where he was examiner in the theory and practice of education (1879–81) and moderator in the same subjects (1881–1903). In 1879–80 he lectured at Cambridge for the newly appointed teachers' training syndicates and he published his course in 1881 as Lectures on Teaching (new edit. 1882). The book estabhshed Fitch's position in England and America as an expert on school management, organisation, and method. In 1897, he published Thomas and Matthew Arnold and their Influence on English Education in the Great Educators series, and in 1900 he collected his chief lectures and addresses in Educational Aims and Methods. Written with unusual charm of style, these volumes emphasised Fitch's position as that of a pioneer, especially on the practical side of education, as an earnest advocate for the better training of the elementary teacher, and for the more systematic training of secondary teachers. The National Home Reading Union established by Dr. John Brown Paton and Dr. Hill, Master of Downing College, owed much to Fitch's account of The Chautauqua Reading Circles, which he contributed to the Nineteenth Century after his return from America in 1888. After his retirement from the board of education in 1894, he was still active in public work. In 1895, he was a member of departmental committees of the board of education on industrial and naval and dockyard schools. In 1898-9, he was chairman of the council of the Charity Organisation Society. In 1902, he helped in the organisation of a nature study exhibition in London. Fitch, who was made hon. LL.D. of St. Andrews in 1888, and a chevalier of the legion of honour in 1889 by the French government in recognition of the services he rendered in England to French travelling scholars, was knighted in the 1896 Birthday Honours. He died at his residence, 13 Leinster Square, Bayswater, London, on 14 July 1903, and was buried at Kensal Green. Family In 1856, Fitch married Emma, daughter of Joseph Barber Wilks, of the East India Company. She survived him without issue, and in 1904 received a civil list pension of £100 ; she died on 1 April 1909. Works Public Education: Why is a New Code needed? (1861) The art of questioning (1879) Lectures on Teaching (1906) Footnotes References 1824 births 1903 deaths People from Southwark Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of London Knights Bachelor Heads of