Michael was born in the East end of Sheffield in 1936.
His father was a (C of E) Clergyman. During WWII the family moved to a parish
in Rotherham. Masborough was an industrial area (like Ancoats) where Michael attended
the local grammar school. After winning a scholarship he went to Oxford University.
On completion of his two years National Service in the Royal
Army Ordnance Corps, he studied modern history at Jesus College; Oxford then
two years research at Nuffield College, achieving his Ph.D. His research was
on the administration of the poor laws in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Michael has published many articles and three books on the
English poor relief system. More recently he has studied the settlement house
movement in both Great Britain and the USA. Interest in this subject led him
to the Ancoats Settlement, which was founded in Every Street Ancoats in 1895.
In partnership with Anne Woods he produced a short history of the settlement
for it’s centenary, called ‘Everything went on at the Roundhouse’
In 1962 he was appointed assistant lecturer in the department
of history at Manchester University and has remained there ever since (apart
from a break in the USA). He progressed to senior lecturer then Professor of
modern social history. He retired in 2001, but according to his wife, since
retirement; his activities have become even more time consuming.
From the early years in Manchester Michael has been very involved
with the work of the extra mural studies department and Workers Educational
Association, teaching history courses to groups of adult students, often during
evenings and weekends too. He finds these courses stimulating, as students talk
about experiences, not only their own, but those of parents and even grandparents.
These related facts enrich the textbooks of life.
Some of his (18+) year old undergraduate students were studying
the Victorian period. They had little or no knowledge of this great Victorian
City apart from the places they visit when out clubbing in the evenings. They
only see it through the Taxi window as they return home inebriated at 3am. As
a result he made it compulsory to walk around Victorian Manchester as part of
his course, taking in the University, Little Ireland, Little Italy, Ancoats
and the Rochdale canal. The trek may have left them exhausted but they now realise
that history isn’t only in books or on computer screens. It is all around
them.
Professor Rose now conducts historical walks around Manchester.
Although he isn’t a specialist, his interest in it has given him great
affection for the City. Michael Rose believes that “History is a shared
experience”.
Tom Connor
If you are interested on going on the Ancoats Walks Contact:
Ancoats Building Preservation Trust.
Telephone 0161 950 4299.
