Securing Britain’s Economic Future

Abstract Following the International Exhibition in Paris in 1867, concern grew in Britain about the country’s position as the world’s most advanced industrial nation, prompting the government to initiate a series of Select Committees and Royal Commissions to which Roscoe contributed. Roscoe gave evidence to the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science (Devonshire Commission) (1870) and the Select Committee on Scientific Instruction (Samuelson Committee) (1881). These were followed by an increasing focus on technical education, and in 1881 Roscoe was appointed to the Royal Commission on Technical Instruction (Samuelson Commission); for his services to the Samuelson Commission, Roscoe was awarded a knighthood in 1884. Unfortunately, the recommendations from these inquiries were very largely not acted upon by the government of the time.