Members and supporters of the Society for the Study of Labour History are invited to the launch of Shout for Freedom: A Sonic History of Chartism and the Origins of British Democracy, a new book by Dr David Kennerley. From the clank of machinery to the beauty of birdsong, the tramp of marching feet to the exhilaration of a dance, the cheering of crowds to … Continue reading Book Launch: Shout for Freedom – the sound of Chartism
An important social history resource, based on extensive oral history interviews with former national servicemen, is now available through the Data Archive Service. Professor Peter Gurney has deposited a significant catalogue of life story transcripts with the Data Archive Service, University of Essex. Funded by the Leverhulme Trust, the oral history interviews with (mainly working-class) ex-national servicemen formed the basis of his recent book on … Continue reading Ex-national servicemen: oral history interview data available now
This year has seen a flurry of events, broadcasts, and publications marking the centenary of the 1926 General Strike. Amongst all the books and articles published, one powerful account of 1926 is in danger of being overlooked or forgotten. Mike Mecham recounts Idris Davies’s ‘The Angry Summer: a poem of 1926’. I was introduced to Idris Davies, like many others I suspect, by the American … Continue reading Idris Davies: the ‘Angry Summer of 1926’
Do you have information on the mining explosion at the Mapole Colliery, in Abram, Wigan in August 1908? Tish Gibbons would like to hear from you. Tish is researching the Irish men killed in the mining explosion at the Maypole Colliery, in Abram, Wigan on the 18 August 1908. Newspaper coverage at the time suggested that 18 were Irish, and 13 from County Mayo alone. … Continue reading Seeking information on the mining explosion at Maypole Colliery, Wigan (1908)
The play, ‘Wor Bella’, which details the story of working class women footballers and munitionettes during the First World War, is to tour the North East, including a cameo from former England footballer, and Newcastle-born, Alan Shearer. Written by Ed Waugh and produced by Wisecrack Productions, the team behind Hadaway Harry, Mr Corvan’s Music Hall, The Great Joe Wilson, Wor Bella, and The Cramlington Train Wreckers, Wor Bella is an one-woman … Continue reading ‘Wor Bella’: Football, working class women and the First World War
‘The Gang of Three’: Roy Jenkins, Denis Healey, Tony Crosland: three brilliant friends, three bitter rivals – and all three convinced they should lead the Labour Party. Now, an acclaimed drama, and available for booking on a national tour. Labour historians might be all too familiar with the intricate details, machinations, and history of the three leading Labour Party figures – Roy Jenkins, Denis Healey, … Continue reading Jenkins, Healey, and Crosland: ‘The Gang of Three’ on stage
Michael Herbert (Red Flag Walks) has announced an eight week course covering the history of radical women in Britain between 1819 and 1918. The course will run online via Zoom each Sunday for eight weeks at 2:00pm, beginning on Sunday 11 October and ending on Sunday 29 November. The course will cover the following themes: Female Reform Societies and the 1819 Peterloo Massacre: In the … Continue reading Online series: Radical Women, 1819 to 1928
Some fifty delegates crowded into the seventeenth-century Friends Meeting House at Warwick on Saturday 19 September for Chartism Day 2026 to hear speakers range across the history and historiography of the Chartist movement. Mark Crail reports. Apart from a two-year hiatus during covid, the event has been held annually since September 1995 when, under the guidance of the renowned Chartist historian Dorothy Thompson, the first … Continue reading Chartism Day 2026: conference report
A late-nineteenth century labour journal once described as ‘the most flourishing organ of the labour movement in the whole country’, has recently been digitised by the British Newspaper Archive. The Bradford Labour Union was a forerunner of the Independent Labour Party, and later the Labour Party. Its organ, The Labour Union Journal, was first published on 26 May 1892. After the Manningham Mills strike in … Continue reading Digitised and online: the Labour Union Journal
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
