Historians of the rise of popular education have often emphasised the role of national governments as sources of funding. However, for the case of England work by W.K. Jordan among others with probate records suggests that by the English Civil War substantial philanthropic funding was available for education. The presence of this philanthropy suggests a blurring of the line between private and public and the presence of both top-down and bottom-up forces at work. Moreover, parliamentary inquiries into educational charities in the early and mid-nineteenth century indicate their persistence as a source of funding for popular elementary schools. Counter to literature emphasising the importance of landed elites, both early modern and nineteenth-century evidence indicate the importance of other groups including merchants and clergy as sources of educational philanthropy. The formation of a national, government-funded system of elementary schooling in England during the last two-thirds of the nineteenth century incorporated elements of funding deriving from philanthropic sources with origins in earlier times. While there are parallels with other European countries, the extent of English educational philanthropy may be distinctive.