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Summary information

Study title

Family Life and Work Experience Before 1918, 1870-1973

Creator

Lummis, T., University of Essex, Department of Sociology
Thompson, P., University of Essex, Department of Sociology

Study number / PID

2000 (UKDA)

10.5255/UKDA-SN-2000-1 (DOI)

Data access

Open

Series

Not available

Abstract

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.This study is available via the UK Data Service QualiBank, an online tool for browsing, searching and citing the content of selected qualitative data collections held at the UK Data Service. This qualitative data collection comprises 453 life-story interviews originally collected as part of the study The Edwardians: Family Life and Work Experience Before 1918. The interviews were undertaken in the late 1960s and early 1970s and formed the basis of the first national oral history project in the United Kingdom. Paul Thompson first became aware of the need for a project of this kind in the late 1960s while in the process of writing a book about the social history of Britain between 1900 and 1918. He recognised that there existed little direct evidence of life during this period from a working class point of view, that such material would be valuable, and that it must be gathered immediately while there were still people alive who were able to provide testimony of this kind. His objective was to examine social life and social change during this period, focusing upon work experience and family and community life. The project resulted in a number of publications, including Thompson's The Edwardians: The Remaking of British Society, which was published in 1975 and again in revised form in 1992. In his introduction, he detailed three basic aims for the book: The first was 'to establish what I believe to be the most important dimensions of social change in the early twentieth century' (1992: xv). In doing so, he concentrated upon specific issues which he considered to be fundamental to social structure, notably class, gender and age, while also exploring other issues such as work experience, education and leisure. His second intention was 'to suggest the main reasons for social change, and especially the extent to which conscious effort by Edwardians for social change was critical' (1992: xvi)....
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Topics

HistoryLabour and employmentFamily life and marriage

Keywords

AGEALCOHOLIC DRINKSAPPRENTICESHIPATTITUDESAUTHORITYBIRTH ORDERBOARDING SCHOOLSBOOKSBREAST-FEEDINGCHILD CARECHILD WORKERSCHILDBIRTH
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Methodology

Data collection period

01/01/1969 - 01/01/1973

Country

Great Britain

Time dimension

Cross-sectional (one-time) study

Analysis unit

Individuals
Families/households
National
Families

Universe

Men and women born between 1870 and 1908 in England, Scotland and Wales

Sampling procedure

Quota sample derived from the occupational census of 1911, clustered and stratified by region and social class

Kind of data

Text
Numeric
in-depth interview transcripts

Data collection mode

Face-to-face interview
Compilation or synthesis of existing material

Access

Publisher

UK Data Service

Publication year

1984

Terms of data access

  The Data Collection is to be made available to any user without the requirement for registration for download/access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

Related publications

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  • More, C. (1980) Skill and the English working class 1870-1914, London: Croom Helm.
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  • Rose, J. (1993) 'Willingly to school: : the working-class response to elementary education in Britain, 1875-1918', Journal of British Studies
  • Foley, A. (1973) A Bolton childhood, Manchester: North Western District of the Workers' Educational Associatio.
  • Taylor, V. and Trentmann, F. (2011) ' Liquid politics: : water and the politics of everyday life in the modern city', Past and Present
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  • Thompson, T. (1981) Edwardian childhoods, London: Routledge.
  • Burchardt, N. (1990) 'Stepchildren's memories: : myth, understanding and forgiveness' , London: Routledge.
  • Trentmann, F. (2009) Free trade nation: : consumption, commerce and civil society in modern Britain, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  • Child, M. (1992) Labour's apprentices: : working-class lads in late Victorian and Edwardian England, Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
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  • Thompson, P. and Harkel, G. (1979) The Edwardians in photographs, London: Bastford.
  • Taylor, V. (2009) 'Drought is normal: : the socio-technical evolution of drought and water demand in the UK, 1893-2000', Journal of Historical Geography
  • Meacham, S. (1977) A life apart: : the English working class 1890-1914, London: Thames and Hudson.
  • Ross, E. (1983) 'Survival networks: : women's neighbourhood sharing in London before World War One', History Workshop
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  • Williams, S. (1999) Religious Belief and Popular Culture in Southwark c.1880-1939, Oxford: Clarendon Press .
  • Thompson, P. (1992) The Edwardians: : the remaking of British society, London: Routledge.
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