Carole CooperFeb 22, 2023
Patrick Samphire

A question for historians or people with an interest in history. I'm looking for biographies or social histories of working class or very lower middle class people in 1920s UK, but all I've been able to find so far are books on middle class or upper class people.

Please boost for more suggestions!

#history #1920s #britishhistory #londonhistory

Feb 21, 2023 at 10:11pmWeb
Show threadNotMyBub Feb 21, 2023
@patricksamphire If you have access to JSTOR and the like, you should be able to find papers. Also talk to a uni librarian.
Show threadPatrick SamphireFeb 21, 2023
@NotMyBub Sadly I don't.
Show threadAlex PengaledFeb 21, 2023
@patricksamphire hi! I may be able to help here - I've done a fair bit of looking for this kind of stuff for my historical fiction writing. Feel free to drop me a dm - depending on specifics I may even be able to offer recs!
Show threadPatrick SamphireFeb 21, 2023
@pengaled I've just realised I don't know how to do DMs on Mastodon! :D I'm particularly interested in the lives of youngish people from lower middle class backgrounds in London in the late 1920s. But really lives of anyone in the between-wars period who isn't upper class or well-off middle class.
Show threadAlex PengaledFeb 21, 2023

@patricksamphire I think how to do DMs varies depending on what app you're using tbh! I'll have a think for you & look through my books etc. London isn't really my area of expertise so I may not be able to help as much as hoped...

A couple of other authors who may be able to give you good pointers are KJ Charles & Elin Gregory - they've both definitely written London in that era & are excellent at their research. They may even have written relevant blog posts...

Show threadAlex PengaledFeb 22, 2023
@patricksamphire looking through my book collection, it seems I've found more memoirs than biographies - usually picked up 2nd hand, or as ebooks. I generally find it easier to search by profession - there's one I have by a former nurse who trained in London hospitals in the inter-war period for example which may have useful info. Generally I find it's a case of teasing out background tidbits from lots of sources...
Show threadPatrick SamphireFeb 22, 2023
@pengaled Memoirs are a good idea, too, as is searching by profession. I hadn't thought of doing it that way. Thank you. I've read some KJ Charles, but I hadn't thought about seeing whether she's blogged about her research, too.
Show threadShield MaidenFeb 21, 2023
@patricksamphire I'd reccommend reading all of Harry Leslie Smith's books...he used to post a lot on Twitter about his past experiences but died a few years ago. Truly a working class hero.
Show threadPatrick SamphireFeb 22, 2023
@Judeet88 Oh, that's a good idea. I think I have a couple of his books somewhere but I'd never got around to reading them.
Show threadfrater musFeb 21, 2023
@patricksamphire IIRC part of Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London is about his working-class life in 1920s London.
Show threadPatrick SamphireFeb 22, 2023
@fratermus Thank you! That will definitely be useful.
Show threadTrajecientFeb 22, 2023

@patricksamphire

'Memories of a Working Woman' by Louise Jermy may help.

The Elizabeth Roberts Working Class Oral History Archive is free and has relevant transcripts. Focus isn't London but North-West England

'Useful Toil: Autobiographies of Working People from the 1820s to the 1920s' might be worth a look. Can borrow from the Internet Archive.

George Orwell's 'Down and Out in Paris and London' is an memoir of the late 1920s. Some material is a fictionalisation of what Orwell had heard.

Show threadPatrick SamphireFeb 22, 2023
@Trajecient Thank you. I'll check them all out.
Show threadDavvaFeb 22, 2023
@patricksamphire
These folks in Bristol might provide some leads
https://www.brh.org.uk/site/
Bristol Radical History Group

Radical history and 'history from below' Bristol, UK. Articles, pamphlets, book reviews, talks and other events.

Bristol Radical History Group
Show threadPatrick SamphireFeb 22, 2023
@Davva23 That looks useful. Thank you.
Show threadDavvaFeb 22, 2023
@patricksamphire
No problemo
Show threadLinux and praxis: part of the resistance 🇵🇸 ☮️May 17, 2023
@patricksamphire #histodons might be appropriate