Good thinking Alison. In addition to the Select Committee Report your reference to the House of Commons, you will find verbatim reports in Hansard 1803-2005 - Hansard explained: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/search-hansard/?gclid=CLm2zZO4ubkCFYPHtAod624AsQ Reports on the debates in the House of Commons & House of Lords. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/index.html Reference to the parochial system in Scotland http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1841/apr/06/education to which Gavin referred. There is a search field and I turned up results about education in Scotland http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/search/Education+Scotland Janet ----- Original Message ----- From: "B&A Smith" <[email protected]> > While studying a module on education archives, I came upon a Select > Committee Report on Education, published in 1841, which is extremely > illuminating, not least because it draws attention to the surprisingly > large number of schools which existed in Scotland at that time. < Snip> >>From the New Statistical Accounts for Aberdeenshire parishes it can be > inferred that by 1840 Gaelic was confined to a small minority of the > population in the Upper Deeside area. The situation in the Highlands & > Islands was somewhat different and official attitudes towards Gaelic (on > the part of those providing educational services) varied at different > periods. A summary of relevant reports and legislation can be found at > http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/haynin/haynin05.htm . > The 1841 Select Commitee Report can be accessed on the House of Commons > Parliamentary Papers website, although possibly only through an educational > institution or a library. > > A useful published guide to education in Scotland is "The History of > Scottish Education" by James Scotland (London, 1969). I can also recommend > the online couse offered through Dundee University and will be pleased to > forward details to anyone interested. > > Alison