ABSTRACT
The provision of leisure facilities and cultural diffusion had become the concern of rich and powerful citizens. A small social group, these people formed an élite, able to exercise a high degree of influence on the city’s social life and institutions. As town councillors they moulded the municipal response to changing social conditions; as philanthropists and socio-religious workers, they led the ‘civilizing’ mission to the poor, the great voluntary effort by numerous agencies, to improve the social environment of the city. Who were these people? How did they exercise such power? To what extent did their social backgrounds influence their attitudes to the city? Is it possible to use the term ‘élite’ in the singular, since a large, well-established city like Bristol would be likely to produce a number of élites based on different economic, social and religious interest groups?
