I don't often talk sport on this blog, but I can make an exception today. While researching my book Forging Ahead, on the Black Country in the post-war decades, it quickly became obvious that alongside the economic and industrial vigour that helped the region hold its head high, its sporting success also cemented the Black … Continue reading Place to Place: Stan Cullis and Wulfrunians on The Wirral
Tag: wolverhampton
“A somewhat novel case”: a Black life in the Black Country
It's Black History Month, and as I have a little spare time I wanted to share a story that came up during my PhD research. Black history is often (wrongly) regarded as separate to Black Country history, or as something recent, but I turned up loads of Black people living their lives in mid-Victorian Wolverhampton. … Continue reading “A somewhat novel case”: a Black life in the Black Country
Ag labhairt Gaeilge sa Tír Dhubh – speaking Irish in the Black Country
Digbeth Coach Station, Birmingham - its familiar "A Hundred Thousand Welcomes" sign is a traditional Irish greeting (Dreamstime) This post follows on from this one about the use of Gaeilge, the Irish language, in mid-19th century Wolverhampton. I will likely need even more correction on my Irish in this post... Last time around I looked … Continue reading Ag labhairt Gaeilge sa Tír Dhubh – speaking Irish in the Black Country
Gaeilge sa Tír Dhubh: the Irish language in the Black Country
It's been a while since a post here, and I'd presumed that being furloughed from work would provide me with tons of spare time to write a blog. Reader, it does not work like that. However, I have been able to cobble something together about something that's on my mind at the moment - Gaeilge, … Continue reading Gaeilge sa Tír Dhubh: the Irish language in the Black Country
After Carribee Island: the Black Country’s long migration history
I've been looking for a way (and time) to wrap up my after-life of Carribee Island series (see 1880s, 1890s, WW1, 1939) for a while. I'm going to start this one with going right back to a time when this officially-designated Unhealthy Area was being torn down and its residents dispersed through Wolverhampton. Typically, those … Continue reading After Carribee Island: the Black Country’s long migration history
Towards a bibliography of Black Country history
I've just added a new page to this website: a bibliography of Black Country history. This region is, as any scholar who tries to research it will tell you, tremendously under-researched compared to many comparable regions, which is strange when you consider the huge significance of the Black Country to British industrial, social, technological and … Continue reading Towards a bibliography of Black Country history
After Carribee Island: the eve of destruction
This post follows some preceding ones on the continuing history of the area once known as Carribee Island in Wolverhampton. This area, designated a slum, was pulled down in the 1880s but as these posts have seen, the community life in and around the area remained shaped by its past. Until the 1921 census returns … Continue reading After Carribee Island: the eve of destruction
Slavery and the Black Country: collars and chains
Last week I looked at money: finance that filtered from Africa to Jamaica to Britain through the holdings of wealthy landlords such as the Earls of Dudley. This week I want to look at things: the industrial links that the Black Country had with enslavement and unfree labour. These are not easy to trace, just as … Continue reading Slavery and the Black Country: collars and chains
The Black Country flag and the uses of history (again)
In 1897, Robert Sherard published a collection of his Pearson's Magazine articles documenting the exploitation and suffering of the working men and women of Britain in some of the 'sweated' trades - he visited chemical works in Widnes, white-lead works in Newcastle, nailmakers in Bromsgrove, chainmakers in Cradley Heath, and more. The title, The White Slaves of England, has … Continue reading The Black Country flag and the uses of history (again)
St Patrick’s Day, 1873
Today is, of course, St Patrick's Day, and no doubt pubs across the country will be celebrating this typically alcohol-soaked celebration with a wide range of inflatable shamrocks, green top hats, and "kiss me I'm Irish" t-shirts. I tend to think of this bonanza of tat being a fairly modern affair, but a quick search through … Continue reading St Patrick’s Day, 1873