We have organised this special event to give an update on the progress BL Labs have made in developing the Political Meetings Mapper, one of the winners of the 2015 British Library Labs Competition, a tool for mapping where chartist political meetings took place in the 19th Century. Come and join us and explore more about the origins of the project and learn more about the background to the Chartist movement in nineteenth-century London.

Chartism was the first mass movement campaigning for the vote in the United Kingdom. Active from 1837 to 1850, the Chartists attracted tens of thousands of members. London was an important base for the movement, and the Chartists held weekly meetings in over fifty pubs, coffee houses and other venues across the capital, a select few of which will be visited during this event. The British Library Labs project is building a website and interactive map of these meetings, with data drawn from the Nineteenth Century Newspapers collection and the Maps collection.

This event will appeal to anyone interested in the history of democratic movements or of London life in the 1840s. 

Please bring an umbrella in case of inclement weather, as some of this event will involve a walking tour of London. If you feel like dressing in early Victorian style and have a costume, you’re more than welcome to wear it! Participants can stay for all or part of the event. Let us know on booking whether you have any accessibility needs. 

Time
1230 - 1830

Cost
Free 

Programme

1230 - 1300
Registration
Foyle Suite, Centre of Conservation, British Library

1300 - 1400
Lunch

1400 - 1410
Introduction the event

1410 - 1440
The Political Meetings Mapper, 2015 BL Labs Competition Winner
Dr Katrina Navickas, Senior Lecturer in History, Department of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire

Katrina will talk about her winning entry to the British Library Labs competition 2015 and give an update on the progress of developing the 'The Political Meetings Mapper'. She will also give some background to the history of the Chartist movement, explaining its origins, progress, and why it is still important to British politics and society today. She will showcase the ways in which the British Library collections have deepened our understanding of the spaces and places of political movements such as Chartism, and how digital tools offer new ways of making this history relevant and accessible to everyone. 

1440 - 1510
Romantic London
Dr Mathew Sangster, Lecturer in English Literature, Department of English Literature, University of Birmingham

Mathew will give an overview of work he has been doing on mapping the history of London in the romantic period, namely Romantic London. This is research project exploring life and culture in London around the turn of the nineteenth century using Richard Horwood’s pioneering ‘Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster the Borough of Southwark, and parts adjoining Shewing every house’ (published between 1792 and 1799).  It considers the ways in which the writers and works later grouped under the umbrella of Romanticism interacted with London’s communities and institutions while also examining a wide range of alternative approaches to representing and organising urban existence.

1510 – 1530
The Monster Meeting
Professor Ian Haywood, Professor of English Literature, Roehampton University
Ian will examine mass Chartist meetings in Trafalgar Square and Kennington Common. 

1530 - 1730
St Pancras/Tottenham Court Road/Soho area, ending up at the Red Lion pub, with readings of reports from the Northern Star newspaper at each site. Sites may include:

• Prince of Wales Feathers, 8 Warren Street, London, W1T 5LD
• Archery Rooms*, 26 Bath Place, London
• Tillman's Coffee House*, 59 Tottenham Court Roads, London
• Two Chairmen, 31-32 Dean Street, London, W1D 3SB
• Three Crowns*, Richmond Street, London
• Three Doves**, 24 Berwick Street, London, W1V 3RF
• Red Lion Pub, 14 Kingly Street, London, W1B 5PR

*doesn't exist anymore
**now an art stationey shop 

1730 - 1830
Red Lion Pub, 14 Kingly Street, London, W1B 5PR
The walking tour will end at the Red Lion Pub where our group will get a drink and order food. The room will be prepared for a renactment of a chartist meeting beginning at 1800. The meeting will end with votes on various resolutions and some supper.

Participants are welcome to continue their discussions into the evening.