Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Education in Wales,,,,, in threee parts. Part III. North Wales de Council on Education - 1847

London: : HMSO by William Clowes and Sons, 1847. Hardcover. Very Good. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. In half red morocco cloth over red marbled boards, corners bumped. Spine, faded, gilt tooling & titles, edges bumped. Internally, [2], (iii-iv), 68, 358 pp, armorial bookplate to fpd (Charles Arthur Wynne Finch), text block edges sprinkled red, some offsetting to 2 blanks. (325*207 mm). An important document in Welsh history. The inquiry 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 - the traditional colour of Britain's official Government publications (hence the name), concluded that the Welsh were ignorant, lazy and immoral, and that among the causes of this were the use of the Welsh language and nonconformity. In its introduction, the report says: "The Welsh language is a vast drawback to Wales and a manifold barrier to the moral progress and commercial prosperity of the people" ! This resulted in a furious reaction in Wales! (See NLW for full details)Title continues: Appointed by the committee of council on education. In pursuance of Proceedings in the House of Commons, on the Motion of Mr. Williams, of March 10, 1846, for an address to the Queen, praying Her Majesty to direct an Inquiry into the State of Education in the Principality of Wales, and especially into the means offered to the Labouring Classes of acquiring a Knowledge of the English Language. Part 3 North Wales comprising Anglesey, Carnarvon, Denbigh, Flint, Merioneth and Montgomery.