Toynbee Hall Records, 28 Commercial Street, London, E1

Toynbee Hall was founded by the Revd. Samuel Barnett, later Canon Barnett, in 1884. It was named after Arnold Toynbee the social philosopher and economist, who had died the previous year. Although the idea that those studying poverty and unemployment should live among the poorer classes was not new, Toynbee Hall was innovatory because the students lived together'in a fellowship like that of a college' (Preface to Toynbee Hall by J. A. R. Pimlott). This 'University Settlement' was the first of its kind in the world and the model for many others both in Great Britain and abroad.

Toynbee Hall Records, 28 Commercial Street, London, E1