Fifty Years of Work without Wages
Laborare est orare

Published in 1911, these memoirs present a thoughtful portrait of the experiences and artistic enthusiasms of a Mancunian social reformer.

Charles Rowley (Author)

9781108064583, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 February 2014

320 pages, 55 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.47 kg

Born in Ancoats, a deprived industrial area of Manchester, Charles Rowley (1839–1933) witnessed what he saw as the degeneration of inner-city life in the second half of the nineteenth century. His family's picture-framing business, combined with his love of culture, brought him into contact with the ideas and personalities associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, notably William Morris. As a social reformer, Rowley was suspicious of organised charity and its tendency to patronise those it tried to support. Through a number of progressive initiatives, he laboured to bring art and culture to working people: the Ancoats Brotherhood, which organised lectures and reading groups, was among the many projects he fostered. First published in 1911, these well-illustrated memoirs present a thoughtful portrait of Rowley's experiences and enthusiasms, touching upon his interactions with such artists as Ford Madox Brown, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt.

1. The hungry forties
2. The fighting fifties
3. The maturing sixties
4. A municipal era
5. A municipal school of art
6. Frederic Shields
7. Ford Madox Brown
8. The Rossettis
9. William Morris
10. Holman Hunt
11. Prince Kropotkin and a group of refugees
12. Some friends at home
13. Friends abroad
14. Recreation in Ancoats
15. The brotherhood proper
16. An education committee
17. The round table
18. An amateur lecturer.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]