Albert Mansbridge
(1876-1952), Founder of the Workers' Educational AssociationSitter in 17 portraits
What today would be called a 'self-starter', Mansbridge became an Anglican lay reader, a copyist in the Board of Education, attending evening lectures at the Battersea Polytechnic, and in 1896 a clerk with the Co-operative Wholesale Society in Whitechapel. Mansbridge is regarded as one of the most influential and creative figures in adult education. He and his wife, Frances Pringle founded the Workers' Educational Association in 1903 with 2/6d from the housekeeping. By 1905 it had a thousand members, a hundred affiliated bodies and eight Branches. Mansbridge was the workers' representative on the Asquith Commission (1919-22) on the reform of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
by John Mansbridge
oil on canvas, 1947
NPG 3987
by Howard Coster
bromide print, 1945
NPG x22813
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