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.
Labour history news

Save 1888 Matchgirl Strike leader Sarah Chapman’s grave

The family of Sarah Chapman, one of the leaders of the 1888 Matchgirls Strike in East London, have devised a petition to save her grave and install a fitting memorial. Graham Johnson, the husband of Chapman’s great-granddaughter, Sam, told the SSLH:‘[Chapman] was a leader in the Matchgirls Strike of 1888 in East London. After a few weeks on strike, 129 years ago on 17th July, she … Continue reading Save 1888 Matchgirl Strike leader Sarah Chapman’s grave

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SSLH news

SSLH to sponsor radical hero Henry Hunt at People’s History Museum

The Society for the Study of Labour History are set to sponsor a ‘Radical Hero’ in support of the People’s History Museum, Manchester. Opting for the radical orator and hero of the Peterloo Massacre, Henry Hunt, the Society will provide £3,000 towards the continued work of the ‘national museum of democracy’. The museum hopes to attract sponsors for ’100 Radical Heroes’ and lists many unsponsored … Continue reading SSLH to sponsor radical hero Henry Hunt at People’s History Museum

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Tom Millea on research into labour solidarity between Britain and Ireland in the Dublin lockout

As a result of the bursary awarded to me from the Society for the Study of Labour History, I was able to successfully conduct my research into the labour solidarity between Britain and Ireland during the Dublin Lockout of 1913. My research centred on the material on offer in the National Library of Ireland. For example, the William O’Brien Papers provided me with invaluable insight … Continue reading Tom Millea on research into labour solidarity between Britain and Ireland in the Dublin lockout

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Labour history news

HLF funding for Working Together

Working Together: recording and preserving the heritage of the workers’ co-operative movement Working Together, aims to identify and make accessible for the first time records from some of the major workers’ co-operatives of the time, together with co-operative support organisations. A trained archivist will be employed for a twelve month period to undertake the work of finding the material, and then in ensuring that where … Continue reading HLF funding for Working Together

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Joe Hopkinson (Huddersfield) on the bussing of Black and Asian pupils in the 1960s and 1970s

For an MA by research at the University of Huddersfield I submitted a portfolio of work from an oral history study of Commonwealth immigrant children in Huddersfield. The project focussed on immigrant children’s experiences of dispersal school bussing in the town. This was a policy where Black and Asian pupils were bussed away from the own district to schools that were almost entirely populated by … Continue reading Joe Hopkinson (Huddersfield) on the bussing of Black and Asian pupils in the 1960s and 1970s

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Marc Collinson (Bangor) on the Labour Party, post-war immigration and the politics of race

From the late 1950s, mass immigration had a major impact on British, predominantly urban, society. This caused problems for the Labour Party, not least because it claimed to represent a white working-class that often felt threatened and angered by immigration. Areas like the West Midlands, Merseyside and declining northern mill towns like Blackburn, Batley and Oldham saw racist agitation from an early date. These regions … Continue reading Marc Collinson (Bangor) on the Labour Party, post-war immigration and the politics of race

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Amy Cross (Central Lancashire) on Labour’s immigration policy in the 1960s

The political response towards Commonwealth immigration to Britain has been the subject of considerable historical debate. Initially, when the first Commonwealth Immigrants Act was introduced in 1962 the Labour Party opposed it believing restrictions to be both unnecessary and racially motivated. However, within a short period of time they had conceded the need for controls and went on to increase restrictions twice during their time … Continue reading Amy Cross (Central Lancashire) on Labour’s immigration policy in the 1960s

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Lewis Hayes visits Holyoake House to research the co-operative movement’s transnational links

As the location of the first Rochdalian co-operative store, Manchester has always been regarded as the co-operative movement’s heartland and its archives are no exception. Located at Holyoake House in central Manchester, the British Co-operative Union was exceptionally diligent in maintaining the movement’s enormous output of documentation. These archives contained a complete collection of papers retaining to its federal structures, individual societies and the work … Continue reading Lewis Hayes visits Holyoake House to research the co-operative movement’s transnational links

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Colm Murphy on researching Labour’s view of the 1980s ‘loony left’

Thanks to the generous support of the Society, I was able to visit the Labour History Archive and Study Centre, located at the People’s History Museum in Manchester. This trip was for my research into the Labour Party in the 1980s. I focus on the Labour leadership’s perceptions of the ‘loony left’ Labour councils, leading up to the 1987 election and Margaret Thatcher’s third victory. … Continue reading Colm Murphy on researching Labour’s view of the 1980s ‘loony left’

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Lara Green (Northumbria) on the international networks developed by Russian revolutionaries

My research focuses on transnational networks established by Russian revolutionaries who promoted terrorism in emigration between 1881 and 1915, looking at how they represented themselves in relation to contemporary debates about socialism, anarchism and terrorism abroad in their publications aimed at both English- and Russian-speaking audiences. Émigré communities played an important role in the Russian revolutionary movement from the second half of the nineteenth century … Continue reading Lara Green (Northumbria) on the international networks developed by Russian revolutionaries

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