Bristol Central Reference Library
Before t'internet there were libraries. This is the best place for local history research. Dawn Dyer and Jane Bradley are also the best people to help you with your research.
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South London Radical History Group/Past Tense
This is a very active history group with a publishing fraction called Past Tense. Titles include The Mayor of Garratt - mock elections in 18th century South London, Down with the Fences! - battles for the commons in South London and Nine Things That Aren't There: a manoeuvre around the Elephant and Castle.
The Long John Silver Trust
The Long John Silver Trust was formed in 2003 after Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel "Treasure Island" was chosen for Britain's first "Great Reading Adventure". Initially the idea was to erect a statue of Bristol's own Long John Silver, but it developed into the creation of the Treasure Island Trail - a unique series of dockside sculptures and images that tell the whole book's story.
Living Easton: Local History
Good site with interesting information about the Bristol community of Easton's history. See their excellent list of slave revolts in the Atlantic and prepare to be astounded!
Avon Local History and Archaeology
Avon Local History and Archaeology Promoting local history in the Avon region and bringing together all those with an interest in it ALHA was founded in 1976 as an offshoot of a committee of the new County of Avon. Avon County has long since been abolished, but ALHA still flourishes as an independent organisation owing nothing to local or national government. ALHA flourishes because, whether politicians choose to incorporate it or not, the Avon region is an economic and social and historical […]
Big Bang
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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 […]
The Anarchist Manifeto
The original Anarchist Manifesto by Anselme Bellegarrigue from 1850. Originally published in French. A 280 kb PDF file. Download the file here.
Dorothy Hazard And Other Bristol Separatists
Taken from Bristol Past and Present by J. F. Nicholls and John Taylor, published in 1882 In Bristol from 1604 the Rev. William Yeamans, a Puritan vicar of the church of St. Philip and Jacob, was the central rallying point for the godly, who sat under his light for nearly twenty years, keeping many fast days in private houses, namely, at one Wm. Listun's house, a glover, near Lawford‚s gate, and at one Richard Langford's house, a house carpenter in the Castle, and sometimes at other places, where […]
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 […]