This book traces the nineteenth-century formation, growth and structure of the central authority for education in England.

1. The years of incipient state intervention; 2. The period of Treasury grants-in-aid; 3. The Education Department: the formative decade; 4. The Education Department: the Lingen era; 5. The Education Department: the years of expansion; 6. The Education Department: the final phase; 7. The Science and Art Department: 'South Kensington' in embryo; 8. The Science and Art Department: Cole's kingdom; 9. The Science and Art Department: Commanding Officer, Major-General Sir John Donnelly, K.C.B.; 10. The Charity Commission: from Brougham to Taunton; 11. The Charity Commission: the rule of the Triumvirate; 12. The Charity Commission: The Endowed Schools Department; 13. The establishment of the Board of Education; 14. Retrospect.