Lord Ashley (later the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury) is perhaps best known to social historians as the 'Poor Man's Earl', the aristocratic philanthropist whose concern for suffering and the oppressed victims of Victorian 'progress' saw him champion a range of social, industrial, educational, and health reforms. The diaries contain detailed accounts of his labours, religious and philosophical reflections, self analysis, and descriptions and criticisms of contemporaries, and offer thereby a fascinating insight into Victorian politics and social change.
Vol. 2, Part One opens as Ashley loses his parliamentary seat in Dorset and faces an uncertain political future, yet he remained committed, as ever, to a variety of causes, not least factory and child labour reform, mental health care, housing, sanitary reform and public health, and the provision of meaningful education through ragged schools, while all the time advancing the cause of religion and the protecting the position of the Church of England. As famine struck Ireland in the mid-1840s and revolution shook much of Europe in 1848/9, Ashley confronted a world in flux in which political priorities and identities shifted, and his philanthropy acquired ever more important, yet contested, meanings.
| ISBN: | 9781805966456 |
| Publication date: | 28th July 2026 |
| Author: | David Brown |
| Publisher: | The British Academy an imprint of Liverpool University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 480 pages |
| Series: | Records of Social and Economic History |
| Genres: |
Social and cultural history Charities, voluntary services and philanthropy European history |
Lord Ashley (later the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury) is perhaps best known to social historians as the 'Poor Man's Earl', the aristocratic philanthropist whose concern for suffering and the oppressed victims of Victorian 'progress' saw him champion a range of social, industrial, educational, and health reforms. The diaries contain detailed accounts of his labours, religious and philosophical reflections, self analysis, and descriptions and criticisms of contemporaries, and offer thereby a fascinating insight into Victorian politics and social change.
Vol. 2, Part One opens as Ashley loses his parliamentary seat in Dorset and faces an uncertain political future, yet he remained committed, as ever, to a variety of causes, not least factory and child labour reform, mental health care, housing, sanitary reform and public health, and the provision of meaningful education through ragged schools, while all the time advancing the cause of religion and the protecting the position of the Church of England. As famine struck Ireland in the mid-1840s and revolution shook much of Europe in 1848/9, Ashley confronted a world in flux in which political priorities and identities shifted, and his philanthropy acquired ever more important, yet contested, meanings.
The Diaries of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury: Vol. 2, Part One features in the following genres: Social and cultural history, Charities, voluntary services and philanthropy, European history
The Diaries of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury: Vol. 2, Part One is available in Hardback
The Diaries of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury: Vol. 2, Part One was written by David Brown and published by The British Academy an imprint of Liverpool University Press
The Diaries of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury: Vol. 2, Part One has 480 pages
Yes it is part of Records of Social and Economic History series
£135.00