ABSTRACT
In the post-Napoleonic era Unitarians still believed that their version of a liberal education would enable them to fulfil their rational, religious and political aims. Their educational aims in turn were quickened by their pride in the mercantile , industrial and professional middle class. This was superbly illustrated in novels like Deerbrook and North and South by Harriet Martineau and Eliza beth Gaskell respectively, where the heroes were the epitome of middle-class provincials , new types of 'gentlemen' , honest, upright, scorning feudal 'barbaric' codes of honour. The heroines, likewise , were self-reliant, courageous, intelligent and courteous. 1 They had command over themselves which gave them some control over their lives. Unitarians were deeply convinced that knowledge was power: what knowledge they sought for middle-class children, where they sought it, how they provided it and how far it differed for boys and girls are the questions explored in this chapter.
