Frederic D'Aeth
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Frederic George D'Aeth (1875 – 1940) was a British social administrator, lecturer and author of books on social matters, whose work particularly in
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
"played a key role in winning for the city its status as the flagship of social advance in the early twentieth century".


Early life and education

D'Aeth was born at 4, Hyde Side Terrace,
Edmonton, Middlesex Edmonton is a town in north London, England within the London Borough of Enfield, a local government district of Greater London. The northern part of the town is known as Lower Edmonton or Edmonton Green, and the southern part as Upper Edmonton ...
, the fourth of seven children of bank clerk Alfred D'Aeth and Elizabeth (née Gosling). The D'Aeths were of
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
origin (from
Ath Ath (; , ; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Arbre, Ath, Bouvignies, Ghislenghien, Gibecq, Houtaing, Irchonwelz, Isières ...
), having come to England to farm in
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
in the late eighteenth century. Educated at the
Mercers' School The Mercers' School was an independent school in the City of London, England, with a history going back at least to 1542, and perhaps much further. It was operated by the Worshipful Company of Mercers and was closed in 1959. History After the ...
, D'Aeth started work as a clerk at the National Assurance Company aged 15, where his apprenticeship allowed him to learn business administration and bookkeeping. He took up independent study with the goal of becoming a clergyman, subsequently attending
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
classes part-time, then, in 1896, went up to Oxford as a non-collegiate student at the same time as studying theology at
St Stephen's House St Stephen's House is an external theological college with observer status at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Church of England. From 2003 to 2023 it was a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford. The college typicall ...
.From Rhetoric to Reality: A Study of the Work of F.G. D'Aeth, Social Administrator, Margaret Simey, ed. David Bingham, Liverpool University Press, 2005, pp. 11-12 D'Aeth completed his Oxford studies in 1899, receiving a third-class BA in theology.


In holy orders

Having left Oxford, later that year D'Aeth was ordained a
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...
, and admitted in that role to
Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the c ...
, working also as
curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...
of St Matthew's Church,
Habergham Eaves Habergham Eaves is a civil parish in the borough of Burnley, in Lancashire, England. The parish consists of a rural area south of Burnley, and suburban areas on the outskirts of the town, including a large industrial estate in the north-west co ...
,
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
. He was ordained a priest in 1901. His experience of the hardships encountered by his parishioners and the local community led to his life-long commitment to the concept of community as central to social progress. In 1902, he was appointed curate of St Margaret's,
Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...
, in a poverty-stricken area of the East End of London. The duties of the clergy here primarily related to relief of poverty; D'Aeth was dismayed by the scale of the deprivation experienced by the local people. He described it as "a collection of streets and rows of houses... without cohesion, without name, without identity...".


Social administration and academia

By 1905, disillusioned by the church's attitude to poverty, D'Aeth (at the same time as his vicar) abandoned his clerical career, taking an appointment as junior lecturer at
Liverpool University The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University, it received Royal Charter by King Edward VII in 1903 attaining the de ...
. He was the first paid lecturer in the newly formed School for Social Work Training. D'Aeth was integral to the development of the School as a centre for training. In 1909, D'Aeth became Director of Reports for the Liverpool Council for Voluntary Aid, in which position he ably co-ordinated diverse charitable organisations both within Liverpool and farther afield, in "the pioneering use of outstanding social administration skills". His writings include ''Present Tendencies of Class Differentiation'' (1910), ''The Liverpool Social Worker's Handbook'' (1913), ''The Unit of Social Organisation in a Large Town'' (1914), and ''The Juvenile Adult Problem'' (1917).


Personal life

D'Aeth and his wife Margaret had two sons: Christopher John (1910–1931), who after
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and
Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...
(where he read chemistry) died of exposure during a snowstorm whilst serving as ornithologist on a ten-man expedition to the uninhabited island of Akpotek, beyond
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in the
Hudson Strait Hudson Strait () in Nunavut links the Atlantic Ocean and the Labrador Sea to Hudson Bay in Canada. This strait lies between Baffin Island and Nunavik, with its eastern entrance marked by Cape Chidley in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut ...
; and Andrew Maynard (b. 1913), who also attended Rugby and Balliol.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Aeth, Frederic George 1875 births 1940 deaths People educated at Mercers' School Alumni of King's College London Alumni of St Stephen's House, Oxford British social scientists British social sciences writers English people of Belgian descent People from Edmonton, London Writers from the London Borough of Enfield 20th-century Church of England clergy