The Webbs

The Webbs were Victorian socialist activists, leaders of the Fabian Society and the British Labour Party and founder of the London School of Economics.   Although less in public eye than Sidney Webb, Beatrice Potter was nonetheless heavily active in the actual conduct of their policies. In her Minority Report to the 1909 Commission on the Poor Laws, Potter conjured up one of the first charters for a comprehensive social security scheme (i.e. state pensions) and a wider welfare state that was to emerge later in Europe and North America. She was also the aim of Edgeworth's one and only attempt at courtship (the "tiresome little professor", as she called him, got nowhere).

Details on the activities of Sidney Webb and Beatrice Potter Webb are found on the page on the Fabian Socialists.

Major Works of Sidney Webb and Beatrice Potter Webb

• Sidney James Webb, 1859-1947
  • Facts for Socialists, 1887.
  • Problems of Modern Industry, 1898.
  • The Restoration of Trade Union Conditions, 1917. 
  • Grants in Aid: A Criticism and a Proposal, 1911.
  • Seasonal Trades, with A. Freeman, 1912

• Beatrice Potter Webb, 1858-1943
  • Cooperative Movement in Great Britain, 1891.
  • Wages of Men and Women: Should they be equal?, 1919.
  • My Apprenticeship, 1926.
  • Our Partnership, 1948.

• Sidney Webb and Beatrice Potter (as co-authors):
  • History of Trade Unionism, 1894.
  • Industrial Democracy, 1897 (2 vols).
  • English Local Government, 1906-29 (10 vols)
  • The Manor and the Borough, 1908.
  • The Break-Up of the Poor Law, 1909.
  • English Poor-Law Policy, 1910.
  • The Cooperative Movement, 1914.
  • Works Manager Today, 1917.
  • The Consumer's Cooperative Movement, 1921.
  • Decay of Capitalist Civilization, 1923.
  • Methods of Social Study, 1932.
  • Soviet Communism: A new civilization?, 1935.

Resources on the Webbs

• HET Pages: the Fabian Socialists
• Sidney and Beatrice Webb at the L.S.E. History
• "Review of  B. and S. Webb's English Poor Law Policy" by Jeffrey R. Brackett, 1911, AER 
• "Review of S. Webb's Grants in Aid: A Criticism and a Proposal" by  Jeffrey R. Brackett, 1912, AER
• "Review of S. Webb and A. Freeman's Seasonal Trades" by Susan M. Kingsbury, 1913, AER
• "Review of S. Webb's Restoration of Trade Union Conditions" by G.E.B., 1918, AER
• "Review of the S. and B. Webb's History of Trade Unionism", by John R. Commons, 1920, AER 
• "The Webbs' Constitution for the Socialist Commonwealth", by John R. Commons, 1921, AER