Mr. Whitworth's Scholarships
Circular.
MR. WHITWORTH'S SCHOLARSHIPS.
- Copy.
Downing Street.?
Sir,
At the request of the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education, I have the honor to inform you of the endowment by Mr. Whitworth of certain Scholarships for Mechanical Science. As will be seen from Mr Whitworth's MemorandumScience Form, No. 293.
South Kensington,
May, 1868., he proposes that "Thirty schalarships of £100 each should be open to all of Her Majesty's Subjects, whether of the United Kingdom, India, or the Colonies, who do not exceed the age of Twenty-six years, and be held either for two or three years, as experience may prove to be desirable."
I have the honor to be,
Sir
Your most obedient humble servant,
The Viscount Monck,
- &c., &c.,
South Kensington? May, 1868.
SCIENCE AND ART DEPARTMENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION, SOUTH KENSINGTON.
Mr. Whitworth's Scholarships for Mechanical Science.
At Whitehall, the 5th day of May, 1868.
By The Right Honorable the Lords of the Committe?e of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council on Education.
My Lords read Mr. Whitworth's letter of 4th May, 1868, transmitting a memorandum on his scholarships and on the establishment of sixty Exhibitions of £25 for the present year preparatory to the competition for His Scholarships, and requesting that the Science and Art Department may conduct the necessary examinations and correspondence.
Their Lordships have great pleasure in acceding to Mr. Whitworth's request and giving every assistance in their power in carrying out his patriotic munificence.
Sir,
Referring to your letter of March 28th, by which you transmit to me a copy of the Minute which the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education had passed in acknowledgement of my endowment of Scholarships for promoting Mechanical Science, and for the concluding sentence of the Minute which invites further suggestions and offers to tender assistance in carrying out the intentions of the endowment:
l. I beg leave the enclose for the information of the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education a memorandum on the subject of the endowment which I trust will meet with the approval of their Lordships, and that they will cause it to be circulated and the necessary correspondence arising out of it to be conducted by the Science and Art Department.
2. I would beg leave to ask the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education to undertake the examinations for these Scholarships.
3. As respects the preparation of the necessary details for the examination in the use of tools, I am willing to be responsible myself with the aid of friends, and I propose to obtain the consent of a few gentlemen to advise with me from time to time in whatever may arise in the future for my consideration.
4. In reply to the invitation of their Lordships to submit any suggestions, I venture to submit for consideration whether honours in the nature of Degrees might not be conferred by some competent authority on successful students each year, thus creating a faculty of Industry analogous to the existing faculties of Divinity, Law, and Medicine. I am of opinion that such honours would be a great incentive to exertion and would tend greatly to promote the object in view.
5. I venture further to express a hope that the Government will provide the necessary funds for endowing a sufficient number of Professors of Mechanics throughout the United Kingdom.
6. In conclusion I inform you that the necessary arrangements for securing the endowment have been made, and I have given instructions for the preparation of the Draft of a Deed of Trust which will be sent for the approval of the Lord President.
To Henry Cole, Esq.,
- Secretary of the Science and
- Art Department.
MEMORANDUM ON SCHOLARSHIPS FOR MECHANICAL SCIENCE.
To be competed for in May, 1869.
I. Having offered to the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education to "found thirty scholarships of the annual value of one hundred pounds each, to be applied for the further instruction of young men, natives of the United Kingdom, selected by open competition for their intelligence and proficiency in the theory and practice of Mechanics and its cognate sciences, with a view to tho promotion of Engineering and Mechanical Industry in this country," I propose that the following should be the general arrangements in the first instance which may be modified after the first competition has taken place in May, 1868.
II. That the thirty Scholarships of £100 each should be open to all of Her Majesty's subjects whether of the United Kingdom, India or the Colonies, who do not exceed the age of twenty six years, and be held either for two or three years as experience may prove to be desirable: that ten Scholarships should be competed for and awarded in May, 1869, at the annual National examinations in Science provided that a sufficient number of candidates prove themselves to be competent; that the successful candidates should be required to Spend the period of holding the Scholarships in the further satisfactory prosecution of the studies and practice of Mechanical Engineering, and pursue their studies according to the spirit of the endowment, making periodical reports of them; that the student should state where he proposes to pursue his studies, the Lord President of the Council deciding if the proposal can be allowed, also if the student's progress be satisfactory, and the manner in which it sh?ll be tested from year to year. In deciding if the plan of study proposed by the student be satisfactory, as much latitude as possible may be allowed. If the student wish to complete his general education instead of continuing his special scientific study, he may be permitted to do so. He may go to the Universities or Colleges affording scientific or technical instruction, or he may travel abroad. The successful artisan should be encouraged to study Theory, and the successful competitor in Theory aided in getting admission to machine shops and other practical establishments. All further details would be hereafter prepared and issued by the Science and Art Department.
III. The candidates must be of sound bodily constitution.
IV. The first competition should be in the following theoretical subjects:—
- 1. Mathematics (elementary and higher.)
- 2. Mechanics (theoretical and applied.)
- 3. Practical Plane and Descriptive Geometry, and Mechanical and Freehand Drawing.
- 4. Physics.
- 5. Chemistry, including Metallurgy.
And in the following handicrafts:—
- 1. Smith's-work.
- 2. Turning.
- 3. Filing and Fitting.
- 4. Pattern Making and Moulding.
V. No Candidate should obtain a Scholarship who has not shown a satisfactory knowledge of all the following theoretical subjects:—
- 1. Elementary Mathematics.
- 2. Elementary Mechanics.
- 3. Practical Plane and Descriptive Geometry, and Freehand Drawing.
with the power to use one or more of the following classes of tools:—
- a. The Axe.
- b. The Saw and Plane.
- c. The Hammer and Chisel.
- d. The File.
- e. The Forge.
I propose that the maximum number of marks obtainable in the theoretical subjects and those obtainable by the most skilled workman should be about equal.
VI. My object in devising the foregoing scheme has been, while requiring a practical acquaintance with a few simple tools as a sine qua non, to render the competition accessible on fairly equal terms to the student who combines some practice with his theory, and to the artisan who combines some theoretical knowledge with perfection of workmanship.
PREPARATORY EXHIBITIONS OF £25 FOR THE YEAR 1868.
VII. As the Scholarships Scheme can only come into full operation by degrees, I propose from the fund ultimately available for the scheme at once to create sixty Exhibitions or premiums, of the value of £25 each, tenable until April 1869, and to place them at the absolute disposal of the governing bodies of the following Educational Institutions and Towns, in order that they may award them to youths under twenty-two years of age, who may thus be aided to qualify themselves, and must undertake to compete for the Scholarships of £100 in May, 1869.
VIII.
- 8 Exhibitions to Owens College, and 2 to the Grammar School, Manchester, the seat of my Workshops.
- 3 University of Oxford, 3 University of Cambridge, 3 University of London.
- And one to each of the following Universities Colleges, and Public Schools:—
- University of Durham,
- University of Dublin,
- University of Edinburgh,
- Wutt Institution, Edinburgh,
- University of Glasgow,
- Andersonian University, Glasgow,
- University of St. Andrew's.
- University of Aberdeen,
- To each of the Queen's Colleges at Belfast, Cork, Galway, Ireland,
- King's College, London,
- University College, London,
- Eton,
- Harrow,
- Rugby,
- Charter House,
- Westminster,
- Winchester,
- St. Paul's, London,
- Merchant Tailors,
- Christ's Hospital,
- City of London,
- Shrewsbury,
- Marlborough,?
- Cheltenham,
- Chester,
- Clifton,
- Brighton,
- Liverpool,?
- 2 to the College of Preceptors,
- 3 to the Science and Art Department.
I propose that the following Exhibitions shall be given to Artisans only:—
- 3 to the Society of Arts,
- Also one for Artisans to each of the following towns:— ?
- Birmingham,
- Bristol,
- Swansea and Cardiff,
- Huddersfield, or Halifax,
- Leeds,
- Northampton,
- Sheffield,
and if there be any of the above unapplied, they may be given by the Science and Art Department to any other Scholastic institution which makes satisfactory arrangements for affording instruction in Mathematics and Mechanics, Freehand and Mechanical Drawing.
IX. I would point out that the Exhibitions to Artisans may perhaps be increased to £50 for the year, by connecting them with the Science and Art Department, under the Minute of the 21st December 1867.
Manchester, 4th May, 1868.
MINUTE ON MR. WHITWORTH'S OFFER TO ENDOW
At Whitehall, the 27th day of Match, 1868.
By the Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council on Education.
My Lords consider Mr. Whitworth's letter to the First Lord of the Treasury, dated 18th March 1868. In this letter Mr. Whitworth offers to found thirty scholarships of the annual value of one hundred pounds each, to be applied for the further instruction of young men, natives of the United Kingdom, selected by open competition for their intelligence and proficiency in the theory and practice of Mechanics and its cognate sciences, with a view to the promotion of Engineering and Mechanical Industry in this country; and he expresses hopes that means may be found for bringing Science and Industry into closer relation with each other than at present obtains here.
It is unnecessary now to repeat the thanks which the First Lord of Her Majesty's Treasury and the Lord President of the Council have already conveyed to Mr. Whitworth for his generous offer which they are convinced the country will fully appreciate.
Mr. Whitworth proposes that these scholars?hipsshould be tenable on conditions to be deemed by a deed of trust regulating the administration of the endowment fund during his life, and that thereafter the management of this fund, subject to the conditions specified therein, should rest in the Lord President of the Council or other Minister of Public Instruction for the time being.
It is the wish of My Lords to see provision made in several large centres of manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom for affording to all classes of Her Majesty's subjects ample opportunities for acquiring instruction in the Sciences which are applicable to productive industry. My Lords are of opinion that by the union of local and private efforts supplemented as far as is proper by State assistance this provision will be best made.
This will be rendered easy if the munificent example set by Mr. Whitworth shall be extensively followed by others. My Lords will be happy fo receive any further suggestions from Mr. Whitworth should he desire to make them, and to be informed if the Department can render him any assistance in carrying out his liberal intentions.