Communities of care: family, community, and social care for children, 1882-1912
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of History, Classics and Archaeology
Abstract
The PhD offers an opportunity to explore one of the richest care archives, advance knowledge about pathways in
and out of care, and reframe historiographical fields by situating children's care within broader histories of family
and community life. Designed with The Children's Society, using critically understudied records, this project
reconstructs the family histories of children in care and advances understandings about the relationship between
poor families and their communities before institutional admission and following discharge. It reveals how children's
care and their reintegration into society were envisaged as community responsibilities and how public agencies
collaborated to achieve this.
and out of care, and reframe historiographical fields by situating children's care within broader histories of family
and community life. Designed with The Children's Society, using critically understudied records, this project
reconstructs the family histories of children in care and advances understandings about the relationship between
poor families and their communities before institutional admission and following discharge. It reveals how children's
care and their reintegration into society were envisaged as community responsibilities and how public agencies
collaborated to achieve this.
