From Rhetoric to Reality : Life and Work of Frederick D'Aeth

This book tells the personal and political story of a previously uncelebrated man, whose interests and gifts contributed greatly to the transformation of social welfare in Britain in the early part of the twentieth century. In 1905 Frederic DOCOAeth, a disillusioned clergyman, came to Liverpool as the first paid lecturer in the newly formed School for Social Work Training, and went on to become the Director of Reports for the Liverpool Council for Voluntary Aid. Margaret Simey shows how, in this capacity, DOCOAeth achieved the near impossible task of co-ordinating the welter of diverse charitable organisations in the city and wider afield, through the pioneering use of outstanding social administration skills. Examining a crucial period of transition between Victorian philanthropism and the growing influence of the welfare state, Margaret Simey offers us a unique insight into the challenges of that period within a city undergoing turbulent change. She also gives a view of what could have been a well-coordinated and truly independent voluntary sector effort in the present day, built from the importance of active citizenship and existing as an essential balance to government provision."