Treachery of the Blue Books
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The Treachery of the Blue Books or Treason of the Blue Books (Welsh: Brad y Llyfrau Gleision) was the name given in Wales to the Reports of the commissioners of enquiry into the state of education in Wales published in 1847.
The public inquiry was carried out as a result of pressure from William Williams, Radical MP for Coventry, who was himself a Welshman and was concerned about the state of education in Wales. The enquiry was carried out by three English commissioners, Lingen, Symons and Vaughan Johnson. They spoke no Welsh and relied on information from witnesses, many of them Anglican clergymen.
Their report, published in three blue-covered volumes, was detailed. They concluded that the Welsh were ignorant, lazy and immoral, and that this was caused by the Welsh language and nonconformity. This resulted in a furious reaction in Wales; it did not have any immediate political implications, although it was instrumental in the genesis of the modern Welsh self-government movement.
[edit] References
- John Davies, Hanes Cymru (1993) (also in English translation as A History of Wales)
- BBC news report about the online publication of the books
- The Blue Books of 1847: scans of the books from the National Library of Wales
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