ABSTRACT
The pursuit of ‘improvement’ by adults in their leisure time was a minority activity but one which revealed clearly the different forms of solidarity and division which were developing within the class structures of Birmingham and Sheffield. A broad distinction may be made between two kinds of enterprise: associations of professional men, businessmen and gentlemen of leisure for the discussion of literary and scientific topics; and gatherings of ‘intelligent working men’ (and youths) seeking ‘mutual improvement’ through their own efforts or with the guidance of men associated with the former kind of enterprise. 1 In Birmingham the two categories of enterprise merged together between the mid-1840s and mid-1850s. In Sheffield, despite efforts to integrate the different kinds of enterprise during the same period very strong tendencies towards fission and segregation predominated.
