Dan
@fraternalwriter.bsky.social
Researcher, author, mostly UK & 18th-20thC social history especially friendly societies, banners, the Open University, the Labour Party and the history of local history. Escapes through running.
Reposted by Dan
#Chartism #C19th #History
It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that I am busy trying to flog copies of Chartist Lives. It’s full of amazing stories and it’s £19.99 in hardback, £9.99 in paperback and just £8.99 for kindle.
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y
It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that I am busy trying to flog copies of Chartist Lives. It’s full of amazing stories and it’s £19.99 in hardback, £9.99 in paperback and just £8.99 for kindle.
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y
January 30, 2026 at 5:29 PM
#Chartism #C19th #History
It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that I am busy trying to flog copies of Chartist Lives. It’s full of amazing stories and it’s £19.99 in hardback, £9.99 in paperback and just £8.99 for kindle.
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y
It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that I am busy trying to flog copies of Chartist Lives. It’s full of amazing stories and it’s £19.99 in hardback, £9.99 in paperback and just £8.99 for kindle.
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y
The response from the Marsh family to attacks by ICE, perhaps acts as a reminder that, while Stephen Miller wants to provoke a riot and then invoke the Insurrection Act, many citizens prefer to fight fire with water www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRHx...
"Minnesota" - Marsh Family adaptation of "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)"
YouTube video by Marsh Family
www.youtube.com
January 31, 2026 at 10:53 AM
The response from the Marsh family to attacks by ICE, perhaps acts as a reminder that, while Stephen Miller wants to provoke a riot and then invoke the Insurrection Act, many citizens prefer to fight fire with water www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRHx...
When writing about recent developments in the USA, hannaheve.com manages to neither swear nor despair.
January 28, 2026 at 10:09 PM
When writing about recent developments in the USA, hannaheve.com manages to neither swear nor despair.
Their choice of ‘Ordinary World’ foregrounds how far the US has descended into authoritarian chaos while the videos of the shooting of Renee Good would have made 'Girls on Film' edgy in a horrible way.
When Duran Duran looks up from its porridge to get political, you know we’ve all crossed into unfamiliar lands.
www.billboard.com/music/music-...
www.billboard.com/music/music-...
Duran Duran Pays Tribute to Renee Good After Fatal ICE Shooting in Minnesota
Duran Duran paid tribute to the victim of a fatal ICE shooting in Minnesota during a recent concert.
www.billboard.com
January 23, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Their choice of ‘Ordinary World’ foregrounds how far the US has descended into authoritarian chaos while the videos of the shooting of Renee Good would have made 'Girls on Film' edgy in a horrible way.
Precursor to Sommerfield’s 1935 novel Mayday? observer.co.uk/style/featur...
@20thccommunism.bsky.social
#20s30s
@20thccommunism.bsky.social
#20s30s
100 years of fake news: the accidental radio hoax that te...
A century ago, a priest’s satirical BBC broadcast convinced listeners that London was under siege. It became a global sensation, and Orson Welles was listening...
observer.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Precursor to Sommerfield’s 1935 novel Mayday? observer.co.uk/style/featur...
@20thccommunism.bsky.social
#20s30s
@20thccommunism.bsky.social
#20s30s
UK govt consulting until 12.02.26 using online survey. Aim: to make permanent residence (ie indefinite leave to remain) less available via cruel, costly, xenophobic means. Amnesty recommendations as to how to respond: www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/gu...
Guidance for responding to 'A Fairer Pathway to Settlement' consultation
We are Amnesty International UK. We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights.
www.amnesty.org.uk
January 22, 2026 at 12:35 PM
UK govt consulting until 12.02.26 using online survey. Aim: to make permanent residence (ie indefinite leave to remain) less available via cruel, costly, xenophobic means. Amnesty recommendations as to how to respond: www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/gu...
Reposted by Dan
Joseph Whitworth, an undervalued figure in industrial history, died on this day 1887, aged 83. His work paved the way for modern mass production.
Made in Manchester and Stockport: Sir Joseph Whitworth (1803-87), engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist, created a standard for screw threads for nuts and bolts, allowing components to become interchangeable and laying the foundation of modern mass production. 1/9
January 22, 2026 at 8:27 AM
Joseph Whitworth, an undervalued figure in industrial history, died on this day 1887, aged 83. His work paved the way for modern mass production.
Reposted by Dan
George Jacob Holyoake, the great Owenite socialist, co-operator, secularist and Chartist, died in Brighton #OnThisDay 22 January 1906 aged 88. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery.
January 22, 2026 at 8:08 AM
George Jacob Holyoake, the great Owenite socialist, co-operator, secularist and Chartist, died in Brighton #OnThisDay 22 January 1906 aged 88. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery.
#20s30s music and chatter about how song parodies helped define an emergent community. Today 18.30 GMT www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-singin...
The Singing Strikers of 1929
Singing Striking Seamstresses take centre stage, as Dr Dan Weinbren investigates flapper feminism and popular music in interwar East London.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
January 19, 2026 at 4:52 PM
#20s30s music and chatter about how song parodies helped define an emergent community. Today 18.30 GMT www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-singin...
Reposted by Dan
If anyone can't manage to put together a mid-budget Brit scifi/horror movie about a man trapped in this lookout post after a nuclear war in the 1960s, trying to escape before it falls in to the sea, then we should close down our film industry
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Cold War nuclear bunker could be ‘days away’ from falling into sea
The structure is clinging to the cliff, with little of it left to support it
www.independent.co.uk
January 17, 2026 at 7:44 AM
If anyone can't manage to put together a mid-budget Brit scifi/horror movie about a man trapped in this lookout post after a nuclear war in the 1960s, trying to escape before it falls in to the sea, then we should close down our film industry
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
1918 franchise extension followed by 6 point group. UK equal vote [more-or-less] 1928 followed by women strikers - Talk open to all: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-singin...
January 14, 2026 at 12:55 PM
1918 franchise extension followed by 6 point group. UK equal vote [more-or-less] 1928 followed by women strikers - Talk open to all: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-singin...
Fascinating contextualisation for the massively popular temperance friendly society- the Independent Order of Rechabites, Salford Unity.
You wait several years for a book on British temperance history and two come along almost at once! I'm a big fan of Andrew Davison's work, so I'm pleased to see his book on temperance buildings published by Liverpool University Press. Looking forward to reading it
heritagecalling.com/2026/01/08/t...
heritagecalling.com/2026/01/08/t...
Temperance Buildings in England
The temperance movement and its remarkable physical legacy visible on our streets today.
heritagecalling.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Fascinating contextualisation for the massively popular temperance friendly society- the Independent Order of Rechabites, Salford Unity.
For an assessment of strikes when young women took to the streets & sang witty parodies of jazz and musical songs to bellow their defiance of bosses, the TUC and the Labour Party come along to this talk www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-singin...
January 11, 2026 at 5:55 PM
For an assessment of strikes when young women took to the streets & sang witty parodies of jazz and musical songs to bellow their defiance of bosses, the TUC and the Labour Party come along to this talk www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-singin...
'We know our manners, Behind our union banners' & 'The Union Banner triumphantly' and other lyrics assessed in this talk about young women who sang their defiance on the streets of London www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-singin...
January 11, 2026 at 5:49 PM
'We know our manners, Behind our union banners' & 'The Union Banner triumphantly' and other lyrics assessed in this talk about young women who sang their defiance on the streets of London www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-singin...
Banner restoration often complex & expensive. Hurrah for Newham
This banner, newly restored by @newnhamcollege.bsky.social seems as sound today as it was then
'Better Wisdom than Weapons of War' Cambridge Alumnae Suffrage Banner (1908) designed by UK artist Mary Lowndes. Handmade from silk, velvet, with embroidery and silver paint, the huge banner was carried by a Cambridge contingent of 400 women in the great suffrage procession, 1908 #WomensArt
January 11, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Banner restoration often complex & expensive. Hurrah for Newham
Reposted by Dan
Twelve places in labour history sslh.org.uk/tag/place-in...
December 25, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Twelve places in labour history sslh.org.uk/tag/place-in...
Reposted by Dan
It’s a dark night when you look at the news and are forced to admit that you no longer believe in the power of the FIFA peace prize
January 3, 2026 at 7:06 AM
It’s a dark night when you look at the news and are forced to admit that you no longer believe in the power of the FIFA peace prize
Reposted by Dan
Migrants are at the heart of our art, our music, our whole history. That’s what the right won’t admit to you | Rowan Williams
Migrants are at the heart of our art, our music, our whole history. That’s what the right won’t admit to you | Rowan Williams
From Britain’s medieval buildings to western pop and contemporary art, these creations showcase our interwoven stories, says former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
www.theguardian.com
January 3, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Migrants are at the heart of our art, our music, our whole history. That’s what the right won’t admit to you | Rowan Williams
Reposted by Dan
Useful summary but note possible miscaption [IOOF often = Independent Order of Oddfellows] & outside areas where women in paid work female friendly socs often quasi-charities dominated by patrons
Friendly Societies, by Joe Saunders. Prior to the development of government and employer health insurance and financial services, friendly or ‘benevolent’ societies were an important part of many people’s lives. how-to-history.com/2025/12/31/f...
January 2, 2026 at 10:54 AM
Useful summary but note possible miscaption [IOOF often = Independent Order of Oddfellows] & outside areas where women in paid work female friendly socs often quasi-charities dominated by patrons
Gosden now updated by Cordery British Friendly Societies, 1750-1914, 2003, numerous local-focused articles & Weinbren The Oddfellows, 2010.
Thanks for this one Joe - bookmarked for future reference! 😊
January 2, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Gosden now updated by Cordery British Friendly Societies, 1750-1914, 2003, numerous local-focused articles & Weinbren The Oddfellows, 2010.
Farage's funders; writesbright.substack.com/p/new-resear...
New research reveals the best attack lines to use against Reform
How to stop Farage...
writesbright.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Farage's funders; writesbright.substack.com/p/new-resear...
Reposted by Dan
🔴I wrote about far-right attacks against refugee charities and why some are choosing to leave the sector to protect themselves. It's awful but understandable.
open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
When it's time to move on
It's toxic out there
open.substack.com
December 11, 2025 at 2:32 PM
🔴I wrote about far-right attacks against refugee charities and why some are choosing to leave the sector to protect themselves. It's awful but understandable.
open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
Reposted by Dan
My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants. Asked him recently why he’s so strong on it: ‘Because we’re always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it’s not about disliking immigrants. It’s about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that’s a bad human instinct.’
December 7, 2025 at 8:31 AM
My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants. Asked him recently why he’s so strong on it: ‘Because we’re always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it’s not about disliking immigrants. It’s about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that’s a bad human instinct.’