For the 3 million people living in slums in post-war Britain, the refrain that “they had never had it so good” was an insult. Families were living in single rooms with no bathroom, sharing toilets and cooking facilities with multiple other residents. The housing was often substandard, with no foundations and crawling with vermin. Paying … Read more
Dame Margery Corbett Ashby was a dedicated supporter of women’s rights. She spent much of her long life fighting for women’s right to equal suffrage and citizenship around the world. Born in 1882, she spent her childhood in the family home of Woodgate House (now called Cumnor House), in the village of Danehill in East … Read more
For nineteen years, a group of women maintained camps around the perimeter of an American base at Greenham Common in Berkshire, protesting the storage of nuclear weapons. The actions were part of a wider movement, spearheaded by CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament). The American military eventually withdrew from Greenham and in 2002, a memorial garden … Read more
In March 1984, the Conservative government announced the closure of twenty coal mines with a loss of 20,000 jobs. In response, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) announced a strike which ultimately lasted a year and, at its peak, involved 142,000 workers. The strike was one of the most bitter trade disputes in British history, … Read more
Pat Wilson was a stalwart campaigner for people’s rights to use our network of public footpaths and rights of way. She was for many years the Ramblers’ Association representative in North-West Kent. As Local Correspondent, and later Vice President, of the Open Spaces Society (the oldest conservation society in the country), she also campaigned for … Read more
Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, came from a long line of bankers and philanthropists. Although he considered the hereditary peerage to be against his political and personal principles, he served in the House of Lords from 1971 until his death. He was a champion of human rights both at home and abroad and his Buddhist … Read more
The Brixton Riots were a key turning point for race relations in Britain. The riots, which began on the 10th April 1981, lasted a total of three full days before over 1,000 police officers from across London overcame the force of the rioters and brought an end to the chaos. The rioting was the result … Read more
When we come to think about nineteenth-century feminism, we can’t celebrate its achievements without recognising what it was achieved on the back of. In so many cases, women’s greater contribution to the public sphere [was] through social action, through social work, through philanthropy […], so often those things were achieved on the basis of … Read more
Rose Emma Janau was born in Brixton in 1875. Her parents were both teachers and she received an extensive education, both in England and abroad. In 1896 she entered Royal Holloway College, studying modern languages. Although she passed the Oxford Final Honours Exam, she was not, as a woman, awarded a degree. In 1900 she … Read more
John Archer is often held up as an icon of black British history. He was the first black man to become mayor of a London borough, and only the second in the whole country. In April 2013, he was selected by the Royal Mail as one of the subjects for a series of stamps celebrating … Read more
