ABSTRACT
The formal networks that had the greatest impact on trust were those that had philanthropic, religious and educational goals. All affected the middle and working classes, but to different degrees and in dissimilar ways. Although congregations contained both classes, with perhaps a bias towards the gentry, philanthropic groups were almost wholly middle class, though, through their actions, they generated inter-class bonds and sought to raise working-class trust. Likewise, at the start of the nineteenth century, the middle classes derived relatively more trust from education. As the century progressed, however, the expansion in the number of day and Sunday schools ensured that the offspring of the poor also derived at least some of the trust benefits on offer.
