organisations until 1867 and 1877 respectively.

[pipisme]

In June 1858 Lord Derby, the foreign secretary, gave a donation of £10,000 to relieve distress caused by the Lancashire Cotton Famine. [1]

On 30 July 1858, the Prime Minister, Henry Lowry-Corry, dissolved Parliament and called a general election. At that time both in OTL and in this TL, voting took place over about three weeks. The first contest took place on 6 August, with the last one on 27 August. Unopposed returns were as follows: 27 Liberals, 21 Conservatives and 8 Irish Freedom Party [1] No Commonwealth Party candidates were returned unopposed.

The main issues in the election were the American Civil War and education. Although there were Conservatives who supported the Union and Liberals who backed the Confederacy, generally the Conservatives were sympathetic to the Confederacy, while most Liberals were on the side of the Union. The Commonwealth Party was passionately on the side of the North.

In this election many more leaflets and posters were used than in previous elections, particularly by the Liberals. One widely distributed Liberal leaflet had the slogan 'Vote Liberal For Free Education'. A Liberal poster combined the Conservative support for the Confederacy, and by implication for slavery, with their opposition to free education. It showed a Negro slave in chains with a white boy also in chains, with the slogan 'Don't let the Tories keep him in slavery and your child in the slavery of ignorance. Vote Liberal'.

The Conservatives ran a scare campaign that a Liberal government would ban the Christian Churches from setting up their own schools. They condemned free education as unaffordable and compulsory education as a tyrannical imposition on the freedom of parents.

After the last constituency had declared on 27 August, the number of candidates elected for each party were as follows [October/November 1853 general election]:
Liberal: 356 [334]
Conservative: 217 [230]
Irish Freedom: 54 [59]
Commonwealth: 31 [Commonweal 35]
-------------------------
Total: 658 [658]
------------------------
The Liberals had an overall majority of 54.

John Arthur Roebuck, a Liberal supporter of the Confederate States, was
defeated in his Sheffield constituency by a Commonwealth Party candidate.

On 28 August Sir George Grey became Prime Minister. Sir Henry Lowry-Corry had been Prime Minister for six months and eight days.

[1] 56 candidates being returned unopposed was low in comparison with OTL as shown by the following figures for general elections from 1832 to 1885. 1832: 189; 1835: 275; 1837: 236; 1841: 337; 1847: 367; 1852: 255; 1857: 328; 1859: 379; 1865: 303; 1868: 212; 1874: 187; 1880: 109; 1885: 43. In Wales a majority of the candidates were returned unopposed in every general election from 1832 to 1865 inclusive. Information taken from the book British Electoral Facts 1832-1987 , compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig, fifth edition 1989.

[stevep]

pipisme

Sounding promising, especially on education. However can the new government get their plans past the twin barriers of the church and the Lords? That's what scuppered so many plans OTL.

Steve

[pipisme]

Here is the cabinet appointed by Sir George Grey on 28 and 29 August 1858:

Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons: Sir George Grey
Lord Chancellor: Lord Cranworth
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords: Duke of Argyll
Lord Privy Seal: Earl of Clarendon
Chancellor of the Exchequer: Sir George Cornewall Lewis
Foreign Secretary: Earl Granville
Home Secretary: Edward Pleydell Bouverie
First Lord of the Admiralty: Marquess of Lansdowne
Secretary of State for the Colonies: Sidney Herbert
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Thomas Milner Gibson
President of the Board of Education: Benjamin Disraeli
Secretary of State for India: Austen Henry Layard
Chief Secretary for Ireland: Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue
President of the Poor Law Board: Charles Pelham Villiers
President of the Board of Trade: William Lovett
Secretary of State for War: Edward Cardwell.

Only Cranworth and Granville were reappointed to the same posts as in Grey's previous government. Viscount Palmerston refused to serve in the government because he objected to its policy of free and compulsory elementary education.

Three appointments outside the cabinet were:
First Commissioner of Works: Wiliam Cowper
Financial Secretary to the Treasury: Robert Lowe
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education: William Forster.

[pipisme]

The first novel by Marian Evans [better known in OTL as George Eliot], Scenes of Jewish Life, was published in two volumes on 19 May 1858, having previously been serialised in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine from May 1857 to March 1858. It consisted of three stories: The Melancholy Fortunes of the Rabbi Mordecai Nathan, Mr. Phillip's Love Story, and Abigail's Repentance. Presentation copies of the first edition were sent to Charles Dickens and Benjamin Disraeli.

The first reviews of the novel were mixed, tending to concentrate on its Jewish characters and themes. Jewish reviewers were enthusiastic and Evans received many appreciative letters from Jewish readers, including the Deputy Chief Rabbi, and the editor of The Jewish Chronicle.

On Sunday 29 August 1858, Benjamin Disraeli wrote to Marian Evans:

My dearest Marian,

The Prime Minister has apppointed me President of the Board of Education. Among its responsibilities is the fashioning a Bill to bring free and compulsory elementary education to our nation's children. It is a task which I relish, though it will be several months before I am ready to present a Bill to Parliament.

Anna and I are looking forward to the pleasure of your company, with mutual friends and acquaintances, at our house this coming Saturday evening.

Your affectionate friend,
Benjamin

[pipisme]

In March 1859 Alice Haverly Gladstone began attending Meeting for Worship at the Quaker meeting house on the north-east corner of Hester Street and Elizabeth Street in New York City. This meeting house was the centre of Quakerism in the city. It was a Hicksite, or Liberal, meeting. Alice became friends with Rachael Hicks, the Clerk of the Women's Meeting.

The meeting moved to Fifteenth Street in 1861, and in October of that year Alice was accepted into membership.

Here is the website for the Fifteenth Street Meeting: http://15stfriends.quaker.org.

[pipisme]

On 26 January 1859, France and Piedmont signed an offensive-defensive alliance against Austria. France would provide military assistance to Piedmont in expelling Austria from Lombardy and Venetia, which would be annexed by Piedmont. In return Piedmont was obliged to pay the cost of the operation and to cede Nice and Savoy to France. This was as in OTL.

On 21 April 1859 Austria declared war on France and Piedmont. Though there were French and Piedmontese victories, the two decisive battles at Magenta on 4 June 1859, and Solferino on 24 June were decisive Austrian victories. The latter battle was particularly bloody and watching it inspired Henri Dunant to found the Red Cross.

[stevep]

Originally Posted by pipisme

On 26 January 1859, France and Piedmont signed an offensive-defensive alliance against Austria. France would provide military assistance to Piedmont in expelling Austria from Lombardy and Venetia, which would be annexed by Piedmont. In return Piedmont was obliged to pay the cost of the operation and to cede Nice and Savoy to France. This was as in OTL.

On 21 April 1859 Austria declared war on France and Piedmont. Though there were French and Piedmontese victories, the two decisive battles at Magenta on 4 June 1859, and Solferino on 24 June were decisive Austrian victories. The latter battle was particularly bloody and watching it inspired Henri Dunant to found the Red Cross.

pipisme

Now that sets a few cats amongst the pigeons. OTL if I recall correctly the alliance won a limited victory, driving the Austrians from Lombardy but not Venetia and this, plus French support for the continued separation of Rome from the Italian state meant a fall-out and Italy looked to Prussia as a better ally. Will that still occur here?

Steve

[pipisme]

Originally Posted by stevep

pipisme

Now that sets a few cats amongst the pigeons. OTL if I recall correctly the alliance won a limited victory, driving the Austrians from Lombardy but not Venetia and this, plus French support for the continued separation of Rome from the Italian state meant a fall-out and Italy looked to Prussia as a better ally. Will that still occur here?

Steve

Steve,

In OTL the battles of Magenta and Solferino were French/Piedmontese victories. On 11 July 1859 Napoleon III met with Emperor Franz Josef at Villafranca and ended the war. They agreed that Lombardy would be ceded to France, who would hand it over to Piedmont. Austria would keep Venetia, which would join a confederation to be eatablished under the presidency of the pope. The rest of Italy would return to the situation that had existed before the war. [1]

In this TL the Austrians captured and occupied Turin on 2 July 1859. The Piedmontese forces surrendered and the French withdrew to France. On 17 July Franz Josef came to Turin to negotiate a peace treaty with King
Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont.

The Austrian Emperor compared the progressive, forward-looking, prosperous north of Italy to the backward-looking, poverty-stricken south. He offered to create Victor Emmanuel Archduke of North Italy [Piedmont and Sardinia, Lombardy and Venetia] in an Austro-North Italian Empire. He also offered to give Austrian assistance in Piedmontese resistance to any attempted French takeover of Nice and Savoy. Victor Emmanuel agreed to these proposals, and the treaty of Turin was signed on 19 July.

Meanwhile Guiseppe Garibaldi, a general in the Piedmontese army was killed by an Austrian artillery shell in a minor battle in the foothills of the Alps, on the Lombardy/Piedmontese border, on 28 June.

[1] See the book Italy: From Revolution to Republic 1700 to the Present by Spencer M. Di Scala, Westview Press, 1995.

[stevep]

Originally Posted by pipisme

Steve,

In OTL the battles of Magenta and Solferino were French/Piedmontese victories. On 11 July 1859 Napoleon III met with Emperor Franz Josef at Villafranca and ended the war. They agreed that Lombardy would be ceded to France, who would hand it over to Piedmont. Austria would keep Venetia, which would join a confederation to be eatablished under the presidency of the pope. The rest of Italy would return to the situation that had existed before the war. [1]

In this TL the Austrians captured and occupied Turin on 2 July 1859. The Piedmontese forces surrendered and the French withdrew to France. On 17 July Franz Josef came to Turin to negotiate a peace treaty with King
Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont.

The Austrian Emperor compared the progressive, forward-looking, prosperous north of Italy to the backward-looking, poverty-stricken south. He offered to create Victor Emmanuel Archduke of North Italy [Piedmont and Sardinia, Lombardy and Venetia] in an Austro-North Italian Empire. He also offered to give Austrian assistance in Piedmontese resistance to any attempted French takeover of Nice and Savoy. Victor Emmanuel agreed to these proposals, and the treaty of Turin was signed on 19 July.

Meanwhile Guiseppe Garibaldi, a general in the Piedmontese army was killed by an Austrian artillery shell in a minor battle in the foothills of the Alps, on the Lombardy/Piedmontese border, on 28 June.

[1] See the book Italy: From Revolution to Republic 1700 to the Present by Spencer M. Di Scala, Westview Press, 1995.

pipisme

Thanks for the info. That is a hell of a difference. Hadn't realised how great the level of Austrian victory had been. Going to be a lot of butterflies from this.

Presuming Victor Emmanuel stays loyal to this agreement then we might see a Franco-Prussian alliance as the two seek to reduce an over-powerful Austria. The latter is likely to feel a lot more confident in relations with Prussia and if we get a 7 weeks war as OTL, without French involvement, might even win, without an Italian distraction. Although their victory in Italy reduces the pressure for internal military improvements. Or they could alienate more German states if their seen as too over-confident. This presumes that the French empire stays internationally active. The defeat could prompt internal unrest as its a big loss of face. Also what happens now in southern and central Italy, especially with Garibaldi's death. Probably staying in the Austrian sphere of influence but how will its development be affected.

I'm a little unclear as to the relationship here? Victor isn't actually married into the Hapsburg dynasty and they were unwilling to let lands pass outside the family so how closely tied is the new Archduchy? Is it still formally part of the empire paying taxes to Vienna or some less formal protectorate? Basically how much control will the Hapsburg's have over what was previously one of their richest regions. Too little and they not only lose resources but could see Victor defecting in some future crisis. Too much and resentment at continued Austrian domination and the Sardinian dynasty become the punchbag for Italian nationalists.

Steve

[pipisme]

Originally Posted by stevep

pipisme

Thanks for the info. That is a hell of a difference. Hadn't realised how great the level of Austrian victory had been. Going to be a lot of butterflies from this.

Presuming Victor Emmanuel stays loyal to this agreement then we might see a Franco-Prussian alliance as the two seek to reduce an over-powerful Austria. The latter is likely to feel a lot more confident in relations with Prussia and if we get a 7 weeks war as OTL, without French involvement, might even win, without an Italian distraction. Although their victory in Italy reduces the pressure for internal military improvements. Or they could alienate more German states if their seen as too over-confident. This presumes that the French empire stays internationally active. The defeat could prompt internal unrest as its a big loss of face. Also what happens now in southern and central Italy, especially with Garibaldi's death. Probably staying in the Austrian sphere of influence but how will its development be affected.

I'm a little unclear as to the relationship here? Victor isn't actually married into the Hapsburg dynasty and they were unwilling to let lands pass outside the family so how closely tied is the new Archduchy? Is it still formally part of the empire paying taxes to Vienna or some less formal protectorate? Basically how much control will the Hapsburg's have over what was previously one of their richest regions. Too little and they not only lose resources but could see Victor defecting in some future crisis. Too much and resentment at continued Austrian domination and the Sardinian dynasty become the punchbag for Italian nationalists.

Steve

Steve

Although there was a great deal of dissatisfaction in France with Napoleon III because of the French defeat in Italy, there was no serious challenge to his rule. I don't yet know how events will develop in central and southern Italy.

Northern Italy became formally part of the Austrian Empire paying taxes to Vienna, but Franz Josef and his government were very much aware of the danger of Italian nationalism, and ruled with a light touch.

Here is a quick preview of the present day. Northern Italy is part of the Federated States of Transalpine-Danubia, commonly called Transalpine-Danubia.

pipisme

[stevep]

Originally Posted by pipisme

Steve

Although there was a great deal of dissatisfaction in France with Napoleon III because of the French defeat in Italy, there was no serious challenge to his rule. I don't yet know how events will develop in central and southern Italy.

Northern Italy became formally part of the Austrian Empire paying taxes to Vienna, but Franz Josef and his government were very much aware of the danger of Italian nationalism, and ruled with a light touch.

Here is a quick preview of the present day. Northern Italy is part of the Federated States of Transalpine-Danubia, commonly called Transalpine-Danubia.

pipisme

Now that suggests a surviving successor state to the current Hapsburg empire and no purely Italian national state, both of which will have major impacts on development of Europe and hence the world. This is going to be very interesting.

Thanks

Steve

[pipisme]

In 1835 elected authorities had been set up in every major cities in Britain except London. Instead the government of the capital consisted of hundreds of appointed and elected authorities. [1]

In April 1855, the Prime Minister, Sir George Grey, appointed a Royal Commission on the Government of the Metropolis. It published its report in June 1856. Its main proposals were as follows:
1) The powers and boundaries of the City of London should remain unchanged.

2) The establishment of a Metropolitan Board of Works for the entire metropolitan area, and of the following ten boroughs outside the City of London: Finsbury, Greenwich, Islington, Lambeth, Marylebone, Paddington, St. Pancras, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Westminster. The members would not be elected, but appointed by members of the Common Council of the City of London, and of the London boroughs. [2]

3) The London borough councils would be elected with the same franchise as the borough councils in the rest of Britain -that is all adult male ratepayers [local property tax payers].

These proposals were implemented by the London Government Act 1857. Three London boroughs were south of the Thames: Greenwich, Lambeth, and Southwark. The other seven boroughs were north of the Thames. The Commonwealth Party, and radicals in the Liberal Party, including Disraeli, wanted an elected council for London. But that was not the policy of the Liberal government.

On 22 February 1859, Benjamin Disraeli, the President of the Board of Education, moved the first reading of the Elementary Education Bill in the House of Commons. After he had outlined the provisions of the bill, there was a short debate, at the end of which the bill was given an unopposed first reading. Disraeli told the House that the second reading would be on 1st, 2nd and 3rd of March.

[1] This was as in OTL.

[2] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropo...Board_of_Works in OTL.