Abstract

The educational philosophies of John Locke and to a lesser extent Jean-Jacques Rousseau, together with a growth in domesticity, were influential in precipitating significant changes in the lives of children of the aristocracy and squirearchy, in mid-eighteenth century England. Prior to that time there was little or no differentiation between certain aspects of childhood (after the age of seven), and those of adulthood. The influence of Locke and Rousseau was concomitant with England's increased wealth and prestige, made possible by expanding overseas trade and colonization. The Whig aristocracy together with the Hanoverian monarchy, created a closed circle of wealth and privilege with the accompanying corollary of conspicuous consumption, in which children became an aspect of the outward and visible sign of the wealth and status of their parents. From mid-century onwards children's needs and concerns assumed a greater importance than heretofore. Their education, games, books and toys reflected their new status as separate and distinct members of society, with different requirements from those of adults. This changing lifestyle brought in its wake new problems unenvisaged by either Locke or Rousseau: the total separation of children from the adult world