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Social History of Medicine 1993 6(1):25-50; doi:10.1093/shm/6.1.25
© 1993 by Society for the Social History of Medicine
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A Pioneer in Infant Welfare: the Huddersfield Scheme 1903–19201

HILARY MARLAND*

*Institute of Medical History, Erasmus University Rotterdam Postbox 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands

SUMMARY While the infant welfare movement and its consequences have been wellcovered by social and demographic historians, little attention has been paid to the development of programmes at a local level. Yet it was at the municipal level that most initiatives emerged prior to the passing of the Maternity and Child Welfare Act of 1918. Huddersfield is recognized as a pioneer of infant welfare provision, having initiated a comprehensive system of notification of births and health visiting in the first decade of this century. The authors of the Huddersfield Scheme, Benjamine Broadbent, Chairman of the Health Commitee, and Dr S. G. H. Moore, the town's Medical Officer of health, become leaders of the infant welfare movement. This article explores how and why interest in infant life-saving developed in Huddersfield indicating how local concerns, conditions and personalities shaped the form the Huddersfield Scheme took. It considers why the solutions of notification and visiting, proved so enduring, despite their failure to influence mortality rates.

Keywords: infant welfare; Huddersfield; early twentieth century; visiting; notification of births; maternalism; local government; women health visitors

1 The research for this article was completed with the support of an ESRC post-doctoral award, held at the Wellcome unit, Oxford. I would like to thank Dr Richard Smith, Lara Marks and the two anonymous referees for their comments on an earlier version of this paper, and the staff of the Kirkless Central Library and Archive Service for their assistance with material.


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A. H. Ferguson, L. T. Weaver, and M. Nicolson
The Glasgow Corporation Milk Depot 1904-1910 and its Role in Infant Welfare: An End or a Means?
Soc Hist Med, December 1, 2006; 19(3): 443 - 460.
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