ABSTRACT
The chapter evaluates the work of the Charity Organisation Society (COS). It was formed partly at government behest but also drew on Christian socialism – in opposition to utilitarianism. In doctrine it adhered to the conviction that poverty was the consequence of a person’s character and lack of personal responsibility. Two cases from files in the London Metropolitan Archives are discussed in detail – the Bryant an Manley families. They provide a window on how voluntary social work in the 1890s and early 20th century was carried out – where it sensitively dealt with individuals and where it did not. On matters of policy the COS opposed free school meals or “penny dinners” for impoverished families, at least as announced by its principal theorists. But to its credit the COS was committed to fact-finding even if it drew what we would consider to be the wrong conclusions. In day to day practice COS visitors at times would take humane decisions at variance with COS rules.
