First published in 1969. Part of the Social History of Education collection, this is No 8, a history of the origin and progress of adult schools; with an account of some of the beneficial effects already produced on the moral character of the labouring poor (1814). Thomas Pole was born in Philadelphia on the 13th December 1753, visiting England in 1775 where he studied medicine in Maidenhead, Berkshire. He moved to Bristol in 1802 where he was active establishing adult schools for the poor.