This talk provides a history of children’s services in Cheshire from their creation under the 1948 Children Act until their abolition with the establishment of unified social services departments in 1970. Created to serve the best interests of the child, it explores the rise and fall of specialised social work practice for children in a local authority marked by extremes of poverty and affluence, divisions between urban and rural areas, reshaped by slum clearance and overspill from Liverpool and Manchester, and underlying tensions between elected politicians and senior officials. Using individual social work case files, local authority records, and central government reports and correspondence, this talk offers a perspective of social work with children and families during the height of the post-war welfare state.

Michael Lambert is Research Fellow and Director of Widening Participation at Lancaster University. He is a historian of the welfare state in twentieth-century Britain and its Empire, using sociological approaches to understand social and health policy-making and implementation, along with the impacts of these upon people, organisations, and society. His research uses qualitative and quantitative approaches, with considerable experience in using archival, documentary and organisation records, combined with elite and popular oral interviews. He has a particular interest in place, focusing upon Liverpool, Merseyside and the North West of England.

All are welcome to attend the in-person talks free of charge. Booking is encouraged for refreshment and seating purposes and in case there are any last-minute changes (contact details below). Please check the event listings for updates to the programme: www.chester.ac.uk/events (scroll down to see the individual events). Access to the Riverside Museum and event venues is via a flight of steps and lift/step access thereafter. For those with limited mobility, there is an accessible route and please pre-book to arrange this access.fhsc.histsoc@chester.ac.uk or 01244 512126