My great-grandfather was known by everyone as Frank Elsden, although his birth name was Frederick, who moved to Spalding as a “man from the Pru” – an insurance agent for the Prudential Assurance Company in 1932, with his wife Ada and his son Cyril Frank Elsden. As such his was a story of social mobility from working class to middle class.
ASPIRATION is the most misused and abused term when referring to working class people. Here is the problem of our time in that we have a university educated class that see the world through their values, standards and experiences in a very narrow view. This dominates in politics and business to the detriment of all in an age where stepping stones of social mobility are being removed.
