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The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge

The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was established in 1826 and was a London organization that published inexpensive texts intended to adapt scientific and similarly high-minded material for the rapidly expanding reading public. It was established mainly at the instigation of Lord Brougham with the ambition of publishing information to people who were unable to obtain formal teaching, or who preferred self-education.  It was also stipulated that the publication would avoid party politics and religion in order to appeal to a wide audience and to avoid controversy amongst its members. Yet despite their removal from religion the Society attracted negative attention from Tories and the Church of England Commentators. This was largely due to its founding members’ role in political and educational reform. It also faced opposition from intellectuals such as Thomas Love Peacock (novelist, poet and official of the East India Company) who compared the society’s aim to distribute knowledge amongst the working class population to the newly planned network of railways that would span across Britain and as a result nicknamed the society “The Steam Intellect Society.” Despite its opposition, the progressive ideals of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge played a meaningful part in nineteenth-century educational history.