Collection items

A declaration of the rights of Englishmen

Pamphlet

Even among liberal and reform-minded politicians, the notion of true ‘democracy’ in late 18th-century British politics w...

Account of a London Corresponding Society meeting

Pamphlet

In the wake of the French Revolution, demands for political reform in Britain remained moderate. Reform organisations, s...

Account of the London silk weavers' riots from the...

Newspaper, Ephemera

One of the consequences of rapid industrialisation during the Georgian period was a rise in popular protest at the human...

An Abstract of the Annual Registers of the Parish...

Register

This chart for 1802 shows the numbers of children born and living in the parish workhouses. The document notes infant mo...

An account of the Asylum for Orphan Girls

Book

This set of regulations was for the Royal Asylum for Female Orphans, effectively a workhouse for girls, at the end of th...

An Authentic History of the Cato-Street Conspiracy

Book, Illustration, Image

In May 1820 a group of political radicals plotted to assassinate the British prime minister and his cabinet. Before they...

An Enquiry concerning Political Justice

Book

William Godwin was a political philosopher and novelist. This is his major text, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice...

Broadside about the Albion Mills fire

Broadside, Ephemera, Illustration, Image

What were the Albion Mills? By 1780 4.5% of the steam engines used in industry were located in London. Over the next 20...

'Cato-Street conspirators'

Newspaper, Ephemera, Illustration, Image

In May 1820 a daring group of political radicals, led by their revolutionary leader Arthur Thistlewood, plotted an audac...

Extracts from the Life of Thomas Paine

Pamphlet

Thomas Paine’s influence as a radical political activist at the end of the 18th century was profound. Extracts from Life...

Handbill declaring allegiance to the King

Handbill, Ephemera

This short handbill dated from the last years of the 18th century was published in response to the threat of political r...

Hannah More's Cheap Repository Tracts

Book

Cheap Repository Tracts is the title of a popular series of chapbooks written in the 18th century by evangelist Hannah M...

John Stedman's Narrative of a five years expeditio...

Book, Illustration, Image

William Blake made these engravings for John Stedman’s book about his experiences working on the slave-worked plantation...

King Killing

Pamphlet

This single sheet handbill published by Richard Lee in 1795 illustrates a striking republican sentiment rarely seen in B...

Lambeth Loyalist declaration

Pamphlet

This document was drawn up in 1792 by gentlemen in Lambeth in support of the state (monarch, government and church), at ...