‘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.

‘Natural Fire’ and the Idyls of Labour: a socialist poet in nineteenth Century Bristol

By Gerrard Sables Issue 17, Summer, 2007 pp. 35-38. Devon-born poet and bootmaker, John Greggory, was a beloved member of the socialist community in Bristol. In this article, Gerrard Stables follows the story of Greggory’s life and traces his connections to the Chartist, Socialist and Trade Unionist movements of Bristol. Throughout his life, Greggory’s poetry evolved and naturally became evermore connected to the social causes which he fought for.  17 - Gerrard Sables:… Continue reading ‘Natural Fire’ and the Idyls of Labour: a socialist poet in nineteenth Century Bristol

Sites of memory and neglect: John Thelwall and the art of dying quietly

'The burial fields around St Swithin's Church at the top of Walcot in Bath contain some pretty impressive mortal remains. There's Fanny Burney for instance, and Jane Austen's dad. And Sir Edward Berry, one of Nelson's captain's, a veteran of the Nile and Trafalgar. These three eminent visitors to Bath all have more in common than approximation in death however, for their monuments are also the subject of expensive recent face-lifts'.