In Search of the Bourgeoisie: Bob Morris and the Urban History of Class

Bob (or ‘R.J.) Morris was probably best known in academic circles for his histories of class and specifically the British middle class. This article traces his thinking about class in nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain from an early study of class consciousness to his later attempt to rework ideas about social structure and culture in a post-Weberian direction. A feature of this intellectual trajectory was the increasing importance of the city and urban place in the account of class formation, most evident in his work on Leeds. In the process Bob carved out a distinctive type of urban social history which has proved highly influential in historical studies of social structure not only in Britain but in Europe and beyond.