The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 is one of the most important pieces of social legislation ever enacted. Its principles and the workhouse system dominated attitudes to welfare provision for the next 80 years. This new Seminar Study explores the changing ideas to poverty over this period and assesses current debates on Victorian attitudes to the poor. David Englander reviews the old system of poor relief; he considers how the New Poor Law was enacted and received and looks at how...

The late nineteenth century and Edwardian era, suggests Jose Harris in this book, represent a sharp break with the early years of Queen Victoria's reign. Indeed, despite the intense upheavals of two world wars, it was the beliefs, social structures and oppositional forces established between 1870 and 1914 which dominated British life right up until the 1960s.

This book introduces a historical perspective on the emergence and development of social welfare. Starting from the familiar ground of 'the family', it traces some of the crucial historical roots and desires that fed the development of social policy in the 19th and 20th centuries around education, the family, unemployment and nationhood. By aiming to discover the link between past and present, it shows that social problems are socially constructed in specific contexts and that there are di...

The Politics of the Common Law offers a critical introduction to the legal system of England and Wales. Unlike other conventional accounts, this revised and updated second edition presents a coherent argument, organised around the central claim that contemporary postcolonial common law must be understood as an articulation of human rights and open justice.The book examines the impact of the European Convention and European Union law on the structures and ideologies of the ...

A Social History of Women in Ireland is an important and overdue book that explores the role and status of women in Ireland from 1870 until 1970, looking at politics, sociology, marriage patterns, religion, education and work among other topics. It provides a vital missing piece in the jigsaw of modern Irish history. Using a combination of primary research and published works, A Social History of Women in Ireland explores the role and status of women in Ireland. It examines lifestyle optio...

The Industrial Revolution had a profound and lasting effect on socioeconomic and cultural conditions in Britain.The Birth of Industrial Britain examines the impact of early industrialisation on British society in the century before 1850, coinciding with Britains transition from a late pre-industrial economy to one based on industrialisation and urbanisation.This fully revised and updated second edition provides a comprehensive range of pedagogical material to suppo...

First published in 1981. Professor Crowther traces the history of the workhouse system from the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 to the Local Government Act of 1929.At their outset the large residential institutions were seen by the Poor Law Commissioners as a cure for nearly all social ills. In fact these formidable, impersonal, prison-like buildings – housing all paupers under one roof – became institutionalised: places where routine came to be an end in itself. In the early twenti...

Tom Bingham (1933-2010) was the 'greatest judge of our time' (The Guardian), a towering figure in modern British public life who championed the rule of law and human rights inside and outside the courtroom. Lives of the Law collects Bingham's most important later writings, in which he brings his distinctive, engaging style to tell the story of the diverse lives of the law: its life in government, in business, and in human wrongdoing. Following on from The Business of Judging

Praise for the first edition:'Royle calls on an impressive range of materials (supported by an excellent bibliography) to offer a judicious review of most of the issues currently confronted by social historians. His agenda contains both traditional and novel elements [...] all are presented with admirable clarity and balance. [...] A volume which shows an astonishing command of such a wide range of material will long prove essential reading.'Times Literary SupplementTh...

Over the long eighteenth century English governance was transformed by large adjustments to the legal instruments and processes of power. This book documents and analyzes these shifts and focuses upon the changing relations between legal authority and the English people.

This is Volume II of twenty-eight in a series on the Sociology of Education. Originally published in 1958, this is a comparative study of adult education in that starts with a historical review of the provision in England before 1850, between the Wars and beyond as well as delving into the characterises and personality of the adult student. The author’s travels to the United States, Germany, the West Indies, Australia, the Middle East, Scandinavia, India, China and East Africa extends the ...

This volume contains both text and contemporary document which together look at the history of education from the French Revolution to the late twentieth century. The connection between text and documents is closely preserved so that the volume both explains and illustrates the important issues and problems and at the same time poses questions for students to consider or follow up.