Mark Crail
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markcrail.bsky.social
Mark Crail
@markcrail.bsky.social
3.5K followers 670 following 1.2K posts
Chartism and other #C19th stuff. Chartist Ancestors website, author of Tracing Your Labour Movement Ancestors (Pen & Sword books), web editor Society for the Study of Labour History. Science fiction reader. https://linktr.ee/markcrail
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markcrail.bsky.social
Mark Crail @markcrail.bsky.social · Dec 30
🗃️ #C19th #Genealogy #LocalHistory
A reminder that if you need an excel calculator that works with pounds, shillings and pence, I have one you can download and use freely. Please share…
chartistancestors.blog/2023/07/12/n...
Need a calculator that works with pounds, shillings and pence?
If you struggle to add, multiply and divide sums of money written in pre-decimal currency, then you are not alone – and you may wish to download the Excel calculator I’ve created for just tha…
chartistancestors.blog
markcrail.bsky.social
Samuel Holberry - Revolutionary Democrat.
New book about the Sheffield Chartist 📕
chartistancestors.blog/2025/11/09/s...
Samuel Holberry: Sheffield’s Chartist martyr
Samuel Holberry – Revolutionary Democrat 1814-1842, by John Baxter and Steven Kay (1889 Books, 2025). Samuel Holberry book cover. No one knows as much about Samuel Holberry as John Baxter. Arriving…
chartistancestors.blog
November 9, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Reposted by Mark Crail
timhitchcock.bsky.social
Really pleased to announce the launch of the all-new, all-dancing, London Lives website - www.londonlives.org It has been thoroughly re-engineered to facilitate more types of search, and redesigned for phones and tablets. The team very much hopes peope like it. 1/
London Lives
www.londonlives.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Reposted by Mark Crail
sadiqkhanlondon.bsky.social
New Yorkers faced the choice between hope and fear, and just like we've seen in London, hope won.

Huge congratulations to @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social on his historic campaign.

Tonight you get your roti and your roses - enjoy!
November 5, 2025 at 3:27 AM
markcrail.bsky.social
Chartist rising in Newport #OnThisDay 1839 ends in the death of 22 “rioters” #Chartism #C19th #History
November 4, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Reposted by Mark Crail
davidrvetter.bsky.social
Private Eye nailing it.
A story in Private Eye, headlined "Minority representation on TV causes outrage". The article reads: "There has been widespread support for prominent Reform MP Sarah Pochin after she complained about the over-representation of minorities on television. Said one angry viewer, "She's right. Every time you turn on the telly there's another Reform MP being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg." She added, "I respect their way of life and their strange customs, but Reform MPs comprise only 0.7 percent of the House of Commons. Yet Nigel Farage is on Question Time more than Fiona Bruce." "I'm not prejudiced. Some of my best friends are swivel-eyed loons, but enough is enough. There are too many people with angry red faces on television."
October 29, 2025 at 12:52 PM
markcrail.bsky.social
Two more Chartist Lives on the Chartist Ancestors website: City of London Chartists John and Elizabeth Windeler
www.chartistancestors.co.uk/john-windele...
John Windeler, 1814 – 1868, and Elizabeth Windeler, 1817 – 1891 - chartist ancestors
John and Elizabeth Windeler were never prominent in Chartism and probably played only a small
www.chartistancestors.co.uk
October 27, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Mark Crail
robertsaunders.bsky.social
There is a serious, principled case for a codified constitution, for some of the reasons George sets out.

But botching together a constitution to stop Farage - a constitution that could not command widespread support and that was widely seen as rigged - would deepen our problems, not resolve them.🧵
October 23, 2025 at 10:42 PM
markcrail.bsky.social
This is interesting on eBay. A petition from a group of older school students and their teacher in favour of the Ten Hours Bill (?)presented(?) by Feargus O’Connor
#Chartism
ebay.us/m/BkU9ue
October 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Mark Crail
katrinanavickas.bsky.social
It's here!
Get your copy at reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/contest...
Books in box
October 25, 2025 at 1:31 PM
markcrail.bsky.social
Can anyone point me towards the 1841 UK Census Report (the overview with occupational overviews etc, not the individual data)? Can’t find it on Ancestry or Findmypast and the Online Historical Pop’n Reports website is constantly “too busy” and unusable.
#Genealogy #UKCensus #Census
October 25, 2025 at 8:09 AM
markcrail.bsky.social
John Cleave, one of the most important figures in the fight for a free press was born on 22 October 1796. Publisher of Cleave’s Weekly Police Gazette (and other papers), seller of radical tracts and Chartist.
www.chartistancestors.co.uk/john-cleave-...
John Cleave, 1796 - 1850 - chartist ancestors
An energetic publisher of radical tracts whose newspapers flourished thanks to a judicious mix of
www.chartistancestors.co.uk
October 23, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Mark Crail
post-doc-club.bsky.social
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month

www.jstor.org/action/showL...
September 29, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Mark Crail
runalongwomble.bsky.social
New Review - I highly recommend this novella set in the world of the Tyrant Philosophers- Lives of Bitter Rain by Adrian Tchaikovsky has a fascinating look at the way a world shapes a character www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2025/10...
Lives of Bitter Rain by Adrian Tchaikovsky — Runalong The Shelves
I would like to thank Head of Zeus for an advance copy of this novella in exchange for a far and honest review Publisher – Head of Zeus Published – Out Now Price – £16.99 hardback £5.03 ebook...
www.runalongtheshelves.net
October 21, 2025 at 7:30 AM
markcrail.bsky.social
Chartist solidarity with the #NoKings protests across the United States today.
A few words from the Northern Star, 10 February 1849
October 18, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Mark Crail
markcrail.bsky.social
Elm Hill, Norwich. There was rioting here during the general election of 1841 after John Dover took a bribe to withdraw the Chartist candidate.
www.chartistancestors.co.uk/john-dover-1...
October 16, 2025 at 3:35 PM
markcrail.bsky.social
Elm Hill, Norwich. There was rioting here during the general election of 1841 after John Dover took a bribe to withdraw the Chartist candidate.
www.chartistancestors.co.uk/john-dover-1...
October 16, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Mark Crail
nakedanthropolo.bsky.social
Thanks to @londonist.com for listing this walk to follow folks mostly considered Nobodies: 2 girls nicked for stealing a piece of cloth in 1825, jailed in Newgate, sentenced to death but later transported for life to Botany Bay. @footprintsoflondon.bsky.social www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-to...
October 14, 2025 at 5:37 PM
markcrail.bsky.social
A ‘monster meeting’ of West Riding Chartists on Hartshead Moor #OnThisDay 15 October 1838 adopts the People’s Charter. It elects William Rider, Feargus O’Connor, Peter Bussey, Lawrence Pitkeithley and James Paul Cobbett as delegates to the first Chartist convention, to take place in 1839.
October 15, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Reposted by Mark Crail
aptshadow.bsky.social
Out today, the latest Tyrant Philosophers piece - book 3.5 in the series is a novella length offering about the life of Angilly, who we met in Days of Shattered Faith. You don’t need to have read that (or any of them) to read this.
bookishsff.bsky.social Bookish Scifi & Fantasy @bookishsff.bsky.social · 28d
Lives of Bitter Rain by @aptshadow.bsky.social is out today!

A novella in the Tyrant Philosophers series, this book takes a deep dive into the character of Angilly and her past, and further explores the empire's reach, and the costs of living inside it...

💙📚🪐
#SFF
A photo of the novella in a bookshop
October 14, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by Mark Crail
adamroberts.bsky.social
How is he keeping his hat on? Is there an elasticated band going under his chin?
A 1965 issue of SCIENCE DIGEST has on its cover "Life in 1990: a Vivid Preview by Isaac Asimov". The illustration is of a commuting businessman, in grey suit and trilby hat, flying through the air towards the city thanks to the jet-pack on his back, a common feature of 1990 as I remember well.
October 9, 2025 at 1:23 PM
markcrail.bsky.social
Absolutely fascinating. Wade a fascinating figure involved in the Queen Caroline affair, agitation for the Tolpuddle labourers, Chartism and much else besides. Great to see a portrait of him.
drdavesteele.bsky.social Dave Steele @drdavesteele.bsky.social · Oct 5
Here's a recording of my Warwick Words History Festival Talk on Rev. Arthur Wade, Radical Vicar of Warwick: youtu.be/lessQB7CSJ0
Dave Steele Rev Arthur Wade Radical Vicar of Warwick
YouTube video by john smith
youtu.be
October 6, 2025 at 6:01 AM
markcrail.bsky.social
Thomas Attwood, founder of the Birmingham Political Union and leader of the 1832 Reform Bill agitation who presented the first Chartist petition to Parliament, was born #OnThisDay 6 October 1783.
www.chartistancestors.co.uk/thomas-attwo...
Thomas Attwood 1783 - 1856 - chartist ancestors
Thomas Attwood was the founder of the Birmingham Political Union, a campaigner for the 1832 Reform Act who was involved in the early stages of Chartism
www.chartistancestors.co.uk
October 6, 2025 at 5:59 AM
markcrail.bsky.social
A fine crop of #mushrooms in the garden today. Don’t think I’ll try eating them, but out of curiosity does anyone know what they are?
October 3, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Mark Crail
bethgaskell.bsky.social
Today's #MastheadMonday is the True Sun (1832-37). Founded by Patrick Grant due to his feud with Murdo Young, who he believed had swindled him out of ownership of the Sun newspaper. Charles Dickens was briefly the paper's Parliamentary reporter. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/true-...
Masthead for the True Sun
September 29, 2025 at 5:46 PM
markcrail.bsky.social
For all the science deniers out there: Galileo’s middle finger (as seen in the wonderful Galileo Museum in Florence).
September 27, 2025 at 1:21 PM