Six Penn’orth of Hope: Gambling and the Rowntree Trusts

Speaker: Sue Mendus

In 1911, the Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust was publicly denounced as a ‘moral cesspool of cant and hypocrisy’. The catalyst? It was alleged that newspapers owned by the Trust published prophecies (horse racing tips) which critics argued encouraged gambling – a significant contributor to poverty and deprivation.

Using material from the Trust’s archive, Sue Mendus of the University of York asks why the Trust allowed prophecies to be published in its newspapers - and how the Trust responded to the virulent attacks led by the Spectator and the prominent Quaker, Sir Edward Fry.

Image credit: Borthwick Institute for Archives

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