The fragmentation of labour over imperial and racial issues, 1870s-1920s

Steven Parfitt reports from a conference at which he and other labour historians addressed issues of race and empire facing the seafarers’ union and outposts of the US Knights of Labor in Britain and elsewhere. Report on the Conference ‘Fragmented Powers: Confrontation and Cooperation in the English-speaking World’ From 23 to 25 June 2022, Yann Béliard, Joe Redmayne and I took part in the ‘Fragmented Powers’ conference, organised … Continue reading The fragmentation of labour over imperial and racial issues, 1870s-1920s

Book reviews in Labour History Review Volume 87 (2022), Issue 2

The books listed below are reviewed in Labour History Review (2022), 87, (2), 213-225. Find out more. Peter Gurney reviews Ian Gasse, Something to Build On: The Co-operative Movement in Dumfries, 1847-1914, Dumfries: the author, in association with the Scottish Labour History Society, 2021, pp. xvi + 240, h/b, £18, ISBN 978 19163 05021 Quentin Outram reviews Laura Humphreys, Globalising Housework: Domestic Labour in Middle-Class London Homes, 1850-1914, … Continue reading Book reviews in Labour History Review Volume 87 (2022), Issue 2

Siân Davies (Edinburgh) on the Pennant family and the labour history of their estates in North Wales and Jamaica c1780-c1900

The Pennant family owned and managed sugar plantations in Jamaica, worked on by enslaved, indentured and later free labourers. From the 1780s onwards the family also ran Penrhyn Quarry in North Wales. The Penrhyn Quarry lockout from 1900-1903 is notorious in the area. I knew from a young age that members of the community still resented the Pennant name for their treatment of the quarrying … Continue reading Siân Davies (Edinburgh) on the Pennant family and the labour history of their estates in North Wales and Jamaica c1780-c1900