Riots & Disturbances Archives - Page 6 of 9 Bristol Radical History Group

Bold Defiance

The Spitalfields Silk Weavers: London’s Luddites? Pretty much everyone has heard of the Luddites, although many people still have a misconception about the reasons why they destroyed machinery. The weavers of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Leicestershire smashed machine looms not because they were blindly opposed to progress, or afraid of new technology, but because the introduction of machinery was undermining the livelihoods of themselves and their communities. They viewed new […]

Black Friday And The Dockers’ Strikes Of 1892-3

‘The Short Hot Summer’: The August Riots in the UK, 2011

The Hold Out 2313 San Pablo Ave, Oakland CA, USA The August ‘riots’ in Britain last summer were portrayed by the media and politicians as the actions of ‘greedy feral youth’ or ‘gangs’ within a ‘criminal underclass’. Most of these politically loaded explanations were presented before what had happened was even known. Using hard research and the voices of participants, this event will provide an analysis of the ‘riots’ of August, considering what (actually) happened, who was involved and how they […]

Old Market

A postcard of Old Market in 1860 printed in 1907

Police baton charge unemployed workers march on Old Market Street, February 23rd 1932.

1932 Old Market Riot Map

Download a hi-res version (3mb) On Tuesday, 23rd February, an estimated 3,000 to 15,000 protesters from the National Unemployed Workers' Movement (NUWM) marched to protest about a cut in unemployment benefits. The police had banned the march, but the NUWM were not deterred. The peaceful procession followed a winding route but ended up on Old Market Street, where they were faced by a double row of police with batons drawn and backed up by mounted officers at the junction with Castle Street. The […]

Bristol 1831: The Queens Square Uprising

The Bishop's Palace after the 1831 uprising.

A poster calling for people to sign a petition for reform. Courtesy of Bristol Central Reference Library refinfo@bristol.gov.uk

A postcard of the riots. Courtesy of Bristol Central Reference Library refinfo@bristol.gov.uk

The Burning of the New Gaol from Canon's Marsh, 1831, W. J. Müller

Breviary Stuff Publications

Breviary Stuff Publications is concerned with ‘history from below’, the history of ordinary people and our perpetual struggles for some fairness and freedom from the oppression that we have been and are forced to endure in our daily lives. We are not concerned with the history of ‘great men‘, the wealthy, the powerful, the famous. We are interested in what ordinary people felt about the situations that they found themselves in, how their lives were shaped by them, how they reacted to them, the […]

The 1831 Hammer Film

The night before the 1831 riots, hundreds of Sledge Hammers were 'borrowed' from the Acraman's Iron Foundry in Bathurst Basin (now Bristol General Hospital). These hammers were used during the riots to break down the doors of the four prisons in Bristol. The day after the riots, all but two of these hammers were returned. This fact, at the time, was used as evidence of prior planning by the "mob". The hammers were recreated for the Bristol Radical History Week 2006 exhibition by Jasper Johns at […]

Bread or Batons?: The Old Market ‘riots’

By Roger Ball

The pictures on this page were found in Bristol Central Reference Library, to reproduce please email refandinfo@bristol.gov.uk The April and August 'riots' of 2011 in Bristol, along with those of the 1980s, have been characterised as being exceptional events in the city's history. However, Bristol has a long history of violent disturbances from the food and price 'riots' of the 18th Century, through the reform uprisings of 1831 to 'Black Friday' in 1892. One period which has received less […]

The BRH Summer Party On Brandon Hill

Reclaim the Hill!: A celebration of the radical history of Brandon Hill and Stop the College Green Dispersal Order. Despite the vagaries of the English summer of 2007, a small but feisty mob of radical historians, skate boarders and cider drinkers gathered on Brandon Hill in Clifton on August 19th. We were both celebrating the 175th anniversary of the invasion of the Great Reform Dinner and protesting against the dispersal order served on Bristol citizens this summer. What is the connection? […]