Page 108 - Just another English family (Sep 2019)

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The general context of the fifty years, 1911 to 1960
George V had come to the throne in 1910 and his death in January 1936 after a brief illness led to a serious constitutional crisis which eventually led to the abdication of the new king, Edward VIII. His brother, George VI, became king until his death in 1952 which, in turn, led to his daughter, Elizabeth II, becoming Queen of England. Little of this directly affected the monarch’s subjects who were more concerned during this period about two World Wars – the Great War (1914-1918) and the Second World War (1939-1945) – industrial conflict and the general strike in the 1920s and a serious economic depression in the 1930s. Whereas in the late Victorian period a servant or two in the house would pinpoint a social divide, consumer goods, such as the motor car, would soon identify class differences in the first half of the twentieth century. Despite harsh times, leisure pursuits, such as cinema going and dancing at the dancehalls which had sprung up, were being enjoyed by many.
Regional differences were becoming much more apparent as heavy industries in the north of England began to decline. After both World Wars, there were high hopes of social and economic change. This was effected more after the Second rather than the First World War. A plan for universal social security, worked out by Sir William Beveridge during the war, provided inspiration for protection against the past evils of abject poverty and mass unemployment. Other projects were considered and some implemented. The Education Act of 1944 raised the school- leaving age to 15 (this came into force in 1947). Secondary education of three types – grammar, technical, and modern – was to be free, without means test. There was scope for the brightest children to be educated, including at university, with support from state grants.
The post-war Labour government took social reform further with the introduction of 104