Bristol 1807 - a sense of place

Sections:

Introduction

Painting of an orange seller Bristolians were invited to step back in time to 1807 in a project by Bristol Libraries, in partnership with the Adult Learning Service, Cabot Primary and Hotwells Primary schools, and the Open University.

'Bristol 1807 - a sense of place' was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. It used historical sources to capture a snapshot of Bristol as experienced by local people, in the year of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. It looked at the multi-faceted nature of Bristol society in 1807 and the lives of all its citizens, their problems and enjoyments and many other aspects of contemporary city life.

The image on the right is 'Costume of a Bristol Orange Girl' by W. B. Willcocks, drawn on stone and printed at the lithographic works at 15 Clare St.

Beginning in 2007, the project ended with the publication of a book and reading list in May 2009 . Read the first news sheet (pdf 521 Kb, 2 pages) covering the first phase of this project.

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New reading list - 'Bristol 1807: Slavery, Abolition & Emancipation'

Now available: a new and extensive reading list of material available in the Reference Library (Bristol Central Library) arranged under the following headings:

Slavery; the Slave Trade
Abolition, Revolt and Emancipation; Lives of Slaves
Bristol Material
Commodities: Cocoa; Cotton; Sugar; Tobacco
Literature

It's available to buy in the Reference Library priced £2, or download the Slavery, abolition and emancipation reading list in PDF format. (pdf, 1MB).

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New book - 'Bristol in 1807: Impressions of the city at the time of Abolition'

Author Anthony Beeson and the Deputy Lord Mayor

Now available: we are proud to announce a new book, lavishly illustrated with images from the Bristol Reference Library collections - many seen for the first time in print.

It includes extracts from 19th century poems, observations and newspapers, based on research undertaken by the Bristol Reference Library staff.

The book is available to buy from all Bristol Libraries. For full details please visit the 'Bristol in 1807...' book page.

A selection of the images from the book are on the Bristol Libraries Flickr pages.

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Short story competition

Readers, budding writers and library users everywhere were invited to create a 500-word piece for a chance to win one of three book token prizes.

See the winning entries on the short story competition page.

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In this month - what the papers say

Photo of newspaper report of sentences from Quarter sessions To give a flavour of life at the time we've taken a selection of news items and adverts from Bristol newspapers of 1807. These will remain online.

The wider political and economic scene contrasts with daily dramas including:

striking workers
ways to improve the city of Bristol
escaped french prisoners
mad dogs
comets and firworks

They can be viewed month by month on the Bristol 1807 - in this month page.

Come to the Reference Library and use the microfilms of the four local 19th century newspapers or view '19th Century British Library Newspapers', including the Bristol Mercury, in the 24 Hour Library.

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Images online

An exciting development of the project has started which sees images from the 1807 Project displayed online for you to view.

The images are from the Bristol Reference Library local and national collections of early books, pamphlets, engravings etc.

Visit the 1807 Project image archive at Flickr.

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Finale event

To round off the project a finale event took place in the Cental Library.

Through music and costume, some of the sights, sounds and atmosphere of the era was recreated. Highlights included:

Members of the 28th North Gloucestershire Regiment of Foot in full uniform.
A reading of the prize-winning 1807 short story by its author Mr Rawlinson.
The first performance in two centuries of the Bristol comic song 'Great Lad of Jackass Hill'.
Music performed on the celtic harp and low Irish whistle.
Readings and songs from members of the 1807 Song Writing Project.
Choral music from the Bristol Harmony West Gallery Choir

Some photos from the event are on Bristol Libraries' Flickr website pages.

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