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
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 First World War produced Britain’s first major anti-war movement. Conscientious Objectors (COs) were a collection of individuals who refused to fight. Although there were organisations such as the No-Conscription Fellowship, it was up to the individual, at enormous personal sacrifice, to make the protest. This meant facing alone the combined strength of the judiciary, … Read more
Sir John Lubbock was an influential banker, scientific writer, and politician. He introduced banking reforms, was an advocate for free trade, and was a prolific law maker. He is best remembered for his efforts to reduce working hours and introduce public holidays, including the Shop Hours Regulation Act of 1886. He also worked to introduce … Read more
At the outbreak of the First World War, German immigrants, who for decades had been respected members of their community, became enemies almost overnight. Their livelihoods, shops and houses were destroyed by violent crowds. Yet German people had settled in Britain over many centuries. They were courtiers, merchants, engineers, and skilled workers such as the … Read more
Born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, Octavia Hill was the eighth daughter of James Hill, a corn merchant, and his third wife, Caroline. Hill was born into a progressive family; her grandfather was a campaigner on public health, while her father was a follower of the social reformer Robert Owen, and founded the radical newspaper the Star … 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
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
