The Mansfield House University Settlement was founded in 1889 and was intended to give students of Mansfield College Oxford first hand experience of living and working with working-class people. The Settlement wanted to bring ‘culture’ to the people of the East End, and to provide people with opportunities for leisure, recreation and self-improvement. (The idea was partly to encourage people to take up respectable pursuits, rather than spend all their time and money in the public house.) ‘The Wave’ Lodging house was run by the Mansfield House Settlement, and was intended to provide cheap and clean accommodation for working men. The Settlement also provided a wide range of welfare services, including a ‘Sick Benefit Society’, a ‘coal club’ and a ‘Poor Man’s Lawyer’ - one of the first examples of free legal advice.

continue

Tom McAllister
The Old Dispensary
30 Romford Road, Stratford
London E15 4BZ
Tel: 020 8430 6393 Fax: 020 8430 6392

Last updated 17 February 2003