In his learned and thorough investigation of Victorian university politics, W. R. Ward felicitously described the debates on the reform of the statutes as ‘the burning domestic question at Oxford in the ‘twenties’. Ward's detailed reconstruction of the main phases of the Oxford debate on the reform of the university curriculum makes it possible to concentrate upon Baden Powell's participation in the academic politics of the time. His personal library, donated to the Bodleian Library in 1972, contains important manuscript material largely unavailable to Ward. A critical evaluation of the documents, marginalia and pamphlets of this collection will contribute a significant appendix to Ward's reconstruction of Oxford academic alignments in the years 1825–35.

Professor Ward stressed the relevance of the Noetic involvement in the drafting of several reform projects during this crucial decade. However, Ward's account was limited to the more immediate academic issues. He did not expand upon the general theme of Noetic political and cultural manoeuvres with relation to the reform of the university, nor did he monitor in detail the marginal and substantial differences which emerged in those years within the Noetic group itself. The strain of the Peel re-election affair and the debates on the Reform Bill which affected relations amongst the Oriel dons equally affected the circle of friends gathering around Copies ton and Whately.

The parting of ways between the Noetics and the younger dons like Newman, the Wilberforces, or Froude has been described in some detail by several historians. However, the divergence of opinion on many political and educational issues which emerged within the Noetic circle, still awaits assessment.