Generational Conflict and University Reform: Oxford in the Age of Revolution

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... ix
Introduction: Generational Conflict and University Reform ............. 1
1. Riot, Revolution and ‘Reform’ in the Colleges, 1714–1789 .............. 21
The ‘New Independent Student’ and Meritocratic Reform at Cambridge ...................................................................................... 23
Riots at Oxford and the Threat of a Royal Visitation, 1714–1748 .............................................................................................. 32
Reaction at Oxford and ‘Reform’ of the Syllabus ......................... 39
Religious Dissent and the Impact of the American Revolution ........................................................................................... 48
2. ‘Adapted to the Present Times’? The New Examination Statute of 1800 ............................................................................................................ 64
The Impact of the French Revolution ............................................. 66
The New Examination System: The Statutes of 1800, 1807 and 1808 ...................................................................................... 75
The Reception of the New System ................................................... 81
The Spectre of Junior Rebellion ........................................................ 88
The University’s Response to its Critics .......................................... 92
3. The Emergence of a Junior Reform Programme, 1807–1823 .......... 104
Growing Undergraduate Resentment, 1807–1816 ......................... 106
The Beginnings of Junior Participation in the Reform Debate, 1817–1818 ............................................................................... 115
After the ‘Oxford Spy’: Student Journalism and Generational Revolt .................................................................................................... 124
4. Noetics, Tractarians and the Peak of Junior Influence, 1824–1836 ...................................................................................................... 139
The Statute of 1824: The Beginnings of a Conservative Consensus ........................................................................................... 141
The Emergence of a Noetic Reform Programme, 1825–1829 ...... 150
Back to School: The Failure of Noetic Reform and the Rise of Tractarianism ....................................................................... 166
5. Defensive Modernization: The Tractarian Threat and the Royal Commission of 1850 ...................................................................... 187
‘A Dangerous and Successful Conspiracy’ ...................................... 189
Reform within Oxford .......................................................................... 202
The Royal Commission of 1850 .......................................................... 208
Reactions to the Commissioners’ Report ....................................... 217
Conclusion  229
Bibliography  235
Index  251