From Luddites to Suffragettes: a graphic tale of the fight for the vote

A crowdfunded graphic novel on the ‘raw, intense and often shockingly violent’ fight for the right to vote has hit its funding target within a matter of days of going live.  Titled COURAGE: Luddites – Peterloo – Chartists – Suffragettes, the book is the work of Polyp, the Manchester-based illustrator and cartoonist previously responsible for graphic novels on Peterloo and the life of Thomas Paine. … Continue reading From Luddites to Suffragettes: a graphic tale of the fight for the vote

In tune: Foster’s Mill

A song commemorating the Luddite attack on Foster’s Mill survives only in fragments but helps provide an insight into community solidarity in this early period of labour history, writes Joe Stanley. Foster’s MillBill Price (traditional) Most labour historians will be familiar with West Riding Luddism in 1812. E.P. Thompson paid particular attention to the movement, and stressed its political undertones, in chapter 14 of The … Continue reading In tune: Foster’s Mill

‘Singing Sweet Liberty’: Michael Sanders’ inaugural professorial lecture

Mike Sanders, Professor of Nineteenth Century Literature & Culture at the University of Manchester and a member of the Society’s executive committee, delivered his inaugural professorial lecture at the John Rylands Library on Wednesday 31 May. The lecture was titled ‘Singing Sweet Liberty’: John Stafford and the creation of radical memory from Luddism to Chartism. The lecture explored the role played by song in creating … Continue reading ‘Singing Sweet Liberty’: Michael Sanders’ inaugural professorial lecture

Both Sides of the Barricade: Luddite Memorial Lecture 2023

During the Luddite and Peterloo period, many radical activists were ex-servicemen of the Napoleonic Wars. This year’s Luddite Memorial Lecture, titled Both Sides of the Barricade, looked at the soldiers and ex-servicemen in early nineteenth-century popular politics. During the evening, Professor Nick Mansfield of the University of Central Lancashire, the author of a two-volume labour history of rank-and-file soldiers, highlighted many of the ‘military radicals’ … Continue reading Both Sides of the Barricade: Luddite Memorial Lecture 2023

E.P. Thompson, Shirley, and the Antinomian Tradition in West Riding Luddism and Popular Protest

This article follows a thread that links E.P. Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class with his later study of William Blake, which uncovered an antinomian tradition that linked the radicalism and protest of the ‘age of reason’ with the seventeenth century. Continue reading E.P. Thompson, Shirley, and the Antinomian Tradition in West Riding Luddism and Popular Protest

SSLH backs campaign to save Luddite pub from demolition

An 18th century pub that played a central part in the story of Luddism in West Yorkshire faces demolition after plans to replace it with housing were submitted to the local council. The Shears Inn at Liversedge was host to regular gatherings of local croppers at the start of the 19th century, and in early 1812 was the venue for a meeting at which plans … Continue reading SSLH backs campaign to save Luddite pub from demolition