Brewery1 | Spitalfields2 | May 30/54
Dear Sir.
I had the pleasure of hearing your admirable lecture3 on Sat[urda]y & was much struck by the account you gave of your mode of teaching the boys. We have been trying in vain to find a schoolmaster here4 for our workmen’s sons, of just the kind you described – a man who would excite feelings of ‘wonder & delight’ in their minds, by stimulating them to reflect upon the laws of nature, & men. Marvelous work: & it occurred to me that possibly at the agricultural college you were at,5 or elsewhere, you might have met with some young man, (or perhaps taught one) who would engage in the work of teaching in that spirit. I enclose our prospectus to show the kind of school. The salary to begin with would be £80: but for a first rate teacher we would raise it. Pray forgive my troubling you – the cause [1–2 words illeg] my excuse.
Your faithful listener | Charles Buxton6
RI MS JT/1/B/169
Brewery: the well-known brewery of Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co., of which Buxton was a partner. The brewery was located on Brick Lane, Spitalfields, London (ODNB).
Spitalfields: a parish located partly in Central London and partly in the East End of London.
your admirable lecture: Tyndall’s lecture on education delivered on 27 May (see letters 0900, n. 6; 0924; and 0933).
schoolmaster here: not identified, but presumed to be a local school at or near the Brewery.
the agricultural college you were at: Queenwood College.
Charles Buxton: Charles Buxton (1822–71), a politician with an interest in educational reform. Politically, he was considered to be an independent Liberal (ODNB). Buxton was the son of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton (1786–1845), first baronet, a philanthropist, and Member of Parliament.
Please cite as “Tyndall0934,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on