In the spring of 1801, the county of Somerset was convulsed by some of the most severe and sustained food rioting ever experienced in the southwest region. Against a background of wildly spiralling prices in every basic commodity, large crowds toured the county’s mills,markets, baker's shops and farms demanding cheaper bread and forcing fair-price agreements on both producers and local magistrates. Steve Poole introduces a 200 year old letter recording tumultuous events in a small West Somerset village.
Tag: Somerset
Suffragette Photographs
As a small provincial city Bath is not the sort of place that historians would expect to find militant suffrage activity. And yet the city had a thriving branch of the militant group, the Women’s Social and Political Union. June Hannam looks at photographs of some of its integral members, and provides context relating to their activities and contribution to the cause.
Filming the History Trail: The Blathwayt Diaries and Suffragettes in Batheaston.
"When I was asked to take part in a television programme on the Blathwayt family of Batheaston and their involvement in the suffragette movement I had no idea how much work this would entail. First of all I had to think differently about how to get their story across in a visual medium, in a way that would capture the attention of non history specialists but at the same time make some valid points about researching suffrage history".
Cheese Schools and Cider Classes: the Development of Agricultural Education in Somerset
During the late nineteenth century a quiet revolution was going on in the teaching of agriculture. Growing foreign competition along with economic depression in the agricultural sector, and the increasing demands of an urban population for more standard, high quality food products, all contributed to the development of a more scientific approach to farming. Agricultural societies, prominent individuals from the fanning world, and latterly the state, came to see the promotion of better education as a way of helping a struggling agricultural sector. In this article, Janet Tall provides just one example of an educational movement which was sweeping across the country, and the impact it had on rural Somerset.