‘From nature to nature’s God’: Ellis A. Davidson—mid-Victorian educator, moralist, and consummate Designer

In recovering the life and work of Ellis Abraham Davidson (1828–1878), this paper draws attention to a Victorian who expands our understanding of Anglo-Jewry as he does not fit the occupational stereotypes. Unusually, he contributed to education, more specifically to the socially-important but frequently neglected topic of technical education. He taught the “lowly” arts, generally known in the nineteenth century as “arts and manufactures”, or the “useful arts”, or “art and design”. Thus although he did not become an artisan or tradesman himself, through his teaching others acquired the requisite skills to become artisans and tradesmen. Moreover, drawing on his experience teaching practical subjects he lectured to Jewish artisans and advised the Board of Guardians on the best way to support apprentices. Finally, and most importantly, this study of Davidson sheds new light on the relations between science, technology, and Judaism in the mid-Victorian period. Thus the final two sections of this paper will examine his commitment to a form of natural theology that set him against Darwin’s theory of evolution and also informed his only book directed specifically at the Anglo-Jewish community.