When access to Bushy Park in Richmond was withdrawn for local residents in the eighteenth century, a local shoemaker, Timothy Bennet, campaigned successfully to get it re-instated.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
The Women’s Suffrage movement is not often associated with male supporters in the popular imagination. Whilst we often remember the women who fought for the vote, their male counterparts can be left by the wayside. But the women’s suffrage movement did have its male supporters, the most famous of which included James Keir Hardie, founder … Read more
It might be tempting to think, given the name ‘Women’s March’, that the protests held on the 21st of January 2017 were voicing, chiefly, women’s issues. It’s true that there is more than sufficient reason for women to be outraged to see a man like Donald Trump, whose misogynist comments and behaviour were exposed by … Read more
Jayaben Desai, living a quiet life in Willesden in the 1970s, would not have been tipped by many at the time as an influential political activist and defender of rights. And yet, circumstances, together with her sense of justice and her determination to see justice done, took her into national and international headlines as one … Read more
We’re clearly soldiers in petticoats And dauntless crusaders for woman’s votes Though we adore men individually We agree that as a group they’re rather stupid! In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, and a small group of other supporters founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WPSU). The group adopted the slogan … Read more
On the morning of 10 March 1914, ‘a small woman… attired in a tight-fitting grey coat and skirt’ entered the National Gallery in London. Wandering through the rooms, she stopped occasionally to sketch the paintings. She came to Velásquez’s The Toilet of Venus (known as the Rokeby Venus), and stood in front of the painting … Read more
By virtue of being a free-man, I conceive I have as true a right to all the privileges that doe belong to a free-man, as the greatest man in England, whatsoever he be ….. and the ground and foundation of my freedome, I build upon the Grand Charter of England John Lilburne was a seventeenth … Read more
“Things would not go well with England until everything was held in common….”[1] The summer of 1381 saw widespread discontent among ordinary workers, which resulted in the largest popular uprising in Medieval England.[2] Peasants, agricultural workers, craftsmen and villagers marched on London and demanded freedom from the bonds of serfdom. For two whole days they … Read more
‘Poll Taxes’ have become synonymous in the public consciousness with protest, but why is this? What is it about the Poll Tax and its use throughout history that has caused such anger amongst the British people? Firstly, what do we actually mean by ‘Poll Tax’, and how is it different to any other tax that … Read more
This article describes the life of Brian Barnes, a community artist and local Battersea activist. He has used his art not only as a means of self-expression but to harness the creativity of the community as part of a wider arts movement to bring about social and political change. The article focuses on a specific … Read more
