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Bristol 650

Essays on the Future of Bristol

By Amy O'Beirne and Andrew Kelly (editors)

“What happened to the ladder?” asks Annabel Smith, pointing out that Bristol is one of the least socially mobile urban areas in the country. Smith is one of thirty-seven contributions to Bristol 650, produced by Bristol Books to mark the 650th anniversary of Bristol becoming an independent county. The editors, Amy O’Beirne and Andrew Kelly, wanted their chosen essayists to focus on how to build a better Bristol for the future. But some contributors prefer to focus on the here and now and […]

Newport Chartist Convention – 2023

Time & Location: 04 Nov, 10:00 – 16:00, Newport Cathedral, St Woolos, 105 Stow Hill, Newport NP20 4ED, UK About the Event The annual Newport Chartist Convention will take place on Saturday November 4th at St Woolos Cathedral, beginning at 10 o’clock. Tickets are now available, price £15.00 including tea, coffee and lunch. Confirmed speakers to include: Poor Negroes and White Slaves: Chartism and Abolition Join writer and curator S.I. Martin for a nuanced look at the dynamics underpinning the […]

Bristol Radical Film Festival – 2023

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The Bristol Radical Film Festival returns this November in collaboration with The Cube Microplex. We will kick off things with a book launch event on November 1st, followed by a weekend of screenings and discussions. As always, we will be celebrating all manners of political, activist and experimental filmmaking. We hope you can join us. BOOK LAUNCH: RADICAL FILM, ART, DIGITAL MEDIA FOR SOCIEITIES IN TURMOIL November 1st / 8 -10 PM The book launch will also include a special focus on […]

Thomas Rennison and his Grand Pleasure Bath

The Story of a Maverick Entrepreneur in Georgian Bristol

By Peter Cullimore

There’s a wave of interest in open-air swimming right now. Campaigners in Bristol recently led demands for wider access to swim in our rivers, lakes and even the Floating Harbour. It’s a leisure activity first popularised in the city three centuries ago by a maverick businessman, who built one of Britain’s earliest public swimming pools. Peter Cullimore, a retired journalist turned local historian, has been investigating the story of Rennison’s Baths. Introduction Buried under a GP surgery in […]

Pauper burials in Greenbank Cemetery – new research

Monday 16 October – 7.30pm-9.00pm - Friends of Eastville Park Community Hub (Nissen Hut), Eastville Park, Near Park Avenue car park, Bristol BS5 6QG In 2015, to great public interest, Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group released details of more than 4,000 paupers who were buried in unmarked graves in Rosemary Green. These were inmates from Eastville Workhouse which was situated on the present-day East Park housing estate on Fishponds Road. The burials in Rosemary Green covered the period […]

‘No Cure, no Pay, Boarding excepted’

‘Mason’s Madhouses’ in old Fishponds

By Mike Jempson

Long before the NHS, those who did not fit ‘the norm’ were consigned to workhouses or to private lunatic asylums. The latter provided a profitable business opportunity, as the wealthy were only too keen to offload family members whose behaviour was inconvenient. It was a system open to abuses that Daniel Defoe and others were keen to expose. In the Fishponds area of Bristol, one family lived off the proceeds for more than a century. The revealing tale of ‘Mason’s Madhouses’ explains what life […]

The Devastating Voyage of Captain Thomas Phillips, Welsh Slaver and his Enslaved Captives

Navigating the Legacy of Captain Thomas Phillips: Honouring the Enslaved, and rethinking the Memorial Plaque

Rosemary Caldicott, a social history researcher and author will be our guest speaker on Friday 6th October at 2pm U.K. time, via zoom. She will be sharing insights from her upcoming book, shedding light on the often-overlooked aspects of history. Rosemary Caldicott is known for her dedication to uncovering hidden stories from the past. Her work brings a fresh perspective to the history of Captain Thomas Phillips and the Slave Ship Hannibal, exploring the complexities and challenges surrounding […]

150 Years of Struggle

A history of the Bristol Trades Union Council

By Colin Thomas, David Large, Rob Whitfield

1873-2023 In 1973, Bristol Trades Union Council marked its centenary year. Bob Whitfield and the late David Large wrote its history for the Bristol Historical Association and BBC Bristol screened 100 Years of Struggle, a film produced by the Council and directed by Colin Thomas. Now, in 2023, to celebrate the Trades Council’s 150th anniversary, Colin has brought the story up-to-date. This booklet incorporates the BHA pamphlet, extracts from the BBC film and an update on the last fifty years.

The 1831 Bristol reform riot – a view from the southbank

The three days of reform-related rioting in late October 1831 in Bristol were the most serious urban disturbance in the nineteenth century. Major institutions such as the Mansion and Custom Houses, the Bishop's Palace, three prisons, and numerous houses in Queen Square were destroyed by rioting crowds. This talk, based on a recent reassessement of the historical evidence, considers the view of events from south of the river; from the portentous skirmish at St Paul's church in Southville a week […]

Soup and Stories

Local people of all ages are invited to share their memories and stories of living in the BS3 area and beyond. A local artist will capture these memories “visually”. Have fun with crafts, some traditional games and enjoy homemade soup. Contact: Jackie Smith 07487 329854.