Material relating to the disputes involving Rev. Robert Slater Bayley, the founder of the People's College, during his time in Sheffield.

One dispute in 1843 related to the Sheffield bank of Messrs. Rimington and Younge. The oldest private bank in Sheffield had collapsed (Parker and Shores'), leading to a run on the last remaining private bank (Rimington and Younge). They accused Bayley of creating this scare by suggesting doubts on the stability of their bank, as he had an unpaid debt with them. The other dispute was with members of his congregation at the Howard Street Chapel in 1846. Due to Bayley’s involvement in political controversies and his poor financial management his congregation asked him to resign. This resulted in Bayley and some of his followers seceding from the chapel and holding services at the premises of the People’s College.

The result of these disputes led to the decline in numbers at the People's College, and Bayley left Sheffield to take up a new position in London in 1848.

(Source: The Story of the People's College Sheffield, by G. C. Moore Smith, 1912.)