19th Century 1800-1899

Peterloo Massacre

The Peterloo Massacre of 1819 was a tipping moment in British history. The event that came to be called the Peterloo Massacre did not begin with the intention of being a pivotal point in history. On the 16th August 1819 tens of thousands of ordinary citizens of Manchester met in a place called St Peter’s…

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Sir Thomas Lipton

Sir Thomas Lipton

Sir Thomas Lipton, the very embodiment of the cliche, ‘Poor boy makes good’, was born in 1850 of working class Northern Irish parents in Glasgow. Lipton started work as n errand boy and became a millionaire through the vast chain of grocers shops that he had created and by 1908 he was one of the…

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Hyde Park Riot 1866

Hyde Park Riots 1866
This entry is part [part not set] of 6 in the series Reform
This entry is part [part not set] of 15 in the series Reformers and Radicals

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…

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Octavia Hill

Octavia Hill

Octavia Hill, social reformer and one of the founders of the National Trust. Octavia Hill was born in 1838 into a family of social reformers, her grandfather was Thomas Southwood Smith a public health reformer and her father was a friend of Jeremy Bentham so from an early age she was exposed to the need…

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The Framework Knitters Declaration 1812

Frameworkers
This entry is part [part not set] of 15 in the series Reformers and Radicals
This entry is part [part not set] of 4 in the series Agricutural Revolution

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…

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The Royal Society

Royal Society

The Royal Society for the promotion of natural knowledge is one of Britain’s longest standing organisations, its members some of the worlds most brilliant minds.

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London Picture Map

Map of London

The London Picture Map is a new website hosted by the London Metropolitan Archives to provide a digital resource of 250,000 images of London. Search by location and see what you can find out about where you work or live.

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