Although accounts of the suffrage campaign often focus on major cities, such as London and Manchester, it was a national movement. All three of the most prominent societies: the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), and the Women’s Freedom League (WFL) had branches across the country. Gravesend … Read more
At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were several organisations campaigning for women’s right to vote in Portsmouth. The most prominent one was the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), with the local branch established in 1909. Other local societies also involved in the suffrage movement included the Women’s Labour League, the Conservative … Read more
John Morton was a preacher and farmer who, in the nineteenth century, saved Bucklebury Common in Berkshire from enclosure, and therefore ensured it continued to be accessible to all. Morton was born into a poor family in 1788. His father died when he was eight years old, and he moved with his mother to Hope … Read more
Torquay is regarded as a sleepy and affluent place. Yet, despite its ‘sleepy’ reputation, the Riot Act was read twice in the nineteenth century. The town was one of great inequality. While large villas were built for wealthy families, there was a shortage of homes for the working people. In one slum, two thousand men, … Read more
The records show numerous occasions when riot and rebellion occurred in Devon. The reasons for disorder were many and included food shortages, price rises, and opposing religious views. Background Between 1790 and 1801, bread prices quadrupled and wages failed to keep up with rising prices. Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the Corn … Read more
When access to Bushy Park in Richmond was withdrawn for local residents in the eighteenth century, a local shoemaker, Timothy Bennet, campaigned successfully to get it re-instated. Bennet threatened to take the Park Ranger, George Montagu-Dunk, the 2nd Earl of Halifax, to court if access for residents was not restored. He argued that local people … Read more
