Author: gregorybillam

Documents & objects

Appeal for help locating a Peace Pledge Union poster

The Peace Museum is looking for help locating a historic poster originally printed by the Peace Pledge Union as part of their upcoming exhibition. The museum, which explores the history and untold stories of peacemakers, reform and peace movements, has issued an appeal to all who may have information about the poster. The museum hopes to acquire a copy so that they can permanently hold … Continue reading Appeal for help locating a Peace Pledge Union poster

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Labour history news

Rediscovered Peterloo ephemera digitised

Dr Janette Martin (John Rylands Library) has announced the rediscovery, cataloguing and digitisation of a large bound of newspapers, pamphlets and other materials related to the Peterloo Massacre. Historians of the labour movement will be delighted to hear that the University of Manchester has catalogued and digitised a large bound volume of Peterloo related newspapers, pamphlets, and other materials (1819-1822). This follows the exciting discovery … Continue reading Rediscovered Peterloo ephemera digitised

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MA & BA bursaries

Cian Ireland (University of York) on worker and trade union responses to deindustrialisation in Wales

Jim Tomlinson has argued that deindustrialisation was the ‘meta-narrative’ of post-war British history. In Wales, its historical economic reliance on extractive industries such as coal and slate saw their decline begin earlier in the twentieth century. Therefore, deindustrialisation has arguably been a ‘meta-narrative’ in Wales for decades longer. My dissertation looks at the history of worker and trade union responses to deindustrialisation in the south … Continue reading Cian Ireland (University of York) on worker and trade union responses to deindustrialisation in Wales

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Research bursaries

Yasmin Getirana (LSE) on domestic workers’ activism and Catholic internationalism in Cold War Latin America

The Young Christian Workers (Juventude Operária Católica/Juventud Obrera Católica, JOC) was founded by Belgian priest Joseph Cardijn in the 1920s, as a response to the perceived de-Christianisation and spread of communist and anarchist ideologies among the industrial working class in Europe. Rooted in Catholic Action and built around the ‘See-Judge-Act’ pedagogical method Cardijn developed, the JOC aimed for young workers to observe the conditions of … Continue reading Yasmin Getirana (LSE) on domestic workers’ activism and Catholic internationalism in Cold War Latin America

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MA & BA bursaries

Tomas Einion Holland (Bangor University) on relations between Irish and Welsh socialists during the Irish revolutionary period

My dissertation focuses upon relations between Welsh and Irish socialists during the Irish revolutionary period (1910s–1920s) with a focus on newspapers produced in South Wales. Analysing the social history of these nations outside the strict confines of the British state is a developing field of study. The study aims to better understand how each nation’s socialist movement interpreted, supported or, in other cases, hindered the … Continue reading Tomas Einion Holland (Bangor University) on relations between Irish and Welsh socialists during the Irish revolutionary period

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Events, Labour history news

Llafur 1926 centenary programme

Llafur, the Welsh People’s History Society, continues its summer series commemorating the centenary of the 1926 General Strike and seven-month lock-out. The final two sessions look at 1926 in archives, libraries, and collections, as well as the strike’s enduring legacy in the present. All online sessions are accessible to all and will be held via Zoom at the times shown below. Book your tickets here. … Continue reading Llafur 1926 centenary programme

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Rosa Lange (European University Institute) on self-organised labour in late colonial Accra

In March 2026, with the support of the Society for the Study of Labour History, I visited the National Archives in Kew. During this research trip, I collected material for the third chapter of my PhD project. In my research, I investigate urban labour struggles in late and post-colonial Accra, the capital of today’s Ghana (1930-1965). I explore how shifts in the colonial labour system … Continue reading Rosa Lange (European University Institute) on self-organised labour in late colonial Accra

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Events, Labour history news, SSLH news

Chartism Day 2026 Programme

The programme for Chartism Day 2026 is now live. What is Chartism Day? The 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 annual meetings, which are endorsed by the Society for the Study of Labour History [SSLH], have been held in a … Continue reading Chartism Day 2026 Programme

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Isaac Stephenson (Oxford) on the organisation and politics of gunworkers in England and Belgium, 1886-1914

The generosity of the Society for the Study of Labour History enabled me to conduct research in Belgium and the Netherlands for my MSt (Modern European History) dissertation exploring the impact of the Second Industrial Revolution (specifically, mechanisation) upon the organisation and politics of gunworkers during the fin-de-siècle. The global arms trade was highly political at the turn of the twentieth century (this is no … Continue reading Isaac Stephenson (Oxford) on the organisation and politics of gunworkers in England and Belgium, 1886-1914

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Events, Labour history news, SSLH news

Chartism Day 2026 Registration

Tickets for Chartism Day 2026 are now available. This year’s event takes place on Saturday 19 September at Friends Meeting House, Warwick, and is open to all. Among the topics covered in this year’s conference will be talks on: We will also be discussing the Chartist Lives of the radical vicar of Warwick, Rev Arthur Wade, and the Chartist missionary, John Mason. There will also … Continue reading Chartism Day 2026 Registration

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