I was told by a friend some time ago now, that there was quite a movement for Chartism in Peterborough, back in the 1840s and 1850s. I have only just got round to looking into this and started by looking at copies of old newspapers using the British Newspaper Archive online. I tend to use this website as a starting point for my research into most local things.
Peterborough and Eye National Chartist Association.
The newspaper with the most information in, was the Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. It was through this research that I discovered that after a meeting in Peterborough and the nearby village of Eye, a decision was made to establish a local branch of the National Chartists Association (1).
Chartist Association’s were created to carry out the day to day administration of the Chartist campaign. There were six points to the campaign’s charter which are explained fully on the excellent Chartist Ancestor’s website (2). However, in short, the demands were for electoral reform and an extension of the franchise (the right to vote), which the Middle Class had gained in the electoral reform of 1832.
Historian Dorothy Thompson argued that it was the first ‘mass working-class party,’ and it was in existence for twenty years (3).
Peterborough Chartist Cooperative Land Company.
In 1845, the Chartists turned away from electoral politics briefly and concentrated on purchasing land through shares. Small plots of land, enough to sustain a family were then given away by ballot. W. Atkins of Peterborough was lucky enough to win a plot on the Minster Lovell Estate (4). The estate, in Oxfordshire was also known as Charterville and was purchased as early as 1842. There are interesting maps and information about the site online (5).
In 1846, there were records of the receipts of the Peterborough Chartist Cooperative Land Company (6). In 1847, Secretary of the Company was Edwin Scholey (7). Scholey lived in Boongate and had premises in Midgate. I tried to find Scholey on the census for 1841 and 1851 but could not. Other researchers have found information about his life when he left Peterborough and set up home in Walsall (8).
Other Officers in the Peterborough organisation were John Walker and Charles Theobald, auditors; Thomas Meads, scrutineer and Francis Brooks was Treasurer (9).
The Chartist Land Company only lasted five years before it became bankrupt and became the National Land Company instead.
Local Campaigns.
Although there were occasional meetings with speakers, the only big
Chartist event took place in Peterborough, in 1851. An open-air rally was due to take place, however, there was a thunderstorm and people congregated under a great oak tree until an alternative indoor venue could be found. It is also interesting to note that the Clergy had been preaching against the meeting during the day (10).
However, a space was found and 500 people ended up inside, with others listening at the windows. John Arnott, secretary, chaired the meeting and 32 new members enrolled in the Association on the day. Speakers were Ernest Jones and George Jacob Holyoake, both of whom had been imprisoned previously for Chartist activities. Another meeting took place at the St John’s Institute Coffee House later in the evening (11).
The Chartist MP.
I suppose that the story of Peterborough and Chartism ended when George Hammond Whalley stood as an MP for the city. There were only 500 voters in Peterborough then. I have calculated that to be 5.7% of the population. Whalley stood in 1852, as a radical independent, an advocate of Free Trade, and an electoral reformer (12), although he did not believe in universal suffrage (13). However, he beat the Liberal candidate, Lewis Cornewall by 15 votes. There was a petition to remove Whalley as MP due to accusations of corrupt practises, which was successful (14).
Consequently, Peterborough’s Chartist MP had to wait until 1859 to be elected.
I will be adding to my research on Peterborough’s Chartists, as having only scoured newspapers and completed a simple internet search, there must be lots of other sources to search in the future.
The Chartist Petition, 1843 (15).
References:
1842 Chartist Intelligence. Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser, 26 Mar, p. 13.
I think this is an appropriate time to explore a story from my family tree, which I have wanted to look into for a while.
In 1893, my third great aunt, Eliza, went to see a speaker at Fuller’s Hall in Landport (Portsmouth). The speaker was Celestine Edwards.
Celestine Edwards
Edwards was a campaigner against slavery and racism, born the youngest of nine children in Dominica on 28 December, 1858. (2) He was educated at the Wesleyan School in Antigua and at the age of twelve, stowed away on a French ship heading for Guadalupe. He spent the next few years travelling the world and working on boats. (3) On his seafaring journeys, Edwards developed, “radical opinions about politics,” and became a supporter of human rights.
In the 1870s, he settled in Edinburgh, where he became involved in the temperance movement (4) and joined the Primitive Methodist Church. (5) Later, he moved to Sunderland and then London where he took on work as a builder’s labourer and made speeches against slavery in Victoria Park. (6) In London, he signed up to train as a doctor at the London Hospital and being a religious man, he studied Theology at King’s College. Edwards also wrote pamphlets.
He was a successful evangelist for the Methodist Church and the Christian Evidence Society (CES). (7) Edwards also became Editor of the weekly Christian newspaper, Lux and acted as the executive secretary for the Recognition of the Brotherhood of Man. He edited their monthly journal, called Fraternity (8) and brought the circulation up to 7000. (9)This is a quote from Edwards in Lux, February 1893:
The day is coming when Africans will speak for themselves. The day is breaking, and the despised African, whose only crime is his colour, will yet give an account of himself. We think it no crime for Africans to look with suspicion upon the European, who has stolen a part of their country, and deluged it with rum and powder, under the cover of civilisation. (10)
Edwards was credited for helping former slave, Walter Hawkins write his autobiography, From Slavery to Bishopric. Hawkins was the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Canada. (11) Edwards also spoke on a variety of subjects on speaking tours across the country for the CES. For example, he spoke in Bristol on 3 July 1893 on the subject of lynching, and in Liverpool on ‘blacks and whites in America.’ He spoke at Aberdeen, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow on subjects such as ‘the Negro race’ and the ‘Liqour traffic to West Africa.’ (12)
His talks were said to have criticised free thinkers, agnostics, positives and infidels. (13)
Caroline Bressey’s Book
An Accident at Fuller’s Hall
In Caroline Bressey’s book, Empire, Race and the Politics of Anti-Caste, she argued that young working-class women made up part of Edwards audiences and she demonstrated this with the example of the meeting at Fuller’s Hall. (14)
The meeting took place on 14 February 1893 as part of a series of lectures Edwards was giving at the Hall. Eliza had gone to see him. A crowd assembled from 6pm, over an hour before the Charlotte Street doors were due to open. There were so many people that the queue spilled out into the road. Around 1000 people were reported to be crowded against the doorway, so to relieve the pressure, other doors were opened 7.20pm. (15)
Still the crowd continued to increase and so did the pressure which made the lobby floor collapse. Fifty people fell seven feet into the cellar. The Portsmouth Evening News Reported, that,
So closely had the people been standing together that they fell in one solid block and filled the cellar so completely that there was not even room to fall down, and almost all, pitched their feet. (16)
The article continued,
Among the unfortunate people were a number of ladies and their screams easily convinced those who were safe up above, that something wrong had happened. (17)
It was not a severe accident, however. The doors of the hall were opened and a ladder was supplied. Several ‘Gentlemen’ helped the ‘victims’ back up to street level. (18) More of the newspaper report:
Most of the ladies were either fainting or hysterical. They were taken into Mr. Dutton’s Coffee Palace and the lower hall and medical aid were summoned. (19)
The accident was caused by the rotting joists in the floor, which had got damp and given way. The six-year-old building had been renovated three years previously, the cellar sealed up with a mixture of floor boards and concrete. This had led to damp and caused the problem with the joists. Eventually they gave way and the lobby floor collapsed. (20)
Eliza
Nineteen-year-old Eliza was one of the women to fall. She was listed by Caroline Bressey (21) and in the newspaper article, however, she was only slightly injured having sprained her ankle during the accident. Other women were said to be suffering from shock. (22) The Borough Police were called to the scene. Eliza’s Father was a police constable and was also mentioned in Bressey’s book. (23)
It is not clear though, if he attended the scene of the accident.I wonder if Eliza ever got to see Edwards speak? She would not have much more time to do so, for Edwards was suffering from ill health. There was a subscription to raise money, so he could travel back home to the West Indies. (24) He died at his Brother’s home on 24 July, 1894. (25)
It is fascinating what you can find out by looking at your family history. I came across the story while Googling the names of Eliza and her Father and in the context of today and the Black Live Matters protests, it demonstrates the beauty of two historical worlds colliding.
References:
Celestine Edwards in 9thCenturyphotos.com.
Celestine Edwards in Spartacus-educational.com.
Paul Frecker, Celestine Edwards (2020) in 9thCenturyphotos.com
A branch of the non-militant NUWSS (National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies) was also formed in Peterborough. Miss. P. English of Orton Longueville, was the Secretary. Campaigning was busy. M. H. Renton, had been working in Peterborough, holding two drawing room meetings, one with the dean and another with (now) Mrs. English in Orton Longuville. She also spoke at meetings of several local organisations, in preparation for a much larger meeting. (1)
Millicent Fawcett (2)
On Tuesday 27 February, 1912, this public meeting took place in The Grand Assembly Rooms, featuring Millicent Fawcett and Miss. I. O. Ford. (3) The meeting was chaired by the Dean of Peterborough. The hall was crowded, with many unable to gain admittance. It was reported that there were already 80 members of the NUWSS in Peterborough and there was every hope that the good work in Peterborough would continue. (4)
The Suffrage Pilgrimage
Just as the campaign appeared to be progressing satisfactorily in Peterborough, there was trouble. A strong feeling in Peterborough against Women being granted the vote was demonstrated severely in 1913, during a Women’s Suffragist march between Edinburgh and London. It was reported in many newspapers across the country. The women’s march was led and organised by Florence de Fonblanque, who had been a member of the WSPU from 1907, and from 1912 a member of the New Constitutional Society for Women’s Suffrage. The march had arrived via Stamford and was reportedly met by locals four miles out of Peterborough. While the women entered with banners flying, college students followed them, singing comic songs. (5)
Florence Gertrude de Fonblanque (6)
That evening a meeting was arranged on Stanley Recreation Ground. It was reported to be attended by several thousand people, however, the meeting was broken up ten minutes into the speeches, as the crowd threw fireworks and an ‘ugly’ rush was made for the stage. The Suffragettes were escorted to their hotel (the Bedford) by the police and the crowd followed, apparently remaining outside, singing and booing. One of the women who had been on the four-week march was interviewed when the march reached London. The Dundee Courier reported that the women were exceedingly pleased with the reception accorded to them, on the whole, with ‘…Peterborough being the only one to leave any unpleasant memories.’ (7)
The Peterborough Advertiser asked Mrs. Fordham, the honorary Secretary of the Peterborough branch of the WSPU, what she thought about the matter, at her ‘cheery little home,’ in Fletton Avenue. She said:
I am thoroughly ashamed of Peterborough boys. It was not full grown and sensible citizens who rushed our meeting, threw rotten eggs and endangered life. It was not college boys either, but two to three hundred school boys of about fourteen years of age. And these – these – are the young hopefuls to be given a voice in the government of their imperial motherland… one wonders whether these mad little hooligans, these wise and chivalrous little simians, are so very much fitted when they are grown men, than women, to exercise the responsibility of the vote. (8)
Mrs. Fordham went on to say that she thought the leader of the ‘suffragette pilgrims,’ had not understood what the chief constable meant when he suggested they hire a hall for the meeting, rather than have one in the open air. Mrs. Fordham, questioned why the WSPU were not allowed to hold meetings in the market square, like they did in Cambridge. (9)
However, Mrs. Fordham did vow to re-educate Peterborough people on the issue of votes for women. The WSPU were contemplating holding a series of open-air meetings commencing in New England, moving to the city and onto the Town Bridge. I have found no evidence in my research so far of these meetings taking place. Mrs. Fordham, also specified the non-political party aspect of the WSPU – and reiterated that they were currently opposing Liberal politicians and had opposed Conservatives the same. (10)
Mrs. Fordham was doubtful when asked about the tactics of the Suffragettes with regards to the destruction of private property, but she was ‘loyal to the leadership.’
The last paragraph of the interview with Mrs. Fordham reads as follows:
It is interesting to record that a hat pin which Mrs. Fordham was wearing on Friday night was smashed when a man seized the back of her head and attempted to twist her neck! The pin was in three pieces when home was reached and two of these were pressed into the unfortunate ladies’ head. During the evening too, Mrs. Fordham turned just in time to see a young girl apparently preparing to jab a long hat-pin into her back! It was altogether a rather exciting evening! (11)
So even in Peterborough, it was dangerous to be a campaigner for Women’s suffrage. And opponents of Suffragettes specifically, were worried that they, were equally dangerous. For example, another local paper, The Peterborough Express, were concerned that the city could be a target of the militant Suffragette’s. Worried that the Cathedral could be a target the newspaper quoted a Sentry, as saying, ‘they [the residents of Peterborough] do not want the Suffragettes to come, but their spirit is one that says, by jingo… let me catch them.’ (12)
Fears of militant Suffragette action was perhaps founded after all, with reports in the Peterborough Standard in 1913 of a hoax bomb, found underneath the railway bridge on Oundle Road. It was found with a message saying, Votes for Women. (13) In March of the same year, the Lincolnshire Echo reported that ‘Treacle Parcels’ had been found in a post bag from Peterborough that was opened in Horncastle. The act was believed to be the work of Suffragettes using a tactic of sending a jar of treacle through the post, but leaving the jar unsealed so the contents slowly leaked out all over the rest of the mail. Boston Parcels were also reported to be ‘treacled’ too. (14)
Conclusion
The campaigners for Women’s Suffrage in Peterborough, were popular with some of the city’s population but not with others. There were many women involved in the Women’s Suffrage movement in Peterborough, in two phases: the late 1800s and the early 1910s.
Some of the Women involved were passing through and already had some notoriety as militant Suffragettes, such as Helen Craggs and some who took an interest locally came from well-established city families, like Lily Gill. Campaigners were women who had the time and means to get involved, such as Mrs.Fordham and the votes for women campaign was also well supported by both philanthropists like Louise Crieghton (eventually) and champions of the working class as seen in Benjamin Taylor. Some supporters were also male.
We all know that the vote was finally given to women in February 1918, although it was only to women over 30 with certain property qualifications. For all other women aged 21 and over, the vote was grated in 1928. I shall look forward to the commemorations on that day.
Votes for Women campaigners in London. (15)
References
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland: A Regional Survey, by Elizabeth Crawford, p. 73.
Photo, Millicent Fawcett, Wikipedia online.
Peterborough Advertiser, Saturday 24 Feb, 1912, p. 1.
Reference misplaced.
Peterborough Advertiser, Saturday 16 November 1912, p. 5.
Photo, Florence Gertrude de Fonblanque, Wikipedia online.
Peterborough Advertiser, Saturday 16 November 1912, p. 5.
Peterborough Advertiser, Saturday 16 November 1912, p. 5.
Peterborough Advertiser, Saturday 16 November 1912, p. 5.
Peterborough Advertiser, Saturday 16 November 1912, p. 5.
Peterborough Advertiser, Saturday 16 November 1912, p. 5.
Peterborough Advertiser – Saturday 16 November 1912, p. 5.
Peterborough Advertiser, Saturday 16 November 1912, p. 5.
On Thursday 27 May, 1910 at the Grand Assembly Rooms on Wentworth Street, the first WSPU (est. 1903), meeting took place in Peterborough. Tickets for this meeting were obtained from Casters book shop. The Chair was Dr, Glaisher, from Trinity College in Cambridge. He was supported by Mrs. Rackham, Miss Ward and Miss Corbett. The meeting examined the objectives of the society as a constitutional, non-militant and non-party political campaigning body.
The WSPU, it was stated, were appealing to people’s sense of justice with regards to votes for women. The National Union had gone from 50 – 130 branches in 3 years and it was hoped that a Suffrage Society would appear in Peterborough soon. The local paper said her appeal was “not overwhelmingly successful.” (2)
Debates at the Liberal Club.
In October 1910, the Liberal Club, led by Peterborough Women’s Liberal Association, hosted a debate on Women’s Suffrage. Speaking on behalf of the Suffragette movement, according to the Stamford Mercury, was Suffragette, Miss McArthur. Unfortunately, it is difficult to trace women when only surnames are mentioned. However, the only McArthur I can find in a list of Suffragettes, is Mary McArthur, who was involved in the Trade Union Women’s League and led the 1910 Cradley Heath Chain-makers in a strike in the West Midlands, that is still commemorated today. It would be great to hear that she passed through the city.
Speaking against Miss McArthur, was Mr. H. F. Oldham from Cambridge. People who spoke in the debate, includes Mr. W. E. Cross, the Head Master of the Kings School and Liberal MP and former town councillor, Richard Winfrey, MP and his wife Elizabeth. At a vote taken at the end of the meeting, the ‘for’ votes for women side, lost by a mere five votes. (3)Interestingly, a debate at the Conservative Club in January 1912, resulted in a 2:1 vote for women’s suffrage. (4)
Between 1910 and 1911, a Bill advocating votes for women was passed in Parliament. However, the Bill did not become Law. Some MPs were against certain women getting the vote, e.g. the 1 million rich women, who would vote Conservative. The Liberal MPs were not keen on that idea. So, the campaigns continued. In December of 1910, a General Election bought a Liberal Government into power.
Early WSPU activity in Peterborough.
In 1911, Helen Craggs became the first WSPU organiser for Peterborough, working from number 14 Cromwell Road as Secretary. She was answerable to Grace Roe, at Ipswich. Craggs, originally from Oxford, was one of the Militant Suffragettes that was arrested at riots in London in 1910, (5) and she had joined the WSPU in 1908, under the name Helen Millar and chalked pavements and handed out literature in Peckham, London.
Craggs was close to Emeline Pankhurst’s son, Harry, who suffered from polio and died in January 1910 and in November of the same year, she hid in the roof space of the Paragon Theatre Whitechapel, where Lloyd George was due to speak, then burst out shouting about votes for women. She was thrown down a stone staircase and a man who stuck up for her was beaten. (6) Craggs did not stay for long organising in Peterborough, Mrs. Fordham became honorary Secretary in 1912.Then, in the Peterborough Advertiser, Sat 11 February 1911 edition, there was an article advertising meeting held by the WSPU. An anonymous lady correspondent wrote:
To the average man and woman, the lull in political activity following the General Election, is welcomed as a merciful release and relief from exhausting exertions, once more to the conditions of normal existence. One organisation there is, however, which never slumbers of sleep, and whose members seem inspired with the principle of ceaseless activity; we refer to, of course, to those ubiquitous band known as the Women’s Political and Social Union, or better still, as the Militant Suffragettes. (7)
These, we have always with us now, in this country, and if it is true that, “it’s dogged that it does,” then we must admit that these indefatigable ladies, are bound soon to come into their own. The Suffragettes who were active in the last elections have now settled in Peterborough and are preparing to persue their campaign in this locality with relentless vigour. (8)
We, see that preparations have been made to hold a meeting on February 14 at the Corn Exchange, which will be addressed by Miss [Katherine] Douglas Smith, one of their cleverest speakers, and on February 22nd, Peterborough itself is to have a visit from Pankhurst who will speak in the afternoon in the Fitzwilliam Room of the Angel Hotel and in the evening at the Corn Exchange. (9)
With regards to Emeline Pankhurst, leader of the WSPU / Suffragettes, the correspondence continued:
Opinions may be bitterly opposed as to both the principle and methods of Women’s Suffrage, but no-one who has ever heard Mrs Pankhurst seems to differ as to the exceptional charm of her personality as a public speaker. Mrs Pankhurst has lately been in Paris where she had a remarkable reception amongst leading French, American and English Women, her visit there ending with a highly successful meeting. She was also interviewed by the Figaro who gave her a most appreciative notice. She is evidently – however much we may disagree with her – one of the most remarkable of our present-day celebrities, and we have no doubt that residents both in Peterborough and the adjoining districts, will take the opportunity afforded them of her visits here, to judge for themselves as to what she is and as to the merits of the cause she will lead before them. (10)
This was not the first time that Pankhurst spoken in the city. She came to speak at the first meeting of the Peterborough branch of the Independent Labour Party in 1905.
The visit of Emmeline Pankhurst
However, following Emeline’s first truly public meeting in Peterborough, The Peterborough Advertiser, ran an article. The headline read:VOTES FOR WOMEN! THE SUFFRAGETTE CAMPAIGN AT PETERBOROUGH, VISIT OF MRS PANKHURST (11)When she came to Peterborough on 22nd February, Pankhurst, hosted an ‘at home.’ In the Fitzwilliam Assembly Rooms at the Angel Hotel. Mrs Mansel presided over the meeting which was attended by:Katherine Clayton and her daughter Kitty, the Beeby’s who were part of brick company of the same name, Miss Hall, principal of the Girls’ High School, Nurse Wilde; Mrs. Pfleiderer of the firm that what would soon become Baker Perkins and others were in attendance. (12)
In her opening remarks, Mrs. Mansel, said that agitation for Women’s Suffrage, had lasted for forty years some; and forty Bills had be introduced to Parliament and no fewer than six had passed the second reading. They had the very greatest possible hope this year was going to see a very different issue (applause). It appeared the stars, in their course, were on their side. Irishman, Liberal, and Conservative had drawn the first places in the ballot, and Sir Kemp, the Liberal Member for South-Manchester, was to introduce a Women’s Suffrage Bill, and the second reading was set down for May (hear, hear). (13)
Pankuhrst, introduced to her audience as “Our leader,” said from an experience of public meetings extending over a period approaching forty years, she found they might convert people to the cause, generation after generation, and then they would have to begin again with the next. The WSPU could convert them. “Go with your patient work converting,” she told her audience.
Pankhurst was tempted to say it was very much like that famous stone of Sisyphus, which when rolled up to the top of the hill, came down, and they had to start rolling it again. The whole difference, Pankhurst continued, between the militant agitation and the so-called constitutional suffragist, was that the constitutional suffragist thought the work of conversion was efficient. And when every-body was converted, Women’s Suffrage would drop right down their laps (laughter). Militant Suffragettes whilst recognising the conversion, said the case was now urgent – that the time for discussion and argument had come to end, and the time for action had arrived. suffragists would wait little longer, but with the suffragettes, waiting had become crime and impatience a virtue (applause). (14)
One of the effects of militant agitation was that people were coming to their meetings who had never come before. In the early days of the suffrage movement, Emeline was content to be patient, and it was within the last four years she had turned into one of those ‘hysterical persons’, who threw stones and went prison (laughter). The Suffragette recognised that some people might have come to that meeting to see what a militant suffragette was like, and she had heard of people coming to their meetings with half reservations and half a terrible feeling of excitement that something terrible might happen whilst they were there (laughter). (16)
Emmeline Pankhurst, addressing a crowd in Trafalgar Square, London. (17)
Emeline said that the case of votes for women, was as if the Government had read “Alice in Wonderland:” it was ‘jam yesterday, jam to-morrow, but never to-day.” Men asked, why did Women want the vote? They did not want to act or look like men, nor be less womanly than before. They wanted bring into politics the women’s side, the women’s point of view (applause).
If women were given sufficient power and control themselves, they would able to develop a standard of woman very much higher and nobler than they had known now (applause). Pankhurst said her husband, years ago, had said, “You will never get [the vote] unless you create an impossible situation.” and she thought the census would provide that (applause) – and Suffragettes did indeed, refuse to take part in the 1911 census. Well some of them. Emily Davidson, who was to die two years later at the Derby, hid in the House of Commons so she could be included on the 1911 census by being there (she was not successful though). (17)
In conclusion, Pankhurst said she hoped the time was not far distant, when women would be in the position, for their urgent duty in making, with men, a better and purer world for all those who came afterwards, than ever men would be able make the world themselves (applause). (18)
Tea was served after this meeting. The ladies assisting were Helen Craggs and Miss Rowe, who in 1914 would be the local Branch Secretary of the National Federation of Women Workers. The organisers were, Mrs. Fordham, Miss Tebutt (described as local members of the movement). Miss King and Miss Fison (from Ipswich), Miss F. Ward and Mrs. J. B. Levitt (March) Miss Vergette, Miss Lily Gill, the daughter of the Council’s Chief Engineer according to the 1912 census and twenty-six-year-old Jessie Wadlow, who lived in Dogsthorpe with her wealthy family. The floral decorations on platform were lent by Councillor Vergette. (19)
The evening meeting, was reported on by The Peterborough Advertiser, who set the scene perfectly:
The Corn Exchange was crowded for the evening meeting. The audience including many of the leading ladies and gentlemen of the city. The hall was profusely and artistically decorated with purple and green, and banners were suspended at intervals, bearing the mottoes of militant suffragettes. The spirit of determination which characterises the campaign of this organisation was demonstrated in such declarations as,
Through thick and thin, we ne’er give in
We fight to win
Keep on pestering
Arise, go forth and conquer. (20)
It was, according to the report, an orderly evening, except one man who kept interrupting the speaker. But in her speech, as well as repeating parts of what she had said in the ‘at home,’ meeting earlier in the day, Emeline Pankhurst also spoke of the poor and working classes and what the vote would mean for them. (21)
It was time politics ceased to be a game (applause). They must bring into politics the women’s point of view. They were told there were to be a break-up of the Poor Law. She had no confidence in a re-adjustment of the Poor System, until the women’s point of view was to be heard – the view that considered human life, not institutions. Men had made such a terrible muddle of things, votes for women were the only way out… In such a civilised country …there were more people living in degrading conditions than otherwise, surely it was high time the women of England, stepped in and had their say when men made such a mess of it… she preceded to say that old age pensions were not introduced until the militant movement of Suffragettes had started. (22)
It was reported she said that to much amusement from the audience.
Pankhurst was well received though. At the end of the meeting, a vote was taken and it was almost unanimous that the room supported the latest Conciliation Bill towards Women’s Suffrage. (23)
Annie Kenney.
This meeting was followed up in February 1912, when WSPU Executive Committee member, Annie Kenney spoke at the Church Institute in Peterborough. Organised by Miss Millar of Northampton District WSPU and Mrs Fordham. Kenney spoke about how she had been to prison four times, how women with votes would be easier to handle than those without and she spoke of her fondness for Christabel Pankhurst. In the newspaper reporting the event, a cartoon was reproduced from Punch magazine which showed a suffragette speaking to mother on the doorstep, entitled, ‘No Lady.’ (24)
Kenney was sent to prison 13 times in all. She joined the WSPU in 1905 after seeing Christabel speak in Oldham and the two women confronted Winston in October that year at the Manchester Free Trade Hall.
Emeline Pethick.
On 30 April 1912, Emeline Pethick also spoke at a meeting held at the Church Institute in Peterborough. She spoke on the subject of, ‘the present position.’ The meeting was chaired by Miller. Pethick, said that some people in Peterborough were sympathetic to the vote, although the headline in the newspaper reporting the meeting read ‘no enthusiasm in men’s votes for outraged women.’ But a bone of contention with Pethick, was whether they had gone too far with militant suffragettes and saw no need for prison hunger strikes. Although she defended their actions, Emeline did not really believe in militancy as a tactic and was ousted from the WSPU later that year. (26)
This blog article has been through the visits of some of the high profile WSPU activists to Peterborough at the height of the votes for women campaign. In part three, find out who nearly got stabbed with a hatpin when the Suffragette pilgrimage reached Peterborough.
Part 1: Women’s Suffrage Campaigners in Victorian Peterborough.
I have written a few blog articles and given a few talks about Peterborough’s Suffragettes. Each time I do some more research, new information comes to light adding to the depth of the character’s involved. It has taken me several years to get this far.
Katherine Hare.
The story starts with Katherine Hare, born in 1843, Leicester. Her Father, Thomas Hare, a political reformer and Chancery barrister was the author of policies which had the backing of economists Henry Fawcett and Stuart Mills. Brought up in a family of reformers, both Katherine and her Sister, Alice signed the 1866 petition of women’s Suffrage. (1)
In 1864 Katherine became interested in Emily Davis’ movement to extend the Local Examination system to girls and joined as a member of the Kensington Society, a London discussion group for women which became the place where rising Suffragettes would meet. From 1867, she was an executive committee member of the London National Society for Women’s Suffrage. (2)
Katherine married Lewis Clayton in 1872 and he became the Bishop of Leicester and the assistant Bishop, resident canon of Peterborough. In the book, The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866 – 1928, Elizabeth Crawford said that:
She [Katherine] disappears for some time from the Suffrage movement.(3)
This may be true on the national scene however, she took an active part in the campaign for women’s suffrage and for other reform when she lived in Peterborough, however, she had four children and the responsibilities of a clergyman’s wife to deal with.
Benjamin Taylor
Benjamin Taylor, Peterborough’s forgotten working class hero, worked himself up from a rural Lincolnshire life to become a Town Councillor and Bailiff of the Country Court. He also established local branches of the Cooperative Society and the Agricultural Labourers Union in and around the town and was an ally in the campaign for women’s suffrage.
The first calls for Women’s Suffrage in Northamptonshire came from Peterborough via a petition on the 15th Aril, 1869. A further petition was submitted in June of the same year. More followed in 1870 and 1871. In March 1872, another petition was signed, this time at a meeting on Women’s Suffrage, Chaired by Taylor. (4)
Taylor, chaired another meeting regarding women and the vote in 1873, where Caroline Biggs, a Leicester born Executive Member of the National Society of Women’s Suffrage and Emily Spender, feminist novelist from Bath, spoke, as part of a Suffrage tour.
The next meeting on the subject of Women’s Suffrage in Peterborough, was Chaired by the Reverend Alexander Murray, Minister of the Congregational Chapel on Westgate and took place in December 1874. Helena Downing, an Irish Socialist spoke at this meeting. The Minister was so moved by the speeches that following the meeting, he subscribed to the Central Committee of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage. He remained a member for several years.
Helena also spoke at the next meeting of Suffrage, (under her married name of Shearer). This meeting did not take place until almost a decade later, in 1882, where she spoke alongside Maye Dilke, author of the book, Women’s Suffrage: A Treatise on Equality. The two speakers claimed to have been a deputation sent by the Central Committee. The Mayor of Peterborough, John Thompson, chaired this meeting. Councillor Benjamin Taylor was in attendance. (5)
Louise Creighton, Nee Von Glehn (1850 – 1936)
Around the Peterborough scene in the 1890s, was Louise Creighton. She came from a Conservative Middle-Class family in Sydenham, just outside London, Louise married Mandell Creighton, and lived in Oxford, Worcester and Cambridge. In 1891, Mandell was made ‘see of Peterborough’ and the new Creighton family were forced to spend some time living in the city. A Victorian social reformer, influential in the Church, Louise helped to set up the non-party political, National Union of Working Women (NUWW), in the 1880s, now known as the National Council for Women. Louise was not a campaigner for Women’s Suffrage through. In fact, the opposite: she helped collect names for an anti-suffrage petition in 1889, against votes for women, believing that there needed to be intellectual and influential people outside of party politics. (6) She wrote essays on the subject, writing that,
It is merely a part of the machinery of Government…we are very tired of the rich and cultivated lady who may not vote while her coachman may. If the vote was privilege of the wise and the educated, women may simply claim it. But it is part of the propelling power of a part of the machinery of Government which has always belonged to one sex. (7)
In Peterborough, Louise founded the local branch of the Mother’s Union, of which Katherine Clayton was Secretary. Louise became the President of the NUWW in 1895. And then in 1901, her Husband, Bishop Creighton died, prompting Louise to announced at the NUWW Conference in 1906 at Tonbridge Wells, that she had changed her mind regarding the subject of votes for women. She was worried that, people would think that this change of heart would be connected to her Husband’s death. This was not the case. Louise’s reason for deciding she was for votes for women after all, was that, she had now seen women becoming involved in party politics and thought, they should get the vote to help them in their cause. This caused friction within some factions of the NUWW because of the question of affiliation of suffrage campaigners. However, Louise went on to be influential in the votes for women campaign. (8)
By 1909, the campaign for Women’s Suffrage was no closer to achieving its goal than it was in the 1860s. However, by 1908, most MPs supported votes for Women and the campaign was hotting up. The story continues in part 2.
Kensington Society rules (9)Louise Creighton (10)
References
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866 – 1928 (Routledge, London: 2003) p. 275.
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866 – 1928 (Routledge, London: 2003) p. 275.
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866 – 1928 (Routledge, London: 2003) p. 275.
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland: A Regional Survey, by Elizabeth Crawford, p. 73.
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland: A Regional Survey, by Elizabeth Crawford, p. 73.
There has been a recent debate in my local newspaper, The Peterborough Telegraph about ‘famous Peterborians.’ The debate has been around the inclusion of women, or more specifically, the fact that there has only been two women out of a list of twenty people. Women’s history is something I feel very passionate about and since I have been researching local history, I have made a concerted effort to include women’s history.
Gladys Benstead
One of the women I have written about previously was a working class woman, Gladys Benstead. I wrote about her for another blog site which is linked in a previous post. She is one of the women that I would include on my list, the first woman to work as a railway clerk, outside of London and a negotiator for women’s wages in the National Union of Railwaymen in the 1920s. It was very unusual for a woman to hold such a position in the trade union movement at that time and I think that is important. Important people don’t have to be so because they give grand gestures to the general public because of their wealth . They can be important through helping to inch forward matters such as women’s rights.
Katherine Clayton (Nee Hare), 1843 – 1933
My second candidate is a little different, in Katherine Clayton. Instead of writing a blog simply about her, I am going to reproduce parts of a talk that I did for Peterborough’s local archive service on the campaign for Women’s suffrage in Peterborough, which contains much of Katherine’s history and it also contains a little about Louise Creighton.
Katherine was born in Leicester. Her father was Thomas Hare, born in 1603 a Liberal reformer, a Barrister by trade. He held the position of ‘Inspector of charities’ and set out a proposal to use proportional representation to elect MPs to Parliament in 1859. This was a policy backed by economist John Stuart Mill and Henry Fawcett. Later, he became involved in the call for women’s suffrage, speaking at public meetings and joining campaign groups. It was no wonder that with the influence of her father, Katherine herself, became involved in the campaign for women’s suffrage, joining the debating group, the Kensington Society who often discussed the matter and she signed petitions destined to Parliament in, starting in 1866.
In 1872, Katherine married Lewis Clayton, who would become the Bishop of Peterborough and the couple moved to Peterborough, where they bought up four children. Katherine continued her involvement in the campaign for votes for women through this time, signing a memorandum to sir Arthur Balfour in 1896, asking the Government to give time over to discussing the matter in Parliament. She also attended local meetings for women’s suffrage with her daughter, Kitty and also attended an ‘at home’ meeting with Emmeline Pankhurst at the Fitzwilliam Rooms of the Angel Hotel on 11 February, 1911.
Katherine was also involved in campaigns around education and she was awarded an OBE for this. She was also made a ‘freeman’ of Peterborough for her services in social work. Another of Katherine’s local campaigns was raising money to replace the marble tomb of Katherine of Aragon at Peterborough Cathedral. Apparently, a former Bishop had broken up the former memorial to use for his conservatory. Katherine campaigned by contracting other wealthy ladies with the same name and asking them to donate. The results are the beautiful tomb which you can see today.
Louise Creighton 1850 – 1936
Louise was the wife of Mandell Creighton, the Bishop of Peterborough. To be honest, she only spent a short time in Peterborough between 1891 and 1897 and moved between there, Cambridge and Oxford, however, she was a massive influence on Katherine Clayton. A Victorian social reformer, Louise was influential in the Church and she set up the National Union of Working Women in 1881, which was later known as the National Council of Women. She became President in 1895, and Katherine Clayton was listed as having sat on the committee of the local branch in 1922. Louise also set up a Peterborough Branch of the Mother’s Union of which Katherine was Secretary.
Louise did not share Katherine’s view of women’s suffrage however, she spent her time rebuking calls for votes for women, at least until her Husband died in 1901. She declared her change of opinion at a National Council of Women conference in 1906, having not done so before for worry that it would look like she had not been able to have these opinions while her Husband was alive. However, she had changed her mind because she saw women becoming involved in politics and starting to make a difference. Louise went on to be influential in the Votes for Women campaign.
Although Louise Creighton spent little time in Peterborough, I believe she is an important figure to acknowledge in the Women’s history of the city. Katherine certainly deserves her place on the list for services to women and children. She must certainly have impressed someone to become a ‘Freeman’ and to be awarded an OBE.
Summary
There must be thousands of women that we know nothing about, but who we should. Sometimes they have been written out of history because they were illiterate and could not write down their own achievements , or they were ignored by historians or their contemporaries, it does not mean they did not exist. I have made it my mission to change attitudes but unfortunately I was not able to find photographs of Gladys or Katherine, but have included one of Louise and I hope you have enjoyed reading about this article. If you want to know more about Peterborough’s women, please take a look at the references below. These contain details of other blog sites which you can look at, some of which contains some more candidates for important women from Peterborough.
References:
The Peterborough Advertiser, Saturday, 22 February, 1911, p. 2; The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland: A Regional Survey, Elizabeth Crawford, p. 73 The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1886 – 1928, Elizabeth Crawford; The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Online); Historical Directory for Peterborough. 1922; WomenWhoShapedPBoro.wordpress.com/category/Katherine-Clayton; akennedysmith.com/2017/06/16/light-and-shade-louise-Creighton-1850-1936/
Over Christmas 2019, I went to visit family living in Asturias, northern Spain. After spending a few days in Madrid, visiting art galleries, including the Reina Sofia, where Picasso’s Guernica resides, an exhibition about Spanish exiles in 1939 at the Laqueria at Nuevos Ministerios and the obligatory trip to the Venencia sherry bar, we made our way to the capital Asturias, Oviedo by train. The four-hour train journey was interesting and took us over the plains of Castille stopping at Segovia, Valladolid and Palencia. However, the scenery completely changed after Leon when the mountains of the north stood in between us and the Cantabrian Sea.
In this area, the architecture changed quickly from typical white washed Spanish houses and Medieval walled cities to stone buildings stuck in small shadowy mountain valleys, while the water of winding rivers tip-toed over pebbles. When the train went up into the mountains there were wonderful views of the rocky outcrops where the very highest peaks were dusted with snow. Soon though, we were down the other side of the mountains and into the small Cathedral city of Oviedo where we stayed over-night. As a historian, I like to sniff out some of the local, myths, legends and important historical sites in the places where I stay and the next day we went to find some.
Church and Monument to Rosa Roja
Rosa Roja
Somebody had told me about local heroine Aida de la Fuente (aka Rosa Roja) so the next morning after a café breakfast, we decided to go and find her memorial. The day started with climbing the 101 steps from the upper-station plaza to the church of San Pedro de Los Arcos, a small, square church built with bricks that had a slight pink tinge to them.
We only got to see the outside of the church, however, there were clear signs of damage to the structure, bullet holes and gashes in the stone suggesting shrapnel damage. The key to what happened at this place came in the form of the memorial stone dedicated to Rosa Roja, who died nearby on 13 October 1934. At that time, the Asturias Miners uprising was underway. A precursor to the Spanish Civil War (SCW), Miners rose up against the government starting with a general strike and took Oviedo, the region’s capital. Franco and his Moroccan troops were sent to put the rising down.
Aida, came from a politically aware family. Her father designed posters for and decorated the Theatre at Oviedo and he also assisted in establishing the Communist Party Branch in Oviedo. Influenced by him, Aida, helped to set up street kitchens for the miner’s militias during the uprising and she was near the church when Franco’s troops attacked.
She held off the troops with a machine gun – but only for so long. Biographers say that she was found dead with fellow fighters wearing “a powder stained dress.” She was buried in a mass grave next to the church alongside other militia fighters. Aida was only 19 when she died and was later given the nickname, the red rose.
El Cuetu Bunker
The Bunker
Later in the day, we went on another trip heading south of Oviedo to Lugones to visit the fortified bunker at El Cuetu. It was quite hard to find and after several drives around, there was only one thing left to do – to follow the sign pointing to Ministerios and up the steep slope, through the open gates. This was the correct course of action to take.
The bunker fortifications were immediately obvious, a grey concrete structure built into the hillside and attached to that a ruined three-story building and access to the bunker was through the basement of the building. It was a windy day and the sound of the breeze tore around the graffiti sprayed walls of the abandoned building. Insulation flapped in the breeze from unsealed ceilings and unsecured windows rattled. It was quite atmospheric however it was a relief to take the staircase down towards the entrance of the bunker.
The bunker dating from the era of the Spanish Civil War was only in use for a year, presumably either in 1937 when the battle of Asturias between Spanish Republicans and Nationalists took place. We took a few steps down into the bunker and into a maze of dark corridors. I was able to comfortably into the tunnel at a height of 5ft 2” but anyone much taller would have to stoop and it was certainly only for one-person width ways. Along the corridor from time to time were holes in the walls where defenders could watch for the enemy coming into the plateau surrounding the bunker however, it was only when an outdoor gun emplacement with a shallow wall gave us an idea of the vantage point the bunker’s defenders had over the land. It was situated high up on a small plain which was surrounded by mountains. There were similar gun emplacements at all corners giving the defenders a 360-degree view.
Also in the bunker were a few small rooms which were used for resting and medical attention. It was a very interesting place but there would have been dangers for the defenders inside. The lookout holes were big enough to have a small grenade deposited inside. The bunker is only open on Sunday’s with two guided tours during the day and once we were done, we left in convoy to Colloto, a ten-minute drive away where we could access a private museum containing items from the SCW era.
The museum was set in the basement garage of an unassuming apartment block. There were models of armoured vehicles (during the SCW vehicles would be seized and fitted with armoured plates creating makeshift tanks). These were great, lots of small ones covered in anti-fascist slogans and two real sized models. There were also lots of guns (from various eras not just the SCW), flags, ammunition (including CNT TNT), photographs and posters among other things. A fascinating place, very worthwhile visiting along with the bunker to get an impression of what was used during SCW.Spain is now opening up about the recent past.
On a previous trip to Asturias, I visited the coastal bunkers at La Isla and in the coming summer I shall be joining an archaeological dig in Belchite in Aragón I and look forward to blogging from there. **Edit, the trip was cancelled due to Cornovirus.**
If you are wondering what this has to do with trade union history, well the Spanish Civil War is an important part of British Labour history due to the amount of Trade Unionists who went out to fight against the Nationalists in the International Brigades. I have not found anyone in my research who went yet but would be very interested if anyone from Peterborough (UK) went.
I have written an article on Lady Gladys Benstead, who was Mayor of Peterborough in 1955. She has caught my interest, because she came from a working class family who were played a major part in the local labour movement in the first few decades of the 1900s. I wrote the article for a collection of short pieces for Women’s History Month, published on The Lassicist blog. Here is the link:
Federation of Women Workers Banner, at the Black Country History Museum (photo by Hazel Perry)
This is an article that I wrote in 2019. I posted it on my other blog, but am slowly moving the pieces over to my original site. I can’t quite get the look I want on that the new blog. 2019 was the last Women’s Festival that I took the lead in organising.
As a delegate to Peterborough Trades Union Council, I am involved in organising PWF2019, the fourth of these festivals to take place in Peterborough to coincide with the week of International Women’s Day.
This year we have chosen for our symbol, a photo of the banner of the National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW). The banner currently resides in the rebuilt Workers’ Institute at the Black Country History Museum in Wolverhampton. The Workers Institute, is a building that contains a cafe downstairs and upstairs, the re-imagined offices of the Federation, that was run by Mary Mcarthur, who founded the trade union body in 1906.
Mary Mcarthur fought for Women’s Suffrage and locally to us, attended a debate in Peterborough on the subject, arranged by the local Liberal Party in the early 1910s. However, she was known nationally, for being the Trades Unionist who led the women chain-makers strike in nearby Cradley Heath in 1910. During this stint of industrial action, women chain-makers who were low paid and had to take their children to work with them (babies would be kept under the anvil as it was the safest place for them), laid down their tools and fought for and gained, double their wages and made the national minimum wage a reality.
Slide from presentation by Nan Sloane, Unison Women’s Conference, Bournemouth 2019 (Photo by Hazel Perry)
As part of PWF2019, Townsend Theatre Productions bring their latest show, Rouse, Ye Women, which charts the story of Mary Mcarthur and the women chainmakers. This “folk ballard opera” will be performed on Monday 4th March at the Undercroft in Hampton. Tickets can be purchased from the Eastern Angles Theatre website for £5.00, or on the door for the same price.
The following weekend, the flagship event for PWF2019, Town Hall Day, takes place. It is on Saturday 9 March at Peterborough Town Hall from 11am to 3pm. This event comprises campaign stalls, such as the Red Box Project, which seeks to get free sanitary wear for girls in schools to wipe of period poverty (donations welcome on the day); Usborne Books (for children); Peterborough Rape Crisis Group; Soroptomists; Peterborough Pride; Jailbirds and many, many more. There will also be a poetry corner (poems on the subject of Women and related matters welcome) and Peterborough Poet Laureate, Claire Currie will be our poet in residence.
There will also be speakers on the day:
i. Saorsa Tweedale from the PCS Union’s PROUDE Committee will be coming to speak about the work they do.
ii. Poet and Trades Unionist, Janine Booth will be speaking about the subject of her new book, Minnie Lansbury (see photo below)
iii. I will be speaking as Trades Unionist and Historian about the 1928 Celta Artificial Silk Mill Strike (see photo below from the Peterborough Images website)
There will be other events throughout the week before and after, and I shall list these at the end of the article. However, first let me tell you a bit about the aims and objectives of the festival. It was first set up as part of PTUCs (now defunct) fundraising committee. For the fundraising committee, the idea was to raise a bit of money through a raffle and selling food on the day of the Town Hall event (the money raised then goes on to pay speakers expenses). But, there was much more to it than that.
There was also the desire to get further out there into the community, and to show the local people that a trade union body is not just about striking for higher wages and better conditions, but also about bringing people together. Through this, we have been able to share a room with people that we would never usually do, and they can see what we as trades unionists do and we can see how other charities and organisations work.
And what better time to bring all this together, than during Women’s History month and close to International Women’s Day, a yearly celebration which has been going on in one form or another for over 100 years? I hope to see my Peterborough friends (men are welcome too) celebrating the important work that women do, or more at these events.
Events
27th February – Peterborough’s Feminist Book Club will be discussing Virginia Woolf’s Liberty, at 7.30pm, Chauffeurs Cottage. See the Peterborough Feminist Book Club Facebook Page for more information.
In June 2016, legendary folk fiddler, Dave Swarbrick died at the age of 75. In January, here was a musical tribute held to him in the St. Paul’s Church, Cambridge. This featured guest musicians Martin Carthy, John Kirkpatrick and Simon Swarbrick on fiddle. I have seen the Mcarthy and Swabrick perform together many times, it is sad to see the former without his sparring partner. Martin Carthy and daughter Eliza, folk royalty played at the Peterborough, Key Theatre. It’s great to be able to walk to gigs and the Carthy’s never disappoint.
Graham Fellowes, aka, Jilted John (punk alter-ego) and John Shuttleworth (funny old man who plays the organ alter-ego) was on stage at the Stamford Arts Theatre in February. Fellowes has given up playing his other two characters, but he does include their material in his showing, including the Jilted John classic, Gordon is a Moron.
We saw God is My Co-Pilot at the Cafe Otto in Dalston in March. I remember really enjoying the gig, but what I remember the most is that it snowed all the way home. We usually get the train to gigs, especially in London, but for some reason, this time, T had driven.
Rowan Godel played at the Ostrich Inn in Peterborough as part of Peterborough Women’s Festival. She very kindly agreed to step in for the booked singer who had cancelled due to losing her voice the day before. Voice of an angel, and one of the British folk scenes best kept secrets. Highly recommended.
Another of my favourite folkies, The Young ‘Uns played at the Leicester Guild Hall in March. I don’t know why, but I just find the harmonies of the voices when they sing together so pleasing. The show was a concept performance based on the real-life story of Johnny Longstaff and his experiences leading up to and fighting in the Spanish Civil War. Using classic songs from the time such as Ay Carmella and Jarama Valley, songs they had written and voice recordings from interviews with Johnny. It was very emotional. The album is out now (BUY IT!). http://www.theyounguns.co.uk/johnnylongstaff
When we were in Belfast at the beginning of April, the BBC2 Folk Awards were taking place at the Waterfront arena. Unfortunately, tickets had been sold out for some time. However, after putting a call out on Twitter, somebody very kindly offered us their two tickets. They put the tickets on a bus, and we picked them up at Belfast Coach Station. The show was worth the trouble though. Lankum, an authentic Irish band, playing old songs sung from the streets of Dublin with a modern twist, played much to my delight. Eliza Carthy and the Wayward Band also played. See more about it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/em6v9r
A Rocking Spring and Summer…
Japanese all-girl punk band, Shonen Knife, played the Portland Arms in Cambridge. The venue was rammed and we all love the Ramones, so what’s not to like?
In the spring, Classic 70s punk band, The Members, played at Peterborough’s Met Lounge. Not many people there, but we got drunk and jumped around to the song Sounds of the Suburbs. Other Members songs are available. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsHGnw1txLY
Later in the month, another classic punk, TV Smith of the Adverts played the Hand and Heart, a back street pub in Peterborough. Playing all the classics, such as No Time to be 21, Tomahawk Cruise and Generation Y. This was the second year he had played the pub, in the same number of years, so hopefully he’ll be back again in 2019. http://www.tvsmith.com/
Frank Ifield, yes, that’s 60s crooner Frank Ifield, played at the Ivy Leaf Club in Whittlesey. Whittlesey is small Fenland Market Town, and the great and the good of Whittlesey pensioners had come out to see him perform. The cheesy organist playing Viva Espana and Danny Boy, etc., looked in his element while the compere had the attitude of the 1960s, with some of the comments he made towards members of the audience, when going up to select their raffle items! Frank Ifield made it all worthwhile though.
I’m not a massive fan of Jools Holland, however, his big band were pretty good when they came to Peterborough’s Broadway Theatre. It was all very… well, blusey, pretty as much expected. I had seen them before at Glastonbury on one of the few years I went. It was the last time I saw anything at the Theatre for the rest of the year, because less than a year after the 1930s art deco theatre re-opened, they got into debt and closed down again.
T and I saw Patty Smith and Nick Cave at Victoria Park, London, at the end of June. They were of course, amazing, especially Patty Smith. We didn’t stay for all of Nick Cave, who was headlining.
Later in the month they showed the England footy match at the Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms, before Belly came on. They did of course play Feed the Tree. Belly are still very good.
I just love The Ex, they are just such a cool band. They started off as an Anarcho-Punk band, which explains why they were playing in the tiny back room of the ‘alternative’ Co-operative bar Wharf Chambers, in Leeds. I was rocking away right at the front of a packed venue. Formed in Amsterdam, The Ex played a few songs from their new album 27 Passports, as well as some older one’s. A contender for gig of the year. https://www.theex.nl/info.html
In September we went to Bradford for the weekend and were walking past the castle pub, when we saw a sign for an accoustic folk gig. It turned out to be a great evening, involving people from the notorious Topic Folk Club.
I spotted the poster for Marky Ramone in Granada’s main square when we arrived for a trip in early October. The gig was a little way out of town. T and I got on a bus a little early expecting to go and have dinner, but when we got off the bus, we found ourselves in an industrial estate the wrong side of the Granada ring-road. There was a small shopping mall but everywhere seemed to be closing up. All of a sudden, just as we had given up on the thought of food, a shutter went up and a small café with half a vegan restaurant opened up. We had poor man’s potatoes and vegan burgers. Later on, Marky Ramone was utterly amazing. The venue was in an old industrial unit, a great space inside and pretty much every Ramone’s song was sung. T and I drank beer and danced on the shelf we had been sitting on before the band took to the stage. Another contender for gig of the year.
Towards the end of our stay in Granada, The Salmon’s of Granada were due to play and we like to see bands in different countries when we visit. The Salmon’s looked like a cheesy 70s band. The venue was in a basement venue and music was good, quite rocking, but we felt like we had gate-crashed someone’s party – people kept getting up on stage and singing their songs with them, knowing all the words. A very fun night.
Eddie and the Hot Rods were playing for the last time this year and we saw them at the Leicester Musician. They were an excellent pub-rock band as usual, playing the angsty Do Anything You Wanna Do and ending in the massive sing-along, G-L-O-R-IIIIIIIIII (Gloria). I hear now though, that Eddie and the Hot Roads are continuing to play gigs…
Obviously, I love Stick in the Wheel, but I’m not sure anyone else, that I know does (apart from T of course). But how could you not love Stick? Stick write their own folk songs on modern subjects, such as car boot sales and lorry drivers, however, they are also magical at reinterpreting old toons such as Seven Gypsies and Four Loom Weaver. I have seen them loads but in November, we were sitting down to see them at the Junction 2, in Cambridge, red wine in hand and it felt like winter was fast approaching.
I played the album, The It Girl, to death in the 1990s, so it was great to see Sleeper were out and about on tour. I went to see them in November, at the Junction in Cambridge. It wasn’t quite sold out, but there were a lot of people there. Louise Werner was as cool as you like strutting about the stage. Their songs were still catchy. Loved it. Although it was the only gig I have ever been too when I have asked a tall man to shift, that they answered back. I blame Brexit.
Tom Holliston, American Punk Legend, from band No Means No, played an acoustic gig in our favourite local Peterborough Pub, the Ostrich. Perfect.
We were now into December. It can only be Christmas if the Albion Christmas Band are playing. WE have seen them before at the Stamford Arts Centre. The show was at the Peterborough key Theatre this time, and included stories as well as songs. Their tribute to the soldiers of WWI in a story about both sides coming together from the trenches to sing carols, was very moving.
Stanley Brinks (previously of Herman Dune), Freschard (who once drew the amount of glasses of wine she had consumed on the night, on a CD T purchased), are an absolute joy. I have no idea how to describe them, but tonight, at Arch Rivals in London’s E7, they played as The Fox and had animals featuring in all their songs. The Burning Hand, who headlined, a Canadian band, are my new favourites due to their song with the chorus that goes: Pass the wine, fuck the Government, I love you (I bought a badge with these words on from the merch stall).
And then, there was Misty’s Big Adventure’s Christmas Party at the Albion Brewery, in Northampton. In the old Phipps Brewery, Misty’s Big Adventure were everything I expected them to be. Silly, grumpy, a little bit political (Grandmaster Gareth limited the band to three political statements and these came alongside songs about biscuits, mince pies and I forget the last one). The band-mate who usually dons the blue rubber gloves and pretends to be a clock, was not there – off on paternity leave. Twins. Boys, since the crowd asked and I’m sure you will too. Misty’s topped off a brilliant evening with Wombling Merry Christmas. Now that will be stuck in my head forever…
“All day long, we will be Wombling through the snow
We wish you a Wombling Merry Christmas…”
Other Artists seen this year but not reviewed are: Roger McGough (at Stamford Arts Centre); Kiran Leonard (in Cambridge); Lucy Farrell (in a pub in Cambridge); Monochrome Set (at the Portland Arms, Cambridge); Robin Hitchcock (in Cambridge Church); Gwenifer Raymond (at The Blue Moon, Cambridge); Lexie Green (St. Johns Church Peterborough).
