About the data
In a pioneering use of Oral History methods in the 1970s, Paul Thompson conducted a series of 'life story' interviews with people of the then aging Edwardian generation. All participants in the project were born between 1870 and 1906 and these interviews created a unique record of their lives and times from childhood through to old age. Analysis of this work was published as 'The Edwardians: The Remaking of British Society'. The interview schedule covered: roles and work of family members meals, domestic routine, child-rearing and school, emotional relationships, family values, leisure, religion and politics.
How the data were used
Frank Trentmann used data from The Edwardians as one source for his research into the Free Trade ideal. His interest was in the way the notion of Free Trade acted as a key element in British democracy at the turn of the twentieth century, mobilising an alliance of ruling elites and the organised labour, businessmen and working-class women, imperialists and internationalists.
He looked at how ordinary people understood Free Trade and how it shaped popular culture as well as their role in political agitations, elections and debates, until its popularity faded in the inter-war years.
His findings have been published as Trentmann, F. (2009) Free Trade Nation: Consumption, Commerce and Civil Society in Modern Britain, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
About the author
Frank Trentmann is a Professor of History in the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology at Birkbeck College, University of London. He was Director of the 2002-2007 ESRC/AHRC Cultures of Consumption research programme.
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