The Watchman: Coleridge, Beddoes and the radical 1790s in Bristol - Mike Jay During 1795-6, Bristol's popular protests against Pitt's 'Reign of Terror' were led by two remarkable figures, both recent arrivals in the city: the radical doctor Thomas Beddoes and the young lecturer and poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Together they campaigned against the government's crackdown on free speech and public assembly, and collaborated on The Watchman, a journal which risked prosecutions for sedition by […]
Britain is in the grip of a divisive war on terror. The government is forcing through new emergency powers to imprison suspected terrorists without trial. Dissent is spilling on to the streets, where popular opposition to the war is suppressed with violence. Secret intelligence sources whisper of a vast international terror conspiracy. The year is 1798, and Colonel Edward Marcus Despard is shortly to become the last man sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered for high treason. Despard's […]
The phrase “they just don't make 'em like this any more” has never been so accurately used as when it describes Captain Blood. A roaring adventure tale from the novel by Rafael Sabatini, Captain Blood is chock full of cannons and swordplay, heroism and treachery, war and romance, a beautiful heroine, and an impossibly handsome hero so lusty and full of vigour that it's difficult to catch your breath as the movie careens from one thrilling scene to the next (www.dvdverdict.com). Generally […]
Celebrate the popular revolt that shocked the British ruling classes into democratic reform. Join the 'mob' waving flaming brands and listen to fiery speeches as we remember the hundreds of Bristol rebels who changed the course of history. Dress : Bawdy Attitude : Raucous
Britain in 1831… a tinder box? The Reform Act and suffrage The events of October in Bristol The trials and punishments Was it chaos, protest or class war? The wider political implications Why we should commemorate 1831 Listent to this talk: Downlaod to this talk (1.5 Mb mp3 file)
An exhibition opening on Sunday 29th October including prints of the 1831 uprising, images from slave rebellions, photographs from the 1987 uprising in St. Pauls and an actual cell door (complete with prisoner's graffiti) from the Bristol city jail (cira 1840). The Exhibition includes A Luta Continua (The Struggle Continues) by Bandele Iyapo (artist and "trouble maker"). This consists of works in a variety of media including a collection of montages critiquing the inability of Bristol's […]
Leon Rosselson and Robb Johnson perform a musical event interspersed with contemporary songs that reflect Paine's ideas. These were influenced by the American War of Independence and were influential on the French Revolution. "When the rich plunder the poor of his rights, it becomes an example to the poor to plunder the rich of his property." Thomas Paine The Liberty Tree tells the story of Tom Paine's extraordinary life, interweaving Paine's own words, from his letters and the pamphlets which […]
Suggested areas of discussion… The religious/political turmoil of the 17th century Nayler in the New Model Army What Nayler believed and preached Nayler and Fox : Radical and Reformist currents in the Quakers What actually happened when Nayler rode into Bristol in October 1656 The trial and punishment and its wider political implications Why was Nayler forgotten and why he should be remembered
Be 'your own personal Jesus' and join in with the 'Hosannas' as James Nayler, his palm wielding Cancan Dancers and a troop of Roundhead pike and musketmen parade from the Centre via Corn St. to Castle Green. Refuse to 'doff your caps' to the agents of the Crown and celebrate freedom from the religious hierarchy. Dress : Floppy Hats Attitude : Blasphemous If you see this text the video has failed to play. Please let us know by emailing brh@brh.org.uk.
For the whole week there was a display of historic radical journals from Bristol such as Coleridge's Journal The Watchman and the original Bristolian. There was also be a special viewing, conducted by Jane Bradley the Local Studies Librarian, of the Bristol Room which contains among other things Judge Jeffreys' (the 'Hanging Judge') chair - 2pm on Monday 30th October. The Bristol Room is designed as a memorial to the old library in King Street. It contains the original bookcases and fireplace […]
