Registration for Chartism Day is now open. The event is coming to the University of Reading for the first time in its twenty-nine year history, taking place on Saturday, 7 September, and is open to all.
Register for Chartism Day 2024.
Professor Mike Sanders will deliver the keynote address on ‘Some passages in the Life of a (Tory) Radical?’. Charting the relationship between Benjamin Disraeli, the ideological leader of Young England, and Chartism, Professor Sanders will analyse the Northern Star’s initially favourable attitude towards the future prime minister, and its later hostility.
Stephen Hawksworth, whose ancestors were among those allocated land on a Chartist settlement, will speak on ‘The Hawksworth Family, Feargus O’Connor and Snig’s End’. And Huw Ryochi Davies will speak on ‘Liberty, Equality and Rights in the National Complete Suffrage Union’.
Chartism Day 2024 honours the work and interests of the Chartist historian Dorothy Thompson, marking the centenary of her birth in 1923. Addressing one of her key interests, in the role of women in Chartism, Dr Judy Cox will talk on ‘From “Hen Chartists” to “Lady Insurrectionists: Rethinking the Gender Politics of Chartism”. Professor Robert Poole explore the life of Peterloo veteran Mary Fildes. And two speakers, David Black and Sam Miller, will talk on aspects of the life and work of Helen MacFarlane.
In addition to a full speaker programme, the day will offer a silent auction of original artwork and other items donated by the graphic artist Polyp, whose new book COURAGE: Luddites, Peterloo, Chartists, Suffragettes will be on sale at the event. Among the highly desirable lots on offer will be a hand-drawn portrait of the Chartist William Cuffay which appears in the book. All proceeds from the auction will go towards the cost of this and future Chartism Day events.
The cost of registration is £15 (including the Eventbrite fee). To reserve your place, scan the QR code, or follow this link.
About Chartism Day
The annual Chartism Day Conferences were launched at the University of Birmingham in September 1995 by the renowned Chartist historian Dorothy Thompson (1923-2011). Apart from the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic, the conferences, which are endorsed by the Society for the Study of Labour History [SSLH], have been held in a variety of locations in England, Wales, Ireland and France every year since, bringing together established academics, postgraduate researchers and members of the public who all share a common interest in the history of the Chartist movement. As well as a strong contingent of labour historians, Chartism Day brings together a broad spectrum of academicsfrom the diverse fields of arts and humanities. It is this dynamic interchange between scholars working in an interdisciplinary environment that gives the event its distinctively friendly and productive character.
Read our reports on:
Chartism Day 2023
Chartism Day 2022
Society for the Study of Labour History 