A short piece regarding WIlliam Morris's early years

This Saturday, 27 February 2016, Wakefield Socialist History Group are hainge a meeting at the Red Shed, 18 Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1 1QX on 
WILLIAM MORRIS: REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST OR UTOPIAN DREAMER?  
The event starts at 1 p.m.  
The speakers are Colin Waugh (Independent Working Class Education Network), Bill Martin (Socialist Party of Great Britain) and Brian Else (Wakefield Green Party).
Admission is free and all are welcome.  
There is a free light buffet and also a bar with excellent real ale. 

William Morris was born on 24 March 1834 at Clay Hill, Walthamstow [north east London]. It was then a "pleasant village" to the east of London.
Six years later the family moved to Woodford Hall, a Palladian mansion stood in 50 acres of parkland with adjacent farmland.  Only a fence separated it from Epping Forest and it was -Henderson (1967) reflects- "very much the squire's house" with the garden gate opening on to the local churchyard.
The move to Woodford Hall had been made possible by a precipitate rise in the price of copper shares.  William Morris's father had 272 shares in a Devonshire copper mine.  They were originally valued at one pound but were now changing hands for £800.  His holding therefore was now worth about £200,000.
At the age of nine Morris was sent to prep school in Walthamstow. He got there each day - 2 miles - by pony.
Then in the autumn of 1847 -his father having passed away- Morris was sent off to Marlborough "one of the new public schools founded for sons of the middle classes."
Life there wasn't very regimented.  Indeed he would later say he learned next to nothing "for indeed next to nothing was taught."  But it suited Morris.  He was able to Savernake forest, the stone circles of Avebury and the pre-Celtic long barrows on the ridges above Pewsey Vale.  Plus he was able to peruse literature in the school library -it was well stocked with books on archaeology and medieval architecture.
Marlborough was in ferment however.  It culminated in a "rebellion of the whole school" in November 1851.  Morris's family - who'd [moved] to Water House, Walthamstow - brought him home and got him a private tutor to prepare him for Oxford.
In June 1852 he sat for the matriculation exam in the hall of Exeter College, Oxford. Sat next to him was Edward Burne-Jones.  They would become lifelong friends.

From: Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group

See also the William Morris Society (UK) 

UPDATE: How It went...
William Morris event in Wakefield
Twenty three people attended a discussion -WILLIAM MORRIS: REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST OR UTOPIAN DREAMER?- at the Red Shed, Wakefield on Saturday 27 February.
The speakers were Colin Waugh (Independent Working Class Education Network), Brian Else (Wakefield Green Party) and Bill Martin (Socialist Party of Great Britain).  The chair was Yvonne Sibbald.
After the speeches there was a lively discussion about Morris's attitude towards anarchism and about whether he was in fact a Marxist.  One contributor from the floor emphasised the need not to "pigeon hole" Morris but rather to concentrate on and appreciate his contribution to art and to political thought.

The Group's next planned event is on Saturday 16 July -again 1pm at the Red Shed- when we will be discussing TOLPUDDLE... AND THE FIGHT FOR TRADE UNION RIGHTS TODAY.
We are looking for speakers for this event.  Call Alan on 0793192451.

Easter Rising Centenary: Two events in London

Kieran Allen on 1916: Ireland's Revolutionary Tradition

1916: Ireland's Revolutionary Tradition

Friday 04 Mar 7pm

With Kieran Allen

Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church

235 Shaftesbury Avenue,

WC2H 8EP

London

Hosted by Bookmarks bookshop, author Kieran Allen will introduce a discussion celebrating the centenary of the Easter Rising for Irish freedom. His new book published by Pluto, 1916, looks at the context of the Rising in the imperialist conflicts of the time. It also follows the thread of Ireland's complex revolutionary tradition - uneasily combining republicanism and socialism - in the century since.

Doors open at 6.30pm for browsing the extensive Bookmarks book stall and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Refreshments available on the night.

https://bookmarksbookshop.co.uk/events

One Hundred Years On: The Irish Easter Rising

London Socialist Historians Group Forum - Saturday 30 April  - midday

One Hundred Years On: The Irish Easter Rising 
Institute of Historical Research, Malet St, London, WC1E 7HU 

The LSHG are hosting a forum on the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising on Saturday 30 April with speakers including John Newsinger and James Heartfield.

A number of speakers will address the significance of the Rising on its 100th anniversary...

 - for more details see here:
http://londonsocialisthistorians.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/one-hundred-years-on-irish-easter-rising.html

(And the final Spring LSHG seminar is on Monday 7 March at 5.30pm, Room 304, Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, Malet St London WC1. and will see Ben Lewis talking about Clara Zetkin's letters and writings - the latest issue of Revolutionary History which was reviewed here:
http://londonsocialisthistorians.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/book-review-clara-zetkin-letters-and.html)

Women's History month starts 1st March, and Feminist Library faces eviction!

Message from The Feminist Library collective

Join us on Wednesday 24th February, at 6.30pm at 160 Tooley Street, London SE1 2QH, where Southwark Council's Budget setting meeting will take place. 

We will be handing in our petition there – 13000+ signatures so far.

Link to Facebook event for demo here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1214836021970098/

Dear Friends,

The Feminist Library is in an emergency situation, facing eviction in the near future after 30 years in the current building!

We request that you show your support by spreading the word far and wide and by telling your friends how much the library means to you. Other ways that you can help us immediately include:

- Sign our petition https://you.38degrees.org.uk/p/savefeministlibrary 

- Send letters to Southwark local councillors and Southwark MPs: Neil Coyle, Labour Party Member of Parliament for Bermondsey & Old Southwark (the Feminist Library’s constituency) Tel: 020 7219 8733. Email:neil.coyle.mp@parliament.uk; Helen Hayes, Labour Party Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood Tel: 020 7219 6971. Email: helen.hayes.mp@parliament.uk; Harriet Harman, Labour Party Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham Tel: 020 7219 4218 Email: harriet.harman.mp@parliament.uk

- Donate to our Emergency Fund that has been set up to ensure that the Feminist Library collection's future is safe regardless of the final decision of the council on our current premises
http://feministlibrary.co.uk/support/emergencyfund/;

- Offer a hand with the campaign (we are always on a lookout for new volunteers, but at the moment we urgently need help with events, media, marketing and premises work).

- Send us a brief testimonial saying how much the library means to you, especially mentioning if you have used it, attended events there or been a volunteer.

- Tell us if you are a Southwark resident, so we can contact you for specific help locally.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need any further information: admin@feministlibrary.co.uk 

In celebration of 10 years of RaHN (2): Publications available online

To mark the occasion further, here is a list of publications produced by the Radical History Network of North East London group, or closely connected with it, which may be accessed directly on line:

 RaHN general leaflet

 100 Years of Social Housing: A Walk in Tottenham (2013)

 Alan Woodward Tribute (2012)

 McWorld on Trial (McDonalds and McLibel, 2014)

 North East London’s Waterways (2015)

 The NHS is 60 (56pp. booklet, May 2008)

 The Path Not Taken (Alan Woodward, 2012)

 Woodward Archive Catalogue (Bishopsgate Institute, 2015)

 (RaHN) Pamphleteering

 

The group's most ambitious publication to date

There are also inks to the above and to other items as they arise via the relevant blogposts, which may be found by a subject/keyword search.

In addition, many free-sheets have been produced with notes on the various subjects of meetings held by the group over the years; these are generally available at stalls (e.g. at the forthcoming Haringey Local History Fair) and meetings (our next is on Wednesday 9th March).

In celebration of 10 years of RaHN (1)

The inaugural meeting of the Radical History Network of NE London (RaHN) was held on 15 February 2006, as previously noted on this blog, where you can find a brief account of the group's early years as well as material relating to the life and work of one of its founders and convenors, the late Alan Woodward.

In addition, a ground-breaking "online pamphlet" on Spain and the World with various contributions looking at many aspects of the Spanish Revolution and Civil War, 1936-39, was added to the blog in 2011. The several posts included under this heading have been and continue to be among the most frequently viewed here.

The sequence starts with Spain and the World... (Preface) 15/6/11

and includes:-

Spain and the World: Aspects of the Spanish Revolution and Civil War (1) The View from the East End. Joe Jacobs, Out of the Ghetto, Spain and the World  6/15/11

Spain and the World : Aspects of the Spanish Revolution and Civil War (3) Health Service Spain 1936-39, Medicine in War, Socialised Medicine, Spain, Spain and the World, Spanish Anarchism, Spanish Civil War, Spanish Revolution  15/6/11

Spain and the World: Aspects of the Spanish Revolution and Civil War (on Workers' Control) (4) Anarcho-Syndicalism, CNT, Collectives,Collectivization, Spain, Spain and the World, Spanish Civil War, Spanish Revolution, Workers' control 16/6/11

To mark the 10th birthday occasion, here is a selection of highlights from the blog, which has not been going for quite as long as the group but is now well established as a go-to site for radical history, with well over 100,000 page-view "hits" chalked up by early 2016.

The following show up as the most frequently viewed so far, with dates (UK-style) when posted, and in some cases tags to indicate their scope.

RaHN blog greatest (number of) hits

Spain and the World as above, and Women in the Spanish Revolution (Solidarity pamphlet, 2010 edition) 14/8/10

The London Workers Group [1977-1985] - a relic of an exciting past, or an inspiring example for the future? Anarcho-Syndicalism, Labour Movement, London Workers Group 29/10/09

McDonald'sand McLibel - the successful humiliation of a multinational [1985-2005] - by the McLibel Support Campaign. Campaigning, Food Politics, MacDonalds, McLibel, Multinational 13/9/09

GreatEnoch - a weapon of choice. Great Enoch, King Ludd, Luddites, Machine Breaking, Poplar revolt, Popular Uprisings 28/5/11

FINSBURYPARK - a history of community empowerment. Community activism, Finsbury Park, parks 10/07/2013

ALANWOODWARD 1939-2012 Alan Woodward, Alan woodward a tribute, alan woodward haringey, alan woodward haringey workers, alan woodward tottenham, Local campaigners, radical history network, Tottenham local history 10/21/12

Further to comment and reply on Spies for Peace [Image of a vintage pamphlet] 04/06/2013

London Remembering the Real World War 1 group [Meeting report and outline of aims] 05/01/2014

MEETING : The Spanish Revolution 1936-39 (Report of 75th Anniversary event, addressed by Brian Bamford) 18/6/11

Book review - Poplar: Lessons of a Historical Struggle. Labour Movement, Labour Party, Poplar councillors, Poplar revolt, Trade Union Movement 18/11/09

INVERGORDON MUTINY - Review. Book review, Invergordon Mutiny, Joe Jacobs, Royal Navy Mutinies 30/8/11

Tottenham 100 years ago; R M Fox's autobiography. Autobiography, Pre First World War, R M Fox, Richard Michael Fox,Smokey Crusade, Tottenham local history 23/9/10

                                                             

History From Below network (International) Conference. Bristol, Conference, First World War, international, radical history 06/10/2014

UK Anti-Poll Tax Movement 1988-1991. Campaigning, Poll Tax 21/10/09.

n.b. More recent posts have not had time to build up views to the same extent.

If you would like to see what RaHN has had to say (or pass on) about some other subjects, try the Search button on the right to locate relevant posts.

UPDATE:

A fuller list (5 pages) of non-ephemeral posts with links to this blog has now been compiled.

Also available in plain text compatible mode.