Stale Bread Act 1801
What did the act say? This was an Act imposed at a time of panicked desperation by a British Government trying to keep the lid on an explosive and fed up population. The bread shortage of the previous five years had not abated and so the Government, in its wisdom decided that the population would…
Read MoreHyde Park Riot 1866
There is nothing new in Governments facing opposition to the passage of bills over which there has been much heated debate. During the 1860’s and following on the heals of the Chartists, there emerged in 1864, a Reform League. The Reform League wanted fundamental changes to the voting rights of ordinary working class men and…
Read MoreThe Framework Knitters Declaration 1812
The issuing of this declaration by the framework knitters was in response to the machines that as the workers saw it was bringing down wages and producing inferior quality goods. The framework knitters (also called stockingers), launched the Luddite protests in Nottingham in 1811, justifying their actions by referring to the 1663 Charter of the…
Read MoreBritain After Waterloo the British Disillusion Post 1815
What happened to Britain after Waterloo? What did the victory mean to the population and why was there a British disillusion for the following 20 years? Britain seemed to implode as an economic bomb went off under her feet.
Read MoreConstitutional Crisis People’s Budget 1909
What would cause a king to contemplate the end of the Monarchy and that his son might be the last King? When his Barons, the Lords would rise-up and revolt against the rule of democracy and seek to reinvent the will of the people via its commons from being fulfilled. Lloyd George and Winston Churchill would be the advocates for the poor and common man. Asquith would seek to calm the rage and the King would plead with the Lords to let the Bill pass but it would take two General Elections and never again would this unwritten convention be relied upon without statute to support it.
Read MoreCorn Laws Economic History and Big Data
Learn a little and want to know more then this video by Cambridge University Expert D’Mariss Coffman can help. Find out how this humble grain and cereal returns lead to the “birth of political economy” and the start of Big Data as evidence for economic outcomes. Lecture given as part of the excellent Gresham College series.
Read MoreMagna Carta Translation 1225
The translation of King Henry III’s 1225 Magna Carta in the revised charter of 1215
Read MoreThe Luddites
What made the Luddites riot? Was it worth the loss of 17 lives? Have our attitudes to technology changed or does the fear of the new pervade in our social response to innovation and invention generally or only specifically when it impacts on our ability to earn a fair living? In the early 19th century we see a rebellious element emerge and a collective consciousness of the working class begins to emerge, what other lessons can we learn from what makes the British riot throughout our history? The first in a series of posts and explorations…
Read MoreWilliam Booth and the Inspiration behind the Salvation Army 1865
William Booth founder of the Salvation Army had a vision but what were his motivations and how did he achieve what he did. Explore the biography of William Booth.
Read MoreStatute of Labourers 1351
In 1351 following Plague and pestilence there was a shortage of Labour and the ruling elite were not happy to have to ‘suffer’ the inflationary costs that resulted as workers for the first time had the power to refuse to work for low wages. Was this the distant start of organised labour in Britain and a capsule that reflects the uneasy relationship between the monarch, parliament and the people…Will the Peasants Revolt?
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