A short "affixing ceremony" to fit a plaque to mark the grave of Thomas Beddoes. Present will be Mike Jay, author of The Atmosphere Of Heaven: The Unnatural Experiments of Dr Beddoes and His Sons of Genius and members of the Beddoes family. There will be gathering at the Rodney Hotel (4 Rodney Place, Clifton, off Clifton Down Road) at about 1.00pm. There will be a small display to put up in the bar and some of Mike Jay's books for sale. At 3.00pm there will be a stroll around Clifton with a few […]
A Nitrous Oxide fuelled history walk with Mike Jay through Clifton exploring the themes of his new book; Dr Beddoes, the Romantic Poets and laughing Gas. The blurb from his book, which is out in paperback on 28th September, reads thus: At the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol, England, founded in the closing years of the eighteenth century, dramatic experiments with gases precipitated a revolution not only in scientific medicine but also in the modern mind. Propelled by the energy of maverick […]
Beddoes (1760-1808), a fervent humanitarian and chemist, was inspired by the heady ideals of the French Revolution and the wonders of Nitrous Oxide gas. In Bristol, he gathered a dazzling circle of like-minded artists and scientists who created a grand vision of providing free healthcare to the poor of the south-west. Mike Jay is author of The Atmosphere of Heaven: The Unnatural Experiments of Dr Beddoes and his Sons of Genius. A plaque to mark Thomas Beddoes' grave was unveiled in March 2011. […]
The Watchman: Coleridge, Beddoes and the radical 1790s in Bristol - Mike Jay During 1795-6, Bristol's popular protests against Pitt's 'Reign of Terror' were led by two remarkable figures, both recent arrivals in the city: the radical doctor Thomas Beddoes and the young lecturer and poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Together they campaigned against the government's crackdown on free speech and public assembly, and collaborated on The Watchman, a journal which risked prosecutions for sedition by […]
Beddoes Plaque
Mike Jay, author of The Atmosphere of Heaven has had a plaque made to mark the grave of Thomas Beddoes in the Strangers' Burial Ground in Hotwells, Bristol. While writing the book, which tells the story of Dr Beddoes and his work at the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol, Mike managed to identify the grave and clear it of undergrowth. However, the engraving on the grave is now barley visible due to weathering and during the history walk in September it was suggested that a plaque should be made so […]
