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Had a couple of hours in York City library and archives today looking at the records they hold on the York Historic Pageant of 1909. This was the last of a sequence of Edwardian public pageants that ran between 1905 and 1909 in different locations and that we study in the final A225 chapter.

There is an fantastic and detailed account of the York Pageant in the The Redress of the Past: Historical Pageants in Britain website

Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘The York Pageant’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1354/

The archive holds a scrapbook that someone (the provenance isn't recorded) kept of the event. It is stacked full of press cuttings, postcards and pictures from the various souvenir brochures.

There is also a collection of postcards, showing some of the key scenes.

Like the examples from Dover and St Albans in the module materials. there was plenty of local 'ancient' history (however Robin Hood also made a showing!) but the pageant didn't entirely shy away from some of York's darker past, there was a scene depicting the massacre of Jews in the city in 1190. 

I particularly liked these fearsome ancient Yorkies.

The Reverend Oliver (no relation) here looking suitably imperious as Constantine - the pageant took place in the York Museum Gardens amongst the ruins of St Mary's Abbey.

The current Jorvik centre would no doubt despair that viking King Harald Hardrada's helmet has wings on it (it seems their main purpose in life to disabuse visitors of this fallacy) - but Mr Jackson who was playing him looks happy enough! 

The costumes look pretty fabulous - as do the hair and beards!

This year the medieval York Mystery plays are on, they run on a four year cycle. Whilst the current sequence of performances didn't start in 1909, there was a scene in the pageant representing the guilds enacting one of the plays.

The guild banners that were made for the 1909 pageant now hang in the Merchant Adventurer's Hall in the city, adding yet another layer of historical 'recreation'.

The commemorative brochures were keen to promote the pageant sponsors and various committee members. You can't help feeling everyone was having a grand time.

This was Louis Napoleon Parker, the 'Pageant Master' - who had played a big part in launching the craze for community Pageants when he had created the Sherborne Pageant in 1905.

This was his view on the York Pageant...

I thought I'd finish with this postcard, which shows the finale of the show in which York was celebrated by figures representing all the other global 'Yorks' (including 'New York'), I think there were about 17 in total.

Not just an example of the 'looking back' that the chapter emphasises - but also, I think, an attempt to foster ideas of a (very white!!) 'Greater Britain', linked together by common culture and roots.

As 'reward' for saying goodbye to a TMA, I recently took the Transpennine Express and had an interesting morning at 62 Nelson Street in Manchester.

This was once the family home for the Pankhursts, and is now The Pankhurst Centre - saved from demolition by a campaign by women in the 1980s it sits rather incongruously within the grounds of Manchester Royal Infirmary (whilst I was visiting there were at least a couple of landings on the helipad immediately next door!). 

It houses a small museum and exhibition space and is run by volunteers, who are just so knowledgeable about aspects of the family, the suffrage campaigns and the women's movement more broadly.

A bust of Emmeline looking suitably imposing, apparently she and her daughters fell out regularly and dramatically!

I'm sure this is many people's favourite part of the museum (although the commemorative gardens are also very nice - the Green/White/Purple is a great colour scheme for planting!) the parlour where the Women's Social and Political Union first convened on 10th October 1903. Apparently the invite included the following text... 'Women...we must do the work ourselves. We must have an independent women's movement. Come to my house and we will arrange it.' 💪

I also made a quick suffragette-focused trip back to the People's History Museum to remind myself of some of the things held there. Most loitered under photograph-resistant shiny glass cases 🙁, but I did get an almost passable image of the 'Pank-a-Squith' board game (I've also tracked down a transcribed set of the rules).

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Exploring 19th and early 20th century concerns with population 'degeneration' was a fascinating aspect of unit 18 in A225. Whilst I don't have any great expertise, I've a little familiarity with the eugenics movement - but the 'Neo-Malthusians' and their 'Malthusian League' were a new group for me. So I was really interested to see that the Borthwick Archives held copies of their monthly journal... 

The Malthusian - organ of the Malthusian League 😃

The fundamental concern of the Malthusian League was 'family planning'. It was initially founded during the "Knowlton trial" of Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh in July 1877, when they were prosecuted by the state for publishing Charles Knowlton's 'The Fruits of Philosophy, or the Private Companion of Young Married People'. This pamphlet, written by an American physician in the 1830s, explained various contemporary methods of birth control - and (radically) was aimed at a general readership.

The principles of the League are set out after the first editorial (by Charles Bradlaugh), they present over-population as the primary source of poverty and most social woes, and promote the 'prudential' or 'birth-restricting' Malthusian checks as the only sensible route out of contemporary problems.

I only skimmed the first volume, but the recurrent themes in the contents were: discussions of Malthus and his written works; essays counselling against 'celibacy' as this actually led to 'vice' but to marry early but keep 'control' of family size; social and possibly legislative incentives for small families. There was minimal discussion of any of the practicalities of contraception, but I did come across the following account of a visit by representatives of the League to the International Medical Congress of 1879 held in Amsterdam.

The excerpt above is the closest I came to a discussion of methods of family planning - the physiological 'facts' linked to French physician Adam Raciborski was a variant on the 'rhythm method' trying to identify a 'safe period' for intercourse, other approaches discussed were 'withdrawal', presumably mechanical methods were sheaths.

I was also interested in the following account of a very different, socialist, perspective on poverty. It looks like it got very short shrift at the conference!

There were a couple of examples of 'Malthusian Rhyme' - this one picked on the 'Poor Parson' who had failed to take proper notice of the teachings of the Reverend Malthus! He was now dependent on the charity of his parishioners because of his failure to take the 'prudential' route and the subsequent inevitable poverty.

The final A225-related excerpt I picked out was on 'The Female Franchise' an important 'Current Topic'. The League were broadly supportive, specifically as they believed this would be an indirect route to 'limited procreation'. 

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Had a day in Leeds recently, seen through the eyes of A225 and the mid-19th century middle class.

First stop was to check in where the money was coming from, before seeing by the end of the day how and where it was being spent.

This is Leeds Industrial Museum based in Armley Mills to the west of Leeds. The site originally drew on the water power of the river Aire and was for a time in the late 1780s the largest woolen mill in the world. It has milled corn as well as textiles and carried on as an active industrial site until 1969.

Wool was the mainstay of the West Yorkshire economy, but Leeds had a broad industrial base which the museum celebrates and even a small role in the history of moving pictures. There's a good case for the first film recording having been made in Leeds in 1888.

Moving into the city, my first stop was the 'Woodhouse Temperance Hall and Mechanics' Institution' that was met in unit 12 of A225 being opened by Samuel Smiles in 1851. It's still a functional building, situated in a working class area of the city and housing an independent evangelical Christian church.

You can still make out the original plaque.

Whilst the Temperance Hall might, in the OU's words, have a 'classical front [...] designed to announce this was an important building' there's 'announcement' and 'ANNOUNCEMENT!!' and Leeds City Centre is all about the maximal.

I thought this building was a great example of signalling what's important. This is the headquarters of Leeds School Board built in the late 1870s. Ratepayers (male and female I think) now had the chance elect the Board which used their resources to fund universal elementary education across the (then) town.

Leeds Town Hall is currently having a major £20 million refurbishment - so the interior is currently off-limits as the amazing organ and Victoria Hall get a complete overhaul, but I guess the exterior still captures that mid-century 'confidence'.

Temple Mill is also in the middle of a significant makeover - as it moves along with other nearby buildings from industrial to office and 'creative' space.

It is quite an astounding facade!

But it's far from the only 'working' building in Leeds that was essentially a canvas to proclaim the middle class had 'taste'.

St Paul's House was a warehouse in 1878 - but was happy if you mistook it for the Alhambra! 😂

It was owned by Leeds Mayor and Liberal MP John Barran (later of course a Baronet!) and housed the ready-to-wear clothing factory that made his fortune.

This iteration of Leeds Corn Exchange was finished in 1863 (the architect Cuthbert Brodrick would later design the Town Hall).

It has had ups and downs as the agricultural sector boomed and crashed - but now is more than happy to sell you 'middle class stuff' (in my case some artisanal chocolates for Valentine's Day 😃). 

It was shopping all the way from now on - and Leeds has a fantastic range of Victorian spaces to sell things to all classes.

The current Market Hall dates back to 1904, but the first covered market on the site went up in 1857 - appropriately for A225 its design was inspired by Paxton's 'Crystal Palace'.

Perhaps the most significant legacy it holds for the modern high street is as the location for Michael Mark's first 'Penny Bazaar' ('Don't ask the price, it's a penny'). A Polish migrant fleeing anti-semitism he arrived in Leeds in the early 1880s with no resources, unable to speak English - he would partner with Yorkshireman Tom Spencer in 1894 .... ('ambition, anxiety, crisis, confidence, decline, renewal' sounds like a typical M&S news story 😂)

Finally a few more shopping 'Arcades'. 

Thornton's Arcade was completed in 1878 - Charles Thornton was a major property developer in the town - for anyone of a 'certain age' he also owned the Varieties Music Hall in Leeds, home to the 'Good Old Days' which blessed or blighted British TV during my childhood with a bizarre nostalgia for our period (I've just discovered a few episodes lurk on the iPlayer). Whilst perhaps there's a hint of 'Moorish' in those arches - the main aim seems to be full-on 'Gothic-revival', the mechanical clock (which always seems to me to show rather too much thigh 🤣) is a tribute to Walter Scott's 'Ivanhoe'.

To end - the 'Cross' and 'County' Arcades - these went up over the turn of the century, finished in 1903. 

They are, and probably always were, way beyond my price range. 😂

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On a suitably wet day recently I set out exploring some of York's water-related Victorian Public Health history.

This is the River Ouse which cuts through the city and remains the main source for its drinking water. 

Where the Lendal Bridge now crosses the river a defensive chain used to be stretched between towers in the medieval period - both of which survive. The tower visible on the far bank subsequently became a key part of the city's water supply.

By 1631 the tower had become the 'Waterhouse' and was essentially a water tower supplying the city, a system that was augmented with a steam engine in 1780.

Drawing its supply directly from a heavily polluted stretch of the river, the water pumped out into the city probably helped to compound the first cholera epidemic to hit York in the summer of 1832. Between June and September of that year there were 450 cases and 185 deaths and the local authorities were forced to open a new burial ground. The remains of the hastily established graveyard are still visible, standing just outside the city walls and in front of the busy railway station. 

Although the very poor riverside communities were first and hardest hit, cholera could strike anyone in society. 

This gravestone records three unrelated individuals: Eleazar Glenn 6yrs, William Ellison 42yr and Sarah Buckley 45yrs. Whoever commissioned the memorial had clearly paid for some poetry, as each gets a few lines. William's verse both unwittingly links water and mortality and gives a hint towards how rapidly cholera could strike

Death like an overflowing stream
Sweeps us away, our life's a dream.
An empty tale, a morning flower
Cut down and wither'd in a hour.

As an antidote to too much gloom and doom only a few hundred yards down river is the memorial to York's most famous Victorian Public Health hero - Dr John Snow. Born in 1813 to poor parents (he's a great example for the 'rise of the middle class' chapter, as he will eventually help provide pain-relief in child-birth for Queen Victoria!) he became a medical doctor, working in London during the 'age of equipoise'. He believed cholera was spread through water, not the air, and used detailed analysis of outbreaks of disease and water supplies to try and prove this.

The memorial is linked to an event in 1854, miles from York in what is now Soho in London. Following an explosive outbreak of cholera, Snow was able to convince the Parish authorities that a local water pump was the source and they agreed to remove the pump-handle. A good illustration of how local authorities saw themselves as having responsibilities for Public Health. The outbreak then rapidly tailed away, we know now that removing the handle probably contributed very little to this - what was more important was that everyone had simply fled the area. 

In fact John Snow never wholly convinced national authorities that cholera was water borne (he was dead by 1858) - but the massive efforts taken to sluice away bad-smelling causes of miasma proved effective (for all the wrong reasons) finally separating sewage from sources of water supply. 

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I only live a few miles from the village of Wilberfoss in the East Riding where William Wilberforce's family had their roots, he went to school in the nearest town of Pocklington and of course Hull, his birthplace and first electoral seat isn't far away - so felt obliged to go on a bit of field trip in December 2025, in the end it stretched over a couple of days 😀

The column below was erected in Hull in 1834-5 shortly after Wilberforce's death - the first stone was laid on the day the Abolition Act came into effect. This is its second location - it was moved in 1935 during a period of urban reorganisation.

This is Wilberforce House - birthplace of William, the son of a local merchant who traded mainly with the Baltic ports. It's not obvious here, but the house essentially backs on to the river Hull - very close to business. A more mature William is shown in the imposing statue - however I'm not sure he was really a very physically imposing man, certainly described as a 'shrimp' at one political meeting. 

The house is home to a museum which largely focuses on the story of transatlantic slavery. Although of course there is a lot of 'Wilberforce' content I think they do a pretty good job of presenting a well rounded picture, with a strong focus on the experience and voices of enslaved people and plenty of coverage of the extra-parliamentary abolition campaign.

The image of the 'Brookes Ship' is probably very familiar - showing crowded bodies packed on a slave ship - but I'd not seen a 3D model before. Thomas Clarkson had this one made for Wilberforce to show in parliament. 

There is also a reconstruction of Thomas Clarkson's Chest - another example of the campaigning inventiveness the abolitionists showed. This displayed potential African goods that might form the basis of trade as an alternative to the purchase of enslaved people - lower layers of the chest contained shocking instruments of punishment and restraint.

Couldn't resist a bit of A111 reminiscence - here's a display of manillas - brass traded with West African communities. 

Even more directly connected to A111 and the art of Benin - the museum (for now) holds one 'Benin Bronze'. Plenty of history layered on this object - it was salvaged in its current state from the wreckage of Hull's Museum, which was completely destroyed during WWII bombing.

Day 2 of my Wilberforce-athon was today in York University library archives (I'm always astounded at what you can just request to see as a member of the public) and focused more on his life as a politician - in an as yet very unreformed parliamentary world.

For most of his time in parliament Wilberforce represented the County of Yorkshire (then with two seats) and sat as an 'independent' (though he was probably best described as a Tory). 

Shortly after the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 an election was called - Wilberforce had been elected five times before, but none of those occasions had actually required anyone going to the polls. In fact no one had voted in the County of Yorkshire since 1742!

On this occasion there was a 3-way contest - and it all got very exciting - and very expensive. Wilberforce raised his expenses via a public appeal - and ended up spending the equivalent of around £1¾ million in today's prices, his opponents each spent over £6 million each (of their families money). [If you wanted a shortish read about the election there's a great blog about it here from the Eighteenth-Century Political Participation & Electoral Culture project]

The object below is catalogued in the archive as an 'Election Ticket' from 1807. 

On one side there is an oak wreath and 'Wilberforce for ever'. The other side shows another wreath and the text: 'Humanity is the cause of the people' and 'King and Constitution' (felt there were lots of links possible with the idea of 'imagined communities'!) The medallion obviously allowed you to display your allegiance at the parliamentary election, I wonder whether it was also a marker that might have got you admission to the supporters' bars and refreshments? 

Once an election was over you could relive the best bits of invective and satire collected together in a 'squib book'. This one was produced in 1807 by the editor of the Leeds Mercury, Edward Baines. 

The two other candidates were:

Charles William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton of Wentworth Woodhouse and Milton Hall (Whig) - He was young, inexperienced and his party supported Catholic emancipation

the Honourable Henry Lascelles of Harewood House (Tory) - He was from Yorkshire's most wealthy plantation owning family, had campaigned against abolition of the slave trade and was against Catholic emancipation.

As the squib book shows their opponents didn't hold back! 

Voting took place in the centre of York over 15 days, with public votes totalled up each day. Wilberforce just sneaked in on top, followed by Milton - in total just over 30,000 votes were cast (people had two votes, but didn't always use both) - the 1801 population of Yorkshire was around 860,000, so democracy was still some way away!

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I've set myself the challenge of accompanying my A225 studies of the 'The British Isles and the modern world, 1789–1914' with a year of 19th century reading. I'm going to try and keep roughly to the chronology of the module and also make sure that I'm exploring the geographical spread of the course (so some Irish, Scots, ?Welsh reading). I'd started just thinking about novels, but have been persuaded that the period also featured a lot of narrative poetry, so this will also get a look in.

So here goes - probably aiming to stop somewhere around HG Wells, but that feels a long way away right now...

	William Wordsworth - The Prelude  Published: 1850 (after Wordsworth's death), but the version I read wasn't published until 1926. This was the manuscript of his 1805 revision of the 1799 original. Period covered: 1770s to 1805 A225 links: The text includes the 'Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive' section, exploring Wordsworth's experience of the French Revolution. By 1805 he had revised his original optimism, but I spared myself too much conservative retrenchment by avoiding the 1850 text. There are sections describing Wordsworth being under surveillance as a 'radical' in the Revolutionary period that link to OU examination of links between the Romantic movement and more radical politics. Another A225 connection is in the idealisation of childhood - something that underpinned some responses to child labour in the industrial revolution. Stars: ⭐⭐ (quite heavy going)
	Walter Scott - The Antiquary Published: 1816 Period covered: Summer 1794 A225 links: In one sense the whole idea of a historical novel and Scott's role in the Romantic movement is a solid A225 connection. There are definitely links to the ideas of identity formation (and the false narratives of 'invented' tradition in the Antiquary's theories. There is a section on the patriotic formation of the militia in response to an empty threat of invasion (with an English officer coming to lead them). Stars: ⭐⭐⭐ (wordy, but lighter and more humorous than I'd anticipated)
	Jane Austen - Persuasion Published: 1817 (after Austen's death) Period covered: 1814 A225 links: The meaning of aristocracy and the role of gentry (and military) in early 19th century society explored in this, as in every, Austen novel. Nature of naval lives - particularly outside of conflict - features. The naval activity often makes reference to the Caribbean - so some interesting links to the A225 content on the Atlantic world and the importance of naval dominance in enabling trade and domestic wealth. Stars: ⭐⭐⭐(a re-read, not my favourite - but good bitchy humour)
	Charlotte Brontë - Shirley Published: 1849 Period covered: 1811-12 A225 links: Radical politics, 'Luddites', patriotic conservatism, 'working class' identities are all present. There are also some interesting aspects of illness behaviour and health included (Shirley's fear of rabies was a surprise) Stars: ⭐⭐⭐(not as off the scale as Jane Eyre, but still fabulously heightened - quite a queer book, hard not to read some Anne Lister into Shirley....until she is 'mastered' 😃)
	John Banim ('Barnes O'Hara') - The Nowlans Published: 1826 Period covered: c1820s A225 links: Sectarian divide in Ireland, some referral back to 1798 uprising, several references to the 'Peelers' - the 'paramilitary' force set up ahead of police force in Britain, long discussion regarding need for education and public schools in Ireland. Stars: ⭐almost unreadable in parts, melodramatic and ridiculous plot twists. Some interestingly 'modern' aspects with mental anguish over forsaken vows of celibacy
	George Eliot - Felix Holt, the Radical Published: 1866 Period covered: 1832 A225 links: Excellent description of changing society over time in the opening section, embedded in an imaginary coach ride. There is little political theorising - Eliot seems to hope for a conservative 'amelioration' of problems, there's certainly little appetite expressed for 'radicalism'. Sections on the chaotic scenes surrounding the election were interesting - and highlight how different the process of voting was in a public forum. Important to note the book was published around time of the second Reform act, looking back on the first. There's a sense of persisting middle-class (novel writer/reader class) anxiety about further extension of the franchise. (There's an interesting sounding bit of writing by Eliot 'Address to Working Men, by Felix Holt' that's aimed directly at these new voters - worth hunting down perhaps) Stars: ⭐⭐ Felix is such a 'serious' character that he does seem to suck the life out of much of the book - I wasn't expecting quite so much 'mystery' and felt this was laid on a bit thick in parts. Not Middlemarch 😀
	Benjamin Disraeli - Sybil or The Two Nations Published: 1845 Period covered: late 1830's and 1840s A225 links: Disraeli obviously enjoys satirising the salons and shenanigans behind the Whig/Tory politics and there is a strong sense of how personal and aristocratic parliamentary government was. Chartism is central to the 'plot' and the 'poor' are shown sympathy, even if they feel pulled directly form press reports and 'Blue Books'. Disraeli's (bizarre) solution to the divided 'Two Nations'; ??young, reformed aristocratic leadership and reinvigorated feudalism?? is the real heart of the novel - definitely (unfounded) confidence and crisis rolled into one! Stars: ⭐ Hard work with barely a single credible character, except the narrator! 😀
	Alfred Tennyson - The Princess: a Medley Published: 1847 A225 links: Education, and specifically further education for women, isn't touched on much in the module - so any links are tenuous. The narrative section has plenty of 'chivalry' and 'medievalism' alongside the provocative ideas of female power and independence, evidence of some of the 'anti-modern' cultural responses of the time which are highlighted.  Stars: ⭐⭐ Odd and interesting, rather than deeply engaging - but with occasional moments - couldn’t resist quoting this speech from one of the female scholar leaders on her view of the future (still some work to do!)                                               At last She rose upon a wind of prophecy Dilating on the future; "everywhere Two heads in council, two beside the hearth, Two in the tangled business of the world, Two in the liberal offices of life, Two plummets dropt for one to sound the abyss Of science, and the secrets of the mind: Musician, painter, sculptor, critic, more: And everywhere the broad and bounteous Earth Should bear a double growth of those rare souls, Poets, whose thoughts enrich the blood of the world."
	Dinah Maria Mulock ('Mrs Craik') - John Halifax, Gentleman Published: 1856 Period covered: 1790s-1834 A225 links: There were so many, perhaps the strongest was the central theme of a man rising into the middle class - becoming 'Gentleman'. There are: corrupt elections, Catholic emancipation, vaccination (successful), steam power, food riots, fear of the French, emancipation, the Atlantic World (love-torn son flourishes in the New World)... The other inescapable theme is a domestic Christianity that seems to deliberately avoid an overly 'Anglican' perspective, with Quakers and Catholics featuring quite favourably. Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ an unanticipated pleasure, once I'd got over the omnipresent asexual crippled narrator!! Felt like it existed wholly in a Victorian sensibility - couldn't have been written/read before or after. (First time I've really felt this reading idea might be a good one 😂)
	Elizabeth Gaskell - Cranford Published: 1853 Period covered: early 1840s A225 links: First and foremost, female middle class life! The chapters also touched on the expansion of the railways (and their danger), banking collapses and their social consequences and ideas of empire and the orient. Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ a complete pleasure. I loved the gentle humour and the brilliantly captured characters. Just the right length and hardly put a step wrong in tone. Definitely my favourite read in quite a while.
	Wilkie Collins - The Moonstone Published: 1868 Period covered: (1799) 1848-1850 A225 links: The 'Indian' links are of course central - with trouble coming from the East. It is interesting to see Collins make the primary 'evil' a British affair, with pillage and murder committed to obtain the Moonstone. Oriental stereotypes abound, wily and ready to stop at nothing in the name of their religion - opium plays a central part in the mystery. There's a lot of communication and transportation infrastructure at work in the plot as well, railways, steamers, telegraph and horse cabs are key parts of moving the story and characters around. Miss Clack embodies the 'awful' end of the Evangelical spectrum, weaponising religious tracts - and the 'ladies committees' that Godfrey Ablewhite monopolises suggest some of the ways middle-class women tried to find avenues for agency!     Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I'd forgotten that it was a real page-turner, with some great surprise twists and fantastic characters. Let down perhaps only by the occasional unfeasible plot device.
	Anthony Trollope - Phineas Finn Published: 1869 Period covered: 1867-8 A225 links: Trollope was quite happy to bend history to fit his narrative - in this version it is the Liberals who get to pass the 2nd Reform Act! 😄 However, overall this was an excellent accompaniment to the A225 material on high politics. Best novel so far on aspects of the relationship between Ireland and Britain, with Phineas eventually politically compromised by his support for Irish tenants-rights. Also touched on imperialism, Phineas if for a time an under-secretary at the colonial office - working on the railways and development of Canada. Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Some fantastic female characters, so depressing on the limits faced - including marriage as 'property'. Not as much fun as the Barchester Chronicles - but still a good read.
	Mrs Oliphant - Hester Published: 1883 Period covered: 1860s-1870s A225 links: 'Domestic ideology' is at the heart of the book, with the matriarch, Catherine Vernon, demonstrating the power and limits of female agency as she saves the local bank (twice!). An interesting set of reflections on financial 'speculation' a route to ruin, but perhaps also a morally acceptable career (for some) Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The inner lives of Hester and the other characters, female and male, were cleverly and convincingly explored - and a great range of female characters in particular.
	George and Weedon Grossmith - The Diary of a Nobody Published: 1894 Period covered: late 1880s A225 links: A great source for suburban and domestic middle-class life, much discussion of 'swells' and the markers of class in dress and behaviour. The transport system is used regularly to cross the metropolis and the seaside holiday features. Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It would be hard to like someone who does not fall for Mr Pooter - I'm so pleased that A225 simply adds another layer to enjoying this book.
	Henry James - In the Cage Published: 1898 Period covered: late 1890s A225 links: Social class interactions and the potential (and hardships) for female employment. Information technology sits at the centre of the book - speed of communication, privacy, storage and recall are very contemporary 'modern' features.  Stars: ⭐⭐⭐ Enough to make me think I'll approach Henry James with caution - simply a stylistic challenge, and I wondered if the payoff was really worth it.
	H Rider Haggard - King Solomon's Mines Published: 1885 Period covered: 1870-80s A225 links: Given its contemporary success. there's no doubt it is interesting evidence of how 'tales of Empire' and encounters with the African 'other' were presented - and what that might say about cultural impacts of Empire. The book is informed by racism, there are essential differences based on race represented throughout the story - although these are not a simple case of 'white supremacy', some African characters are accorded considerable power and status. Resource exploitation is central - ivory, diamonds, gold all extracted. Stars: ⭐⭐⭐ An 'adventure story' that keeps you turning the pages and whilst populated almost entirely by conventional stereotypes is surprisingly 'balanced' in the way 'races' are presented.
	Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness Published: 1902 Period covered: 1880s A225 links: Empire and the 'Scramble for Africa', 'on one end a large shining map, marked with all the colours of a rainbow. There was a vast amount of red - good to see at any time, because one knows that some real work is done in there, a deuce of a lot of blue, a little green, smears of orange, and, on the East Coast, a purple patch, to show where the jolly pioneers of progress drink the jolly lager-beer'. Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Perhaps the most over-interpreted book on the list, simply because Conrad leaves so much unstated or opaque 😃 Astounding creation of oppressive atmosphere.
	Rudyard Kipling - The Five Nations Published: 1903 Period covered: 1899-1902 A225 links: Some of the strongest and most direct links to A225 content so far. The 'five nations' are the 'settler-colonies' of the British Empire: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa plus Great Britain and the poems generally all touch on 'decline' and/or 'renewal'. There is a section of 'barrack room ballads' specific to the South African War and others which touch on the economics of Empire (even including one specifically about preferential tariffs in Canada!).  Stars: ⭐⭐⭐ Whilst the read has been great in combination with A225, the ideas expressed are often deeply uncomfortable. However, the poetry is powerful - undoubtedly.
	E Œ Somerville and Martin Ross - Further Experiences of an Irish R.M. Published: 1908 Period covered: early 1900s A225 links: Whilst 'fish-out-of-water' is the central premise of Anglo-Irishman Major Yeates's misadventures, there is a strong sense of a functioning community. In a way the A225 link is in presenting a counter-argument - a different image of Irish society to the tensions that populate the module. It also gives a good idea of an elite who could pass comfortably between Ireland and England. Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Despite fox and bird slaughter and whipped dogs and horses, I still really enjoyed. Shades of Wodehouse, Blandings and Lord Emsworth 🙂
	Allen Raine - Queen of the Rushes. A Tale of the Welsh Revival Published: 1906 Period covered: 1904-5 A225 links: Despite its 20th century setting the strongest links are with the coverage of the 1859 Ulster revival. The descriptions of charismatic behaviour are relatively limited, but there is plenty of hymn singing!  Stars: ⭐⭐ My one 'Welsh' outing. Quite a lot of romantic 'gush' as one critic described it ('Cold Comfort Farm' came to mind quite often 😂).
	George Bernard Shaw - Press Cuttings: A topical Sketch compiled from the editorial and correspondence columns of the Daily Papers Published: 1909 Period covered: April Fool's Day 1912 A225 links: Couldn't be a more direct link with the campaigns of the suffragettes - as this short play satirises 'resistance' to women's suffrage. There are also asides to most of the other topics that come up in the chapter on political turmoil. Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A little gem - helped that I got a cheap copy of the 1909 original, added to the reading experience.
	Robert Tressell (Noonan) - The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Written 1906-10 Published: 1914 Period covered: 1906-10 A225 links: The experience of poverty and working-class lives are the main links. There are satirical accounts of charitable societies and their screening out of the 'undeserving', and (negative) perspectives on both Conservative and Liberal political policies. Accounts of utopian socialism and a sense of political turmoil on the streets. Stars: ⭐⭐ Just a long re-read, particularly as the didactic sections are repeated so frequently. I also found the critique of working class male lives and culture harder to take this time round. Remains an important book on my shelves - but not one to read for pleasure!
	H.G. Wells - Tono-Bungay and A Modern Utopia Published: 1905 A Modern Utopia, 1909 Tono-Bungay Period covered: c1870-early1900s for Tono-Bungay, ? for A Modern Utopia 😀 A225 links: A Modern Utopia - strong links with A225 content on eugenics and 'race science' (Wells all in favour of the first - highly critical of the second). World government was in the hands of an acetic band of self-identified samurai, open to women but there seemed fewer of these - and the recurrent focus for discussion of women was as mothers. Tono-Bungay [Read in progress]

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As Verona was a summer holiday destination this year there was no chance to experience the Carnival, which is staged in the week before Lent. However, near to our flat there was a small museum dedicated to the celebrations and the figure of 'Papà del Gnoco' (Father Gnocchi) in particular.

The common account of the origin of the Carnival dates it to 1531 and the response to famine and urban unrest. Following military conflict, poor harvests and natural disasters bread prices rose, triggering rioting - particularly in the suburb of San Zeno. Social stability was only restored through the charity of local worthies, in particular doctor Tommaso Da Vico, who helped feed the destitute community. The doctor is also supposed to have provided in his will for bread, wine, butter, flour and cheese to be distributed every year to the people of San Zeno. The Carnival must surely predate the early modern period though - and there are other accounts that relate its inception to the Venetian takeover - or the generosity of medieval warlord 'Big Dog' Cangrande della Scala.

The museum displays costumes worn in recent Carnivals, you can see Papà del Gnoco's outfit and his 'sceptre' - a gnocchi dumpling impaled on a fork. 

The father of the feast is elected each year from the community of San Zeno and during the festivities he rides a mule, handing out sweets to children and gnocchi to adults, assisted by his servants, the 'Court of Macaroni'. The description of the Carnival reminded me of the front cover of Book 2 in Module A223. Full of colour and life, but also with an underpinning of poverty and social disorder - a communal attempt to channel tricky urban energies into 'safer' routes.

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I wasn't sure that I would be able to find much in the way of a link between York and the A223 content on Early Modern Black Lives, but a Black History Month link from the University of York brought a fascinating one in the person of Bill Richmond, bare knuckle boxer! (To be fair Bill only just makes it into the OU definition of early modern, born in 1763 and doing most of his fighting in the early 19th century - but it was too good a story to pass over). There's not space for the full biography, but there is a good summary in the ODNB. Born into enslavement on Staten Island, Richmond was brought to the UK, as a free man, by Hugh Percy who would in due course become second Duke of Northumberland (he had been serving with the British army in North America during the War of Independence). Percy apparently set Richmond up with an education and an apprenticeship in joinery. It was the latter which brought him to Yorkshire, probably from around 1779. 

A couple of 'secondary sources' Luke Williams's biography of Richmond and George (Flashman) MacDonald Fraser's fictional account of Tom Molyneaux's life story

A lot of the descriptions of Bill Richmond's life come from later accounts by journalists, produced once he'd become a high profile boxer and also a trainer and fight promoter. They make great reading. The following section is from BOXIANA; or Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism; From the days of the renowned Broughton and Slack to the HEROES of the present MILLING ERA! written by Pierce Egan. It describes one of Richmond's 'amateur' fights whilst in York (he moved to London with his wife by the mid 1790's), and also the provocation for it.

(There's more on Richmond in York in this blog post)

Richmond picked up professional boxing in his forties and had a successful career, he was also linked with an even more famous Black boxer - Tom Molyneaux, also a former slave, who was involved in what (I've now discovered) was a very famous couple of fights (1810-11) with the British champion of that time, Tom Cribb. Richmond trained and promoted Molyneaux, who came close to taking the title (in fact might have been effectively cheated of it in his first bout, through a 'long count' in the 28th round!). 

These were all such larger than life stories, described in fabulous melodramatic prose - they really added a different perspective to the OU chapter. Whilst people like Richmond and Molyneaux were subject to prejudice and abuse and were highly constrained by the social forces in play in the late 18thC /early 19thC there is also a lot of agency exhibited as they 'negotiated' there way through life. I'm glad I've encountered their stories - and will see what more I can find out about them.

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We looked at wills as primary sources of information about early modern work in module A223, so thought I'd share a few images of a document I'm (very, very slowly and very, very painfully 🙂) trying to decipher. If nothing else it has given me an incredible respect for the people who made the transcriptions that we use in the OU materials and appreciate what a skill it is to read old handwriting!

I'm very lucky that my local archives hold originals for a number of wills for the village where I live and so I couldn't resist having a look at the earliest one I could find within the A223 period. In fact it's the inventory for the goods of a local bigwig, John Myklefeld of Bolton, who died around 1525.

Have to say when I first unfolded it I was convinced it was in latin (or elvish!! 🤣), it was only once I twigged that the last line in the photo here was, 'The goods in the halle' that I realised I could make some progress.

I'm still struggling with almost all of it, but there were a few 'work' related elements that I've made out and thought were a good link with this week's content.

This was in 'the kitchen', and reads (I think):

'Item - one Spynnyng wheill ----- 4pence', so there was spinning work being done.

It's a rural area, and so someone had to have been looking after his 'mayrs and hors' (mares and horses)

and also his '...ii kye & ii kalffs' ( 2 cows and 2 calves)

I'm nowhere near working out what John's goods were valued at in total, but he was obviously a wealthy man in the community and it must have largely been the work of others that had been supporting him in life.

It's been a great lesson for me in just how hard-won knowledge of the past might be! 

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My own foray into 'man-midwifery' was (mercifully for all concerned 🙂) very brief - eleven deliveries in the late 1980s. Enough to convince me that I wasn't cut out for a career in obstetrics - and to leave me with an enduring respect for midwives. I found the chapter which covered the birth of male obstetrics a really fascinating one.

York has an interesting link with some of the content covered, through the fictional character 'Dr Slop' in the book 'Tristram Shandy' and the character which most authorities think its author Laurence Sterne modelled him on, Dr John Burton (1710-1771).

It's pointless to try and summarise the 'plot' of Tristram Shandy (first published in 1760) - but it does have a lot in it about some 18th century ideas on conception, pregnancy, gender, midwifery and obstetrics. Dr Slop features as the 'scientific' physician and man-midwife chosen by Tristram's father Walter to deliver his child (Tristram's mother has sensibly called for the experienced local midwife). By the point in the story illustrated below, Dr Slop (who is presented as a very argumentative, stunted, Papist) has dragged Tristram into the world with his specially designed forceps -, in the process crushing his nose - the maid has accidently set light to Dr Slop's wig, and they're about to have a fight. 

John Burton in contrast was a successful physician and man-midwife in York - a Tory, but definitely a Protestant rather than a Catholic and apparently 'a tall Well sett Gentleman'. York was largely in the hands of whigs and Burton crossed swords politically with Laurence Sterne's uncle, Jaques Sterne, who held key roles in the Minster and the city authorities - grudges were definitely held! 

Burton wrote An Essay towards a Complete System of Midwifery in something of a hurry in 1751, apparently to try and get to print ahead of William Smellie who we read about in the module. There's no evidence that Burton was a 'sloppy' doctor in any way - his obstetric practice was based on assisting with difficult and obstructed labour, rather than seeking to wholly replace midwives in the care of pregnant women. However, the Sternes (both uncle and nephew) really didn't like him!

He was living in this house, just in sight of the Minster in 1740.

The pictures below show a form of obstetric forceps that Burton designed, along with a photograph of a replica set. As the module discusses, these new technological devices may have played some part in displacing midwives - but certainly aren't the whole story.

In 1745 when the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, was descending through the North West of England - John Burton apparently took the opportunity to ride across to 'check out his property' in that region. He was then either 'kidnapped' by Highlanders - or scheming to overthrow the monarch. Whatever the truth, on his return to York, Jaques Sterne had him arrested and locked up in York Jail for three months and tried to have him prosecuted for treason (on what might well be fabricated evidence). The jail buildings had been recently constructed - and of course (it being York)......

...... are now part of a tourist attraction. 

 Whilst you can look around the cells in the lower layer of the prison (which once briefly held 'Dick Turpin') I'm sure Burton must have been upstairs in what was normally the debtors' rooms (he was allowed to bring his servant in - so I can't see that happening in the basement lock-ups.)

Although interrogated by the Privy Council in London and eventually tried at York assizes, Burton didn't receive any further punishment as part of a nationwide reprieve for some 'Jacobites'.

Burton carried on living in York, but moved largely from physician to ........ historian, drawing together a classic account of the records of Yorkshire monasteries.

I took the picture below in the York parish church in which he was buried in 1771 - a few months before his wife. 

The satirical character 'Dr Slop' was probably a composite, but it has been enjoyable trying to find some traces of the real Dr Burton in the city.

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On a day trip to visit my daughter in London [17/1/2025] I had a chance to visit an exhibition at the Royal College of Physicians in London, just off Regent's Park. It's largely based around the college's collections of manuscript 'recipe books' - the types of documents that were mentioned in chapter 4 of A223 as a key source of medical advice within the home.

The exhibition has got an excellent website running alongside it:

https://history.rcp.ac.uk/exhibitions/healing-words

and all the recipe book manuscripts have been digitised and are available at the following link

https://archive.org/details/rcplondonmanuscripts

Trying to take photos of documents displayed in reflective, shiny cases is a bit of a lost cause ☹️ so I've just included a few that particularly seemed to link in with the module.

The image above is a record of 18th C 'inspections' of apothecaries shops in London that could be carried out by the physicians. It links directly to the module discussion of medical plurality and the tensions that could exist. Mr North in Houndsditch was 'reprimanded and admonished' for keeping a 'very bad shop'!

The Lady Sedley, her Receipt book 1686 

https://archive.org/details/ms-534/page/n37/mode/2up

This manuscript illustrated how recipes might often be linked to named physicians - there is one here for Dr Stephens' water - which the exhibition noted was endorsed both by Lady Sedley, but also the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Book of medical prescriptions and cookery recipes c.18th C https://archive.org/details/ms-509/page/n29/mode/2up

The exhibition used this manuscript to highlight how these books were 'communal' documents, passed on and added to within families. The recipe for 'plague water' shows how much 'fragrance' played in ideas about counteracting this disease.

This image is of an apothecary's jar, like the ones lining the walls of the apothecary shop that was illustrated in chapter 10. It was for storing 'Oil of Swallows' - the recipe was also available and is not for animal lovers. this wasn't a euphemism.

'A Booke of Physicall Rec[eipts] Worth the Observing and Keeping: for Mrs Alice Corffilde' 

https://archive.org/details/ms-232/page/n25/mode/2up

Not part of the specific exhibition, but there were also a number of portraits round the building and I thought this one was worth sharing as really good evidence of how central ancient texts remained right across this period. This portrait is of Dr Richard Mead and is dated c.1740. He was a high status physician, 'attended Queen Anne on her deathbed' (never sure that's a great advert 🤣) and was King George the second's doctor. Anyway, along with appearing entirely unphased by the appearance of the goddess of wisdom in his study clutching a portrait of the iconic William Harvey, I was drawn to his books...

The markers of a learned physician that they'd want emphasised in their portrait remained: Hippocrates, Galen and also the classical writer Aulus Cornelius Celsus (c.25 BC – c.50 AD)

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Thought I'd share another fascinating York building that picks up on some aspects of the A223 module chapter covering the theme of religious (in)tolerance in the early modern period.

This is the frontage of the Bar Convent that stands just outside the walls of the city by the Micklegate Bar. The openly religious building on the left is a 19th century addition, built at a time when the catholic school which it housed could be openly acknowledged. The 18th century frontage was however designed as a grand, but entirely secular, town house (1786-9) - with nothing to indicate the interior.....

...which contains this beautiful chapel. 

Apparently the dome was designed to be entirely invisible from outside view. 

The convent was established in 1686 as the basis for a catholic school - with the chapel being being built in the 1770's. By that time the convent must have been an open secret within the city, but not something that could be too publicly visible.

The chapel also contains a gruesome reminder of 16th century religious persecution - in the form of a sacred relic, the preserved hand of St Margaret Clitherow. Margaret was the wife of a York butcher and lived on the Shambles, which is probably York's biggest tourist trap after the Minster (almost no-one notices or explores the house, which is now a religious shrine - too busy looking for Harry Potter merchandise!! 😂) When accused of harbouring catholic priests (she had been imprisoned previously for failing to attend protestant services) she refused to enter a plea and so was 'pressed' under rocks until she died. 

If you're ever in York, do think about checking out the Bar Convent as it's a hidden gem - it has an excellent museum and exhibition.

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