Rohan McWilliam (Anglia Ruskin University) reports on Chartism Day 2008 ...
Chartism Day 2008 took place in that most appropriate of all Chartist locations: Newport. As we will see memories of the 1839 Newport Rising were never far away. Around 40 people attended. Janette Martin (a PhD student at the University of York) commenced the conference with a remarkable paper on Chartist rhetoric. Exploring the performative aspects of the Chartist lecture, she paid attention not only to the different forms of langauge but also the new speaking styles of the 1840s. Fabrice Bensimon (University of Paris 10) then presented a paper which made us think about Chartist internationalism in new ways. He revealed how migrant workers promoted Chartism, particularly the Land Plan, in France. Next Rohan McWilliam (Anglia Ruskin University) examined the impact of the popular French author Eugene Sue on the Chartist novelist, G.M.W. Reynolds. Finally Kate Bowen & Paul Pickering (both Australian National University) talked about their exciting project on Chartist songs. Pickering (an historian) & Bowen (a musicologist) reconstructed songs as they were sung at Chartist meetings & discussed the songs in ways never attempted before.
The conference made the most of its location. Les James led participants on a walk that took in St. Woolos Church, where the Chartists killed in 1839 were buried, the Westgate Hotel, where the shootings took place, & the Chartist mural (sadly soon to be demolished). Paul Flynn MP greeted participants in the conference at a civic reception at Newport Library in the evening. On Sunday Les James vividly re-created the routes taken by the Chartists on their way to Newport.
Paul Pickering's biography of Feargus O'Connor is just out from Merlin. A review appears elsewhere on this website.
A Chartist volume of Labour History Review is due either later in 2008 or early 2009.
The Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Journalism will be published in October 2008. There are plans for a launch at the British Library. It includes numerous entries relating to Chartism.
Joan Allen's biography of the famous north-east radical Joseph Cowen is now out from Merlin Press.
Chartism Day 2008 takes place on Saturday & Sunday 7 & 8 June in Newport. There will be five speakers. Programmes will be sent out soon; for further info. please contact Prof. Owen Ashton at o.ashton@tiscali.co.uk.
Dorothy Thompson informs me that the fragment of a working class petition deposited in the Working Class Movement Library in Salford is now thought to be no later than 1842 (See Ashton, Fyson & Roberts eds., The Chartist Movement, item 83). This means that it is probably either part of the national petition of 1839 or of the petitions of early 1840 calling for the commutation of the death sentences passed on the leaders of the Newport Rising.
Early Victorian MPs Edward Horsham & James Bradshaw may not be familiar names to the historians of Chartism ... but they should not be forgotten. They fought a duel at Wormwood Scrubs when Horsham accused Bradshaw of being a republican & Chartist! Neither was seriously injured ... not many people know that!
In December 2007 100 people attended A People's History of the West Midlands Conference in Birmingham. Stephen Roberts spoke about Arthur O'Neill & Birmingham Chartism & there were also papers on the anti-slavery movement & the chain makers of Cradley Heath.
Robert Hall's book is now available from all good bookshops!
Robert G. Hall's Voices of the People - a study rooted in detailed work on Chartism in Ashton-under-Lyne - is due from Merlin Press any day now (Sept. 2007). Next year will see the publication by Merlin of Paul Pickering's biography of Feargus O'Connor. Pickering tells the story as a tragedy - his book will undoubtedly be a major event in Chartist historiography.
Stephen Roberts' new book, The Chartist Prisoners: The Radical Lives of Thomas Cooper (1805-92) and Arthur O'Neill (1819-96) will be published by Peter Lang in summer 2008.
Thomas Slingsby Duncombe, the defender of the Chartists in Parliament, is at last getting a scholarly biography. Radical Dandy: The Curiously Forgotten Political Life of Thomas Slingsby Duncombe by Prof. Stephen Duncombe of New York University will be published by the University of California Press.
Braving inclement weather, 29 hardy souls managed to get themselves to the twelth annual conference on Chartism, held in 2007 at the University of Sheffield. There were papers on the links between the radicals of 1817 & the Chartists, the Newport Rising, the appeal of the democratic ideas of Chartism & Bronterre O'Brien. Next year's event is scheduled for Newport.
Ariane Schnepf has written a new study of Chartist language. Our Original Rights as a People is published by Peter Lang at £36.10.
The Globe Theatre in London will be presenting a play about Chartism in summer 2007. Called 'Holding Fire', it has been written by the actor/director/playwright, Jack Shepherd. It will be interesting to see how O'Connor and the other leaders of the movement are portrayed on stage. A forthcoming issue of the theatre's magazine 'Around the Globe' will carry a piece on Chartism by Stephen Roberts.
A Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Journalism, with 1500 entries, is in the pipeline. Ian Haywood is overseeing contributions on Chartist journals and journalists. Joan Allen, Owen Ashton, Malcolm Chase, Rohan McWilliam, Paul Pickering and Stephen Roberts are amongst the contributors. More information in due course...
A copy of Thomas Cooper's Purgatory of Suicides owned by his wife, Susanna, has surfaced in New Zealand! The volume has many manuscript corrections, additions and deletions in Cooper's hand. This book could be yours - for £300. My own copy of a first edition of the poem, inscribed by Cooper to an old friend, cost £175.
Mike Sanders is continuing with his work on Chartist poetry at the University of Manchester. His examination of the Northern Star's editorial policy with regard to the poetry column appeared recently in Victorian Periodicals Review and a fresh look at the poetry of Gerald Massey should be published in Victorian Poetry in the not too distant future. A monograph is also in the final stages of preparation.
A weekend of events - lectures, concerts, walks etc - will take place in Halifax on 14 - 16 July to commemorate local Chartists, particularly Ben Rushton. Info: 01422 356 494
Over 40 people attended Chartism Day at the University of Chester on 17 June. Papers were given on Lovett & O'Connor (Malcolm Chase), Christianity in Chartist Poetry (Roy Vickers), Chartism & the Miners (John Flanagan) & Chartism & Radical Memory of Peasant Revolt (Antony Taylor). The event moves to Sheffield next year. More from the indefatigable Owen Ashton at Staffordshire University.
W. Hamish Fraser's study of the flamboyant would-be insurrectionist, John Taylor, has just been published by the Ayrshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. It costs only £4 and is available from Ronald W. Brash, 10 Robsland Avenue, Ayr KA7 2RW. See reviews section.
Stephen Roberts' new book length study is entitled "The Chartist Prisoners". It tells the stories of Thomas Cooper and Arthur O'Neill, whose life-long friendship began in Stafford Gaol in 1843. Publication is expected in 2009.
The Radio 3 Programme "Nightwaves" recently visited Dodford. Gordon Long and Stephen Roberts contributed to a report broadcast on 20 March.
Coming soon ... a completely searchable Northern Star on the web! No more sore eyes as you pore over microfilm! For more info, visit www.ncse.kcl.ac.uk
The Chartist cottage at Dodford will be open for pre-booked tours on Sundays from April to September. To book contact Hanbury Hall on 01527 821214.
The Ten Greatest Chartists ... Ever!
(no grumpy e-mails please ... oh go on then!)- George White
- Feargus O'Connor
- Thomas Cooper
- Julian Harney
- George Binns
- William Aitken
- Samuel Cook
- Peter Murray McDouall
- Arthur O'Neill
- "Daddy" Richards
Robert Hall's eagerly awaited Voices of the People has now been delivered to Merlin. Info on a publication date in due course ...
The annual Chartism conference takes place in Chester on 17 June 2006. Further details from Owen Ashton at ora1@staffs.ac.uk
Malcolm Chase's Chartism : A New History is expected from Manchester University Press in 2007. This will be the first narrative account of the movement since that of J.T. Ward over thirty years ago.
Keith Flett's volume on the immediate post - Chartist period is due from Merlin in April 2006.
Don't forget to raise a glass to the Chartists on their anniversaries!
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