History of youth work History of youth work The history of youth work goes back to the birth of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, which was the first time that young men left their own homes and cottage industries to migrate to the big towns. The result of this migration was an emergent youth culture in urban areas, which was responded to by the efforts of local people. In 1844 the first organisation whose sole aim was to address the needs of young men was founded. The YMCA was set up by George Williams. Williams was from London and his goal was
London Stone although London Stone was mentioned about 100 years before Henry's time, and the Fitz-Ailwin house was some distance from the Stone on the other side of St Swithin's church. In 1890 the folklorist and London historian George Laurence Gomme proposed that London Stone was the city's original "fetish stone", erected when the first prehistoric settlement was founded on the site and treated as sacred ever after. Later, folklorist Lewis Spence combined this theory with Richard Williams Morgan's story of the "Stone of Brutus" to speculate about the pre-Roman origins of London in his book "Legendary London" (1937). By the 1960s,