Skip to main content
Home

Information for:

  • Alumni
  • Applicants
  • Current Students
  • Staff
  • Parents
  • Job Vacancies
  • Covid-19
  • Cymraeg
My country:

Main Menu

    • Study Options
      • Study Home
      • Why Study at Bangor?
      • Undergraduate Study
      • Postgraduate Taught Study
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Part-time Courses
      • January Start Courses
      • Degree Apprenticeships
      • Study Abroad
      • Work Experience
    • Study Advice
      • Apply
      • Already Applied?
      • Fees and Finances
      • Scholarships and Bursaries
      • Get Ready for University
    • Explore Bangor
      • Virtual Open Days and Visits
      • Virtual Student Experience

    Find a Course

    Order a Prospectus

    • Student Life
      • Student Life Home
      • Bangor and the Area
      • Social Life and Entertainment
      • Accommodation
      • Clubs and Societies
      • Sport
      • Virtual Student Experience
    • Your Experience at Bangor
      • Student Support
      • Skills and Employability
      • Study or Work Abroad
      • Fees and Finances

    Student Profiles

    Student Videos and Vlogs

    • Choose Bangor
      • International Home
      • Why Bangor?
      • Location
      • Accommodation
      • Student Support
      • Contact Us
    • Apply
      • Entry Requirements
      • Tuition Fees and Scholarships
      • How to Apply
      • Already Applied
      • Study Abroad
      • Exchanges

    Country Specific Information

    Join us on a Virtual Open Day

    Bangor University International College

    Covid-19 Information

    • Research
      • Research Home
      • About Our Research
      • Research in our Academic Schools
      • Research Institutes and Centres
      • Research Portal
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Energy
      • Research News
    • Postgraduate Research Opportunities
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Doctoral School
    • Events and Training Opportunities
      • Researcher Development
    • The University
      • About Us
      • Our Mission
      • Annual Review
      • Our Location
      • Academic Schools and Colleges
      • Services and Facilities
      • University Management and Governance
      • Vice Chancellor’s Office
      • Working with Business
      • Working with the Community
      • Sustainability
      • Contact Us
    • Working for Us
      • Job Vacancies
    • University Management and Governance
      • Policies and Procedures
      • Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
    • University and the Community
      • Pontio
      • Sports Facilities
      • Conference Facilities
      • Places to Eat and Drink
      • Public Events
      • Widening Access
      • Services to Schools
    • Business Services
      • Business Services Home
    • Collaboration Hub
      • Collaboration Hub
      • Funding for Collaborative Research and Development (R&D) & Innovation
      • Business Facilities and Networks
      • Consultancy, Specialist Expertise and Knowledge
      • Commercialisation and Intellectual Property (IP)
      • Student Placements and Internships in Business & Enterprise
      • Training and Continuing Professional Development
      • Degree Apprenticeships
    • Conferencing and Business Dining
      • Conferencing Facilities
      • Business Dining
    • Contacts
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Get In Touch
    • News
      • Current News
      • Research News
      • Student News
    • Events
      • Events

    • Study Options
      • Study Home
      • Why Study at Bangor?
      • Undergraduate Study
      • Postgraduate Taught Study
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Part-time Courses
      • January Start Courses
      • Degree Apprenticeships
      • Study Abroad
      • Work Experience
    • Study Advice
      • Apply
      • Already Applied?
      • Fees and Finances
      • Scholarships and Bursaries
      • Get Ready for University
    • Explore Bangor
      • Virtual Open Days and Visits
      • Virtual Student Experience

    Find a Course

    Order a Prospectus

    • Student Life
      • Student Life Home
      • Bangor and the Area
      • Social Life and Entertainment
      • Accommodation
      • Clubs and Societies
      • Sport
      • Virtual Student Experience
    • Your Experience at Bangor
      • Student Support
      • Skills and Employability
      • Study or Work Abroad
      • Fees and Finances

    Student Profiles

    Student Videos and Vlogs

    • Choose Bangor
      • International Home
      • Why Bangor?
      • Location
      • Student Support
      • Contact Us
    • Apply
      • Entry Requirements
      • Tuition Fees and Scholarships
      • How to Apply
      • Already Applied
      • Study Abroad
      • Exchanges

    Country Specific Information

    Join us on a Virtual Open Day

    Bangor University International College

    Covid-19 Information

    • Research
      • Research Home
      • About Our Research
      • Research in our Academic Schools
      • Research Institutes and Centres
      • Research Portal
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Energy
      • Research News
    • Postgraduate Research Opportunities
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Doctoral School
    • Events and Training Opportunities
      • Researcher Development
    • The University
      • About Us
      • Our Mission
      • Annual Review
      • Our Location
      • Academic Schools and Colleges
      • Services and Facilities
      • University Management and Governance
      • Vice Chancellor’s Office
      • Working with Business
      • Working with the Community
      • Sustainability
      • Contact Us
    • Working for Us
      • Job Vacancies
    • University Management and Governance
      • Policies and Procedures
      • Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
    • University and the Community
      • Pontio
      • Sports Facilities
      • Conference Facilities
      • Places to Eat and Drink
      • Public Events
      • Widening Access
      • Services to Schools
    • Business Services
      • Business Services Home
    • Collaboration Hub
      • Collaboration Hub
      • Funding for Collaborative Research and Development (R&D) & Innovation
      • Business Facilities and Networks
      • Consultancy, Specialist Expertise and Knowledge
      • Commercialisation and Intellectual Property (IP)
      • Student Placements and Internships in Business & Enterprise
      • Training and Continuing Professional Development
      • Degree Apprenticeships
    • Conferencing and Business Dining
      • Conferencing Facilities
      • Business Dining
    • Contacts
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Get In Touch
    • News
      • Current News
      • Research News
      • Student News
    • Events
      • Events

Information for:

  • Alumni
  • Applicants
  • Current Students
  • Staff
  • Parents
  • Job Vacancies
  • Covid-19
My country:

Search

Close

Breadcrumb

Share this page:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Cymraeg

Share this page:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Information

  • 2017 lecture
  • previous lectures

Sir Hugh Owen Memorial Lecture

Background

Hugh Owen was a great benefactor to education in Wales in the nineteenth century. Born in Llangeinwen, Anglesey in 1804, at the age of 24 he went to work in London as a solicitor’s clerk, subsequently moving to the position of clerk to the Poor Law Commission, and ultimately becoming chief clerk to the Local Government Board. He therefore held an influential position and was close to the heart of government in Whitehall.

British and Foreign School Society

He was also active with the work of the British and Foreign School Society in Wales and the Cambrian Educational Society (both nonconformist associations). In 1847, following the publication of the Blue Books, he enthusiastically supported the opening of more British schools in Wales. One of the first such schools was Ysgol y Garth in Bangor. As the number of such schools increased, Hugh Owen saw the need for colleges to train teachers in Wales, and he was one of the leaders of the campaigns for the establishment of the Bangor Normal College in 1858, a similar college in Swansea, and the Aberystwyth university college in 1875.

The Scholarship Association

One of Hugh Owen’s last benefactions, and the one associated with this lecture, was the establishment in 1880 of the North Wales Scholarship Association, a fund to provide financial assistance for children from north Wales to attend secondary schools. Hugh Owen was knighted in August 1881, but died in October of the same year, aged 77.

The Scholarship Association was short-lived, lasting only fourteen years. By 1894, following the Education Act of 1889, the new county councils had begun to establish secondary schools (County Schools), the first of them in Caernarfon – a school that now bears the name Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen. The county councils could also offer scholarships, so the Association ceased to exist, and the fund was transferred to the care of the University College of North Wales – now Bangor University. The income from the fund at that time was £4 per year. This small sum was used as an annual prize at the college. In order to qualify to compete for it, candidates needed to have spent some time as pupil-teachers at an elementary school, and then received teacher training (typically, at the Bangor Normal College), before embarking on a degree course at Bangor. To cap it all, they were required to write an essay (in English, of course) on a demanding topic concerned with education.

By subjecting the prize to such stringent conditions, the number of potential candidates soon dwindled, and the fund remained dormant for many years until it was discovered that its value had increased to about ten thousand pounds. In the year 2000, the university Council agreed that the interest on the fund could be used to hold an educational lecture on a subject that would attract a wide audience, and which would be an apt tribute to the work of Sir Hugh Owen.

The Sir Hugh Owen Memorial Lecture is delivered on alternate years.

Home

About Us

Academic Schools and Colleges

  • School of Education and Human Development
    • Home
    • About Us
      • Our Staff
      • Our Facilities
      • Our Location
      • Bangor & the Area
      • Contact us
      • Order a prospectus
    • Open Days
    • Undergraduates
      • Order a prospectus
      • University Open Days
      • Why Bangor?
      • Get ready for University
      • Accommodation
      • Scholarships & Bursaries
      • Fees & Finances
      • Applying to Bangor
      • Careers & Employability
      • Student Life
      • Studying at Bangor
      • Student Support
      • UCAS Visit Days
      • Resources for current students
      • CaBan at Bangor
    • Postgraduates
      • Our Courses
      • Why study with us?
      • Apply Now
      • CaBan at Bangor
      • Resources for current students
      • Register your interest in postgraduate study
      • Student profiles
      • Fees and Finances
      • Scholarships and bursaries
    • Applied Design Centre
      • Lockdown Design Lecture Series with Jude Pullen
      • BSc Product Design
      • MSc Applied innovation Design
      • Information for Employers
      • Design Conference 2019
      • Design Degree Show
        • Past Design Degree Shows
      • News & Events
      • Contact US
    • Research
    • Educational Resources
      • Research Degrees
      • Ethics Task Group
    • News
      • Sir Hugh Owen Memorial Lecture
      • Previous lectures
    • Videos and Student Profiles
    • Connect on Social Media
    • Contact us
      • Order a prospectus
Home

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn

Bangor University

Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DG, UK

+44 (0)1248 351151

marketing@bangor.ac.uk

Visit Us

Maps & Directions

Policy

  • Legal Compliance
  • Modern Slavery Act 2015 Statement
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy and Cookies
Map

Bangor University is a Registered Charity: No. 1141565

© 2020 Bangor University