The Scott Keltie Report 1885 and the Teaching of Geography in Great Britain

Abstract

A DDRESSING THE GEOGRAPHICAL ASSOCIATION, as its President, in 1914, John Scott Keltie spoke of 'the crusade' which the Royal Geographical Society had begun 30 years before on behalf of 'the improvement and elevation of geography and a better recognition of the subject in education of all grades'. He was modest about his own role in the 'crusade'. 'I happened to be', he said, 'the fly on the wheel of the movement' (Keltie, 1914). Was he too modest? What was the real significance of his role? To answer such questions we must remind ourselves of the nature of the 'crusade' and of the Scott Keltie Report. But, first, at this Centennial Celebration of the publication of the Report in the RGS Supplementary Papers, 1886, let us recall John Scott Keltie himself. We shall have to forget that we are in Kensington Gore and imagine ourselves back in the increasingly overcrowded rooms of the Society in 1 Savile Row. Sir John Scott Keltie At the time of his appointment as the Society's Inspector of Geographical Education, John Scott Keltie was 44 years of age. He was a Scotsman, born in Dundee. His father was a builder and stone mason. Keltie was educated at Perth and at the University of St Andrew's which he left before taking a degree to embark on Presbyterian theological training, though he did not enter the Ministry. While still a student, Keltie had taken up journalistic and literary work and he joined the staff of Messrs W. and R. Chambers in 1861. He spent 10 years in Edinburgh and married Margaret Scott in 1865. He worked on Chambers' Encyclopaedia and wrote notable books on A History of the Scottish Highlands and Highland Clans and Highland Regiments. He arrived in London in 1871 to join the editorial staff of Messrs Macmillan, becoming sub-editor of Nature two years later. He wrote geographical articles and reviews for The Times, especially on Africa which, at the time of exploration and European acquisition, offered many opportunities for a lively pen. He became a Fellow of the RGS in 1883. In 1884 he took on a role which was to last until the end of his life as editor (after 1919 jointly with M. Epstein) of The Statesman's Year Book. He was selected Inspector of Geographical Education in 1884. He possessed a combination of qualities, including an interest in geography, an ability to amass and to digest information, skill in writing good prose, and a high degree of diligence which commended him especially to Douglas Freshfield, then one of the Honorary Secretaries who, as will be seen, had foreseen the use which could be made of a well-written investigative report. While Keltie was still completing his report, the Society's Librarian, Mr E. C. Rye, died and Keltie was appointed as his successor in March 1885. It was not then a full-time post and he had leave to pursue other work. Keltie worked well with the Assistant Secretary, Henry Walter Bates, 'dear old Bates' as he was known and, as H. R. Mill wrote, 'he became indispensable' (Mill, 1927): so much that, when Bates died, Keltie succeeded him in February 1892. T...

Albert Perry Brigham: A champion of physical geography

“…Keltie then played a prominent part in introducing a modern conception of geography from Germany, escaping from the listing of towns, rivers and capes and dealing with the science of the earth's surface as the physical basis of all human activity, as discussed by Walford (2001: esp. 56-62) and Wise (1986).…”

Wordplay, world‐play, and interdisciplinary imaginations

“…Soon after the RGS's educational strategy shifted; the job title and description of the person sought changed. Galton had instigated discussions with the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge regarding the establishment of geography in 1871, but in 1884 the RGS renewed approaches to these institutions and sought to appoint, and dispatch, across Europe an Inspector of Geographical Appliances to survey teaching publications, materials, and instruments (Wise, 1986).…”

The political pivot of geography

“…From the 1860s, the RGS took an increasing interest in the promotion of geographical education. By the 1880s a group of reformers within the Society had decided that a professorship in geography needed to be established at either Oxford or Cambridge to create a market for public school education in geography, to promote the training of geographical school teachers and to give geography the academic respectability the reformers thought it deserved (Wise 1986). On 17 March 1884, the Scientific Purposes Committee of the RGS proposed to council that ‘an Inspector of Geographical Instruction be appointed for one year’, that he should ‘inform himself thoroughly on the state of Geographical Education abroad and at home’ and that he should make a collection of the best available teaching aids (RGS Archives 1884).…”