Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Srajit M Kumar (Heidelberg) on time and the working-class movement in 20th century North India

My dissertation focuses upon the various intersections between time and working-class politics through a study of the North Indian industrial city of Cawnpore (now Kanpur) in the early 20th century. I interpret time here in two ways. First, in its objective sense, as in its interpretation as linear time, represented through the ‘tyranny of clock time’. In other words, how time played a central role … Continue reading Srajit M Kumar (Heidelberg) on time and the working-class movement in 20th century North India

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Events

Call for papers: General Strike Exploration Day

Date – 9 May 2026Venue – People’s History MuseumAudience – Public audience and those with an interest in the working-class history, the labour movement and Manchester regional history May 2026 will mark the centenary of the General Strike when, for 9 days in May 1926, industrial production in Britain ground to a halt after trade unionists and workers tried unsuccessfully to force the government to … Continue reading Call for papers: General Strike Exploration Day

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Events

Votes for Women in Halifax and West Yorkshire

Writer and historian Jill Liddington is to talk at an event on ‘Votes for Women in Halifax and West Yorkshire’. The event takes place in the Albany Club, Hope Hall, Halifax, on the evening of Friday 20 February, and will include book signing opportunities. Tickets can be booked via Eventbrite here. Event details When Votes for Women campaigns swept the country, Yorkshire was no exception. … Continue reading Votes for Women in Halifax and West Yorkshire

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Micaela Panes (Cardiff) on Labour women’s political activism in south Wales and south-west England, c.1920s-1969.

My thesis explores the experiences of socialist women throughout south Wales and south-west England across a period of rapid political, social, and economic change (c.1920s-1969). Local histories of Labour Party politics have long demonstrated the importance of exploring the grassroots and have been vital in uncovering the role and experiences of women. While historians have covered substantial ground in this area, particularly when exploring interwar … Continue reading Micaela Panes (Cardiff) on Labour women’s political activism in south Wales and south-west England, c.1920s-1969.

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Books etc

Len Johnson, Manchester’s uncrowned boxing champion and communist

‘I am here  to meet all comers’: the story of Len Johnson, Manchester’s Uncrowned Boxing Champion and Communist, by Michael Herbert. ‘Anything that I have and anything that I am, I owe unconditionally to the booth. The booth with its work, its careful living and, above all, its frame of mind… I am here to meet all comers and all comers I must meet,’ so … Continue reading Len Johnson, Manchester’s uncrowned boxing champion and communist

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Books etc

All Chartists great and small: three new books

Three new books offer insights into the lives of Chartist activists. Feargus O’Connor: Repealer, Chartist, and icon of Plebian Melodrama, by Huw Griffiths (paperback, 330pp) is a meticulously researched and detailed new biography of the Chartist leader which seeks to appraise the life of ‘the most famous Irishman of his generation to remain all but forgotten and unheralded in his own country’, to deconstruct ‘the … Continue reading All Chartists great and small: three new books

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Events, SSLH news

John Halstead Memorial Lecture 2026

The fifth annual John Halstead Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Professor John Goodridge, President of the John Clare Society.  Organised by the Society for the Study of Labour History and taking place at the John Rylands Library, Manchester on Saturday 13 June 2026, the lecture will be titled ‘Reading by glow worm: the struggles of labouring-class poets’. All are welcome, but you must register … Continue reading John Halstead Memorial Lecture 2026

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Commentary

St George’s Plateau, Liverpool: a place in labour history

Concluding our series on places in labour history, Greg Billam takes us to St George’s Plateau, where crowds have gathered for more than a century for key social, political, and cultural episodes in the city’s history. As visitors arrive at Liverpool’s Lime Street Station, they are greeted by the large, open public space that is St George’s Plateau. The flat area between the hall and … Continue reading St George’s Plateau, Liverpool: a place in labour history

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Commentary

Miners’ Hall, Barnsley: a place in labour history

In our continuing series on places in labour history, Liz Wood introduces the headquarters building of the South Yorkshire Miners’ Association and its continuing importance now the coal industry has gone. It is impossible, even by night, to approach the town of Barnsley without seeing the inclined ramp of a surface drift mine or the pulley wheels of one of the larger deep collieries. For … Continue reading Miners’ Hall, Barnsley: a place in labour history

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