The Industrial Revolution and the changing face of Britain An exhibition at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts (2008-9) During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Britain experienced change in all aspects of life, as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Scientific advances and technological innovations brought growth in agricultural and industrial production, economic expansion and changes in living conditions, while at the same time there was a new sense of national identity and civic pride. The most dramatic changes were witnessed in rural areas, where the provincial landscape often became urban and industrialized following advances in agriculture, industry and shipping. Wealth accumulated in the regions and there was soon a need for country banking. These themes were explored in the temporary exhibition The Industrial Revolution and the Changing Face of Britain at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in 2008–9, and are summarized in this essay. Agriculture Agriculture had dominated the British economy for centuries. Industry
theLuddites Who Were The Luddites? The Luddites were textile workers in Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire, skilled artisans whose trade and communities were threatened by a combination of machines and other practices that had been unilaterally imposed by the aggressive new class of manufacturers that drove the Industrial Revolution. In Nottinghamshire, where the Luddite attacks began in November 1811, the ‘framework-knitters’ or ‘stockingers’ who produced hosiery using stocking frames had a number of grievances, including wage-cutting, the use of unapprenticed youths for the same purpose, and the use of the new ‘wide frames’, which produced cheap, inferior quality goods. The fact that the stockingers objected to the latter because they were destroying the reputation of their trade illustrates the conflict between skilled artisans and the free-market/industrial mindset. Revolution, war, starvation In addition to the economic and technological changes which produced Luddism, the period
The World’s Greatest LP Album Covers, 45′s too History of British fascism, from the British Union of Fascists (BUF) to the British National Party (BNP) Lecture Notes: LECTURE ONE: The Roots of British Fascism Like its continental counterparts, inter-war British Fascism had deep roots in earlier movements of the 'Radical Right', particularly after 1880. These groups came from the political right. From Liberalism To Social Darwinism. The nineteenth century has been called an age of liberalism, a liberalism which was a reaction to the centralising tendencies of absolutism, and whose principles we find expressed by Locke or in the American Declaration of Independence. The liberal movement, however different it may have been in character, influence and political tactics in the various regions of central and western Europe, brought on to the political stage a commercial and industrial middle class whose liberal ideology changed - initially almost imperceptibly - as it gained economic and political power. There were different variations of Social Darwinism. British Anti-Semitism The Pre-War 'Radical Right' in Britain: An Assessment. (A.
Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guilford Dudley Executions 1554 Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley, were executed on 12 February 1554 at the Tower of London. The account below was found in the anonymous Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary. The decision to execute her cousin was not easy for Queen Mary I. But when Jane’s father led another rebellion against her rule, she could no longer tolerate the Protestant threat. His [Guildford’s] carcase thrown into a cart, and his head in a cloth, he was brought to the chapel within the Tower, where the Lady Jane, whose lodging was in Partidge’s house, did see his dead carcase taken out of the cart, as well as she did see him before alive on going to his death – a sight to her no less than death. Read More English History Topics The Coronation of Lady Jane Grey, 1553 This account of Jane Grey's coronation was written by Henry Machyn, a London undertaker. February 28, 2015 In "Tudor" Lady Catherine Grey Facts & Information Biography February 8, 2015 In "Relatives" February 1, 2015
Retrospace Nuclear bunker on sale in Nottinghamshire - BBC News A Cold War-era bunker, complete with instructions for what to do during a nuclear attack, is up for auction. The underground bunker was built in the Nottinghamshire countryside, in 1961, at the height of tensions between the West and the Soviet Union. The small room, four metres below the ground, has been left more or less as it was when it was shut down in 1991, explained auctioneer Richard Gadd. It could have housed up to four staff. "It would have been quite uncomfortable but they still managed to fit them in somehow. "It wasn't really built for comfort, it was built for a purpose." And that purpose was to monitor the effects of what was believed to be an impending nuclear attack. It was built by the Royal Observers Corps, in Burton Joyce, in the year the construction of the Berlin Wall began and the Bay of Pigs invasion took place. The regiment built more than 1,500 monitoring posts across the country between 1956 and 1965. Mr Catford said it was rare to find one so well preserved.
Opium Wars Dr. R.G. Tiedemann gives a survey of the factors behind the ignominious Opium Wars that the U.K. fought and won 150 years ago, first published in China Now magazine 1989. See also Opium in China In 1997 the colony of Hong Kong was returned to China. Hong Kong Island became a British possession as a direct result of the Opium War, the opening shots of which were fired 150 years ago. The 'Canton system' and the opium trade It is often said that the 'Opium War' was not fought over opium but in the name of free trade, as well as diplomatic and judicial equality with China. Two developments in the 1830s undermined this relatively stable 'Canton system': the significant expansion of opium smuggling and the rise of free-trade imperialism. The opium addict often sold all his possessions to pay for the opium. The opium traffic was of considerable economic importance to the British. Commissioner Lin's opium suppression London's decision for war The military campaigns 1840-1842 The Treaty of Nanjing
vintage everyday Wiltshire - Wiltshire's Underground City - Wiltshire's Secret Underground City Map of London Social and Functional Analysis 1943 | Mapping London [Updated] This map of London districts, was intended to be used as a grand “masterplan” of how a post-WW2 London could look. Each district appears as a simplified “blob” with rounded edges – many districts are simple ovals. Specific single “University”, “Government”, “Press” and “Law” districts are all defined. The accompanying text reads: A simplification of the communities & open space survey showing the existing main elements of London. Thankfully London has not ended up as ordered and prescribed – and obsolescent – as this map suggests. [Update – Thanks to Andrea Marchesetti for mentioning the below related map, from around the same time and with the same general idea, except with more precise boundaries drawn around the communities.] See more maps featured on Mapping London
The 1966 Swildens Desk | Voices of East Anglia Fancy a new desk and chair at work? Thought so, well, you can either check out our recent IKEA post for something at the, shall we say, less-expensive end of the market or alternatively if you’re feeling a bit flush you could do a lot worse than look at the rather snazzy Swildens desk we have below although it might set you back a bob or two as there’s only handful have ever been made. The original design was commissioned in 1966 for Peugeot’s premier Parisian showroom and HQ situated on Avenue de la Grande Armee where the three original desks resided until the early 1980s when they popped up in assorted auctions and design fairs in France and the USA. In early 2013 design duo Elsa and Gregory Maitre working under the name of Furdess came across a collector of fine furniture who told them of the one elusive piece he once saw but could never get his hands on thereafter. A stunningly beautiful stainless steel desk and chair combination. Related Posts
UK Data Archive - OUR DATA IN USE About the data The UK National Food Survey collects weekly data on household food acquisition every year. It contains year and month specific information about all food entering the household using a diary reporting quantities and expenditures of food purchased. In particular it collects information on personal expenditure on snacks, meals, sweets and drinks consumed outside the home, and the number and type of meals (breakfast, lunch or dinner) offered to guests. In addition, it records some demographic characteristics, such as age and sex of each member of the family and of visitors, number of males and females working, household characteristics, region of residence, and socio-economic variables, such as household income and occupation of head of household. How the data were used Twenty-six waves of the National Food Survey were used for a PhD research on 'Nutrition, Health and Socio-Economic Status' documenting how diet changed in Britain between 1975 and 2000. About the author
BBC iWonder - Are you a Roundhead or a Cavalier?