In the speech for the honorary doctorate that Grace Ford (1896-1981) was granted alongside her husband Professor Percy (Peter) Ford by the University of Southampton in 1974 the University orator spoke of how “like the pharaohs of old, Professor Emeritus Percy alias Peter Ford and Grace, his partner in all things, have decreed their own immortality – their pyramid the Ford Collection of Parliamentary Papers, their obelisk a Guide and dictionaries to unlock it.” [MS1/3/451/659/81]
Professor L. C. B. Gower, Vice Chancellor, conferring an honorary degree on Grace Ford, 27 Apr 1974 [MS1/Phot/39/pr3319]
Percy Ford was the son of a radical dissenter from Hove, Grace Ford the daughter of a draper’s assistant, John Thomas Lister who later became a manager of Nottingham Co-operative stores. Grace Lister left home in her teens to move to the East End of London after being invited to work in Sylvia Pankhurst’s experimental nursery schools. The East End of London was the base for a number of activities and organisations associated with Sylvia Pankhurst including the London branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), the East London Federation of Suffragettes and the Toy Factory and attached nursery where the women employed in the Factory could leave their children there for 3d a day.
Grace Ford, 1922 [MS58/A657/121]
As well as her other work in the East End, Grace Ford’s energy spilled over into working alongside Mary Macarthur and Margaret Bondfield in the National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW). The Scottish suffragist and trade unionist Mary Macarthur (1880-1921) was involved in the formation of the National Federation of Women Workers in 1906. This was “open to all women in unorganised trades or who were not admitted to their appropriate trade union”. Margaret Grace Bondfield (1873-1953), a trade unionist and politician who became the first British female cabinet minister and a privy councillor, met Mary Macarthur in 1902. The two women were comrades-in-arms for a range of women’s causes over the next two decades. Through her work with the NFWW, Grace Ford was instrumental in bringing out the the Cambridge bedmakers on strike in 1916.
Grace Ford seated on porch of house in Massachusetts, 1922 [MS58/A657/121]
Grace Lister went on to study at Ruskin College, Oxford, and it was here that she met her future husband Percy Ford who had been employed as a lecturer. They married in 1921 and the following year moved to Amherst College, Massachusetts, where Percy Ford had been invited to participate in experimental teaching in social sciences and in American worker’s education classes run by the College. Grace was involved in helping with women workers’ classes and with some lecturing. Or, as it noted in the citation for their honorary degrees, “from a Massachusetts base in 1922-3, they spread the know-how of workers’ education – `the most surprising son and daughter (it was written) from John Bull’s domain that have greeted Chicago audiences since the departure of Mrs. Havelock Ellis’.” [MS1/3/451/659/81]
Percy and Grace Fords’ visit to the Irish University Press in Dublin and Shannon, 1968 [MS58/A657/37]
Back in the UK Percy Ford joined University College Southampton in 1926 and began building up the Parliamentary Papers collection that would ultimately bear his and Grace’s name. For while Percy Ford held the academic post at the University, first as head of and then Professor of Economics, it was the Fords together who worked to set standards for scholarship in the classification and analysis of government publications through their series of Select lists and Breviates. In his speech at the official opening of the Ford Collection, the Rt Hon Lord Maybray-King, former Speaker of House of Commons, paid tribute to the “two great servants of Parliament – Peter and Grace Ford”, noting that “theirs has been a joint labour of love. In the field which they chose for themselves, their single-minded devotion, industry and scholarship, remind me very much of another pair who worked in another field – Sidney and Beatrice Webb.” [MS58/A657/90 f.2]
Grace and Percy Ford seated to the left of the Vice Chancellor with other honorary graduands and University officials, 27 Apr 1974 [MS1/Phot/39/p3321a]
Annie Yorke (1844-1926) is the subject of the first of our blog posts marking Women’s History Month. Better known as “The Hon. Mrs Eliot Yorke”, she has the distinction of featuring in several of our collections. As a Rothschild she is mentioned in the Jewish collections, as a part-time resident of Netley she appears in the local studies collection and as a member of the Councils of Hartley University College and University College Southampton, she is also found in our University Collections.
Annie Yorke from: Lucy Cohen Lady de Rothschild and her Daughters 1821-1931 (1935) Cope 95 MON
The younger daughter of Sir Anthony and Lady Louise de Rothschild, Annie and her elder sister Constance (later Lady Battersea) spent much of their childhood at Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire where their mother ensured that from an early age, they were aware of their philanthropic obligations. Both girls taught from time to time at the village schools built by their father and later took some classes at the Jews’ Free School in London. Being dissatisfied with a textbook in use, they published their own, History and Literature of the Israelites (1870).
The History and Literature of the Israelites, vol.2 by Annie Yorke (1870) Parkes BZ 1651.F66
Although Constance and Annie were given a sound Jewish education, their social circle was largely Christian and unusually for members of the Rothschild family, they both married out. In 1873, with the reluctant approval of her father, Annie married Eliot Yorke, the fourth son of the Earl of Hardwicke. She retained her Jewish faith but despite this, the depth of feeling at the time is evident in her obituary in the Jewish Chronicle some fifty years later:
“This incident caused great pain to the Jewish community, and Sir Anthony de Rothschild indicated his own sense about the marriage by offering to resign from some communal offices which he held, particularly that of President of the United Synagogue. It is significant that the Jewish Chronicle of the time made no mention of, and entirely ignored, the alliance.”
Jewish Chronicle 26 November 1925
It was her marriage that brought Annie Yorke to Hampshire where Netley provided a base for her husband’s yachting activities. The couple divided their time between their London home in Curzon Street, Netley Castle and their yacht. After only five years, Annie was left a widow when Eliot Yorke died from pneumonia and thereafter she devoted much of her time to good works. She moved to Hamble Cliff, a house adjacent to the Royal Victoria Hospital, and this became her Hampshire base for the rest of her life.
Hamble Cliff from: P. Campion A Recent History of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset (1922) Cope quarto 95
Annie Yorke’s primary interest was in the temperance movement and she was active both locally and on the national stage. At Netley, she set up the White Rose Coffee Room as a base for temperance meetings and other entertainments designed to provide an alternative attraction to Netley’s many public houses. In Southampton she worked closely with Rev. Basil Wilberforce, Rector of St Mary’s 1871-1894, and president of the St Mary’s Church Temperance Society. Local newspapers record the meetings held in the town and events at the White Rose Coffee Room and Hamble Cliff, the latter venues often visited by the distinctively named “Blue Cross Abstainers Cycling Brigade” of which Annie Yorke was the patron. Nationally, she was a member of the British Women’s Temperance Association and then of the breakaway Women’s Total Abstinence Union, serving as its president for terms of three, five and seven years. She was also president of the United Kingdom Band of Hope Union.
From: Hampshire Advertiser 10 June 1893 (Cope Collection microfilm)
Education at all levels remained a lifelong interest. An active member of Hound School Board which was responsible for Butlocks Heath, Sholing Boys and Netley Infants Schools, Annie Yorke was also a member of Hampshire County Council’s Education Committee. Through this she was appointed to the Council of the Hartley University College, later, University College, Southampton, and for many years was the only female member. She is credited with introducing her cousin, Claude Montefiore, to the institution, which proved crucial to its survival and success, Montefiore going on to serve as Acting President and then President from 1913 to 1934. Like many other members of the Council, Annie Yorke was also a benefactor of the College and in 1917 her contribution towards the establishment of a hostel for female students led to it being named Yorke House in her honour.
Extract from University College, Southampton Council Minutes 11 June 1971 MS1/MBK1/5
Locally, Annie Yorke was involved in many good works or as her obituary in the Hampshire Advertiser put it “As president, vice-president, or patroness, Mrs Eliot York was probably associated with more organisations in Southampton than any other woman.” Newspaper reports bear this out. She is recorded laying the foundation stone of the Gordon Boys Brigade Headquarters in 1889 and a memorial stone at the Emigrants Home in 1893, she supported the work of the YMCA, the YWCA, the Travellers Aid Society, the Royal South Hants Hospital, the Eye Hospital and the Soup Kitchen amongst many others. A well-practised opener of horticultural shows and fetes, she was remembered at Netley and Hamble for her support of the local community which included financing a district nurse.
From: Hampshire Advertiser 27 November 1926 (Cope Collection microfilm)
According to the Hampshire Advertiser, “Every religious community, no matter how small, found in her a firm friend” and this included the small Jewish community in the local area. The statement in the Jewish Chronicle, that after her marriage “Although remaining a Jewess, she took no part in communal affairs”, was corrected by her cousin, Arthur R. Moro, in a letter published in the next issue. In this he referred to her support of the Jewish Board of Guardians and the Jewish Association for the Protection of Women and Girls, which had been founded as the Jewish Ladies’ Society for Preventive and Rescue Work, at a meeting at her house in 1885. Her sister, Constance was for many years its honorary secretary, whilst Annie was an active member of the committee of the Sara Pyke Lodging House.
Minutes of the first meeting of the Jewish Ladies’ Society for Preventive and Rescue Work MS173/2/1/1
Away from her charitable works Annie Yorke moved in high society, hosting royal visitors and visiting W.E. Gladstone whilst on a temperance speaking tour. She took extended cruises each year on her yacht, the Garland, developed the gardens at Hamble Cliff and was an accomplished artist. Whilst the University’s Yorke House hostel is long gone, Annie Yorke’s contribution to local life is commemorated locally by Yorke Way in Hamble.
To mark the sixtieth anniversary of Southampton gaining city status, in this Special Collections blog we will look at the development of the University since 1964 and its links with its home city.
The formation of the Hartley Institution, the foundation organisation of the University, was closely linked with Southampton and this was reflected in the illustrations used on the menu for the dinner arranged by the University for the councillors of the newly created city in May 1964.
Menu and toasts for a dinner by the University of Southampton in honour of the council of the City of Southampton, 12 May 1964 [Univ. Coll. LF 788.8]
The 1960s were a time of expansion at the University of Southampton as it embraced the opportunity afforded the Robbins Report of 1963 on higher education expansion. The grand plan for expansion was created by the architect Sir Basil Spence, who designed the buildings on Highfield campus constructed throughout the 1960s. Amongst these new buildings was the Nuffield Theatre, opened by Dame Sybil Thorndyke on 2 March 1964 as part of an arts festival, adding a new cultural venue to the city.
Programme for Arts Festival, 2-20 March 1964, marking the opening of the Nuffield Theatre [MS451/A4337/4/2/1]
Programme for the first autumn season of the Nuffield Theatre, 1964 [MS451/A4337/4/1]
The 1970s saw two further significant developments to the life of the city with the introduction of a medical school at the University and the construction of the Turner Sims Concert Hall.
Following the Royal Commission on Medical Education’s advice to the Government in 1967 that there should be a new medical school established in Southampton, the Board of the Faculty of Medicine came into being in 1970. The Medical School’s first students arrived in October 1971, graduating in the summer of 1976.
Aerial view of the Medical and Biological Sciences Building under construction, c.1970 [MS1/Phot/11/24/1]
The Turner Sims Concert Hall was completed in the 1973-4 session and the opening concert took place on 19 November 1974. The Hall hosted 77 events during the 1974-5 session, of which 50 were lunchtime recitals. Named after Edward Turner Sims, as it was partially funded by a £30,000 bequest from Sims’ daughter Margaret Grassam Sims, the remaining monies for the project were provided by a loan from Southampton City to the University.
Construction of the Turner Sims Concert Hall, 1973-4 [MS373/A3048/4c]
Despite the difficult financial situation, the early 1980s saw a number of positive developments and initiatives. In terms of the Arts, the John Hansard Gallery was opened in September 1980, bringing together the Photographic Gallery and the University Art Gallery with the aim of providing a catalyst for ideas and generating a network of activities. In 1983 the Nuffield Theatre Trust was formed by the University, Southampton City Council, Hampshire County Council and Southern Arts, putting the theatre on a more sound financial footing. The decade also saw the Chilworth Centre for Advanced Technology given the go ahead, marking the first step on the journey for what is now the Southampton Science Park, described as the South of England’s innovation hub.
`Out of this world’ exhibition, John Hansard Gallery, c. 1990 [MS1/Phot/31/165]
The 1990s saw the expansion of the University into new sites across the city with the opening of the National Oceanographic Centre at Southampton Docks, the move of the Arts Faculty, with the exception of Music, to Avenue Campus (formerly Taunton’s College) and the addition of La Sainte Union College. LSU was transformed into New College and became the home for the Department of Adult Continuing Education, enabling the University to provide opportunity for lifelong learning, engage more effectively with the local community and widen participation.
The Duke of Edinburgh looking at the figurehead from H.M.S. Challenger at the official opening of the National Oceanographic Centre, May 1996 [MS1/Phot/5/20/4]
It was also at the end of this decade that the Unilink bus service was launched to transport Southampton University staff and students between teaching sites and halls of residence. This service has subsequently become part of the city wide Blue Star service providing a bus service that is open for everyone to use.
Uni-link buses, 1990s [MS1/Phot/9/1/1]
The move into the 21st century has seen the University continue its civic engagement role as well as developing and expanding its footprint in the city, including leasing upper floors of One Guildhall Square and taking over the James Matthews building also in Guildhall. 2018 also saw the move of the John Hansard Gallery to a new location in the centre of Southampton, opposite Guildhall Square, adding to the development of an arts quarter in the city.
The University is currently undertaking a multi-million pounds development of its estate, including the development of the Jubilee Sports Centre, a facility used widely by the local community as well as by University students and staff. Amongst the facilities in the newly extended Centre will be a modernised gym with 200 exercise stations, five new sports studios including dedicated martial arts and indoor cycling spaces, and a bouldering/climbing wall.
Jubilee Sports Hall
And 2023 saw a joint initiative between the University and councillors in the region, including from Southampton City, the latest example of the interconnection between the University and the City. The initiative has seen the establishment of a Civic University Agreement which intends to improve the quality of life for people in the city and surrounding areas by connecting communities through culture, education and enterprise. This Civic University Agreement suggests a certain symmetry with the aims of the nineteenth-century Hartley Institution which worked alongside the Southampton council in founding an establishment to provide education and culture to the local community.
Menu for dinner in honour of the council of the City of Southampton, 12 May 1964 [Univ. Coll. LF 788.8]
We continue our P-A-L-M-E-R-S-T-O-N series with ‘O’ for Ottoman, as we take a look through Palmerston’s military and diplomatic papers with a focus on the 1840 ‘Oriental Crisis’.
Illustration from Constantinople in 1828 by Charles Macfarlane, 1829 [Rare Books DR721]
Our first document is a memorandum written by Palmerston in September 1839, recommending actions to be adopted by the British government in response to events that later spiralled into a geopolitical shock that became known as the ‘Oriental Crisis of 1840’:
“19 Sept. 1839
Mehemet Ali [Muhammad Ali, Pasha of Egypt] to be informed that the Five Powers have resolved to support the Sultan [Abdulmejid I – Sultan of the Ottoman Empire] in proposing to him the following arrangement. Mehemet Ali and his male descendants to be appointed by the Sultan hereditary governors of Egypt in the name and under the authority of the Sultan; […] Mehemet Ali to evacuate all the districts and places and parts which he now occupies beyond the limits of Egypt; and to restore the Turkish fleet […].”
MS62/PP/MM/TU/16: Memorandum on measures to be taken against Mehemet Ali, 19 Sep 1839
This memorandum was written in the context of the Second Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–41). Muhamad Ali was nominally only the Ottoman viceroy in Egypt, but since 1805 he had been de facto ruler of Egypt and had been building his own personal power base there for decades. During the earlier Greek War of Independence (1821-9), fought by the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire, Muhammad Ali’s Egyptian forces had come to the aid of the Ottoman Turks and as a reward for this assistance, Ali was promised possessions in Ottoman Syria. When the Ottomans failed to deliver on this, Muhammad Ali’s forces took possession of Syria by force and by 1840 had expanded into other parts of the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia sided with one another to support the Ottomans against Muhammad Ali and his Egyptian forces; collectively they were referred to as the ‘Five Powers’. The European powers had a self-interest in maintaining stability in the eastern Mediterranean and Muhammad Ali’s success in Syria could destabilise the region and even threatened the continued existence of the Ottoman Empire. France and Spain, meanwhile, were sympathetic to Egypt. From 1830 France had been conquering territory in Algeria and was now hoping to increase its influence in north Africa through alliance with Muhammad Ali in Egypt.
In a memorandum written early the following year, Palmerston’s questions on the readiness of British ships in the Mediterranean are answered:
“In answer to Lord Palmerston’s questions on Lord Ponsonby’s despatches nos. 20 and 24, in which Lord Palmerston desires to be informed what instructions have been given to the British Admiral with reference to the contingency of the Egyptian fleet going up to the Dardanelles; the British Admiral has no instructions on that point. And the instructions now in force are sent herewith.
A copy of Colonel Hodges’s despatch reporting reporting Mehemet Ali’s [Muhammad Ali, Pasha of Egypt] intention to go to war near the Dardanelles was sent to the Admiralty on the 14th February.
The combined Egyptian and Turkish fleet will consist of 19 sail of the line, some of them very heavy ships, besides frigates etc., and it appears in the papers that the British fleet in the Mediterranean, after the departure of the Rodney 92 [HMS Rodney (1833)] and Vanguard 84 [HMS Vanguard (1835)] which are stated to be ordered home, will consist of only 10 sail of the line, supposing the Asia 84 [HMS Asia (1824)] is not also ordered home and is stated.
If any instructions on Lord Ponsonby’s despatches are to be sent to the Admiral, they might be conveyed by a Queen’s Messenger who, if despatched tonight, would reach Marseilles in time for the French Packet to Malta of the 1st of March.
February 24 [18]40”
MS62/PP/MM/TU/20: Memo relative to Turkish and Egyptian Fleets, 24 Feb 1840
It was not just the threat of instability to trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean that worried Britain and other European powers. Amongst Palmerston’s memoranda on Turkey is a copy of a letter that would be published in an edition of the Allgemeine Zeitung – the leading political daily in Germany in the first part of the nineteenth century:
“Of all the circumstances attending the complications which have for some time past existed in the east of Europe, that which has most surprised us, is the conduct produced by France, for if ever there was a question upon which all good governments in Europe might be expected to unite – cordially together in principle and in action, the Turko-Egyptian question is one.
What is that question? It is neither more nor less than this, first whether a rebellious subject shall be allowed to plunder and finally, to dethrone his lawful sovereign, and secondly, whether for the promotion of his ambitious visions he should be allowed to destroy the balance of power in Europe and perhaps involve the whole continent in a general war. […]”
MS62/PP/MM/TU/21: Letter published in the Allgemeine Zeitung, 14 March 1840
The 28 March, 1840 edition of the Allgemeine Zeitung [MS62/PP/MM/TU/21]
Palmerston’s letter in the Allgemeine Zeitung demonstrates his media savvy, as he engages with the press in order to influence public opinion. In this instance, it was through a German newspaper that Palmerston wished to depict a united front of Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia against the wayward direction France was adopting. In this letter we are given a distinctly negative portrayal of Muhammad Ali, Pasha of Egypt, as a tyrant over his own people and a traitor to his ‘lawful sovereign’ – Abdulmejid I, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Palmerston makes the allegation that Muhammad Ali intended to enslave Greeks during their War of Independence and repopulate their lands with Arabs, in order to elicit high feelings from European newspaper readers against Ali’s conduct; this is despite the fact that the Greeks fought their war against the Ottoman Empire directly.
Abdulmejid I is painted as the victim who has adopted a moderate policy of reform – this is in reference to his Gülhane Hatt-ı Şerif, or the “Supreme Edict of the Rosehouse”, which initiated a period of political reform in Turkish history, including promises to guarantee rights to all Ottoman citizens regardless of religion or ethnic group, which Palmerston welcomed in the spirit of liberal constitutional reform. Fear of a wider war and geopolitical instability may have been a sincere concern, but it is interesting that one of the justifications given for resistance to Muhammad Ali’s ambitions was the example it might set in encouraging other subject peoples to rebel against their ‘lawful sovereigns’. Germans or Britons of this period would definitely not have considered a victorious Napoleonic empire over Europe a ‘lawful sovereign’, or indeed the Ottoman Turks as lawful sovereigns over Greece, but imperialism often involves a contradiction, in terms of ‘rights for us, or our friends, but not for them’.
At the same time that Palmerston was busy influencing public opinion he was also working privately behind the scenes, writing to ministers and diplomats, gathering intelligence on the naval prowess of both Muhammad Ali of Egypt as well as the French. In a letter dated 17 April 1840, Palmerston is advised by Lord Minto, First Lord of the Admiralty, on the state of readiness of the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, which in the spring of 1840 was not fully manned. Minto advises Palmerston that HMS Vanguard (1835) and HMS Rodney (1833) were not fully manned and that HMS Donegal (1798) is in ‘a very wary condition’.
On 15 July 1840 the Five Powers signed the Convention of London – this offered Muhammad Ali and his heirs continued rule over Egypt, Sudan and the Eyalet of Acre in return for an end to hostilities; the same basic terms as outlined in Palmerston’s memoranda of September 1839.
Muhammad Ali, apparently backed by France, refused this offer but the French subsequently declined to be drawn into open conflict with the other European powers. When Austria and Britain began successful military actions in aid of the Ottomans in September 1840, Muhammad Ali and the Egyptians withdrew from Syria, the Hijaz, the Holy Land, Adana and Crete and handed back the Ottoman naval fleet, which had defected to join the Egyptians in June 1840. Muhammad Ali and his heirs were granted the right to rule over Egypt and Sudan and Ali accepted the Convention of London on 27 November 1840.
Frontispiece from The History of the Present State of the Ottoman Empire by Sir Paul Rycaut, 1686 [Rare Books Hartley Coll. DR424]
As we move into the new year we take time to look back over 2023 and reflect on the work of Archives and Special Collections in the last twelve months.
Signature of the first Duke of Wellington
Wellington 40
2023 was a significant year for the Archives as it marked the fortieth anniversary of the arrival of the papers of the first Duke of Wellington at Southampton after they were allocated to the University under national heritage legislation. The collection arrived on 17 March 1983, bringing to Southampton the University’s first major manuscript collection, leading to the creation of an Archives Department and the development of a major strand of activity within the University Library.
To celebrate this momentous occasion we hosted a number of events and activities throughout the year. It started with a Wellington 40 Twitter campaign, where both staff and researchers who had worked on the archive shared their favourite Wellington document. In March (the month when the collection arrived) we ran a series of blogs looking at forty years of work on the collection; conservation; events and the Wellington Pamphlets collection. This was followed by a series of Wellington themed blogs using the letters of the Duke’s name – starting, appropriately enough, with W for Waterloo.
On 7 July we hosted an in-person event, providing attendees with the opportunity to see behind the scenes, meet the curators and learn more about the work of the Archives and Special Collections, including conservation. As well as a selection of archival material on view, there was also an exhibition in the Level 4 Gallery reflecting on forty years of curation of the collection. And the visit was rounded off with tea and a talk by Dr Zack White about his research on the Wellington Archive.
Wellington 40 exhibition marking forty years of curation of the Wellington Archive, Level 4 Gallery
In October, the Special Collections Gallery opened again for the first time since 2020 with an exhibition The Duke presents his compliments. Taking the Wellington Archive as a starting point, the exhibition looks at the development of the archive collections since 1983. It continues to run weekdays (1000-1600) from 8 January to 16 February, so there is still time to come and have a look.
Events
As well as the event hosted by Archives and Special Collections as part of the Wellington 40 celebrations in July, we hosted visits for the Jewish Historical Society of England on 9 October and for the Come and Psing Psalmody event at the Turner Sims concert hall on 22 October. This latter event showcased some of the West Gallery music material collected by Rollo Woods, who was an expert in this field as well as a former Deputy Librarian at the University.
Rollo Woods
In November we ran an activity for the Hands-on Humanities day at the Avenue Campus. For the activity intrepid travellers were asked to take their archives passport and embark on a journey learning more about the collections. Feedback from those attending was very positive, with participants finding it a fun way to find out about the collections and the university. Highlights noted were “learning about history”, “discovering unexpected items” and, of course, “using the quill”.
Image of knitted pineapple purse from the Montse Stanley collection with magnifying glass and quill.
The Archives and Special Collections has continued to support teaching and research throughout the year, hosting sessions introducing students to archives for a range of undergraduate and master courses. Karen Robson and Jenny Ruthven have been involved in leading sessions on the curation of specialist libraries and on archives for the new MA in Holocaust Studies that runs for the first time in 2023/4. Karen will be leading further practical sessions on this course in the second semester in 2024. We also led two group projects as part of the second-year history undergraduate course in early 2023. This course asks the students to focus on archive sources for their project and for this year we offered a project about nineteenth-century press and politicians, utilising material from the archive of third Viscount Palmerston, and a project based on the papers of the Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry.
Protest at Wembley Arena by members of the Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry [MS254/A980/4/22/178/3]
Collections and projects
Although the collection arrived and was reported in the review for last year, the Ben Abeles archive was officially launched in an event hosted by the Parkes Institute in June 2023. Karen Robson formed part of the panel for this hybrid event which attracted an international audience. Details of the Abeles collection is accessible in the Archive Catalogue.
Amongst the new Jewish archival and interfaith collections for 2023 were the papers of Professor Alice Eckardt, a leading scholar and activist in the field of Christian-Jewish relations, relating to her connection with a leading British figure in the same field – Revd Dr James Parkes. We have, throughout the year, acquired additional papers for existing collections, such as for Eugene Heimler and the Jewish Youth Fund. We also acquired more material documenting student life in previous decades with papers for the Med Soc reviews in the 1980s.
We have continued to develop our maritime archaeology archival holdings and the most sizeable acquisition of material this year has been the working papers of Peter Marsden relating to shipwrecks.
Part way through the year, Archives and Special Collections was the recipient of a grant from the Honor Frost Foundation for a project supporting work to make over 5000 digital images created from slides in the Honor Frost Archive, together with catalogue descriptions for each of the images, available online. The project is due to be completed by 31 January 2024.
Two stone anchors [MS439/A4278/HFA/8/3/12/8]: one of the images that is part of the Honor Frost project
Archives searchroom services
2023 saw the expansion of the Archives and Special Collections Virtual Reading Room service offering remote access to collections through digital appointments. This is a growing element to the archive reading room service and usage has grown by 28% in the last year. For information on how to book a digital appointment look at the Special Collections website access page.
This usage has been paralleled by a growing quantity of enquiries being handled within Archives – rising by 11% in the last year.
Looking ahead
In 2024 we are looking ahead to marking the 240th anniversary of the birth of third Viscount Palmerston with events, including social media programmes and an exhibition relating to the Palmerston family and Broadlands. We have a number of projects ongoing and new for 2024, including working with the Parkes Institute to create a series of films promoting the collections and a three-year conservation project on the Schonfeld archive. Do look out for news on our social media channels.
This Friday marks the 200th anniversary of the outbreak of the Demerara Rebellion on 18 August 1823.
This uprising lasted two days and involved approximately 13,000 enslaved people in the colony of Demerara-Essequibo (corresponding to modern-day Guyana). The rebellion resulted from poor treatment, a desire for freedom and false rumours of imminent emancipation, to be enacted by Parliament at Westminster. The rebellion was led by enslaved people including Quamina (aka Quamina Gladstone) a slave-carpenter and deacon, as well as Quamina’s son Jack Gladstone. The revolt was unsuccessful and ultimately led to hundreds of enslaved people being killed in the fighting with British forces, with 27 enslaved people executed by the British in its aftermath. Unlike other leaders of the rebellion, Jack Gladstone was not executed but sold and deported – this was considered a form of clemency – as Jack had prevented deaths amongst the white settlers and plantation owners by constraining the actions of the enslaved people that he led in rebellion. His father Quamina refused to surrender to the British and was shot and killed. Murray Street in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, was initially named for the Governor of the colony at the time of the rebellion – Major General George Murray, but it was later renamed Quamina Street in his honour.
‘The Golden Arrowhead’ – the national flag of Guyana since 1966
The rebellion took place after the abolition of the slave trade (i.e. the buying and selling of humans) in the British Empire from 1807 but before the abolition of the institution of slavery itself (i.e. the continued ownership of enslaved people) after 1833. In this context, it is understandable that expectations of freedom amongst enslaved people were high and the rebellion acted as a further impetus for total abolition.
At this time Wellington was the Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) – a very senior British military position responsible for all British artillery, engineers, fortifications, military supplies, transport, field hospitals and much else.
We are given one particular view of the rebellion in a letter sent to the first Duke of Wellington by Lieutenant Colonel Charles Felix Smith of the Royal Engineers, commanding Engineer in the West Indies, dated 17 September 1823. Smith claims intimate knowledge of the political situation in the West Indies, having served in the region for many years, but also due to his extensive contacts with governors and other officials. Interestingly, Smith claims that he warned of simmering tensions one month prior to the rebellion, warnings that ultimately went unheeded, in a letter that had been seen by Major General George Murray, Governor of Demerara. In Smith’s view local officials were predisposed to pass on information that suited their political masters, rather than a truer picture: “many persons, who are capable of judging, have rather communicated that which they considered would be acceptable, than that which is true.”
Smith claims that only Antigua and Barbados have sufficient numbers of British troops to be able to cope with another similarly well-executed slave rebellion. He goes on to blame ‘Methodist Missionaries and other malcontents’ for the present state of ferment in the West Indies. This seems a rather short-sighted view, given that it was growing moral revulsion at the institution of slavery itself, both within Parliament and amongst the British public, that lent legitimacy and encouragement to the agitations of the Methodists and other anti-slavery forces. But perhaps Smith, reporting to his political superior in the form of Wellington, only reported what he considered acceptable, rather than what was true.
A few months after the rebellion broke out, on 21 November 1823, Parliament debated a resolution at a meeting of the standing committee of West India Planters and Merchants. This resolution describes a “formidable insurrection”, the “progress of which was fortunately stopped soon after its commencement, but not without a considerable sacrifice of lives and property.”
‘Lives and property’ in this context could of course refer to the same thing – enslaved humans treated as personal property!
The document goes on to list two facts it feels pertinent: “[…] first, that the claims advanced by the insurgents were nothing less than immediate emancipation – and secondly – that they did not even put forward the pretext of oppression or ill treatment on the part of their masters.”
It sounds strange to modern ears to hear that, in order for slaves to have any moral legitimacy in seeking their own freedom, they would first need to demonstrate that they were, in fact, oppressed. To be enslaved is to be oppressed. The document goes on to argue the case for compensation to be paid to planters, should slaves eventually be emancipated. Contemporaneous to these discussions in Parliament emotions were also running high amongst the general public in Southampton, as shown by debates held on the morality of slavery and the conditions of enslaved people in the West Indies, recorded in our Cope Handbills.
“To the inhabitants of Southampton. From the contents of a handbill, which has been industriously circulated amongst you, purporting to be the result of a meeting, called “to consider the propriety of supporting His Majesty’s government in the execution of the cautious, moderate, and gradual measures, proposed by Mr. H. Canning in the last session of parliament, for meliorating the condition of the slaves in the West Indies,” – such of you as were not present, will doubtless be led to suppose that the matter was fully and fairly discussed… it was in fact a scene of shameful tumult: interested persons, inimical to the object of the meeting being present, who came resolved to prevent all fair discussion, and with a high hand to carry things in their own way, by the influence of wealth, clamour, and abuse? … a gentleman present declared to the meeting… that the wretched “Slaves in the West Indies are in a far better condition than many of the lower orders of people in this country!” … such a declaration – so degrading to humanity – so humiliating to Englishmen – was hailed by a number of persons with loud acclamation… and that ministers of religion could so far forget themselves as to join the cause of oppression… no opportunity was given to others who were present to repel this monstrous assertion… I will not condescend to argue the question as I might on the ground of comparative feeding, and clothing, and lodging, and medical attendance. Are these the only claims – are these the chief privileges of a rational and immortal being? Is the consciousness of personal independence nothing? …is Christianity so little esteemed among us… An inhabitant.”
Meanwhile, Wellington had been in correspondence with Henry Bathurst, third Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, on plans to send re-enforcements to the West Indies in case of further outbreaks of rebellion, as in this letter from Bathurst to Wellington dated 12 October, 1823:
“In consequence of the account which I have received of the insurrection at Demerara from Sir Henry Warde, and of his impossibility of sending from Barbados any re-enforcement, it appears necessary to send some from here. But Sir Herbert Taylor has at the same time written me word that there is no disposable force here, unless we draw upon Ireland, which in its present state I conceive to be impossible. I have therefore written to Sir Herbert to suggest the calling out some of the veterans, by which means I hope that two regiments at least may be released and made fit for duty, so as to be sent off with all expedition, for though I flatter myself that the insurrection in Demerara will have been suppressed, the facility with which the insurgents can retire into the interior where we cannot follow them will leave that colony long, I am afraid, in an unsettled state, and the alarm will be so general in all the islands, where the force is certainly barely sufficient for common duties, that I am persuaded two regiments are the least which ought to be sent. I have written to this effect to Lord Liverpool, as an increase of the establishment cannot of course be made without his previous sanction. If anything more effectual and as expeditious should occur to you for the re-enforcement, I shall be obliged to you to let me know.”
Letter from Lord Bathurst to Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, about sending troops to Demerara to put down an insurrection, 12 October 1823 [MS61/WP1/773/8]
It would appear that British soldiers were stretched too thin, busy as they were in deterring the possibility of insurrection from others yearning for freedom in Ireland and elsewhere in the empire. Wellington replied to Bathurst on 14 October 1823:
“I received your note [WP1/773/8] yesterday as I passed through town from Windsor and I found the Duke of York here and have spoken to him on the subject of it and have seen his returns.
It is obvious that nothing can be taken from England. The Duke says that one battalion can be taken from Ireland by postponing the relief of a battalion at Gibraltar, and sending to the West Indies the battalion destined for this relief. But there is then an end to all reliefs.
We ought really to look at our situation and our difficulties seriously.
I don’t know whether you have ever read the history of the Maroon war. If you have, you will see that this insurrection at Demerara is the most serious event, in relation to our military force, that has occurred for a great length of time. If the Maroons had been at Demerara instead of in the island of Jamaica, that rebellion would never have been got the better of, and I see no reason why the insurrection at Demerara should then obscure the consequences of the continued successful insurrection of the negroes at Demerara upon the other colonies, considering the temper in which the question of emancipation has avowedly put all the negroes.
We ought to look then at the necessity of re-enforcing permanently the garrisons in the colonies and of having there a small reserve to enable the commanding officer there to act vigorously at once upon the occurrence of any revolt or insurrection. In providing for this emergency we ought likewise to provide for others, and to have some battalions, say two or three, to carry on the reliefs. I don’t think the battalions of infantry could well be on an establishment than that on which they are. But more are wanting to perform the general service of the country.
His Royal Highness tells me that the Irish government are not satisfied with the veterans and that there is reason to suspect them. At best they are an inferior description of troops and not disposable, which is what is wanted at present, and the want will be felt more and more every day. It will take nearly as much time to raise them as to raise others, and as officers are now taken from the half pay to officer them, there is a considerable diminution of the saving which has been supposed to result from the employment of the veterans in preference to raising new battalions.”
Copy of a letter from Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, to Lord Bathurst, discussing the need to raise troops to send to Demerara, 14 October 1823: contemporary copy [MS61/WP1/774/8]
As we explored in an earlier blog-post, in the same year as the Demerara rebellion of 1823 a new society was formed: the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Improvement of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions, popularly known as the Anti-Slavery Society. It assured continued public interest in the cause in Britain, yet its establishment defined two contrasting approaches: ‘gradualism’, the Anti-Slavery Society’s aspiration, seeking an on-going amelioration of the position of the slaves, a stance criticised by those who believed this was in the interest of the plantation owners in the colonies; and ‘immediatism’, favoured by those who wanted an immediate end to slavery — a position which drew together the younger and more radical supporters of the cause, especially from the early 1830s. Through the 1820s, the British government put in place practical measures intended to improve the lot of enslaved people, such as limiting their working hours and the forms of punishments allowable, although planters often resisted these new measures. Progress could also be made through administrative measures; Orders in Council could direct local governors, where they had authority, to advance reform in colonies; elsewhere colonial legislatures might be encouraged to adopt measures that ameliorated the position of the slaves. The government of the first Duke of Wellington, 1828-30, made a number of direct contributions to this end. The Royal Navy might also be employed more effectively to enforce the ban on the slave trade.
The Jamaican House of Assembly and the West Indian planters overplayed their hand in failing to embrace the Orders in Council. In 1833 the British Parliament passed legislation to emancipate the slaves of the British West Indies (which came into force from 1 August 1834), and the Jamaica House of Assembly adopted the Act with considerable ill grace, rather than lose its share of the £20 million compensation that had been provided for slave owners. The institution of slavery was thereby abolished in the British West Indies, with compensation for slave owners — but not for slaves. Apprenticeship systems effectively delayed economic changes in the plantation systems. Further pressure, particularly from Daniel O’Connell and Joseph Sturge, brought apprenticeship to an end in 1838.
In addition to the Wellington Papers, Special Collections is also home to the Oates Collection, which contains over 220 books and pamphlets on the West Indies and the abolition of slavery, dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
With many people setting off on holiday at this time of year, we look at what it was like to travel on eighteenth-century British roads – at a time when there were many complaints about their condition, charges for use were introduced and linear maps helped travellers to find their way.
Tyburn Turnpike, from The Repository of Arts, (February 1813) Rare Books N1
Muddy roads which were impassable in wet weather or roads with ruts so deep that they stopped coaches from turning, were two of the complaints of eighteenth-century travellers. The Turnpike Trusts, of which there were 150 by 1750 and a further 400 by 1772, were set up to improve the quality of long-distance routes by taking over responsibility for their upkeep from parishes. Established by individual Acts of Parliament, the trusts were able to raise loans and levy tolls to finance repairs and, in some cases, to build new roads.
Tolls listed in a fourth Act relating to the Winchester to Andover Turnpike (1823) Rare Books Cope quarto 43.2
The surveyors employed by the trustees used a range of methods of road construction. Some favoured concave roads and others convex, some large stones and others small, with the result that the quality of the roads varied considerably. Eventually it was the macadam process, devised by John McAdam, later appointed Surveyor General of Metropolitan Roads in Great Britain, which was adopted nationwide. McAdam’s roads were level, with a slight camber and were raised above the adjacent ground to improve drainage, relying on layers of graduated stones to produce a better surface for carriage wheels.
John McAdam Remarks on the Present System of Road Making, 4th ed. (1821) Rare Books Well. Pamph. 905
Along with changes in road design, the turnpike roads brought additional ‘street furniture’. Under the 1766 Highways Act, milestones displaying directions and distances became compulsory on all turnpike roads, helping stagecoaches and mail coaches to keep to their timetables. Finger posts at crossroads were added under the General Turnpike Act of 1773. At the side of the roads, toll-houses also became a familiar sight, those that survive being easily recognisable by their angled windows giving a good view of the road in both directions.
Photograph of a milestone on the A3 taken by W.C. Wells, in the Hampshire Roads Survey carried out by the Southampton University Industrial Archaeology Group in 1969, MS1/7/105/6/2
Once a turnpike road had been improved, it was anticipated that the tolls would cease but in practice Turnpike Acts were often renewed to fund maintenance costs and also because of the poor financial management of many of the trusts. Although the toll system meant that most people who used turnpike roads paid something towards their upkeep, it was often unpopular with local users and it was not unknown for the turnpike gates to be removed and in some areas for there to be ‘turnpike riots’.
Notice of the theft of the Fareham Turnpike Gate from: The Hampshire Chronicle 10th March 1777, Rare Books Cope ff 05.5
A variety of vehicles passed through the turnpike gates. The very wealthy used their own carriages, driving themselves or being driven by coachmen. Hiring carriages was also popular and public transport took the form of stagecoaches, which were governed by strict rules, not always observed, on numbers of passengers carried. The times of stagecoaches and list of inns at which they stopped were advertised in local newspapers and guidebooks.
Advert for the Bath and Gosport Diligence from: The Hampshire Chronicle 23rd June 1777, Rare Books Cope ff 05.5
Increase in road travel brought more demand for maps and guides, large format books being replaced by smaller, practical versions. Many were based on the strip maps in John Ogilby’s Britannia Depicta (1675), the first comprehensive and accurate road atlas for England and Wales. As their name suggests these were linear route maps depicted on the page as vertical scrolls. Thomas Gardner’s Pocket Guide to the English Traveller (1719) copied Ogilby’s plates, showing the towns and villages along the road and the distances between them. Compasses marked changes in direction, also shown were the destinations of side roads, notable houses, rivers, hills and other ‘remarkables’.
The Road from London to Bristol, from: Thomas Gardner Pocket Guide to the English Traveller (1719) Rare Books DA650
Other popular forms of travel guide were the itineraries which relied on written directions rather than maps. Daniel Paterson’s New and Accurate Description of all the Direct and Principal Cross Roads in England and Wales, was published in eighteen editions from 1771 to 1829 and provided a wealth of information, including detailed lists of the direct roads from London and the principal crossroads.
London to Brighton from: Daniel Paterson New and Accurate Description of all the Direct and Principal Cross Roads in England and Wales, 8th ed. (1789) Rare Books DA620
Many travellers published accounts of their journeys but for a picture of the road conditions they encountered, it is hard to beat the Board of Agriculture’s County Reports. Reflecting the importance of roads to farmers, each report includes a section on turnpike and local roads. Whilst some of the surveyors wrote only a few lines, others spent several pages describing not only the construction and condition of the roads but also giving their own views on the best method of making a road and the inadequacies of the turnpike trusts. Despite reservations about their condition, the improvement of many roads in the last twenty years was a common theme throughout the agricultural reports.
Description of the turnpike roads at South Mimms and Edgware from: John Middleton View of the Agriculture of Middlesex (1807) Rare Books Perkins S453
Whilst many words have been written about eighteenth-century road travel, the experience – for those who could afford to travel for pleasure – is brought to life in the drawings of Thomas Rowlandson. Recording a journey he made from London to Portsmouth in the 1780s, they capture, with humour, his ‘Tour in a Post Chaise’.
This week we hand the reins over to Roger Ottewill for a blog on John Bullar, Southampton clergyman and historian. Much of Bullar’s library can now be found in the Hartley Library’s Special Collections, presented by his sons “as a lasting memorial of the interest which their father took in the Institution and of the earnest desire which he ever felt to promote by all means in his power the mental and spiritual improvement of his fellow-men.”
Among Southampton Historians John Bullar stands out as having received the ultimate accolade of an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography [ODNB]. Written by Barbara Spender this provides a succinct assessment of his life and works (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Part of John Bullar’s entry in the ODNB showing an engraving of him
She makes the point that his Christian ‘faith underpinned his diverse writings which ranged from a series of locally based historical and geographical tourist guides, to a collection of edifying poetry with which he sought to counter the anti-religious tide of popular culture epitomized by the poetry of Lord Byron.’ His very close links with Southampton, where he lived for the whole of his life, are also highlighted. In this vein, she concludes with words taken from his obituary in the Southampton Times: ‘The life of Mr Bullar is in fact the life of Southampton during the past fifty years.’ (ODNB, p.600). In another obituary, taken from the Salisbury and Winchester Journal, he is described as an ‘exemplary Christian, and a learned, eloquent and able man’ (21 May 1864, p.8).
Bullar is also memoralised by having one of the streets in Bitterne Park named after him (see Figure 2). As A.G.K.Leonard explains in Stories of Southampton Streets this was to serve ‘as a memorial to a man who was involved in many liberal and humane causes, working ceaselessly to promote the spiritual and material progress of his town’ (p.83).
Figure 2: Map showing location of Bullar Road
The principal aims of this blog are to provide some biographical information and summaries of his key historical works, which are held in Special Collections. It is hoped that this will inspire others to consider further Bullar’s contribution to the development of Southampton’s cultural life and the influences which shaped his personality and, what today would be called, his ‘world view’.
Biographical Overview
Born on 27 January 1778, John Bullar’s parents were John Bullar senior (1744-1836) ‘a peruke maker and hairdresser of Southampton High Street’ and Penelope, nee Rowsell (1755-1799). He was the eldest of eleven children, although only three survived into adulthood. Educated at King Edward VI Grammar School he was clearly an industrious scholar since he subsequently became a schoolmaster, teaching in ‘his schools in Bugle Street, Moira Place and Prospect Place’ (ODNB, p.599). As pointed out by Barbara Spender, many of the civic leaders of Southampton received their initial education from Bullar.
John and Penelope had six children, four sons and two daughters. Three of their sons became doctors, with two of them, Joseph and William, being closely involved with the Royal South Hants Infirmary. One of their daughters, Ann wrote a number of well received educational works mainly for the young.
A powerful influence throughout Bullar’s life was his religious affiliations and sensibilities. Although baptised an Anglican, his marriage in 1806 to Susannah Sarah Whatman Lobb brought him within the orbit of the prestigious Above Bar Independent (later Congregational) Chapel, where her parents were leading members (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: Above Bar Congregational Church interior and exterior (Source: Avenue St Andrew’s URC Archive)
Subsequently, a member of the Chapel for the remainder of his life, Bullar served as a deacon for 43 years. Interestingly, however, his funeral service in 1864 was conducted by the Bishop of Rochester, with whom he had a close friendship. This led to the Birmingham Daily Post headlining its report, “A Dissenter Buried by a Bishop” (23 May 1864, p.3).
Historical Works
From the perspective of Southampton’s history, undoubtedly his most significant work was Historical Particulars relating to Southampton, published in 1820. However, in the foreword (or ‘advertisement’ as it is headed), Bullar makes the following ‘disclaimer’:
The following particulars which are presented to the public in the following pages, were collected at intervals, in the course of reading, many years ago. They were seen by the late ARTHUR HAMMOND, Esq. who urged the compiler of them to undertake a history of his native place; offering to use his influence with the Corporation, to obtain access to the sources of information in their archives. Want of leisure prevented him from availing himself of so liberal and important an offer; and the same cause is likely to continue to operate. His friend, Mr. THOMAS BAKER, however, unwilling that the few collections he had made, should be altogether lost, undertook to publish them. In this imperfect form, they bespeak the candour of the public: to which they are committed, with a hope that the publication of them may stimulate some able person to take up a subject, which might be made, it is probable, both instructive and entertaining.
Shortcomings notwithstanding, Bullar’s hope was certainly realised with this work serving to inspire later historians who used it as their starting point.
To provide a flavour of the accessible nature of the work, below are a couple of extracts. With respect to his beloved Above Bar Independent Church, he wrote that following the ejection of the Revd Nathanial Robinson from All Saints Church in 1662 and his remaining in Southampton:
At first on account of the persecution which then raged, they were under the necessity of assembling when and where they could. Afterwards, some houses were converted into a place of worship, in which, as the times would allow, they attended their Sabbaths and their monthly sacraments. They held also monthly fasts, at which they constantly made collections for the poor; thus assisting not only the needy of their own society, but even occasionally sending help to the persecuted Protestants of France … In 1727, a neat place of worship was erected, which was enlarged in 1802, and taken down and substituted with the present building in 1820 (pp.95-6).
On a different subject, namely ‘boundaries’, he had this to say:
Southampton being a county of itself, a procession round the boundaries is occasionally made (till lately the ceremony was annual) by the sheriff, court-leet, and as many of the housekeepers who chose to attend: all of them are summoned and a fine of one penny is demanded on their refusal. – This cavalcade, which has obtained the popular name of cut-thorn, from the season when it takes place, sets out on the morning of the second Tuesday after Easter Tuesday, from the Bar-Gate, and after having made a complete compass of the county, re-enters the town at the bridewell gate. At the various boundary marks on the road, several ludicrous ceremonies are performed by those who have never before attended the procession. In the course of their circuit, refreshment is provided for them; in a tent erected on the common; and the day frequently terminates with greater credit to the hospitality of the Sheriff, than to the moderation of his guests (pp.107-8).
As can be seen, in places Bullar sought to inject an element of humour and/or sarcasm into his narrative.
Another work, Bullar’s guide to Netley Abbey, was sufficiently popular to run to at least nine editions, the last being published in July 1844. Described as a ‘companion’, this provided visitors with not only details of the buildings but also the life of those for whom the Abbey was their home.
The preface to the fourth edition of a Tour Round Southampton (1810) provides a fair indication of its geographical and historical scope with it:
Comprehending various particulars, ancient & modern of the New Forest, Lymington, Christchurch, Ringwood, Romsey, Winchester, Bishop’s Waltham, Titchfield, Gosport, Portsmouth &c, with the notices of the Villages, Gentlemen’s seats, Curiosities, Antiquities &c occurring in the different roads described , and various Biographical Sketches.
Clearly this was intended to encourage those visiting Southampton to enjoy other delights within the county and not restrict themselves to the town and its immediate environs. Thus, Bullar could be said to serve as a historiographical muse for not only future Southampton historians but also those whose interests lay elsewhere within Hampshire.
Lastly, reference should be made to Bullar’s guide to the Isle of Wight which covered all parts of the island and again ran to nine editions. In the later editions, the text is supplemented with an increasing number of engravings which serve to add interest and illuminate his descriptions of many of the principal buildings and vistas (see Figures 4 a-d for some examples).
“Entrance to Carisbrooke Castle” from the Historical and Picturesque Guide to the Isle of Wight by John Bullar, 9th ed. (1840) [Rare Books Cope 98.035 1840]
“Arched Rock” in Freshwater bay from the Historical and Picturesque Guide to the Isle of Wight by John Bullar, 9th ed. (1840) [Rare Books Cope 98.035 1840]
“Appuldurcombe” from the Historical and Picturesque Guide to the Isle of Wight by John Bullar, 9th ed. (1840) [Rare Books Cope 98.035 1840]
“Niton” from the Historical and Picturesque Guide to the Isle of Wight by John Bullar, 9th ed. (1840) [Rare Books Cope 98.035 1840]
His coverage, however, is not restricted to the grand houses, but also includes references to Parkhurst Prison and the House of Industry (i.e. workhouse).
Other Publications
In view of his strong Christian faith it is unsurprising that among his published works are many of an overtly religious character. These include: The impartial testimony of a layman, against the errors of the present times, and in favour of the Holy Scriptures: being the substance of a speech delivered at the fifth anniversary of the Southampton Bible Society. Nov 10, 1819 and Harvest home and lord of all harvests: a lay lecture, published in 1854. A few years earlier, in 1846, he had published a collection of his lay lectures, under the title Lay Lectures on Christian Faith and Practice. This was described is one of his obituaries as being ‘marked with good sense, clear reasoning, much research and considerable eloquence and stamped the author as a man of learning and talent’ (Salisbury and Winchester Journal 21 May 1864, p.8). Many of his lectures were delivered at the Mechanic’s Institution and the Literary and Philosophical Institution. As indicated earlier, alongside history and religion, another of his interests was poetry. This was evidenced by the publication in 1822 of Selections from the British poets: … with select criticisms … and short biographical notices.
Conclusion
Without doubt, Bullar was a leading figure within Southampton’s intellectual elite during the first half of the nineteenth century. Judging by the tributes paid to him both during his life and following his death it would be difficult to overstate his reputation. A true son of Southampton he was strongly motivated to improve the welfare and sensibilities of his fellow townsmen. His final resting place is in the churchyard of St Nicholas’ Church, North Stoneham (see Figure 5).
Friday 14 July 2023 marks 234 years since the storming of the Bastille in Paris in 1789. This was the iconic event of the French Revolution that came to symbolise the overthrow of the Ancien Régime; the name given to the political and social system that characterised France from the late Middle Ages until 1789. Bastille Day is now a public holiday in France.
The French Revolution is arguably the historical event most written-upon and most frequently subjected to the analysis of the historian. It is beyond the scope of this blog post to do justice to the historiography on the causes of the French Revolution, but suffice to say a range of political, economic, social and cultural factors have been offered as responsible for events unfolding as they did at the end of the eighteenth century.
The first episode in the Revolution was the summoning of the Estates General in May 1789, in order to address a financial crisis playing out between King Louis XVI and members of the French nobility. The Estates General was an assembly that represented the three estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate) but it had no true power in its own right, as unlike the English Parliament, it was not required to approve royal taxes or laws. The Estates General served as an advisory body to the monarch, primarily by presenting petitions from the various estates and consulting on fiscal policy. When it opened on 5 May 1789 it was the first time it had met since 1614.
In 1789 the First Estate comprised 100,000 Catholic clergy, owning 5–10% of the lands in France – all property of the First Estate was tax exempt. The Second Estate comprised the nobility, which consisted of 400,000 people, including women and children. By the time of the revolution, they had almost a monopoly over distinguished government service and under the principle of feudal precedent, they were not taxed. The Third Estate comprised about 25 million people (97% of the population), including the bourgeoisie (business owners and merchants), the peasantry, artisans and everyone else. Unlike the First and Second Estates, the Third Estate were compelled to pay taxes, yet the bourgeoisie often found ways to evade tax and become exempt. The greater burden of the French government, therefore, fell upon the poorest in French society: the peasantry and working poor; understandably there existed great resentment towards the upper classes.
The Estates General, instead of concerning itself with the financial crisis playing out in the country at large, began focussing instead on the question of how votes should be cast and how to divide power and representation amongst the three estates. On 17 June 1789 the Third Estate re-named themselves the National Assembly and on 20 June its members took the ‘Tennis Court Oath’ in the tennis court which had been built in 1686 for the use of the Versailles palace – their objective was to draw up a written constitution for France and to begin governing the country, with or without the involvement of the other two estates. A majority of members of the First Estate and many from the Second did in fact join with the new National Assembly. This moment marked the beginning of the French Revolution as it directly threatened the power of the absolute monarch – King Louis XVI. These developments were popular with many in Paris desperate for reform, relief and liberty.
On 11 July 1789 King Louis XVI (upon the advice of conservative nobles as well as his Queen Consort Marie Antoinette) dismissed his Finance Minister Jacques Necker, perceived as relatively favourable to the new National Assembly. This, combined with the fact that the King had brought troops to Paris (including foreign German and Swiss mercenary soldiers) put the people of Paris ill at ease, fearing as they did a conservative attack on the National Assembly. It was within this context that in July 1789 the people of Paris began demonstrating and storming properties to secure food as well as arms.
Front cover of Prince Louis of Battenberg’s postcard album of the French Revolution [MS62/MB2/A19]Jacques Necker in Prince Louis of Battenberg’s postcard album of the French Revolution [MS62/MB2/A19/74]
The Bastille was a medieval prison-fortress – a symbol of royal power in the heart of Paris. On the morning of the 14 July 1789 it was approached by a Parisian militia and ordered to surrender – a confused struggle then ensued throughout the day in which 98 attackers and one defender died, either in the fighting or subsequently from their wounds. If the Tennis Court Oath of 20 June marked the beginning of a liberal constitutional revolution promoted by the bourgeoisie, then it was the bloodshed and chaos at the Bastille that foreshadowed the violent phase of the revolution and the eventual downfall of the monarchy along with the rest of the Ancien Régime.
The National Assembly proceeded to abolish feudalism on 4 August 1789 and issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen on 26 August 1789, as it became increasingly radical. The events of the summer of 1789 were just the beginnings of the social and political revolution that unfolded in the following years, including the execution of King Louis XVI on 21 January 1793 and the rise of General Napoleon as Emperor of the French – his popularity with the French people driven by his victories in Europe and the Mediterranean.
Napoleon in Prince Louis of Battenberg’s postcard album of the French Revolution [MS62/MB2/A19/94]
The significance of the French Revolution was not confined to France or to the battlefields of Europe but was felt further afield; revolutions or social protest inspired by the events of 1789 broke out across Europe in the following years and decades. The great divides of nineteenth-century European politics were often framed in terms of liberal idealism on the one hand and conservative reaction on the other; even the ‘left-wing/right-wing’ terminology we use today has its origins in the seating arrangements for members of the National Assembly. This body was divided into supporters of the Ancien Regime to the president’s right and supporters of the revolution to his left. The Brabant Revolution of 1789-90 being a good example of how the French revolutionaries inspired others to rise up. This armed insurrection briefly overthrew the imperial rule of the Habsburgs and created a short-lived new state named the United Belgian States. In a letter from Henry Temple, second Viscount Palmerston, to Benjamin Mee dated 12 March 1790, the former gives his account of the causes of this dramatic episode in the Austrian Netherlands:
“[…] We were in some respect witnesses of the beginning of the Revolution in the Austrian Netherlands having been at Brussels when the insurgents entered the country. The facility with which they made themselves masters of it is to me incomprehensible. For as their number (I mean of men in arms) was very small, and the quarter from whence they must come, as well as all their motions perfectly known to the government, had the Imperial troops which could have been spared from garrisons been collected and properly stationed so as to have attacked them immediately, I conceive the business must have been ended as soon as it was begun. But as the whole country was on their side the opportunity once lost never was, nor I believe could have been, recovered.”
Palmerston goes on to describe how the poor treatment of the Roman Catholic church by the Emperor was responsible for the outbreak of violence, amidst confused attempts to reform an ancient constitution in need of amendment. He describes three distinct factions in the country: one in favour of an absolute sovereign; another in favour of an aristocratic council; and the third and most numerous in favour of a complete democracy: “In this they are supported by the example and influence of France and seem likely to pursue the same path of confusion and anarchy that their neighbours are treading.”
In the same letter, Palmerston goes on to describe the social unrest in France in disapproving terms, employing racist ideas in the process:
“Nothing I believe can exceed the wretched state of that country. In the capital they are undoing everything and loosening all the bonds of society while the horrors that are committed by mobs in various parts of the kingdom are such as would disgrace the most barbarous savages in the wilds of America. Whether anything like order and government is ever to come out of this chaos nobody I believe at present would venture to predict. Our politicians have been very foolishly debating and indeed quarrelling (that is to say Burke and Sheridan) about the proceedings in France, in our House of Commons, which seems to be the last place to discuss such a subject. Burke however was very fine upon it and is about to publish a pamphlet which I will send you when it comes out.”
The pamphlet Palmerston alludes to would be published by Edmund Burke in November 1790 as Reflections on the Revolution in France, now regarded as one of the most influential political pamphlets in modern history and considered a cornerstone of conservative political ideology.
A few years later in the late summer and early autumn of 1792, Lord Palmerston’s diary entries are quoted in the correspondence of Mary Mee, Viscountess Palmerston, sent to her brother Benjamin Mee during their travels through Europe:
“Paris at present is in the greatest state of insurrection possible. The Jacobins or the violent party carry everything before them and lay all the blame of the mischief that are resulting from their own absurdities on the King and Queen who are certainly in danger of their lives from the violence of the people and the little dependence they can have upon their guard who are only national troops. The assembly are distracted and seem in a mood of Frankish despair […]”
The political chaos and violence described by the Palmerstons led successively to the execution of King Louis XVI in January 1793; the assassination of the revolutionary and Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat by Charlotte Corday on 13 July 1793 (the day before Bastille Day); the ‘Reign of Terror’ of the Jacobins from September 1793 – July 1794; and the counter-revolutionary ‘White Terror’ from 1795. Tens of thousands of people died in these outbursts of violence.
Charlotte Corday in Prince Louis of Battenberg’s postcard album of the French Revolution [MS62/MB2/A19/39]
The Jacobinism of Robespierre and others was strongly denounced by conservatives in Britain, as demonstrated in the political preface from an 1804 edition of The Anti-Jacobin:
“Ever since we commenced our labours, we have uniformly maintained, that the only effectual means of combating the system of usurpation and universal dominion which characterizes the French revolution in all its stages, was firm and extensive concert. The principles whence it sprung, the acts which it exhibited, and the characters which it formed, whatever might be their several diversities, all agreed in seeking the subjugation of mankind. This was a primary object of Brissot and his Girondins, Robespierre and his Terrorists, of Lepaux, and of Buonaparté.”
Rare Books per A, The Anti-Jacobin, Sep-Dec 1804
The Anti-Jacobin, Sep-Dec 1804, Rare Books per A
When Robespierre died on 28 July 1794 he was satirically eulogised in a piece titled ‘Sur la morte de Robespierre’ appearing in the volume Second tableau des prisons de Paris sous le règne de Robespierre, 1794-5; “everything fell under his blows – old age and childhood”:
“Sur la mort de Robespierre – Air – de versaillois – Quels accents, quels transports, en ce jour d’allegresse, Succedent tour-a-tour a la sombre tristesse! Vient de venger la liberte. Le cruel immoloit la timide inncence, Tout tomboit sous ses coups, la vieillesse et l’enfance. Francais! n’obeissez desormais, sosu vos loix, Qu’aux soutiens de la France, aux vengeurs de vos droits.”
[“On the death of Robespierre – Air – from Versailles – What accents, what transports, on this day of joy, Succeed in turn to dark sadness! Just avenged freedom. The cruel immolated timid innocence, everything fell under his blows, old age and childhood. French! henceforth obey, under your laws, only the supporters of France, the avengers of your rights.”]
Rare Books, Hartley Collection, DC140.5
Second tableau des prisons de Paris sous le règne de Robespierre, 1794-5, Rare Books Hartley Collection DC140.5
If we jump forward several years to the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, we find Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, writing to Louis Philippe, Duc d’Orleans, later King of the French Louis Philippe I, giving his own views on the cause of the French Revolution:
“In my opinion the King [King Louis XVI] was driven from his throne because he never had the real command over his army. This is a fact with which your Highness and I were well acquainted and which we have frequently lamented; and even if the trivial faults or rather follies of his civil administration had not been committed, I believe the same results would have been produced. We must consider the King then as the victim of a successful revolt of his army and of his army only; for whatever may be the opinions and feelings of some who took a prominent part in the revolution, and whatever the apathy of the great mass of the population of France, we may I think set it down as certain that even the first do not like the existing order of things, and that the last would if they dared it oppose it in arms.”
Wellington’s emphasis on the importance of martial power and discipline might not be surprising, given that he was a Field Marshal on the verge of a major battle with Napoleon’s forces, but it echoes the idea expressed much later and by a very different general that ‘Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun’ – at least in the most immediate and pressing circumstances. Wellington’s notion that Louis XVI’s lack of military strength caused the French Revolution adds to a long list of economic, social and political factors held responsible.
It wasn’t until July 1880 that the French government officially adopted 14 July as the public holiday that we now recognise. The date was chosen partly to commemorate the storming of the Bastille in 1789 but also to commemorate the ‘Fête de la Fédération’, which was originally held on 14 July 1790 on the first anniversary of the capture of the Bastille. It was meant as a festival to celebrate the unity of the French people.
Bastille Day is now firmly established as the French national day. The 14 July 1945 marked the first celebration of Bastille Day subsequent to the total victory in Europe over Nazi Germany and it was the impetus for the signal sent from Lieutenant General F.A.M. Browning to the French Military Mission, sending good wishes on Bastille Day, 14 July 1945.
Whether you spend your Bastille Day at work, at leisure or brushing up on your French history – we in Special Collections wish you liberté, égalité et fraternité this 14 July!
A century ago, University College, Southampton was beginning a new phase in its campaign to become an independent University. The move to Highfield in 1919 had brought the opportunity to develop a purpose-built campus and to provide more halls of residence, both essential to the university experience. With the campus consisting of two wings of the central block, three laboratories, a building for Engineering and the wooden huts bequeathed by the War Hospital, such ambition required vision and funding at a time when the College’s finances were already in a precarious state.
Plan of the College from the Open Day Programme (1926) Rare Books Univ. Coll. c LF 783.9
Existing sources of finance included the Board of Education and the University Grants Committee, whilst County and Borough Council grants supported the higher technical education which the College undertook. It being unlikely that increases from these bodies would be forthcoming, in 1920, the College launched an appeal for financial support from local organisations, businesses, and individuals. Casting its geographical net as widely as possible, the project was framed as creating a ‘University for Wessex’ and initially included a proposal for a tripartite federal university in which Portsmouth and Bournemouth’s technical colleges would be upgraded to become equal partners with University College, Southampton.
The appeal made little impact for the first few years and as predicted by Kenneth Vickers, who was appointed Vice-Chancellor in October 1922, the idea of a federal university was soundly rejected by the University Grants Committee. In 1924 a UGC visit highlighted the need for increased local funding as a condition for any additional central funds, bringing more urgency to the appeal and in the shape of Major J.A. McGrath, the appointment of an Appeal Director.
Kenneth Hotham Vickers, Principal of the University College 1922-46 [MS1/Phot/39 ph3415]
With a target of £500,000 to improve facilities, staff pay and to secure a Charter, McGrath planned to create local committees throughout the region and, following tailored publicity campaigns, to hold large public meetings in the main centres of population. Although the idea of a federal university was no longer in play, the appeal retained its ‘University for Wessex’ branding with a suggestion that faculties might be sited in different areas such as Schools of Aesthetics or Music in Bournemouth. Whilst the proposed change of name had advantages for fundraising, it was not universally popular, straying from the tradition of naming universities after towns and cities and incurring the ire of the Principal of University College, Reading, which found itself excluded from Wessex.
From: University Education for Wessex (c.1926) Univ. Coll. LF 785.8
The appeal was successful in gaining coverage in both the local and national press and publicity brochures were distributed locally highlighting the College’s importance to the region and the costs of the developments proposed. In May 1925, the first public meeting was held at Winchester, with addresses by members of the College and by Austen Chamberlain, the Foreign Secretary. With an attendance of over a thousand it was deemed a success at the time but produced few contributions to the appeal, Vickers later suggesting that many people had been there only to hear Chamberlain speak.
List of suggestions for named endowments from: University Education for Wessex (c.1926) Univ. Coll. LF 785.8
Despite the flurry of activity, the appeal suffered setbacks. McGrath resigned as Director after two years, as did his replacement, Sir Mark Hunter, at which point, Vickers was asked to head the campaign. His approach was to hold frequent, small meetings of representatives of the local industrial, professional and commercial communities through which links to potential donors might be made. A public meeting already planned for Southampton went ahead in October 1928 at which donations pledged included those by the department store Tyrrell & Green and the Southampton Gas Light and Coke Company but these made little impact on the £100,000 target set for Southampton.
Cover of: University of Wessex: an Appeal to Southampton (1928) Univ. Coll. LF 785.8
Former students were another potential source of income and their magazine Goblio featured pleas for members of the Society of Old Hartleyans to take out subscriptions of £1 a year for seven years. Although only about a tenth of their target of £10,000 was raised, some former students were prepared to become actively involved in fundraising as the programme for the play ‘Milestones’ attests.
Rare Books Univ. Coll. c LF 784.6T4
Two features of the appeal widely publicised at the time were the proposed Thomas Hardy Chair of English Literature and the publication of the periodical Wessex. The Chair, endorsed by Thomas Hardy, who had also lent his support to the idea of the University for Wessex, was never to be, despite support from many in the literary world. In contrast, Wessex was regarded as one of the appeal’s successes. Published from 1928 to 1938 as an ‘annual record of the movement of the University of Wessex’, it contained articles of a high standard by members of staff and former students, the first issue being devoted to the memory of Thomas Hardy. Wessex (available on Internet Archive) remains one of the few legacies of the ‘University for Wessex Appeal’, its pages providing a glimpse College life at that time.
Transcript of a letter to the College from Florence Hardy, included in the first issue of Wessex (1928) Univ. Coll. LF 789.9
Ultimately, the Appeal fell far short of its financial target, raising only around £110,000 of the £500,000 required and the idea of the University for Wessex itself died a natural death – another of Vickers’ predictions. Where the campaign did succeed was in raising awareness of the work of the College and its potential for benefitting the region. On his arrival in Southampton, Vickers described finding a background of rivalry with other educational institutions and a certain amount of apathy and suspicion in Southampton following the College’s removal from the town to Highfield. This improvement in understanding and appreciation of the work of the College was to be important in its development during the 1930s and in the long-awaited achievement of university status in 1952.
![Men's football team, 1953-4 [photo_MS1_7_291_22_4]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50089268168_f26eed63ef_s.jpg "Men's football team, 1953-4 [photo_MS1_7_291_22_4]")
![Women's rowing team, 1961-2 [MS1_7_291_22_4]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50090079577_3b7acbde42_s.jpg "Women's rowing team, 1961-2 [MS1_7_291_22_4]")
![Men's rugby team, 1953-4 [MS1_7_291_22_4]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50089268523_4f2c587220_s.jpg "Men's rugby team, 1953-4 [MS1_7_291_22_4]")
![Women's hockey team, 1953-4 [MS1_7_291_22_4]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50090079692_28114e9c7d_s.jpg "Women's hockey team, 1953-4 [MS1_7_291_22_4]")
University of Southampton Special Collections 