Radical Bristol Archives - Page 16 of 28 Bristol Radical History Group

Edward Colston

A close up of Colston's face from his statue in Bristol's centre

This project page collects together all the research and other materials on the leading slave trader Edward Colston (1636-1721). For more on the campaign to challenge the celebration and memorialisation of Colston see the Countering Colston website.

A ‘night of infamy’: Black Friday, 1892

History Walk

Bristol was rocked by two major strike waves in the late 19th Century, the first (1889-90) marked the emergence of ‘new unionism’ representing male and (significantly) female unskilled and semi-skilled labourers. Victory in these strikes improved pay and conditions for workers but led to an organised counter-offensive by employers in the autumn of 1892. The response of workers was a second strike wave which united miners, dockers and female confectionary workers, culminating in 'Black Friday' on […]

New WEA Course: History of the Women’s Movement (1968–1988)

By Randell Brantley

Dr Debi Withers is running a new WEA course in Bristol entitled History of the Women’s Movement (1968 – 1988): An introduction. Details below:

Women and Conscientious Objection to Military Service

missing thumb

Quaker Meeting House, 126 Hampton Road, Redland, Bristol BS6 6JE A free event on women and conscientious objection to military service. Note: Registration is required for this event, details here. Speakers will include:- Professor Lois Bibbings, University of Bristol, author of Telling Tales About Men: Conceptions of Conscientious Objectors to Military Service During the First World War (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2009) will look at how World War 1 Conscientious Objectors were […]

The 1831 Bristol rising

Solidarity in South Wales

After the defeat of the first reform bill in early October 1831 violent protests exploded in many British cities. The rising in Bristol was the most spectacular and suffered the harshest repression by the military. This talk considers this revolt and, using new research, solidarity actions in South Wales to aid the Bristol ‘rioters’. A workshop at Cardiff Anarchist Bookfair, Room 1, Cathays Community Centre, 36-38 Cathays Terrace, Cardiff CF24 4HX

Bristolian Fundraiser

By Randell Brantley

Commemoration of the 1831 Bristol ‘Riots’ at Queen Square

By Randell Brantley

29 October 2016 A small group of us gathered at the statue of William III in Queen Square to remember the three day ‘riot’ of October 1831 which shocked the country at the time and put the government in fear of revolution. This event eventually led to the 1832 Reform Act which lessened the rampant corruption in the form of ‘rotten boroughs’, created new seats in a number of industrial cities and increased the franchise to include some of the male middle class (but not women or the working […]

Victims of the Somme – Event Report

By Randell Brantley

The wreath laid in memory of the Jeffries Brothers who died at The Somme in 1916

Today at noon a commemoration was held for the soldiers from The Dings who died at the Somme in World War 1. (See the event listing.) In particular we remembered the Jeffries brothers: Arthur who was killed in action at Geuedecourt on September 16th 1916 and Alfred who was shot at dawn for desertion on November 1st 1916. After a few words - from among others David Jeffries the Great Nephew of the Jeffries brothers, Geoff Woolfe (author of The Bristol Deserter) and Professor Lois Bibbings from […]

National Memorial Arboretum, 29 Oct 2016

By Randell Brantley

Alfred Jefferies' stake in the Shot at Dawn Memorial within the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Three more of the British and Commonwealth soldiers executed during the First World War were remembered on Saturday at the Shot at Dawn Memorial within the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire with a re-dedication service. The Memorial, which was unveiled in 2001, commemorates men shot for disciplinary offences in recognition that the quality of justice they received was likely to be very poor, with no legal representation and a short trial, and that many were suffering from shell-shock, […]

Victims of the Somme

A commemoration and wreath-laying

Dings Park, Oxford St, Bristol BS2 0QU. A commemoration and wreath-laying to remember Arthur and Alfred Jefferies, both of whom were born in St Philips and lived in the Dings. Both fell as victims of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Arthur was killed in action in Geuedecourt on September 16th 1916. Alfred was shot at dawn for desertion on November 1st 1916. A leaflet will be handed out at the event : Among the hundreds of thousands of men killed on both sides during the battle of The […]