Author: EditorMC

I am a former journalist by trade, turned labour and family historian with a special interest in Chartism. I launched the Chartist Ancestors website since 2003, and am currently a member of the Society for the Study of Labour History executive committee, managing its website and social media in my free time.
Events, Grants

E.P. Thompson at 100: Halifax event, 3 February 2024

On Saturday 3 February 2024, historian and political activist Edward Palmer Thompson would have turned 100 – had he not passed away in 1993. Meanwhile, the year 2023 also marked the 60th anniversary of the publication of Thompson’s magnum opus, The Making of the English Working Class, commemorated by a set of essays broadcast on Radio Three. The responses to the Radio Three essays demonstrates that there is still … Continue reading E.P. Thompson at 100: Halifax event, 3 February 2024

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Notes & queries

Researching an oral history of the New Left

Do you have memories of the New Left? Andrew Whitehead would like to hear from you. The New Left was a strand in British radicalism which distanced itself from both Stalinism and social democracy and proved to be an enduring and influential part of the left. It emerged in 1956, the year of Khruschev’s ‘secret’ speech denouncing Stalin’s cult of personality, as well as of the … Continue reading Researching an oral history of the New Left

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Labour history news

Ten labour history anniversaries in 2024

The American historian William M Johnston talked in his book Celebrations about a ‘cult’ of anniversaries. And he noted how they provide an opportunity – or excuse – to mark the passage of time in ways that help communities to build and sustain a sense of identity. For many in the labour movement, there could be no bigger anniversary in 2024 than the centenary of … Continue reading Ten labour history anniversaries in 2024

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Labour History Review

Labour History Review Volume 88 (2023), issue 3

Labour History Review Volume 88 (2023), Issue 3 has now been published. The journal appears both in hard copy and online formats. Through here role as Chief Woman Officer, Marion Phillips was already a significant figure in the Labour Party when she became Sunderland’s first female MP in 1929. In this issue of Labour History Review, Sarah Hellawell argues that Phillips’ relatively brief time as … Continue reading Labour History Review Volume 88 (2023), issue 3

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Labour History Review

How British was Larkinism? Big Jim Larkin and the British Labour Movement, 1907–1914

Author: Emmet O’ConnorThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2023), 88, (3), 199-219. Read more. Born in Liverpool in 1874, Big Jim Larkin always insisted that he was Irish. No historian has ever challenged him on the claim, or seen him as anything other than a uniquely Irish figure. And yet there was a British dimension to Larkin’s outlook. Liverpool gave him a … Continue reading How British was Larkinism? Big Jim Larkin and the British Labour Movement, 1907–1914

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Labour History Review

‘Sunderland Has Lost a Figure That Will Go Down in History’: Marion Phillips in the North East of England, 1923–1932

Author: Sarah HellawellThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2023), 88, (3), 221-243. Read more. Selected as the Labour Party’s chief woman officer in 1918, Dr Marion Phillips played a prominent role in the British labour women’s movement before, during and after the Great War. However, her brief stint as Labour MP for Sunderland between 1929 and 1931 has not attracted the same … Continue reading ‘Sunderland Has Lost a Figure That Will Go Down in History’: Marion Phillips in the North East of England, 1923–1932

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Labour History Review

Of Red Flags and Red Dragons: Welsh Labour History in Retrospect and Prospect

Author: Martin WrightThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2023), 88, (3), 245-272. Read more. Welsh labour historiography has been dominated by the history of the south Wales miners, with the north Wales quarrymen occupying second place, and other groups of workers having received less attention. This is partly due to the dominant assumptions of labour historians which are tied up with ideas … Continue reading Of Red Flags and Red Dragons: Welsh Labour History in Retrospect and Prospect

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Labour History Review

Obituary: Dick Geary (1945–2021)

Author: Chris WrigleyThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2023), 88, (3), 273-278. Read more. Richard John Geary was born in Leicester on 17 December 1945. He was a historian of international reputation. He spent much time in Germany, Australia, and Brazil. ‘Dick Geary legend – once met, never forgotten’, as Ian Kershaw put it at the start of his oration at Dick’s … Continue reading Obituary: Dick Geary (1945–2021)

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Labour History Review

Book reviews in Labour History Review Volume 88 (2023), Issue 3

The books listed below are reviewed in Labour History Review (2023), 88, (3), 279-293. Read more. Hester Barron reviews Agnes Arnold-Forster and Alison Moulds (eds), Feelings and Work in Modern History: Emotional Labour and Emotions about Labour, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022, pp. xii + 265, h/b, £85, ISBN 978 13501 97183 Micaela Panes reviews Daryl Leeworthy, Causes in Common: Welsh Women and the Struggle for Social Democracy, Cardiff: University of Wales … Continue reading Book reviews in Labour History Review Volume 88 (2023), Issue 3

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