This talk will reveal the pre-eminent role played by citizens of Norfolk and Norwich, and specifically by its women in the campaign to Abolish Slavery in the British Empire - the first ever mass campaign for human rights.
"My previous talks have been about one of the main leaders of the Abolitionist movement, Norfolk’s Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton. As I researched the life of this amazing man, I came to realise that there were many Norfolk and Norwich women who also played a powerful role in the movement. Amelia Opie, Harriet Martineau and Elizabeth Fry are the most famous but there were many others. The vital role played by these women in the campaign to abolish slavery is all the more remarkable, because they themselves lacked even the right to vote." Alison Dow
Dr Alison Dow, formerly a GP in Mile Cross, Norwich, was born and brought up in Northern Rhodesian and has a special interest in colonial and African history, and is happy to play her part by researching the life of local historical figures whose role in history has been much overlooked
This talk, based on aspects of the book, will firstly explore the manufacturing processes and machines involved in the making of Norwich textiles in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries – from wool-combing, to yarn-making, to dyeing, to weaving, and to the lesser-known techniques of singeing, calendering and glazing. The second part of the talk will assess the importance of pattern books and pattern cards in marketing fabrics overseas and the distribution of textiles throughout Europe, the Americas and China.
Dr Michael Nix is a maritime and textile historian whose book Norwich Textiles A Global Story 1750-1840 won the History and Tradition category, East Anglian Book Awards, 2023.
Norwich has always welcomed Strangers to its city but some have been more welcome than others. The Normans disrupted Anglo-Scandinavian life, breaking the 200-year link with Denmark and reconnecting with France and Europe.
Dominant new buildings were raised and the layout radically changed but the Normans brought order, recognition and prosperity.
Adrian O'Dell is the son of a Polish Air Force officer and a nurse from Lancashire and was educated at the City of Norwich School. After an international career in the oil industry, he 'retired’ to Norfolk and has devoted himself to the study of Norfolk and Norwich’s history and heritage. He is a freelance city tour guide and was also a trustee of the Norfolk & Norwich Heritage Trust (Dragon Hall) before it was passed on to the National Centre for Writing. He has completed post-graduate studies in Landscape History at UEA. He is Chair of the Norfolk Polish Heritage Group which researches and archives stories of Polish immigration into Norfolk since World War II and has dual British/Polish nationality. Adrian has taken an active interest in the present plight of Poland’s neighbour Ukraine and at the end of his talk there will be an opportunity to donate to a fund helping Ukrainian refugees in Norwich.
This talk looks at how sickness was dealt with in the past and some of the key buildings in which treatment took place, many of which are a much-loved part of our built heritage but may well have changed functions over the years.
Vanessa Treveylan is Chair of the Norfolk Gardens Trust, President of the Costume & Textiles Association and a former Chair of The Norwich Society.
Edmund Kean was the greatest Shakespearian actor of his time and an international celebrity. This talk will explore what happened during his visit to Norwich in the summer of 1819 and will try to imagine what it must have been like to be at the Theatre Royal for his performances.
Michael and Carole Blackwell are authors of The Norwich Theatre Royal: The First 250 Years. Michael received his PhD in history from UEA and Carole graduated in theatre from George Mason University in Virginia. These backgrounds prove the perfect combination for their presentations on theatre history.
Anti-warites, pacifists, pacificists and peace movements in early twentieth-century Norwich.
Victoria Manthorpe is an author and feature writer, and author of Different Drums . One Family, Two Wars.
Acle born Peter Eade (1825-1915) was a physician at the Norwich and Norwich Hospital for 57 years and also served on the staff of the Jenny Lind Infirmary and helped found the Children's Convalescent Home at Yarmouth. He took a prominent part in the civic life on Norwich, serving as a councillor, sheriff and mayor. Eade also campaigned to establish open spaces and parks for the people, and it was largely owing to his efforts that Mousehold Heath, Eaton Park and several other smaller parks are available for us to enjoy to day. He also kept pet tortoises.
Phillida Scrivens is a local historian and biographer, Her third book The Great Thorpe Disaster 1874 was published in 2021. Phillida has given many illustrated talks to groups around Norfolk but has now decided to retire from face to face talks, so this may be the last chance to hear her speak in person.
Horace Woodward, Assistant Director of the nation’s Geological Survey, returned in 1875-1884 to Norwich, the native city of his grandfather, father and uncles to undertake a definitive survey and mapping exercise of the area. He ended up spending the happiest years of his life here amongst the quarries and railway cuttings. Half a century earlier, his grandfather Samuel Woodward (1790-1838), an antiquary who became known as The Norfolk Geologist, had blazed a trail and had earned an epitaph as an ‘indefatigable investigator’.
Matt Williams will look at the historical significance of this family and explore local connections.
Matthew Williams is a geologist and historian with a particular interest in Norwich as a physical entity. His latest books are Norwich's Netherflow on the history of the sewerage system and The Masterful Mr Collins on Norwich's city engineer 1894-1925.
