"During the 1810s and 1820s, the Tory merchant and banker Richard Hart Davis rode high in Bristol electoral politics. Elected as one of the city's two MPs at a bye-election in 1812, he retained his seat at the general election of that year and at subsequent elections in 1818, 1820, 1826 and 1830". John Stevens looks at how Toryism was in the ascendancy, restricting the influence of Whiggism in Bristol.
Tag: nineteenth century
Imagining ‘Silbury and Parnassus the same’: Edward Drax and the Batheaston Vase Adventure
"Despite assuring readers of his Ancient History of Wiltshire in 1812 that, 'We speak facts not theories', the Stourhead antiquary Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1758-1838) found the facts about Silbury Hill hard to come by. 'This stupendous artificial mound of earth cannot fail to arrest the attention of every passenger from Marlborough to Bath,' he wrote. 'An attempt was made to open it some years ago by a Dorsetshire gentleman, Colonel Drax'... But who was Drax, and what was his interest in Silbury?"
‘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.
Builders of Victorian Bristol
"The phrase 'builders of Victorian Bristol' can be approached at different levels. It can refer to all those who contributed to the growth of the city in the widest sense, embracing its physical, economic, social, political and cultural development in the period 1837-1901". Peter Malpass investigates some important names and how they made a different to Bristol in the Victorian era.
As much afraid of truth as any people I ever met with’: a Nineteenth Century Mormon perspective of Bristolians
"At one time or another, most of us will have encountered Mormon missionaries, often young American men, on the streets of British cities. Few of us, perhaps, know very much about what they believe, or what they are doing here. In fact, Mormons have been spreading the word in Bristol for about 170 years now. But how popular were they when they first arrived? And what sort of people joined the Mormon church in the nineteenth century city? In this article, Chris Ralph goes in search of some answers."
“Our Zoo”: The Relationship between Bristol Zoo Gardens and its neighbours
"In 1835, a site of about twelve acres opposite the Durdham Downs was purchased with a view to opening zoological gardens... This article will look at how the situation of the Zoo in the affluent neighbourhood of Clifton has affected the development of its character over the years, how the Zoo has interacted with its neighbours, and the significance of the Zoo's walls in the delineating and enabling control over the space within them".
A History of the Cirencester Brewery, 1798-1949
'In March 1792, the Gloucester Journal advertised the forthcoming sale of 'one of the most complete breweries outside London'. Could this be the earliest known record of Cirencester's most important brewery - a business that would later become the biggest industrial complex in Cirencester and the largest employer in the town? The Brewery played a vital role in the regional economy until closure in 1949, but the date of its foundation is a little more difficult to place. With the Cirencester Brewery's own records dating rather uncertainly from 1798, Joyce Moss examines the evidence for its development'.
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.
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.