Leisure and entertainment in Victorian and Edwardian Oxford

In the mid 19th century changes in employment practices and rising real wages meant that ordinary working people found themselves, usually for the first time, with leisure time and with spare money to spend on recreation. All sorts of establishments arose to fulfil the new demand for entertainment, many of them aimed at keeping people out of the pub. This talk by local historian Liz Woolley describes where and how Oxford citizens spent their free time, and how the middle classes attempted to impose ‘rational recreation’ on their working-class contemporaries. And, in keeping with the subject matter, please note that the bar at the Community Centre will be open from 6pm!

Host or Publisher Oxford Civic Society