The spring and summer of 1981 saw one of the most widespread and intense periods of 'widespread urban disturbance' in England in the 20th century. During the week of 6-13th July 1981 patterns of the disturbance diffusion emerge suggesting that major 'riots' in inner city areas of mixed ethnicity created numerous further incidents in other ethnically homogeneous districts, sometimes considerably distant from the original 'flash-point'. Ball investigates two examples two examples of Bristol-based unrest which shook the South-West.
Year: 2010
Engineering Work, Politics and Industrial Relations
The research discussed in this article is about 'work, society, and politics with a focus on engineering from the mid-1920s to the mid-1970s. Its starting point is earlier research on the 'labour process' specifically the influence of Taylorism and 'scientific management' in Britain. The broader aim is now to connect what Burawoy called 'the politics of production' with the politics of the wider society. It also deals with some integral research questions and key themes'.
Critical Views of G. E. Street’s Proposals for the Rebuilding of the Nave of Bristol Cathedral 1867
'The restored nave of Bristol Cathedral was designed by George Edmund Street and has generally been regarded as an highly successful attempt to follow, without slavishly copying, the remarkably inventive architecture of the 14th-century chancel. Street was appointed as the architect of the proposed new nave'. In this, Bettey and Warren look at how those involved raised the funding, and the details surrounding its completion and its function as a place of worship was resumed.
Clergy Discipline in the Diocese of Exeter: Two Diverse Cases from the Files of the Consistory Court
In this article, Michael Weller looks at two contrasting cases from the Consistory Court, showing the variety of disciplinary cases which occurred in the Diocese of Exeter in the 19th Century. It explores the proceedings that were taken in reaction to individual disciplinary cases, and what punishment befell those who broke the rules.
Palm Oil and Elephant Tusks: The Merchant Kings of Bristol
'Over the years of the slave trade Bristol's merchants learned the best combination of 'sortings' to facilitate their business in the West Indies. It was an eclectic, international collection of trade goods containing, for instance Maldive cowries, Manchester cottons, Birmingham guns, Swedish iron bars, Bristol copper and glassware, West Indian rum, Virginian tobacco and South Gloucestershire felt hats. The goods were used as customs duties and homage for the coastal kings, 'dash' payments for African middlemen, and barter for slaves'.
The Feast of the Not So Innocents: A Christmas Story
In a tale of Christmas anarchy, John Chandler follows the aftermath of a fatal altercation between a vicar, and one of the canon's servants in the house of choristers. The article considers the changes made to how different sections of the church interact, as well as how disputes are settled when things get out of control.
The Bristol General Election of 1830
The General Election which followed the death of King George IV in June 1830 is generally remembered in Bristol as a contest between the two Whig candidates over slavery. There were, however, two other candidates. One of them scored the greatest political triumph of his career; the other mustered barely two dozen votes. John Stevens tells the story of these Bristol electorates and their political campaigns.
Topographical Prints and the Image of Bristol: 1995-1860
From the time when urbanisation was first recognised as a radical and permanent phenomenon, debates and questions surrounding the physical, political, and social consequences of urban and industrial development accompanied every topographical modification; urban migration, expansion, and the industrialisation of the landscape became the object of popular scrutiny. Throughout the 19th century, commentators continued to compile both historic and prophetic accounts of rapidly evolving conurbations in an attempt to comprehend the future of these sites and their implications for the British nation and empire. In this article, Katy Layton Jones examines some of the ways in which engraved images of Bristol produced during the first half of the 19th century were informed by, and in turn informed, changing attitudes to that city and to urbanisation in general.
Mayors, Serjeants and Constables: The Politics of Everyday Life in Urban Tudor England
The urban elites of provincial 15th and 16th-century English towns and cities have been widely researched by scholars. The mayors, aldermen, common councillors and other elite civic office-holders of such towns, it has been argued, held near omnipotent political power. Indeed, it is often acknowledged that the period from the late 15th through to the mid-16th centuries witnessed growing oligarchic government in many more towns and cities, in the process handing greater political control to smaller numbers of civic elites. In emphasising the political power of these elites, however, there is the danger that our perceptions of 16th-century urban governments and urban politics have become rather uncritical. In this article, James Lee recovers the political activity of a variety of lesser civic officials in Tudor Bristol, first considering the constitutional frameworks in which such officials operated, before examining what kind of political authority such individuals were capable of exercising.
Early Records of the Church Court in Bristol
The Consistory Court was established in Bristol following the creation of the bishopric and diocese in 1542. Previously the Bristol parishes north of the river Avon had been part of the diocese of Worcester, while the parishes south of the river were in the diocese of Bath and Wells. In this article, Joseph Bettey explores a neglected source for local history and genealogy in Bristol and the surrounding area: the records of the Church or Consistory Court. Proceedings of the court, including statements by witnesses, were recorded in detail, and 45 Cause Books survive starting in 1545, as well as numerous bundles of Cause Papers from 1600.Ecclesiastical jurisdiction dealt with many aspects of daily life, including disputes over wills, marriage and inheritance, offences such as heresy, immorality, drunkenness and slander, failure to attend church and misdemeanours of the clergy.