This article was written for Mute Magazine. One of the objectives of Bristol Radical History week was to re-examine some of the momentous events of Bristol’s history that have been often dismissed by historians as ‘chaos’ or ‘inexplicable’. The process of this examination by academics, local historians and interested punters during the week exposed some of the key problems of historical analysis. Precision Strikes The three days of rioting that occurred in October 1831 in Bristol were certainly […]
Introduction Bristol Radical History Week comprised 31 events over 9 days in 7 different venues in the city centre. The objective of the week was to: Open up some of the ‘hidden’ history of Bristol to the public scrutiny and challenge some ‘commonly’ held ideas about historical events in the Bristol’s past. Approach this history from ‘below’, to examine the actions of the crowd, dissenters and revolutionaries as the ‘subject’ of history. Recognise that the history of Bristol is inexorably linked […]
This article was published in The Regional Historian, published by The Regional History Centre at the University of the West of England. 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Hosannah!', 'Prince of Peace!', 'Fairest of Ten Thousand!' shouted the mob of ranting women as they whipped their willow boughs through the air. They surrounded the serene figure of a silent man riding a hobbyhorse up Corn St. in Bristol City centre. Marching behind them, chanting 'England's Freedom! Soldier's Rights!', came a troop of New […]
Taken from Bristol Past and Present by J. F. Nicholls and John Taylor, published in 1882 Major Beckwith, in his evidence, stated that the mayor and magistrates seemed stupefied with terror, and that he asked for one of them to accompany his troops on horseback; all but Alderman Camplin said they could not ride, and he said he had not been on horseback for eighteen years. The major then demanded and received a written authority from them to act. The following is a list of the leading members of […]
The 1831 Uprising - Part 2: The Uprising Taken from Bristol Past and Present by J. F. Nicholls and John Taylor, published in 1882 On Saturday, October 29th, the civic force appointed as a guard for the recorder, marched out, about ten o'clock in the morning, by way of Bristol bridge and Temple street, as far as the city boundary at the “Blue Bowl” tavern, Totterdown, to await his coming. They mustered about 300, and included the sheriff's officers, regular constables, and special constables; the […]
Taken from Bristol Past and Present by J. F. Nicholls and John Taylor, published in 1882 We now enter upon one of the most important eras in the modern history of our city. In 1831 the Bristol riots occurred in connection with the agitation for reform; Sir Charles Wetherell, the attorney-general under the Duke of Wellington's administration, was a vigorous opponent of the emancipation of the Roman Catholics; on the second reading of the Relief Bill he opposed it in a trenchant, vigorous speech, […]
Taken from Bristol Past and Present by J. F. Nicholls and John Taylor, published in 1882 The Bristol bridge riots of 1793 form another blot on the escutcheon of the city. Some persons in authority appear to have blundered in their calculations, and sought to stretch an Act of Parliament so as to make it cover the error, and then, with a wrong-headedness which it is lamentable to contemplate, resorted to force in order to accomplish their end. The Act authorised the Bridge commissioners to […]
John The Painter AKA Jack The Painter
Taken from Bristol Past and Present by J. F. Nicholls and John Taylor, published in 1882 On the same day an attempt was made to fire the warehouse of .Mr. Morgan, druggist, Corn Street. Climbing a wall ten feet in height the incendiary had wrenched off three iron bars from a window, and having thus forced an entrance he Med a large box that had contained Glauber's Salts with combustibles, including tar, spirits of wine, and turpentine, which he placed against the oil casks. Providentially, the […]
Taken from Bristol Past and Present by J. F. Nicholls and John Taylor, published in 1882 In our ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, at 24 and 285, we have already given some description of the rise and sufferings of that section of the church of Christ known originally as the Quakers, but now more frequently called the Friends, who were the first sufferers in Bristol for conscience sake since the days of the Marian persecution. Their first appearance in Bristol was probably in 1652; certainly they were here […]
Bristol Past And Present by J. F. Nicholls and John Taylor was published in 1882. While not radical itself, it contains descriptions of many of Bristol's radical moments in way that reflects its era. Below are listed several passages from Volume III. Excerpts on this site: Dorothy Hazard And Other Bristol Separatists James Nayler John The Painter The Bristol Bridge Riots The 1831 Uprising - Part1 : The Reform Bill The 1831 Uprising - Part2 : The Uprising The 1831 Uprising - Part3 : The Aftermath
