"I am a figurative painter whose work is rooted in drawing (both literally and metaphorically) from the world around me. After many years spent coming to terms with the purposelessness of my art practice, I have found that other people are beginning to find a purpose in what I do. This article will explore whether my artist's perception of place, expressed through the indeterminate medium of drawing, can find some purpose by making a contribution to historical research".
Tag: Bath
‘A Larger Loaf for Less Money’: the ‘Chartist Riot’ at Devizes on Easter Monday, 1839
"The People's Charter developed and published by the London Working Men's Association on 6 May 1838 represented an attempt to change the political system of Britain". Rob Cumming looks at the state of play in Wiltshire ahead of the 'Chartist Riot' in Devizes, taking into the Chartist goals in the region and how their goals were viewed across the country and in government.
Marketing the Poor: Gainsborough and the Circulation of Provisions in Bath
'The Georgian painter, Thomas Gainsborough, spent some of the most productive years of his career making portraits and landscapes from a base in the city of Bath'. Inspired by the 2012 exhibition at the Holburne Museum curated by Susan Sloman, Steve Poole looks at this shift in Gainsborough's focus and how this changed the presentation of the poor.
The Upper Assembly Rooms at Bath in the 1770s: Private Property or Public Amenity?
"A major investment opportunity arose at Bath in late 1768 with the announcement of a project to build a fresh suite of assembly rooms among the terraces and crescents of rapidly expanding Lansdown". Fawcett examines the details of their construction, as well as their use by various societies and individuals.
Farming Practices on the Lands of Bath Abbey and Hinton Charterhouse Priory during the Sixteenth Century
"The scramble among the aristocracy, gentry and merchants to obtain and keep some of the stream of former monastic property which became available after the dissolution of 1536-40 led to numerous legal disputes. They have left a rich store of evidence concerning the monastic estates and the purposes for which they were used". Bettey looks at how farming practices shaped local industry in the region, and how it shaped the region.
The Origins of the Royal Bath & West Society and its Trial Grounds
The Royal Bath & West Society, as it is now known, has its origin in a society founded in the City of Bath in 1777 'for the encouragement and improvement of agriculture, arts, manufactures and commerce'. The founder, Edmund Rack, was soon appointed Secretary and the 1inch pin of the group. He vigorously conducted a wide range of correspondence and guided a programme of field experiments and prizes and rewards for improvements in agriculture and related practices. In this essay, Owen Ward uncovers the story of one of the Society's more 'spirited' and ambitious plans.
Urban Oligarchy, Conflict and Concealment: Religion, Politics and Society in late 16th-Century Bath
The Reformation of English towns has provided an attractive field of research for scholars in recent decades, yet Bath’s Tudor experience has been persistently overlooked. In the late sixteenth century two events disturbed the religious and social equilibrium of the city: the attempted amalgamation of the inner-city parishes, and an inquisition into alleged concealed lands. These events had profound immediate and long-term social, political and religious repercussions. In this article, Emma Corker highlights the significance of these events, which have often been overlooked by those interested in Reformation history.
History or just story-telling?
In 2007, local author John Payne published his own account of 'the rise and fall of a Bath company', a personal history of the city's engineering firm, Stothert and Pitt. We reviewed the book in RH18 and invited John to reflect upon the process of writing 'industrial history' or 'business history' as 'community history'. For, as he suggests here, there would seem a world of difference between most academic accounts of commercial change, and the sort of approaches taken to the subject by people for whom working for the firm had been formative. What is the relative value, he wonders, of personal histories of the workplace?
‘It is past the art of man to find us out’: anti-Catholicism and the ‘Bristol Firemen’ in 1730
‘Shortly after midnight on 3rd October 1730, a series of brilliant 'fire balls' or hand-made grenades were seen arching through the air on St Augustine's Back, Bristol, and over the back wall of George Packer's large and opulent mansion house. There was 'a noise like the report of several guns', followed by quickly spreading flames. Within minutes, the merchant's home was ablaze, his household in full flight, and it was only a favourable wind that prevented the flames spreading to nearby warehouses and the dense flotilla of wooden ships crowding the adjacent quay.’ In this article, Steve Poole uncovers a story of organised extortion by arson at Bristol, and the ethnic and religious prejudices which it exposed.
A Brush with the Ancien Regime: French Courtiers at Bath in 1787
In the eighteenth century, the Spa town of Bath was bustling with gentry who came to buy luxury goods and specialist services; but until the 1780s, very few of these visitors had been French. In this article, Trevor Fawcett follows the story of the French Courtiers at Bath in 1787, and their connection to a scandal involving Mary Antoinette on the eve of the French Revolution.