Better late than never! https://www.newhamheritagemonth.org/events/Muslims Celebrating Olympic Art and Sport, 2 June 11am-3pm, UKIM Masjid Ibrahim & Islamic Centre There will be a range of fun activities for all the family at this celeb…Read more…
Council houses named after Matchgirls Strike leader – Sarah Chapman
Hat tip picture Tower Hamlets Council and report Ali G and article by East London Advertiser (note campaign in Newham to protect the grave site of Sarah Chapman in Manor Park Cemetery. – https://www.johnslabourblog.org/2020/03/visiting-grave-of-…Read more…
Dance music history: Injected with some Belgians (and Germans)
In an earlier piece, I mainly focused on the influences on the UK dance scene. Of course, the UK isn’t the centre of the world and Europe also has a huge dance scene. Of course, you can’t write about European dance music without mentioning …Read more…
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Exciting news about Newham Heritage Month 2022
Newham Heritage Month will be back for an exciting third year in June 2022! The festival is made by Newham’s community for the community and we’re offering you grants of up to £8,000&…Read more…
Remembering the matchgirls who struck for better pay and conditions
UNISON is backing a campaign group for a proper memorial for the women and girls who joined together in London’s East End to fight for a better working life
The article Remembering the matchgirls…Read more…
Help to save a piece of our industrial heritage
A former UNISON president is leading the appeal to save the home of the Durham Miners’ Association – one of the “100 irreplaceable buildings” in the UK
The article Help to save a piece of our…Read more…
A Short History of Trade Unions
If you ever wondered about the history of trade unions then I recommend this 5 minute 46 second introduction on YouTube.
Part of my TUC Employment law course work.
Update: Check out a very good analysis of the more recent history and possib…Read more…
Keir Hardie MP Labour Party membership card 1895 (& modern version)
Yesterday was the 128 anniversary of the birth of the Independent Labour Party (forerunner of the Labour Party). Hat tip Ali G & the Keir Hardie Society.
By coincidence I was sent the above picture of the ILP membership card issued to Keir Hardie…Read more…
What a great photo of Black and White East End kids in the 1930s
Crown Street, Canning Town, 1930s. Hat tip Newham History Society facebook page “Your periodic reminder, Britain’s multicultural history is working class history”. Mary Evans Picture Library.
This is a fabulous picture in so many way but I espec…Read more…
Cllr Frederick (Frank) Matthews – my Great Grandfather
There is a lot of really nasty and unpleasant stuff on the internet and social media but there is also many positive things.
This week I was contacted by a long lost relative Graham via this blog who had searched the internet for his great…Read more…
“East Ham War Pensions Committee: Your Fight Is Our Fight”
Historic photo of dependants of World War One ex-service men protesting against cuts to War pensions in 1919. The authorities claimed that the local East Ham War Pensions committee did not follow the “rules” and gave out too generous benefits.
Private Thomas Highgate – the First to be Shot at Dawn (2020 update)
Early in 2014 I posted here on a controversy in the village on Shoreham in Kent on whether to add the name of Private Thomas Highgate to its War Memorial. 19 year old Thomas was the first soldier to be shot for desertion by the British army autho…Read more…
“earliest known photo of a mass gathering of people in London – the Chartist meeting on Kennington Common, 10 April 1848”
Hat tip Ali G
“This is a daguerreotype (an early form of photograph) of the Chartist meeting held at Kennington Common on 10th April 1848. It was the last time the Chartists attempted to present a petition to Parliament. Fearing an attempted revolutio…Read more…
Unity is Strength – East Ham Trades Council donation of Ambulance Motorcycle 1937
Unity is indeed Strength. As shown by the fantastic show of solidarity for carers on Thursday evening.
This is great historic picture showing a hand built ambulance motorbike donated by East Ham Trades Council in 1937.
This was to help the Republican…Read more…
Manchester talk on Harry Boland
I’m giving a talk on my great-granduncle Harry Boland’s Manchester roots in the Irish World Heritage Centre in the city on 5 June. Tickets are free and can be ordered on Eventbrite. AdvertisementsRead more…
Manchester talk on Harry Boland
I’m giving a talk on my great-granduncle Harry Boland’s Manchester roots in the Irish World Heritage Centre in the city on 5 June. Tickets are free and can be ordered on Eventbrite.Read more…
Newham Housing Points Scheme – Now and then
Hat tip picture to local photographer, Steve Lewis, and Newham History Society Facebook page. It would appear that this photo dates back to the late 1960s. I reckon that I am possibly the same age as that child.
Currently in Newham we are undertaking …Read more…
Newham Heritage Week – Walk to Mill House & Tour
Picture college is from the last day of Newham Heritage Week, when Gill and I walked from Forest Gate (and back) for a tour of Mill House in 3 Mill Island, Bromley-by-Bow.
We walked via the back streets of Forest Gate, thorough West Ham Park, the Gree…Read more…
The Plaistow Land Grabbers
“Hat tip to a great post by “E7 Now & Then” on “The Plaistow Land Grabbers” who are an largely forgotten but important part of the radical history of West Ham. A second post is to follow.
In a protest against unemployment, local plumber and local …Read more…
In Memory of 13 West Ham Heroes killed by Enemy Action 7 September 1940
“Memorial at LBN Abbey Road Depot, to those killed on one of the first attacks on the 7th September, 1940, known as `Black Saturday`. This was the start of the `Blitz`, although not the first bombs to fall on West Ham, Beckton Road was bombed on the 31…Read more…