Chartism Newsletter #9 (April 2014)
Memorial to Thomas Powell in the churchyard at Newtown, Montgomeryshire.
The Llanidloes Chartist riots occurred 175 years ago this month.
CONTENTS
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Chartism Day 2014: Ireland and British Democracy
News from Newport
Publications on Chartism, 2013
Remarkable Reynolds: Dickens's Radical Rival
Shelley in Chartist newspapers and Owenite periodicals
The Jim Crow Craze in London’s Press and Streets, 1836–39
Cuffay’s Corner – no blue plaque
A new look for Chartism and the Chartists website
1 Chartism Day 2014: Ireland & British Democracy
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When? Friday & Saturday 4 (evening) and 5 July (09.30- 17.00)
Where? National University of Ireland, Galway
Speakers include Joan Allen, Maura Cronin, Ian Haywood, Michael
Huggins, Christine Kinealy, John McGrath, Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh,
Matthew Roberts.
For details contact joan.allen@ncl.ac.uk
2 News from Newport
Les James continues to issue Celebrating the Chartists, a series of highly
professional and substantial newsletters for the 175th Anniversary Year of
the South Wales Rising. Along with extensive information about events in
1839, they contain the latest news about the extensive programme of
events in Wales during the anniversary year. The latest Celebrating the
Chartists is distributed alongside this newsletter. If you would like to be
added to the circulation of future issues please contact Les on
les.james22@gmail.com
3 Publications on Chartism, 2013
This list, though extensive, is almost certainly incomplete. Please send
further items to Malcolm Chase (m.s.chase@leeds.ac.uk). Thanks!
Benoît Agnes, ‘A Chartist singularity? Mobilising to promote democratic
petitions in Britain and France, 1838-1848’, Labour History Review 78: 1
(April 2013), pp. 51-66
Joan Allen, ‘“The teacher of strange doctrines”: George Julian Harney and
the Democratic Review, 1849-1850’, Labour History Review 78: 1 (April
2013), pp. 67-86
Rob Breton, ‘Crime Reporting in Chartist Newspapers’, Media History 19:3
(2013), pp. 244-256
Malcolm Chase, Le chartisme. Aux origines du mouvement ouvrier
britannique, 1838-1858 (Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2013), 470pp. [A
translation of Chartism: A New History (2007)]
Malcolm Chase, ‘History matters: recognising the Chartists’, History Today
63:11 (November 2013 ), p. 6
Anthony Daly, ‘“The true remedy for Irish grievances is to be found in good
political institutions”: English radicals and Irish nationalism, 1847–74’,
Historical Research 86:231 (2013), pp. 53-75
David Goodway, The real history of Chartism, or eight fallacies about the
Chartist movement (Socialist History Society Occasional Paper No. 32, 2013)
Mike Greatbatch, ‘Politics in the piggery: Chartism in Ouseburn, 1838-1848’,
North East History 44 (2013), pp. 33-61
David Lloyd, ‘The Clachan and the Chartists: Irish Models for Feargus
O'Connor's Land Plan’, The Irish Review 47 (Winter 2013), pp. 28-43
Janette Martin, ‘Archive report: the diary of Joseph William Corfield’,
Labour History Review 78: 1 (April 2013), pp. 130-132
Paul Pickering, ‘From rifle club to reading rooms: Sydney’s democratic
vistas, 1848-1856’, Labour History Review 78: 1 (April 2013), pp. 87-112
Iorwerth Prothero, ‘Chartism and French radicalism in the 1830s and 1840s:
a comparison’, Labour History Review 78: 1 (April 2013), pp. 33-50
Matthew Roberts, ‘Chartism, commemoration and the cult of the radical
hero, c. 1770-1840’, Labour History Review 78: 1 (April 2013), pp. 3-32
Matthew Roberts, ‘Essay in review: labouring in the digital archive’, Labour
History Review 78: 1 (April 2013), pp. 113-126
Mike Sanders, ‘Courtly Lays or Democratic Songs? The Politics of Poetic
Citation in Chartist Literary Criticism’, in Class and the canon: constructing
labouring-class poetry and poetics, 1780-1900, edited by Kirstie Blair and
Mina Gorji, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), pp. 156-173
Michael J. Turner, ‘Revolutionary Connection: “The Incorruptible”
Maximilian Robespierre and the “Schoolmaster of Chartism” Bronterre
O’Brien’, Historian 75: 2 (Summer 2013), pp. 237–261
4 Remarkable Reynolds: Dickens's Radical Rival
Registration is open for this day conference at Westminster Archives Centre
on Saturday 26 July 2014 (11am - 4pm). This is a FREE bicentenary event to
celebrate the life and work of GWM Reynolds, but places are limited. To
reserve a place contact: Westminster City Archives, 10 St Ann’s St, London
SW1P 2DE (Tel.: 020 7641 5180 or archives@westminster.gov.uk )
Keynote Speakers
 Louis James (University of Kent): 'More Popular than Dickens? G.W.M.
Reynolds and mid-Victorian England'
 Anne Humpherys (City University, New York): 'Dining with Reynolds,
Dicks, and their Friends and Relations'
Readings from Bleak House and The Mysteries of London by Michael Slater,
as well as from Wagner the Werewolf and The Necromancer
Talks by
 Ian Haywood (University of Roehampton): 'Looking at Reynolds'
 Rohan McWilliam (Anglia Ruskin University): 'The Chartist Gothic:
Reynolds and the Radical Imagination'
 Ruth Doherty (Trinity College Dublin): 'Mr Jones and Nemo's Bones:
Crowded Graves in Reynolds and Dickens'
 Jessica Hindes (Royal Holloway, University of London): '"Not in reality
an indecent publication": Reynolds and the Victorian obscene'
 Mary L. Shannon (University of Roehampton): 'Reynolds and
Westminster'
There will also be an exhibition of Reynolds material.
Tea and coffee will be available from 10.30am.
For further details, and the latest downloadable programme and poster,
see: http://remarkablereynolds.wordpress.com/
Any questions of queries can be directed to Mary Shannon at
Mary.Shannon@roehampton.ac.uk
5 Shelley in Chartist newspapers and Owenite periodicals
Congratulations to Jen Morgan of Salford University (a speaker at the 2012
Chartism Day). Jen’s essay on Shelley in Chartist newspapers and Owenite
periodicals was awarded the 2013 Raymond Williams Society Postgraduate
Essay Competition. The essay will be published in the 2015 issue of the
Society’s journal Keywords.
6 The Jim Crow Craze in London’s Press and Streets, 1836–39
Congratulations to Tom Scriven of the University of Manchester (another
speaker at the 2012 Chartism Day!). Tom won the Journal of Victorian
Culture’s 2013 Graduate Essay Prize for ‘The Jim Crow Craze in London’s
Press and Streets, 1836–39’, which contains a number of references to
Chartism. It is already published in JVC on-line and will appear in print later
this year.
6 Cuffay’s Corner – no blue plaque
Regular readers will recall that several years ago Martin Hoyles received
permission from Westminster Council to put up a plaque to William Cuffay
at 409 Strand where he used to live. Sadly, after initially expressing
interest, the owner of the building has rejected the idea, preferring instead
to honour Sir John Gatti (businessman, Conservative parliamentary
candidate, and chair of the London County Council, 1927-28).
7 A new look for Chartism and the Chartists website
Stephen Roberts’ website devoted to ‘Musings, information and illustrations
about the Chartists’ has had a major makeover. Check it out at
http://www.thepeoplescharter.co.uk/
Meanwhile, to look forward to next year, Verso will be publishing The
Dignity of Chartism, collected essays and articles on Chartist subjects by
Dorothy Thompson, edited by Stephen.
This is an occasional newsletter. It is not intended to replace the several excellent
websites devoted to Chartism, but simply to circulate quickly news and details of events
that may be of interest. Feel free to send items ( m.s.chase@leeds.ac.uk ) and, equally, to
pass this on to anyone who may be interested. If you do not wish to receive future issues
please email ‘Unsubscribe Newsletter’.