@racheljbarrett
Engagement and Learning at The London Archives - Big fan of late 18th to early 20th century Irish history - Researching signal stations on Ireland’s coast, and the removal of Irish paupers from London ☘️
Thanks to the London Archives for having me along to do a talk about sexuality in the Capital last night. If anyone is looking for an in-depth presentation on the Second World War as a sexual revolution, with a London or more general focus, hit me up!
⚡ Lightning Talks at The London Archives ⚡
Are you a student or ECR? Need feedback on your work? Can you summarise it in 5 minutes? Join us for Lightning Talks at The London Archives - a friendly event open to researchers of London and its history!
📆 Wed 11 February
🕔 5pm
🎉 It's the 100th anniversary of Keats House opening to the public 🎉
✒️ Down in Clerkenwell we're celebrating with a talk on Keats' Life in London (and if you hop on the Northern Line at Angel you can go visit Keats House in Hampstead after!).
🗓️ 28 August 12:30pm
If you're inspired to make your own refreshing gruel on this 32 degree day, here's a piece I wrote last year on Victorian workhouse diets.
#archives #VictorianHistory #workhouses
www.thelondonarchives.org/blog/exhibit...
Illustration of a workhouse casual ward. A blue banner with white writing cuts across it saying 'Labour Stories - The St Marylebone Workhouse'. Below this it says 'Heritage' and 'St Marylebone Festival'. 2 July 2025, 18:30 - 19:30 Lecture Series: Labour Stories - The St Marylebone Workhouse £5.00
Got invited to speak about #workhouses for the St Marylebone Festival. I'm supplying the archival research and Marylebone are supplying the gruel, made from a recipe in @thelondonarchives.bsky.social collections - at least you won't need a dinner reservation.
stmarylebone.org/product/lect...
![Screen grab of one of the affidavits from Folkestone say that: That he William Hall had some months since (with the assistance of other persons) procured a French prisoner by the name of [blank] Edlins to escape to France; and He the said Wm Hall further declared to this deponent, that he Wm Hall caused the said prisoner to be secreted in a certain House, near the signal Post, and in the mean time procured the said prisoner a Boat, and provisions, in order to effectuate such his Escape.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:exgau52o6rhy7q4ln4opkwf4/bafkreifoe3vjusvw6rzr7cygdlewxw3xwg72nso4mhw67qw4chbxpgwbgu)
Screen grab of one of the affidavits from Folkestone say that: That he William Hall had some months since (with the assistance of other persons) procured a French prisoner by the name of [blank] Edlins to escape to France; and He the said Wm Hall further declared to this deponent, that he Wm Hall caused the said prisoner to be secreted in a certain House, near the signal Post, and in the mean time procured the said prisoner a Boat, and provisions, in order to effectuate such his Escape.
Transcription work tonight. Had two different letters from Sea Fencible commanders in 1798, one from Edinburgh and one from Folkestone, reporting that either locals or naval signal officers assisted French prisoners to escape to France. I need to follow these up #NavalHistory
An underrated collection!
It’s National Famine Commemoration in Ireland. Hannah Macknamara was sent back to Ireland from London in 1847, the peak of the Great Hunger. Hannah was one to flee Ireland but fell foul to British settlement laws. One million died during the Famine. #IrishHistory
Removal order from the Middlesex Sessions. The text states: The examination of William Livingston Diggens of Chelsea Workhouse as to the removeability of Hannah Macknamara aged 27 years who refuses to be sworn in her examination - taken on Oath before us, two of Her Majesty’s Justices of the Peace acting in and for the County of Middlesex, this twentieth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty seven, who on oath saith that according to the best of his knowledge and belief the said Hannah Macknamara was born in that part of the United Kingdom called Ireland which she left about two years ago, and hath no settlement in that part of the United Kingdom called England, and hath actually become and is now chargeable to the Parish of Saint Luke, Chelsea - in the said County of Middlesex and that she hath resided in the County of Cork and is liable to be removed there to.
Signature of William Diggens. Underneath that is text reading “Removed the within Named Hannah Macknamara for Ireland this 24 Day of July 1847. By me H. Nelson” Underneath this reads ‘Sworn the day and year first above-written, before us” followed by the signatures of the two Justices of the Peace.
An unusual Irish pauper removal doc. Hannah Macknamara, 27, refused to be sworn to her examination by Middx JPs. William Diggens was instead examined to determine Hannah’s ‘removability’. He told them she was from Cork having left 2 years before. She was deported 24th July 1847. #LondonIrishHistory
tweet from Kier Starker: 'If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English. That’s common sense. So we’re raising English language requirements across every main immigration route.'
It's absolutely not common sense. It's not only historically illiterate, it also ignores the actual status of languages in the parts of the UK that aren't England.
Title slide of talk "Famine and the Removal of Irish Paupers from London"
A big thank you & GRMA to @thelondonarchives.bsky.social @racheljbarrett.bsky.social for a fantastic talk today on the Removal of Irish Paupers from London during the nineteenth century 👏
Middlesex Sessions records now on my to do list for #IrishLondonHistory research ☘️
📣#IrishHistory talk alert!
☘️ Thur 8 May @ 12:30pm
Famine and the Removal of Irish Paupers from London (In person and Online)
Learn about the Irish in London who were sent back to Ireland during the Great Hunger to face an uncertain fate. #archives #speirgorm
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/famine-and....
Hi Mike, most of the books I can think of focus on the post-war era but there's plenty of oral histories that may be of interest. @londonmetuni.bsky.social have fantastic Irish collections so I'd recommend checking them out, this is one of their films.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M90r...
Photo of policy number 614342 from a Sun Fire Office policy register. The date of the policy, 23 April 1793, is at the top. The policy reads 'Gilbert Pidcock at the Exhibition Room over Exeter Change in the Strand. On a Rhinoceros & Carriage for the same travelling about the country for exhibition not exceeding two hundred pounds'.
Our #PopularItem is C18th-19th Sun Fire Office policy registers! Fire was a real threat to property so many took out insurance against it. They weren't just insuring buildings either, here's a 1793 policy for Gilbert Pidcock who has insured a rhino. Yes, you read that correctly... 🦏 📖 #archives30
Come join me @thelondonarchives.bsky.social on Mon 28th April for this free workshop with @socialbodiesuob.bsky.social.
We’ve got some incredible letters in our collections and this is a fantastic chance to explore them whilst contributing to a research project. #archives #LondonHistory
Easter Sunday 1916, 1.20pm
Original holograph countermanding order from Eoin MacNeill to Éamon de Valera.
A section of the Civitas Londinum map showing the City of London at the top, the River Thames in the middle, and bull baiting and bear baiting rings at the bottom.
Hello! We're The London Archives, a free public archive focusing on the history of London from 1067. We look after over 100km of manuscripts, books, drawings, engravings, photos and films spanning 1000 years of London's history!
Give us a follow.
#archives #history #LondonHistory
For any tourists visiting these shores this summer, I recommend this detailed map of Britain, Ireland and the Orkneys, from “Topography Of Ireland” by Gerald Of Wales (1187)
🚨Are you working on Irish Migration or Demography research?🚨
We're hosting a virtual @cephie.bsky.social workshop on May 23rd
Full details of the CfP is below. Work from early career researchers is particularly welcome!
Please share with anyone who may be interested
I’m giving a talk on witch trials in history at London Archives - link here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/witchcraft...
My new book, Béara: Rescued Folklore - 4th in the Rescued Folklore series - is available from 31 March 2025. More here: www.mike-baldwin.net/folklore
Happy St Patrick’s Day! Here’s a fantastic medieval map of Ireland from a 15th-century navigational chart, now @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social MS. Ashmole 1352, f. 3r ☘️🎉
Thanks Breda. I was very sorry to miss your talk today, early St Patrick’s Day celebrations mean I’m not in London! There are some incredible (and horrific) documents relating to Irish removals in TLA’s collections, brilliant to hear they’re getting the attention they deserve with your research.
There's also an opportunity to come in and view original archival material related to the Irish Famine and pauper removals from London - www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archives-i...
I'm giving a talk on Irish pauper removals during the Great Hunger/an Gorta Mór at The London Archives in May. It's a hybrid event, so if you can't make it in-person you can still listen to the talk!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/famine-and...
Many Irish in London during the Great Famine were deported to Ireland. These are (pre-Famine) removal receipts of the Connors from Cork who had left Ireland 5 years before but didn't meet the criteria to be deemed 'settled' in England. They faced starvation and disease on their return.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archives-o...
An event I’m hosting - do come along!
New exhibition coming on 24 February…counting down! ‘London in the Second World War’ at The London Archives.
www.thelondonarchives.org/visit-us/exh...
For generations of readers brought up on the #poetry of 1914-1918, it may come as a surprise to discover that the Second World War produced any poetry at all.
Want to know why? Head to #TheLondonArchives for a talk by @timkendall70.bsky.social to find out! #WW2
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-event...
Metropolitan Science: London Sites and Cultures of Knowledge and Practice, c. 1600-1800 The London Archives, February 19, 2025 - February 19, 2025 Join us at The London Archives as Rebekah Higgitt and Jasmine Kilburn-Toppin talk us through their new publication, exploring distinctive practices in the artisanal, mercantile, and governmental sites of London. In this talk, co-authors Rebekah Higgitt and Jasmine Kilburn-Toppin will introduce the book and reflect on how they made use of archives at The London Archive and Guildhall alongside other sources to draw out the voices of artisans and reveal the roles of knowledge and skill. About Metropolitan Science: Beginning with the demographics of London in the 17th and 18th centuries, including its attraction of migrants, importance as a centre of empire, and the role of its institutions in government, the authors analyse how and why London was a unique site of scientific activity. Through the use of case studies, such as the Tower of London’s Royal Mint, and the Livery Company Halls, this book examines the city’s sites of exchange for knowledge and practice and highlights the importance of both public and private spaces. With exploration of London’s military and colonial history, the authors acknowledge how its port and maritime trade were not only central to growth and protection, but also facilitated the organisation, assessment, valuation, and pursuit of knowledge in the city. Ultimately, this book demonstrates that London corporations produced unique knowledge communities that drew on networks across the city and beyond and uses a variety of spatial and material approaches to reveal the use, representation, and exchange of practice in these collective settings.
*EXCITING TALK CLAXON*
Curious about #EarlyModern London? About #HistKnowledge? And knowledge-in-practice? You can't be in better hands than with @rhiggitt.bsky.social & @jasminekt.bsky.social!
19 February, 5:30, at the London Archives
All info: www.rensoc.org.uk/event/metrop...