Port Sunlight Model Village: Representative of Late Victorian and Early Edwardian Values and Ideals Regarding ‘Self-Improvement’ and Health and Welfare?

During late nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain, there were increasing developments in the ideals of education, ‘self-improvement’, and health and welfare. This dissertation will look at how these developments can be shown through the example of the model village of Port Sunlight, created by the industrialist William Lever for the workers at his nearby soap factory. Whilst modern studies on these themes have often considered them individually, this dissertation will consider the views of William Lever alongside the developing opinions on these themes during the period and will argue that Lever’s views did run parallel to them. This will be done by examining Lever’s perspective on education, social control, and health and welfare, alongside the developing contemporary views. Port Sunlight’s influence in the early twentieth century town planning movement will also be reviewed. This dissertation will argue that Port Sunlight represented a microcosm of the new social ideals becoming apparent in society, which will be shown through the consideration of evidence of how these ideals were implemented within the village itself and therefore became influential in his workers’ everyday lives. The idea of whether Port Sunlight was considered an ‘exceptional’ example of these ideals will also be evaluated.