Bristol Radical History Week 2007
Witches, Pirates & Smugglers
Page Index:
| Date | Time | Form | Title | Notes | Venue |
| Sat. 27th Oct. | 7:30pm | Film | Merry Hell!: From Jolly Roger To Old Roger |
Films and improvised music from The Cube Orchestra | The Cube |
| Sun. 28th Oct. | 3:00 pm | Lec. | Smugglers 1: Custom Becomes Crime |
With Trevor Bark, Jim McNeill, Roger Ball | Spyglass |
| Mon. 29th Oct. | 7:30 pm | F/L | Smugglers 2: The West Country & Whisky Galore |
With Kevin Davis, Dave Cullum | The Cube |
| Tue. 30th Oct. | 7:30 pm | Lec. | Witches 1: The Politics Of Pandaemonium |
With Jonathan Barry | Spyglass |
| Tue. 30th Oct. | 2:00 pm | View | Opening The Archives | Original source material from the Referance Library's Archives. | Bristol Central Library |
| Wed. 31st Oct. | 7:30 pm | Lec. | Witches 2: Witch Hunting & Capitalism |
With Silvia Federici | Spyglass |
| Thu. 1st Nov. | 7:30 pm | F/L | Meet The Director - Paul Tickell |
Part 1 of the BBC documentary Racism: A History | The Cube |
| Fri. 2nd Nov. | 4:00 pm | WS | Witches 3: The Body & Labour Power |
A workshop with Silvia Federici | Spyglass |
| Sat. 3rd Nov. | 11:00am/ 12:00pm |
Walk | Going Underground | A guided tour of Redcliffe Caves | — |
| Sat. 3rd Nov. | 2:00 pm | Lec. | Pirates: Piracy & Smuggling |
With Marcus Rediker, Niklas Frykman | Spyglass |
| Sat. 3rd Nov | 3:00pm | Kids | Salty Tales - Story Telling | With Jess Paul and Martin Maudsley | Spyglass |
| Sat. 3rd Nov. | 6:00 pm/ 7:00 pm |
Soc. | The Pirate Boat Party & Shanties An' Skulduggery |
A guided tour of the harbour with the Surfin' Turnips | — |
| Sun. 4th Nov.* | 3:00 pm | Lec. | The Floating Dungeon: A History Of The Slave Ship |
With Marcus Rediker | Empire & C'wealth Msm. |
| Sun. 4th Nov.* | 3:00 pm | Lec. | Why Remember? The Slave Trade, Slavery & Abolition |
With Catherine Hall | Braodmead Baptist Church |
| Tue. 6th Nov. | 7:30 pm | F/L | Meet The Director - David Olusoga |
Namibia: Genocide And The Second Reich | The Cube |
Abbreviations: Notes: |
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- Click here to see the publicity material and a printable programme for Bristol Radical History Week 2007
This year Bristol Radical History Group turns its single beady eye onto these icons of the past, so deeply reviled by the rulers of their time. Who were these 'outcasts'? Why are we so fascinated by them? Do their villainous representations carry clues to their real nature?
The week kicks off with two days (Sunday 28th and Monday 29th) devoted to the enemies of Customs and Excise, the Smugglers. Local historians Jim McNeil, Kev Davis and Dr. Dave Cullum will span the West Country from Gloucester, via Dorset to Cornwall telling stories of wrecking, smuggling and the customary rights of the sea commons. Dr. Trevor Bark brings the story up to date with an investigation of tobacco and alcohol smuggling and the black economy and Roger Ball considers the looting of the cargo of the MSC Napoli at Branscombe Bay earlier this year.
We shamelessly hijack Halloween week with a study of demonology and the repression of Witches on Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st. Dr. Jonathan Barry examines why 18th C. radicals in Somerset wrote demonological texts to attack the establishment of Church and State (and paid for it with their lives in the Monmouth rebellion). We are delighted to have Sylvia Federici making her first appearance at the History Week. She analyses the witch trials in the 16th and 17th centuries and their connection to control of reproduction, enclosure, the mechanisation of the body and modern day witch-hunts in Africa.
The week finishes (Saturday 3rd) with a celebration of Bristol’s finest, the Pirates. Professor Marcus Rediker explains how these ‘villains of all nations’ began as brutalised common seamen, turned pirate and created a multicultural, democratic and egalitarian society under the ‘Jolly Roger’. After last years excellent talk on mutinies, we are very happy to have Niklas Frykman back with a study of the links between piracy and smuggling.
We hope to end the week with a voyage round the Bristol docks with skipper Mark Steeds and his cider swilling Surfin’ Turnip crew.
And there’s films….Paul Tickell presents his excellent Part 1 of the BBC documentary series ‘The History of Race’ (Thursday 1st) and David Olusoga introduces his film ‘Namibia: Genocide and the Second Reich’ a uncovering of German colonial destruction in Africa (Tuesday 6th). We celebrate the wreckers with Ealing classic Whiskey Galore! (Monday 29th) and don’tmiss our opening night "Merry Hell!: From Jolly Roger To Old Roger" (Saturday 27th).
Smugglers 1: Custom Becomes Crime
SUNDAY 28th OCTOBER, The Awning Project At The Spy Glass, Welsh Back, 3.00 pm, Donations
- Custom Becomes Crime, Crime Becomes Culture: The Sea Related Informal Economies From Feudalism To Capitalism - Trevor Bark
- Nicotina Tabacum - Jim McNeill
- Branscombe Bay And The Seas Commons - Roger Ball
Click here for full details of this event.
Smugglers 2: The West Country & Whisky Galore!
MONDAY 29th OCTOBER, The Cube Microplex, Dove St., 7.30pm, Price: £3/£4
- Smugglers: Radical Or Romantic? - Kevin Davis
- The Wreckers: West Country Folk Demons - Dave Cullum
- Film - Whisky Galore!
Click here for full details of this event
Three cards from a set of 50 Ogden's Cigarette Cards on the theme of "Smugglers And Smuggling", 1932.
To see the full set click here.
Witches 1: The Politics Of Pandaemonium
TUESDAY 30th OCTOBER, The Awning Project At The Spy Glass, Welsh Back, 7.30 pm, Price: Donations
- The Politics Of Pandaemonium - Jonathan Barry
Click here for full details of this event
Witches 2: Witch Hunting & Capitalism
WEDNESDAY 31st OCTOBER, The Awning Project At The Spy Glass, Welsh Back, 7.30 pm, Price: Donations
- Witch-Hunting And Capitalist Development, Past And Present - Silvia Federici
Click here for full details of this event.
Witches 3: The Body & Labour Power
FRIDAY 2nd NOVEMBER, The Awning Project At The Spy Glass, Welsh Back, 4.00 pm, Price: Donations
- Workshop: The Body, Capitalist Accumulation And The Accumulation Of Labour Power - Silvia Federici
Click here for details of this even.
Witches Sabbath
by Hans Baldung Grien 1510.
Three women burnt alive in Guernsey.
Anonymous 16th century engraving.
A dispute between a
witch and an Inquisitor.
Hans Burkmair 1514.
Pirates: Piracy & Smuggling
SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER, The Awning Project At The Spy Glass, Welsh Back, 2.00 pm, Price: Donations
- The Real Pirates Of The Caribbean - Marcus Rediker
- An Empire Of Thieves: Sussex Smuggling And Atlantic Piracy In The Early Eighteenth Century - Niklas Frykman
Click here for full details of this event.
Ann Mills;
from Portraits, Memories, and Characters
of Remarkable Persons from the
Revolution of 1688 to the End of the
Reign of King George II, James Caufield,
1820.
Edward Teach a.k.a Blackbeard;
Captain Charles Johnson's A
General History of the Lives and Adventures
of the Most Famous Highwaymen,
Murderes, Street Robbers &c., 1734.
Merry Hell!: From Jolly Roger To Old Roger
SATURDAY 27th OCTOBER, The Cube Microplex, Dove St., 7:30pm 'till late, Price: £3/£4
Music and film including Polly II, The Cube Orchestra and DJs.
Click here for details of this event.
Whisky Galore!
This film will be showing as part of Smugglers 2.
Meet The Director - Paul Tickell
THURSDAY 1st NOVEMBER, The Awning Project At The Spy Glass, Dove St., 7.30pm, Price: £3/£4
Inclucing the BBC documentary Racism: A History: Part 1
Click here for details of this event
Meet The Director - David Olusoga
TUESDAY 6th NOVEMBER, The Cube Microplex, Dove St., 7.30pm, £3/£4
Namibia: Genocide And The Second Reich
Click here for details of this event.
Opening The Archives
TUESDAY 30th October, Bristol Central Library, College Green, 2pm - 3pm & 3pm - 4pm, Price: Free
View original source material from the Reference Library's archives in the Bristol Room. Hosted by Dawn Dyer and Jane Bradley. (More details to follow.)
Since there is limited space in the Bristol Room we are offering two 1 hour slots; 2pm - 3pm & 3pm - 4pm.
Going Underground
SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER, The Scout Hut, Redcliff Backs, 11am & 12pm, Price: Free
A rare opportunity to visit the subterranean wonders of Bristol's history. Two 1 hour tours begining at 11am and 12 pm. Children must be accompanied. Please bring a torch and wear sensible shoes.
http://www.bristoltours.com/Salty Tales
SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER, The Awning Project At The Spy Glass, Welsh Back, 3pm, Price: Donation
Join Jess Paul and Martin Maudsley for stories about smugglers and pirates. AAAARRR! Kids (and adults) are weclome to come in fancy dress. Please can adults accompany children as this is event is not a creche facility.
Pirate Boat Party
SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER, Departing From The Awning Project At The Spy Glass, Welsh Back, 6pm & 7pm, Price: £4 Adults, £2 Children.
Tour the pirate landmarks of Bristol Harbour in the company of historian Mark Steeds and the cider-fuelled Surfin' Turnips. Each tour lasts one hour.
Followed by …
Shanties An' Skulduggery
SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER, The Seven Stars, Thomas St., From 9pm ish, Price: Free
Music live from Who's Afear'd and they Turnips. While this even is free donations for the band will be asked for.
These events are not presented by Bristol Radical History Group but are happening during Radical History Week 2007. Both events are well worth attending. Unfortunately they are on at the same time, so choose carefully.
The Floating Dungeon: A History Of The Slave Ship
SUNDAY 4th NOVEMBER, The Empire and Commonwealth Museum, 3.00 pm, Free
Speaker: Marcus Rediker
Many people in Britain and around the world have a romantic fascination with tall ships - all of them, that is, except the most important one: the slave ship, which has been too horrible to contemplate. This lecture explores the largely unexamined history of the vessel that made possible history's greatest forced migration and the rise of Atlantic capitalism. To the extent that European, African, and American societies are haunted by the legacies of race, class, and slavery, the slaver is the ghost ship of our modern consciousness.
This event is FREE and the general public are welcome but it will be necessary to reserve a place. All attendees will also have FREE entry to the Museum galleries, including 'Breaking the Chains'.
Why Remember? The Slave Trade, Slavery And Abolition
SUNDAY 4th NOVEMBER, The Broadmead Baptist Church, 3.00 pm, Price: Free
A lecture by Professor Catherine Hall.
Catherine Hall is professor of Modern British Social and Cutural History, University College, London. She has researched the relationship between Britain and its empire in the 19th and 20th centuries.
A Lecture about Bristol's connection with the slave trade, slaver and its abolition.
