The night before the 1831 riots, hundreds of Sledge Hammers were 'borrowed' from the Acraman's Iron Foundry in Bathurst Basin (now Bristol General Hospital). These hammers were used during the riots to break down the doors of the four prisons in Bristol. The day after the riots, all but two of these hammers were returned. This fact, at the time, was used as evidence of prior planning by the "mob". The hammers were recreated for the Bristol Radical History Week 2006 exhibition by Jasper Johns at […]
The original Anarchist Manifesto by Anselme Bellegarrigue from 1850. Originally published in French. A 280 kb PDF file. Download the file here.
Taken from Bristol Past and Present by J. F. Nicholls and John Taylor, published in 1882 In Bristol from 1604 the Rev. William Yeamans, a Puritan vicar of the church of St. Philip and Jacob, was the central rallying point for the godly, who sat under his light for nearly twenty years, keeping many fast days in private houses, namely, at one Wm. Listun's house, a glover, near Lawford‚s gate, and at one Richard Langford's house, a house carpenter in the Castle, and sometimes at other places, where […]
The pictures on this page were found in Bristol Central Reference Library, to reproduce please email refandinfo@bristol.gov.uk The April and August 'riots' of 2011 in Bristol, along with those of the 1980s, have been characterised as being exceptional events in the city's history. However, Bristol has a long history of violent disturbances from the food and price 'riots' of the 18th Century, through the reform uprisings of 1831 to 'Black Friday' in 1892. One period which has received less […]
By GBT The original copy of this leaflet was in the possion of Jack Cooper from 1917/18 until, following his death, it was found in his sideboard and passed to his grandaughter. It is now preserved, framed behind glass, in the condition in which you see it. Jack (1886-1973) was born in Ebbw Vale where he worked as an engineer in the steel industry from the age of 14 -21yrs. He later went to sea in the merchant marine, working below as 4th Engineer, until he came ashore in 1917 upon marrying. It […]
These are the slides from Anny Cullum's talk Votes for Ladies: The Suffragette Movement 1903-1914. Download the pdf file here.
By Anny Cullum The campaign for female suffrage began in 1865 with the introduction of the first private members bill for an amendment for female enfranchisement. Suffrage groups first campaigned democratically and using constitutional means, lobbying, petitioning etc and won some small victories in terms of women becoming more involved in public life; sitting on school boards and becoming poor law guardians. However, nearly 40 years later women were still disenfranchised and in 1903 a group […]
These are the slides from Roger Balls' talk at Bristol Anarchits Bookfair 2009. Download the pdf file here.
‘One and all, one and all, we’ll stand by one another’ Chant of a Sussex Swing mob (1830) ‘We will destroy the constables and threshing machines this year, next year we will have a turn with the parsons, and the third we will make war upon the statesmen’ Kent Swing activist (1830) Introduction In February this year a couple of members of Bristol Radical History Group travelled to Salisbury Guild Hall to witness the unveiling of a Trade Union plaque to commemorate the people who had passed […]
