News Feed - Bristol Radical History Group

Remembering the Real WWI: Public meeting

This is the monthly meeting in Bristol to discuss opposition to David Cameron's 'truly national commemoration' of WW1 stressing our 'national spirit'. Nationally there are plans to ensure that attention is given to the real causes and effects of the war, rather than an opportunity for our government to re-habilitate this war in particular or war in general. Bristol has long radical traditions and we know there are groups and individuals across the city who will want to ensure that there are […]

Babies in unmarked graves

By Di Parkin

Eastville Workhouse, BRHG research project There is rightly scandal in the press at the 800 babies buried in unmarked graves in Galway. But this was not a unique occurrence. Bristol Radical History Group BRHG has established that 3,300 adults, children and babies were buried in unmarked graves in an old cemetery (now a piece of open ground) behind the Eastville Workhouse on Fishponds Road in Bristol. The workhouse death records from 1855 to 1895 establish these burials took place. Some human […]

Thirteen Roses… and 43 carnations

By Rafael Narbona

Translation by Diarmuid Breatnach; original version published in Spanish in Rafael Narbona’s blog August 2013, also republished by kind permission in Rebel Breeze. On the morning of August 5th 1939 thirteen women were shot dead against the walls of the Eastern Madrid Cemetery. Nine were minors, because at that time the age of majority was not reached until twenty-one. Ranging in age from 18 to 29, all had been brought from the Sales women’s prison, a prison that was designed for 450 people and […]

A statement on the Ukrainian famine 1931-2

By Randell Brantley

At the Bristol Radical History meeting on May 29th, two contributors from the floor asserted that the Ukraine famine of 1931-2 was a creation of the American press of the time. As one of the speakers at the meeting, I thought it best to check my sources before responding. I have now done so and find that this assertion is the opposite of the truth. One reporter, Gareth Jones, visited the famine stricken areas in 1931 and 1933 and wrote honestly about the mass starvation that he had seen. The […]

Book Launch: Futures

John Barker discusses his upcoming release 'Futures', a novel set in 1987 London. Barker will be reading from the text and discussing the finance industry, Thatchers' Britain, the world of drugs and organised crime and the various links to the City of London. More details can be found on PM Press' website. John Barker was born in London in 1948. In 1972 he was convicted of conspiring to cause explosions in what was called the Angry Brigade trial. He served a ten-year prison sentence and is the […]

Ukrainian Nationalism – a historical perspective

"DONETSK - SPLINTERING CITY. Founded by the Welsh capitalist John Hughes, the city's frequent changes of name - Hughesovka, Trotskya, Stalino, Donetsk - give some indication of its troubled history. Colin Thomas filmed there when it was still part of the Soviet Union, again when it became part of Ukraine and he returned once more in 2008 when its unease with Ukrainian nationalism was beginning to emerge. His book/DVD on the subject -"Dreaming a City" - is published by Y Lolfa. To include […]

The Quaker William Penn: An Alternative View of the Founder of Pennsylvania

By Randell Brantley

May 8, 2014 6:00 pm-May 8, 2014 7:30 pm William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania who lived in Bristol, is often viewed as a pacifist and promoter of religious freedom. Here historian Jim McNeil explores the darker side of the Penn family, including their involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and European expansionism in America. £7 (£5 Museum members) All participants must register to take part in courses, workshops, and lectures. To register call 01225 820866 or email […]

Spirit of Revolt

The Archive collects, manages and preserves multi-media records from Glasgow’s and Clydeside’s anarchist and libertarian-socialist past and present. The website allows you to access the complete catalogue of our Archive. You can access all material at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library. Furthermore, an increasing number of documents are [...]

175th Anniversary of the Chartist Uprising in Newport

By Randell Brantley

2014 is the 175th Anniversary of the south Wales Rising 1839. Read the Chartist Newsletter: Chartist Newsletter 4 (March 2014) screen version

Film Screening of Epiphany

Epiphany : directed by Suzy Gillett : produced by Ian Bone : 2013 Epiphany is a hybrid documentary evoking the Mystics and Anarchists of the English Revolution. Highlighting two little-known religious and political movements of the 1600s' Republic, The Fifth Monarchists and the Muggletons come to life in London as told by contemporary leading anarchists: Ian Bone and Martin Wright star as John Thurloe (Cromwell's spymaster) and Thomas Vennner. Venner led the only uprising through the city […]