Who does Bournville ‘belong to’? In one telling of this story, the answer might be the Cadbury family, and particularly George and Richard Cadbury, the brothers who moved the Cadbury firm to the ‘factory in a garden’. Bournville promised a new vision for worker welfare, guided by the Cadbury’s Quaker faith and liberal politics. Certainly, histories of Bournville can give this impression. Yet in this paper, Dr. Fredrickson will explore a period of Bournville’s history not usually included in the grand narratives of Cadbury’s philanthropy: the mid-twentieth century. It is a moment where, for the first time, Bournville Village Trust lose freehold autonomy over Bournville Village. This paper brings to life this rather choppy and contested moment
Dr. Jacob Fredrickson (University of Edinburgh) ‘Whose Utopia?’ Belonging, Community and Property-Owning Democracy in Bournville, Birmingham 1950-1970
Friday 2nd April 2027, 20:00-21:30
Via Zoom
Dr. Jacob Fredrickson is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Prior to this, he was the Director of the Centre for Midlands History and Cultures at the University of Birmingham, and a research fellow working on new histories of utopian garden cities, with a focus on Bournville. His work has featured in Twentieth Century British History and Cultural and Social History, and his first monograph, Crimes of Passion: Violence and the Making of Modern Love, is forthcoming.
Latest From The Society
Forthcoming Event
Contents & Indexes
Copies of Transactions
** FREE OFFER **
Printed back issues of the Society’s Transactions are now available for free, subject to payment of postage and packing, to anyone who would like them, whether a SA&HS Member or not. This offer is however subject to availability, some of the earlier Volumes now being out of print - please enquire.
Also, the offer does not apply to the 5 most recent Transactions, copies of which can be purchased as follows: Volumes LIII to LV - £5.00 each, Volume LVI - £10.00 each, new Volume LVII for 2026 only available to existing or new subscription paying Members; the cost of postage and packing is added to any purchases.
In addition, a CD is available comprising Volumes I to XLII presented electronically. This can now be purchased for the sum of £2.00 per copy, with postage and packing added..
All enquiries should be to the SA&HS Hon Treasurer, Keith Billington, at: kjboutthere@yahoo.co.uk
Website by Beachshore