An evening exploring the little known unrest that swept England in the first part of the nineteenth century.
It is the Summer of 1830. A second revolution has just erupted on the streets of Paris. People are wondering whether these events will be copied in England. In the Autumn of 1830, under the banner of the mythical figure Captain Swing, there was widespread rioting across almost all of Southern England.
In the decade either of side of 1830 there were profound changes affecting English society which the English Project will be exploring in a bicentenary commemoration starting in 2023 and culminating in 2030.
Find out more about the background to this forgotten period of our history. Who was Captain Swing? What motivated Wellington to be so brutal? Were the threshing machined of yesteryear the Internet and AI of today? Why did so many good people decide to protest. Meet leading experts who will explore the history, society and language of nineteenth century Hampshire. Take the opportunity to ask questions about Winchester's extraordinary history.
Event Details:
£12 including pre-talk and interval drinks. The evening will be in two halves with an interval for refreshments:
* An overview of early nineteenth century life in England and France and a spotlight on the causes and lessons of the Swing riots.
* Audience questions and discussion.
Speakers:
Dr John Blockley
John is a lecturer in Modern British and European History at the University of Winchester. He took his first degree in History at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and subsequently worked in the law before studying for his doctorate Britain and the British in the French Imagination at the time of Fashoda and the Boer War. He has taught a wide range of history courses including the Swing riots as part of a Masters course.
Edward Fennell
Edward has a degree in History and for much of his career as a journalist wrote for The Times about the world of commercial law. He has a strong commitment to exposing the overlooked or forgotten history which surrounds us as a way of enriching our relationship with the geographical space in which we live.
Prof Bill Lucas
Bill is Professor of Learning and Director of the Centre Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester. Bill is chair of The English Project and the author of many books on the teaching of English. With Chris Mulvey, he is the author of A History of the English Language in 100 Places and was an adviser to the acclaimed 878AD exhibition in Winchester.
Prof Christopher Mulvey
Christopher is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Winchester and a trustee of the English Project. He is a graduate of Magdalen College, Oxford, and he received his PhD from Columbia University. His articles are numerous, and his books include Anglo-American Landscapes (1983), Transatlantic Manners (1990), William Wells Brown’s Clotel (2006), and, with Bill Lucas, A History of the English Language in 100 Places (2013).
Dr Helen Paul
Helen is Helen is an economic historian based at the University of Southampton in the Economics department. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and writes about a wide variety of economic history topics, including the South Sea Bubble. She is a regular guest on BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time.
