KATHARINE MARIE BRADLEY POVERTY AND PHILANTHROPY IN EAST LONDON 1918 – 1959: THE UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENTS AND THE URBAN WORKING CLASSES UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PhD IN HISTORY CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY BRITISH HISTORY INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF LONDON The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. ABSTRACT This thesis explores the relationship between the university settlements and the East London communities through an analysis their key areas of work during the period: healthcare, youth work, juvenile courts, adult education and the arts. The university settlements, which brought young graduates to live and work in impoverished areas, had a fundamental influence of the development of the welfare state. This occurred through their alumni going on to enter the Civil Service and politics, and through the settlements’ ability to powerfully convey the practical experience of voluntary work in the East End to policy makers. The period 1918 – 1959 marks a significant phase in this relationship, with the economic depression, the Second World War and formative welfare state having a significant impact upon the settlements and the communities around them. This thesis draws together the history of these charities with an exploration of the complex networking relationships between local and national politicians, philanthropists, social researchers and the voluntary sector in the period. This thesis argues that work on the ground, an influential dissemination network and the settlements’ experience of both enabled them to influence the formation of national social policy in the period. It examines these issues in the period in which state welfare was expanding far beyond its limited pre-1914 role. The thesis aims to examine the relationship of the changing role of the state with the activities of these major voluntary organisations, and argues that this was a two-way relationship throughout the period. Hence the settlements made a major contribution to evolving ideas of the role of the state and of the nature of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship during the formative period of the modern ‘welfare state’. 2 CONTENTS Acknowledgements ........................................................................ 4 List of illustrations .......................................................................... 5 List of figures, tables and charts ................................................... 6 Introduction ..................................................................................... 7 Chapter One: Health ....................................................................... 36 Chapter Two: Club work ................................................................. 99 Chapter Three: Settlements and the Juvenile Courts .................. 161 Chapter Four: Arts and Education ................................................ 203 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 249 Appendices ...................................................................................... 259 One: University settlements mentioned ............................................ 259 Two: Dramatis Personae................................................................... 263 Bibliography .................................................................................... 276 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (abridged) A three year course of study and research naturally generates a huge amount of indebtedness. First and foremost, the person to whom I owe most thanks is my supervisor, Pat Thane. Without her wisdom and guidance this thesis would not have taken shape. Adrian Bingham, David Cannadine and David Feldman have all read earlier versions of this thesis and provided much appreciated advice. More recent thanks are due to Sally Alexander and John Davis for examining this thesis, and for a stimulating and highly enjoyable viva. My thanks are also due to the Leverhulme Foundation, whose studentship allowed me to pursue my studies on a full-time basis. My thanks are also due to the staff and students of the CCBH and the IHR for their warm and unstinting support over the course of this PhD. I would also like to thank my colleagues at Toynbee Hall, and above all Jill Goldsworthy. Since 1999, Jill has borne the brunt of my (over)excitement about discoveries in the settlement archives with good humour. My appreciation is also due to Haruhiko Fujita, Rima Schwartz and Peg Strobel. My gratitude is also due to Luke Geoghegan and Fiona Macintosh. In 1999, Fiona made a research visit to the then highly chaotic Toynbee Hall archives, and suggested me to Luke as a potential volunteer to sort them out. I’m thankful to Fiona for pointing me in the right direction, and to Luke for taking me on firstly as a volunteer, and later as a member of staff at the settlement. My gratitude is also due to a wide number of archivists and librarians: Tower Hamlets Local History Library; Newham Local Studies and Archives; London Metropolitan Archives; the Women’s Library; the Royal London and Barts Archives and Museum; the British Library and the Newspaper Library at Colindale; the LSE Archives, the Institute of Historical Research Library and the University of London Library. 4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Picture 2.1 Mallon and Lord Waverley inspect the Landsbergs 135 Cubs, c. 1949 Picture 2.2 The Pathfinder Window, St. Mary’s, Roch 138 Picture 3.1 The Juvenile Court at Toynbee Hall 184 Picture 3.2 The Juvenile Court at Toynbee Hall 184 Picture 4.1 Sponsors of equipment for the new theatre 227 5 LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS Figure1.1 CTWS Hospital admissions, surgical operations 54 and deaths, 1918–9 Figure 1.2 Total attendances at the Infant Welfare Clinic, 67 1918 Figure 1.3 Total postnatal checks carried out by the Infant 68 Welfare Clinic, 1918 Figure 1.4 Expenditure on Optical Aid and Surgical Aid, 74 1925 – 1930 Figure 1.5 Food Prices, November 1936 86 Figure 2.1 Occupations of boys in the sample aged 14 or 102 over belonging to the Brigades, Scouts and Clubs, per 1,000 Figure 2.2 Members of Youth Organisations in 1938 107 Figure 2.3 Fairbairn House Boys’ Club, 119 Weekly Activities 1921 Figure 2.4 Geographical spread of the stocking trail 148 Figure 3.1 Occupations of family breadwinners 186 Figure 4.1 Visitors to the Whitechapel Exhibitions, 1881-6 214 Figure 4.2 Student enrolments 235 Figure 4.3 Areas of student residence 1931-4 235 Figure 4.5 Occupational range of Toynbee Hall 236 students, 1931-2 6 ABBREVIATIONS USED BRC Barnett Reseach Centre Archives CCHF Children’s Country Holiday Fund CTWS Canning Town Women’s Settlement ICCAA Invalid and Crippled Children’s Aid Association LSE London School of Economics MABYS Metropolitan Association for the Befriending of Young Servants MH FH/SFC Mansfield House: Fairbairn House Sports/Finance Committee NLSA Newham Local Studies and Archives Library PSA Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Movement SWHHS South West Ham Health Society WEA Workers’ Educational Association 7 INTRODUCTION East London has long posed problems for official social policy makers and for the voluntary sector. On the surface, there is no apparent reason why it should continue to be such a deprived area today – it is adjacent to the City of London, and its transport links are excellent, which in theory would provide countless opportunities for both residents and business. The borough of Tower Hamlets, which constitutes most of what is regarded as the ‘East End’,1 is endowed with numerous social, cultural and educational opportunities that other areas or towns might envy. It has an internationally famous art gallery, street markets that attract thousands of tourists and Londoners each weekend, five museums, two higher education establishments (Queen Mary, University of London and London Metropolitan University) and a variety of medical schools, several public libraries, and a wealth of historical architecture. Its hospital, the Royal London, is one of the major hospitals of the United Kingdom: it provides an emergency helicopter ambulance service to the whole of London, and has Europe’s largest Accident and Emergency department.2 Countless artists of international reputation live in the area, including Spitalfields residents Gilbert and George and Tracy Emin. The London Docklands have been regenerated in the last few decades, and are now home to Canary Wharf, a business district that rivals the City of London. For the last twenty years, the area has been the (loose) inspiration for 1 ‘East End’ is the term traditionally used to refer to the current day borough of Tower Hamlets – the areas of (parts of) Aldgate, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Wapping, Shadwell, Ratcliff, Stepney, Mile End, and Limehouse, with parts of Bow and Shoreditch. Its western boundary is Bishopsgate and the Tower of London, its eastern is the River Lea, and the northern boundary follows the Regent’s Canal. This area was originally made up of a number of hamlets on the side of the City of London wall. This geographical description of the ‘East End’ was appropriate until the later nineteenth century, when the growth of industry past the Lea extended the expansion of London eastwards. Until 1884, the ‘East End’ had been part of London (the county of Middlesex) with the remaining areas being part of the county of Essex. The creation of the County Borough of West Ham – the area immediately adjacent to the River Lea