To what extent were changes in Scottish leisure, religion and education between 1880 and 1939 due to urbanisation

In the 1880s people in Scotland were just as likely to live in a town or city as they were to live in the countryside. However by 1939 this had radically changed and most people were now urban dwellers. The process of urbanisation during this time is thought by many historians to have “affected the lives of ordinary people in all sorts of ways” (Sydney Wood). In particular there was notable changes in leisure, religion and education. In leisure people now had more time for themselves, and new opportunities became available to them. Religion became more and more diversified and secularisation became much more common. Education became seen as a necessity as apposed to optional and much more importance was put upon it. Though this is all true it must be looked at in more detail before it is associated solely with urbanisation.

Leisure in particular was changed, but in many cases it had only just begun. Laws restricting working hours and increasing wages (for example the Shop Assistants Act 1911, and The coal mines (minimum wages) act 1912) meant that people, particularly men, had time and money they had never had to do with what they wished. This in itself was a result of the Liberal Government reforms, not urbanisation.

What men particularly liked to do was go to the pub. ‘Rough Culture’ (drinking, gambling etc) became an increasing problem and by 1914 the average annual consumption of whiskey was around a gallon a head. There was large resistance to it including the temperance movement who opened non-alcoholic pubs and the creation of an anti-ice-cream political group who objected to ice cream parlours which were seen as places of gambling. These measures helped reduce the problem, as did the war. The war brought in reduced opening hours and the intake of whiskey was reduced to only 0.35 gallons per head.

World War One also helped free women from social restrictions on leisure time and better wages gave them a wider variety of things to do. Domestic labour saving devices were available to them from the 1920s and so they had again more time to do as they wished. This also was due to factors other than urbanisation.

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What did come with urbanisation though was a condensed population, which allowed for the use of municipal services. Sports such as grey hound racing, boxing and football flourished. By 1890s there was 100 clubs in the Scottish Football Association. Indoor entertainment such as theatres and music halls became hugely popular and with quicker cheaper transport people were able to visit places such as Blackpool.

Other than travelling the media also began to bring news and culture of a wider world to Scotland. The 1872 Education Act had improved literacy and cheap paperback books and comics were becoming widely available along with national daily tabloids such as the Scottish Daily Express, which was started by Lord Beaverbrook. Radios were also popular and important national news could be broadcasted straight into people’s homes. The media mainly prospered in cities and although was not entirely dependant on urbanisation it did rely on it greatly.

The Church saw new leisure activities as a threat to morality and religion. And indeed they were a great threat “At the end of the nineteenth century many blamed football, cycling, modern literature . . . for diverting the attention of the workers” (T C Smout). Changes in society and in particular the “upheaval of urbanisation rendered the system that suited rural Scotland unworkable” (Sydney Wood). In rural Scotland (ie the Highlands and islands) the Church of Scotland and also the Free Church remained the most popular, however in the cities it was a different matter. They had to compete with others such as the Episcopal Church, Congregational, Methodist and Baptist Churches and chiefly the Roman Catholic Church. In 1892 more than 1/3 of a million people attended its churches regularly, this rose to well over 600 000 by 1939, showing its large gain in support. Even so, this was not entirely due to urbanisation as the huge migration of Irish Catholics and Jewish must also be taken into account.

Not only did they face competition from other faiths, but were challenged by scientists such as Charles Darwin who questioned the Calvinist beliefs. The bible was fiercely scrutinised and questioned which many who had “never thought of not going to church” (Morrice) found upsetting.

The most detrimental change that materialized though was loosing their key role in welfare and education. “Churches were becoming private clubs” (Callum Brown) and became less involved with peoples lives. Teacher run training collages were turned over to the state in 1907 and rate and taxpayers now helped the poor. Although they still aided organisations such as Scouts and Guides they were no longer seen as an essential part of peoples lives. This is also due to Liberal Government reforms and not entirely urbanisation.

When Parish schools were in operation it became obvious that a need for reform in education was necessary. Though Churches had provided basic literary skills, farm children often could not attend, and the population was often too great in industrial areas due to urbanisation. In Glasgow over 50% of children did not attend at all and for those that did the quality of teaching varied and was often inadequate. The government saw that education would be a good way of improving the national economic efficiency and in 1872 Scotland modernised its educational system. The 1872 Education Act made school attendance compulsory from the age 5 to 13, it was raised to 14 in 1883 and the 1918 Education (Scotland) Act proposed a leaving age of 15 and a form of education or training from 15 to 18, however this was not implemented until after 1945.

School boards were also abolished (1918) and replaced by local authority education committees. The education offered remained much the same and was enforced with strict discipline eg the tawse. Many historians such as Robert Anderson believed that “for the great mass of school leavers it was the field, the pit and that factory which beckoned and university and secondary schools were part of an alien world” on the other hand though historians such as Professor T C Smout thought that this new elementary schooling was aimed “at providing as cheaply as possible the bulk of the population with the bare minimum of elementary education combined with adequate social discipline”

Also schools now became a focus for social care when in 1908 they were given the responsibility of arranging medical inspections and the opportunity to provide school meals.

The rising economic strength of other countries such as Germany became noticeable to Britain and it was eminent that Scotland needed people with qualifications. This meant the expansion of higher education and the 1880s saw the introduction of a National leaving certificate. Then in 1923 elementary pupils ages 11-12 sat a qualifying exam that would determine their ability and the school they went to. Some went to a senior 5 year schools to gain Higher’s and the possibility of going to university, others to junior 3 year schools and left without qualifications. Many thought this was unfair as it was often the better off children who gained entry to 5 year schools – it was “academic education to qualify them for their role as a controlling elite” (T C Smout).

Universities were also reformed in the 1880s. In 1889 The Universities (Scotland) Act introduced a 4 year honour degree aswell as the ordinary 3 year degree. Women were admitted on the same terms as men and the number of places rose from 6000 in 1900 to 10 000 in 1939.

Although there was other reasons for these reforms (eg improving the national economic efficiency), the dense population caused by urbanisation brought it to the governments attention sooner rather than later and made it easier to centralise resources.

There is little doubt that there has been large changes in leisure, religion and education however urbanisation was only one part of this. Although urbanisation should not be undermined as an important factor it must be taken into account that other factors including Government reforms and War have also made this possible.

Mhairi B Thomson 5S2