#Chartism #C19th Is this really George Julian Harney? It’s such a bizarre portrait. The suggestion is that it was taken during his years in the United States, and the inscription on the back seems to show that it was sent to Jane Cowen, daughter of the Newcastle radical MP Joseph Cowen. It’s on eBay

Trump setting himself up for a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. It’s his version of sticking a pencil up each nostril and going ‘wibble’.

#Chartism #C19th Is this really George Julian Harney? It’s such a bizarre portrait. The suggestion is that it was taken during his years in the United States, and the inscription on the back seems to show that it was sent to Jane Cowen, daughter of the Newcastle radical MP Joseph Cowen. It’s on eBay

The second Chartist convention met #OnThisDay 12 April 1842 to organise the presentation to Parliament of a petition signed by 3,315,712 people in support of the People’s Charter. www.chartistancestors.co.uk/second-conve...

On 10 April 1848, Chartists marched to Kennington Common with the third Petition for the Charter under the anxiously watchful eye of the authorities. Thomas James Arnold, a police magistrate, drew these cartoons depicting his meetings with the military. www.chartistancestors.co.uk/cartoons-dep...

On 10 April 1848, Chartists marched to Kennington Common with the third Petition for the Charter under the anxiously watchful eye of the authorities. Thomas James Arnold, a police magistrate, drew these cartoons depicting his meetings with the military. www.chartistancestors.co.uk/cartoons-dep...

A reminder that I'm speaking at Conway Hall on Sunday 19 April. Book your tickets here: www.conwayhall.org.uk/whats-on/eve...

Chartist Lives is currently for sale on eBay at more than £14. So this is a reminder that you can get more #Chartism in your life (and who doesn’t need that) for just £9.99 from the link below 👇 www.amazon.co.uk/Chartist-Liv...

Chartist Lives is currently for sale on eBay at more than £14. So this is a reminder that you can get more #Chartism in your life (and who doesn’t need that) for just £9.99 from the link below 👇 www.amazon.co.uk/Chartist-Liv...

Yesterday I was in York, and popped into Minster Gate bookshop. Scanning the British History shelves, I slowly realised that there were many books on the same themes - radicalism, Chartism, trade unionism, 19th century economy and society, clearly part of a curated collection 1/n

Helen Macfarlane, Chartist journalist and translator of the Communist Manifesto, died #OnThisDay 29 March 1860. Hers is one of 42 life stories told in Chartist Lives www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

Now that’s a reading room. Victoria State #Library, Melbourne

My new website is now live as a soft launch, but only as a very basic site. That’s okay. I remember doing this with Visit Nunney and everyone laughed. Then it went on to win awards, receive praise from top museums and beat insanely well-funded, agency-run websites within a few years. Early days.

This in the old parliament house in Canberra - now the museum of Australian democracy.

Australia’s old and new parliaments in Canberra (green for the lower house, red for the senate). The original 1920s building has some lovely art deco features, but its modern replacement is just beautiful in its clean lines and Australian colours and materials.

Australia’s last mounted postie

So you’re in the Australian outback, 400km from the nearest seaport and you stop for a cold drink. What do you expect to find? A 90m long submarine, of course!

Eureka Stockade, 1854: Australia’s only armed uprising. The Ballarat Reform League Charter drawn up largely by English Chartists and Irish Confederates made the same political demands as the People’s Charter #Chartism #C19th #History

The final issue of the Chartist Northern Star newspaper was published #OnThisDay 13 March 1852. It appeared under a new name the following week but did not last long www.chartistancestors.co.uk/five-things-...

Astonishingly clear view of the stars in rural Australia this evening. Only needed a phone to take these.

Chartist Lives - now out in hardback, paperback and ebook formats. #Chartism #C19th #BritishHistory 🗃️ www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

Chartist Lives - now out in hardback, paperback and ebook formats. #Chartism #C19th #BritishHistory 🗃️ www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

If you ever wondered what the radical lawyer Henry Brougham, Whig Lord Chancellor at the time of the 1832 Reform Act, looked like, here’s his death mask, now on display at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

If you ever wondered what the radical lawyer Henry Brougham, Whig Lord Chancellor at the time of the 1832 Reform Act, looked like, here’s his death mask, now on display at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

Memorial to the first English settlers to arrive in what became Hobart Town, between October 1803 and the end of 1804. The Palawa people had already been there for 40,000 years, but were forced off their lands, hunted, killed and exiled.

For others also wishing to delve into digital Hansard in search of white rabbits or anything else, our research guide to the available online versions may be of interest: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2022/02/09/a...

‘Footsteps’. Statues at Franklin Wharf, Hobart, commemorating the 13,000 women transported to Van Diemen’s Land, and the 2,000 children they brought with them, 1803-53 #C19th

Port Arthur penal colony. Transported Newport Chartist John Frost served for a time as clerk in the commandant’s office. Young Ireland leader William Smith O’Brian later lived in the house shown here.

Eureka Southern Cross @markcrail.bsky.social

Some lovely old buildings in Castlemaine, Vic, today #Australia

New blog post: Many Chartists made their way to Australia in the 1850s and contributed significantly to the country’s democracy movement. Their efforts have not been forgotten. #Chartism #C19th chartistancestors.blog/2026/02/28/r...

London Working Men’s Association outlines principles to be embodied in the People’s Charter at a meeting #OnThisDay 1837. Bronterre O’Brien wrote: ‘I often despaired of Radicalism before; I will never despair again after what I witnessed on that occasion’. www.chartistancestors.co.uk/james-bronte...

Commemoration of the Red Ribbon Rebellion in the Australian goldfields. Lots of Chartist involvement. The flag, first flown in 1853, now hangs in Bendigo Trades Hall (just round the corner from the stones). Could be the only surviving Chartist banner anywhere in the world! #Chartism #C19th #History

I love the cover image for this special issue (which I may have had a hand in choosing). It shows 11 survivors of Peterloo assembled at Failsworth near Oldham in 1884 in support of parliamentary reform, and speaks to many of the themes contained in the special issue.

No doubt this is a disaster for Starmer and McSweenyism. But it’s worse for Farage. Voters split 2:1 in favour of progressive parties. Reform swept up the entire right-wing vote and still only got 28% in a seat they were supposed to be going to win.

Commemoration of the Red Ribbon Rebellion in the Australian goldfields. Lots of Chartist involvement. The flag, first flown in 1853, now hangs in Bendigo Trades Hall (just round the corner from the stones). Could be the only surviving Chartist banner anywhere in the world! #Chartism #C19th #History

Called in at Bendigo Trades Hall (Victoria, Australia) and got a very friendly welcome from folks there. Great trade union history in the town dating back to gold rush days in the 1850s. #tradeunions #tradeunionhistory

Out today, my new book about Margaret Bondfield, all-round ground-breaker and political pioneer is published by @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social and is available in both book and audio form. I am, obviously, very pleased about it!

George Julian Harney, among the first and last of the Chartists, editor of the Northern Star and Red Republican, was born #OnThisDay 17 February 1817. His story is told in Chartist Lives www.amazon.co.uk/Chartist-Liv...

Owenite socialist, Chartist land plan smallholder, Northern Star reporter and mutual insurance pioneer Thomas Martin Wheeler died #OnThisDay Monday 16 February 1862. His story is told in Chartist Lives www.amazon.co.uk/Chartist-Liv...

Owenite socialist, Chartist land plan smallholder, Northern Star reporter and mutual insurance pioneer Thomas Martin Wheeler died #OnThisDay Monday 16 February 1862. His story is told in Chartist Lives www.amazon.co.uk/Chartist-Liv...

#ChartismDay #CallForPapers #CfP Do you have research to share that touches on Chartism? Our call for papers sets out the sort of thing that might make the programme. Get in touch if you are interested. sslh.org.uk/2026/02/12/c...

Cue blockbuster movie trailer voice-over: This Valentine’s Day… None of the greatest love stories ever told… But don’t let that deter you… www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

The man putting the Rat in Ratcliffe 🐀

Great idea for a jigsaw.

Chartism Day 2026 This year's event will take place in Warwick on 19 September 2026. For more info and to see the call for papers, click the link. #Chartism #ChartismDay #CfP sslh.org.uk/2026/02/12/c...

Great to see Pretenders to the Throne of God download itself this morning. Really enjoyed earlier books in this series and have been looking forward to @aptshadow.bsky.social latest for a long time. Fantastic cover, too.

In 1918, The Representation of the People Act received royal assent. @emmapeplow.bsky.social explains how the Act gave the parliamentary vote to some women for the first time as well as millions of previously excluded working men.

Norwich Chartist John Dover was baptised at St Paul’s church #OnThisDay 1804. A ‘noisy fellow’ who upset his fellow Chartists and the authorities once too often, he was transported for life to Van Diemen’s Land in 1845. His story is one of dozens told in Chartist Lives www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y