Where are they now? University researchers hunt for the ‘Newson Children’ of 1950s Nottingham

Psychologists from the University of Nottingham are appealing for people to come forward who may have taken part in pioneering research into child development in the city of Nottingham from the 1950s to the 1970s.

In a new project called Growing Up in Nottingham – Then and Now, the experts from the School of Psychology are trying to trace children who were born in Nottingham between July 1957 and August 1961, or their parents, who may have taken part in interviews about domestic life in inner city Nottingham and attitudes to child-rearing.

They are asking if people who were born between these dates can remember their mothers being interviewed at home or remember being interviewed themselves – at home or at school – when they were teenagers by researchers from the University.

In 1958, Professors John and Elizabeth Newson set about collecting data on 700 children born across the city, from Bulwell to Clifton, Carlton to Wollaton, including many families living in poor conditions in St Ann's. They led a team of psychologists who interviewed mothers of 12-month-old babies and revisited them when the children were 4,7,11,16 and 19 years old. They gathered vast quantities of information on child-rearing practices and explored emotional and social aspects of the children’s lives as they developed.

The original questionnaires and identities of the families were destroyed for data protection purposes, but the statistical data, generated by the study survives and the research is also documented in a series of well-respected books on childrearing.

John and Elizabeth Newson founded the Child Development Research Unit at the University of Nottingham in 1967. Their work focused on childhood and child-rearing, with a particular interest in toys and learning through play, as well as the needs of children with conditions such as autism.

In his workshop, John Newson would make wooden toys which later became the inspiration for the famous Early Learning Centre educational toy shops.

Two University of Nottingham academics, who were themselves taught by the Newsons, are trying to trace the ‘Newson children' – who will now be in their early 60s – to find out what happened to them. Drs Claire Lawrence and Eamonn Ferguson would like to bring some of the families together for a special event at Broadway Cinema in Nottingham on Saturday 2nd of November 2019.

People who think they or their families were involved in the Newson’s research can contact either Eamonn Ferguson via eamonn.ferguson@nottingham.ac.uk or Claire Lawrence claire.lawrence@nottingham.ac.uk