Skip to main content

A Partial Biography: The Formalization and Institutionalization of Geography in Britain since 1887

  • Chapter
Geography: Discipline, Profession and Subject since 1870

Part of the book series: The GeoJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 62))

Abstract

In the academic year 1999–2000, over 21,000 students in 109 universities and other institutions of higher education in Britain were registered for geography or geography-based honours degrees. At A-level (the principal advanced school qualification in England and Wales), geography is the fifth-most popular of all subjects. Geography is a required part of the national curriculum at GCSE-level (the mid-range school qualification in England and Wales). In 1996, nearly 1,050 professional geographers in all departments and schools of geography in 68 institutions of higher education submitted their research work to peer review as part of the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise, itself overseen by the four national funding councils responsible for managing the monies allocated to higher education by the government of the United Kingdom.

We have been told by Mr Chamberlain to think imperially; but in order to do this we must first of all learn to think geographically (The Times, 19 November 1904)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Alexander, R. and D. Gillmor, eds. (1989) Geography in Education in the Republic of Ireland, Smith, Dublin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, J. N. L. (1963) The History of Geography, Blackwell, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beaver, S. H. (1983) Recollections of a founder member, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 8, 36–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billinge, M. D., D. J. Gregory, and R. Martin, eds. (1984) Recollections of a Revolution: geography as spatial science, Macmillan, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blouet, B. W. (1987) Halford Mackinder: a biography, Texas AandM University Press, College Station.

    Google Scholar 

  • Board, C., R. J. Chorley, P. Haggett, and D. R. Stoddart, eds. (1969) Progress in Geography: international reviews of current research 1, Arnold, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bridges, R. (1985) The foundation and early years of the Aberdeen centre of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Scottish Geographical Magazine 101, 77–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, E. H., ed. (1980) Geography Yesterday and Tomorrow, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. N. L. (1971) The History of the Manchester Geographical Society 1884–1950, Manchester University Press, Manchester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, R. O. (1954) The I. B. G.: retrospect and prospect, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 20, 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton, I. (1963) The quantitative revolution and theoretical geography, Canadian Geographer 7, 151–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butlin, R. A. (1993) Historical Geography through the Gates of Space and Time, Arnold, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butlin, R. A. (1995) Historical geographies of the British empire, c.1887–1925, in M. Bell, M. Heffernan and R. A. Butlin, eds., Geography and Imperialism 1820–1940, Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York, 151–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chalkley, B. (1994) The quality era, Journal of Geography in Higher Education 18, 163–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chalkley, B. (1996) Editorial 1. Geography and teaching quality assessment: how well did we do?, Journal of Geography in Higher Education 20, 149–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chalkley, B. (1998a) Editorial. Arena Symposium. Dearing and Geography, Journal of Geography in Higher Education 22, 55–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chalkley, B. (1998b) Setting a post-Dearing agenda for geography, Journal of Geography in Higher Education 22, 92–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chisholm, G. G. (1908) The meaning and scope of geography, Scottish Geographical Magazine 24, 561–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cormack, L. (1991) Twisting the lion’s tail: practice and theory at the court of Henry Prince of Wales, in B. Moran, ed., Patronage and Institutions: Science, Technology, and Medicine at the European Court, Boydell Press, Woodbridge, pp. 67–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cormack, L. (1997) Charting an Empire: Geography at the English Universities, 1580–1620, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darby, H. C. (1983a) Academic geography in Britain, 1918–1946, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 8, 14–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darby, H. C. (1983b) Historical geography in Britain, 1920–1980: continuity and change, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 8, 421–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, D. (1994) [Discussion of the RGS-IBG proposed merger], Geographical Journal 160, 365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driver, F. (1992a) Geography’s empire: histories of geographical knowledge, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 10, 23–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Driver, F. (1992b) Henry Morton Stanley and his critics: geography, exploration and empire, Past and Present 133, 134–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Driver, F. (2000) Geography Militant: Cultures of Exploration in an Age of Empire, Blackwell, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driver, F. and G. Rose, eds. (1992) Nature and Science: Essays in the History of Geographical Knowledge,Historical Geography Research Group Publications Series, vol. 28, Cheltenham.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driver, F., D. Matless, G. Rose, C. Barnett, and D. N. Livingstone (1995), Geographical traditions: rethinking the history of geography, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 20, 403–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahy, G. (1981) Geography and geographic education in Ireland from early Christian times to 1960, Geographical Viewpoint 10, 5–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, T. W. (1971) A Hundred Years of Geography, Duckworth, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garnett, A. (1983) I. B. G.: the formative years–some reflections, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 8, 27–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, R. (1998) A response to the Dearing Report from the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers, Journal of Geography in Higher Education 22, 98–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, S. (1976) On geographical myths and statistical fables, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 1, 385–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, S. (1983) Quantitative geography: the British experience and the role of the Institute, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 8, 80–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guillemard, F. H. H. (1927–1932) The Years that the Locusts Have Eaten, 7 vols., unpublished typescript in the Rare Books Room of the Cambridge University Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Healey, M. (1997) Geography and education: perspectives on quality in UK higher education, Progress in Human Geography 21, 97–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) (1996) 1996 Research Assessment Exercise - the Outcome, HEFCE, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heffernan, M. (1996) Geography, cartography and military intelligence: the Royal Geographical Society and the First World War, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 21, 504–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, R. J. (1979) Geography and Geographers: Anglo-American Human Geography since 1945, Arnold, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, R.J. (1994) Quality assessment of teaching: inputs, processes and outputs, Journal of Geography in Higher Education 22, 184–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, R. J. and E. V. Brack (1983) Appointment and promotion in the academic labour market: a preliminary survey of British University Departments of Geography, 1933–1982, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 8, 100–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keltie, J. S. (1886) Report of the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society in Reference to the Improvement of Geographical Education, John Murray, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimble, G. H. T. (1951) The inadequacy of the regional concept, in L. D. Stamp and S. W. Wooldridge, eds., London Essays in Geography, Longmans, Green and Company, London, 151–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, D. N. (1992) The Geographical Tradition: Episodes in the History of a Contested Enterprise, Blackwell, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lochhead, E. N. (1980) The Emergence of Academic Geography in Britain in Its Historical Context, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lochhead, E. N. (1981) Scotland as the cradle of modern academic geography in Britain, Scottish Geographical Magazine 97, 98–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lochhead, E. N. (1984) The Royal Scottish Geographical Society: the setting and sources of its success, Scottish Geographical Magazine 100, 69–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacAlister, D. (1921) Geography at the University of Glasgow, Scottish Geographical Magazine 37, 53–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackinder, H. J. (1887) On the scope and methods of geography, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society 9, 141–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie, J. M. (1995) The provincial geographical societies in Britain, 18841914, in M. Bell, R. A. Butlin, and M. Heffernan, eds., Geography and Imperialism, 1820–1940, Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York, 93–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matless, D. (1992) Regional surveys and local knowledges: the geographical imagination in Britain, 1918–1939, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 17, 464–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayhew, R. J. (1998a) Geography in eighteenth-century British education, Paedagogica Historica 34, 731–769.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayhew, R.J. (1998b) The character of English geography c. 1660–1800: a textual approach, Journal of Historical Geography 24, 385–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meller, H. (1993) Patrick Geddes: Social Evolutionist and City Planner, Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Memorial of the Council of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society to the Commissioners Appointed by Parliament in the Universities (Scotland) Act, 1889,Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, W. H. (1992) Mackinder: Geography as an Aid to Statecraft, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peet, R. (1998) Modern Geographical Thought, Blackwell, Oxford and New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Philo, C. (1998) Reading Drumlin* academic geography and a student geographical magazine, Progress in Human Geography 22, 344–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Archives: A. J. Herbertson to J. S. Keltie, 1 August 1913; A. W. Ward to J. S. Keltie, 30 June 1896; D. Freshfield to A. Hinks, 10 April 1919; D. MacAlister to anonymous correspondent, 11 March 1897; ‘Dr. Fleure’ (one-page ms. by ’J. S. K.’ [John Scott Keltie], n. d. [1916]); H. J. Mackinder to D. Freshfield, 7 April 1919; Supplementary Papers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) Archives: J. S. Keltie to Secretary of the RSGS, 16 April 1902.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scargill, D. I. (1976) The RGS and the foundations of geography at Oxford, Geographical Journal 142, 438–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steel, R. W. (1984) The Institute of British Geographers: The First Fifty Years, Institute of British Geographers, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoddart, D. R. (1967) The growth and structure of geography, Transactions of the Institute of British Geography 41, 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoddart, D. R. (1975) The RGS and the foundations of geography at Cambridge, Geographical Journal 141, 216–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoddart, D. R. (1981a) Geography, education and research, Geographical Journal 147, 287–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoddart, D. R. (1981b) The paradigm concept and the history of geography, in D. R. Stoddart, ed., Geography, Ideology and Social Concern, Blackwell, Oxford, 70–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoddart, D. R. (1983) Progress in geography: the record of the I. B. G., Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 8, 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoddart, D. R. (1986) On Geography, Blackwell, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, G., ed. (1951) Geography in the Twentieth Century, Methuen, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, P. (1976) An interpretation of the quantification debate in British geography, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 1, 129–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thrift, N. and D. Walling (2000), Geography in the United Kingdom 1996–2000, Geographical Journal 166, 96–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • University of Edinburgh, Department of Geography Archives, MS DG1/31/21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Unwin, T. (1992) The Place of Geography, Longman, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, M. (1994) Henry Clifford Darby (1909–1992), Proceedings of the British Academy 87, 289–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Withers, C. W. J. (1996) Notes towards an historical geography of geography in early modern Scotland, Scotlands 3, 111–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Withers, C. W. J. (1999) Towards a history of geography in the public sphere, History of Science 37, 45–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Withers, C. W. J. (2000) Towards a historical geography of the Enlightenment in Scotland, in P. Wood, ed., The Scottish Enlightenment: Essays in Re-Interpretation, University of Rochester Press, Rochester, NY, 63–97.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Withers, C.W.J. (2001). A Partial Biography: The Formalization and Institutionalization of Geography in Britain since 1887. In: Dunbar, G.S. (eds) Geography: Discipline, Profession and Subject since 1870. The GeoJournal Library, vol 62. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1683-3_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1683-3_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5828-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1683-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics