Project background

'Family Life and Work Experience before 1918', carried out between 1970 and 1973, was the first national oral history interview study to be carried out in Britain.

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).

Finally, he aimed 'to give a place, in this evaluation of general social change, to the contribution and experience of ordinary individuals' (1992: xvi).

The experiences gained from the project also contribute greatly to Paul Thompson's 'The Voice of the Past' (1978, second edition 1988).