ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY Newsletter New Series, 8, November 2011
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ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY newsletter new series, 8, November 2011 Presidential Letter Colin Jones Queen Mary University of London IN THIS ISSUE My Presidential Letter this autumn aims Policy Committee, and just last week to provide colleagues with just a flavour he and I hosted our now annual meeting Presidential Letter of the range of activities and initiatives with History representatives of the main 1 in which I am involved on the Society’s A-Level examining boards. Commercial News from TNA behalf. rivalry between the boards means that 2 they rarely meet together, and we like Only last week, for example, the Society to think the discussions are as helpful for Making an Impact in made a formal response to Hefce on them as for us, as we take the pulse of our the Community the Research Excellence Framework discipline in the schools. We are keeping Andrew Davies - 3 consultation. Jo Innes, Vice-President for a weather eye on for the impending The IHR turns 90 Research Policy, and I drafted the response announcement of changes to the national Jane Winters - 4-5 following discussion within the Society. curriculum, a subject on which we have Some things we are all probably unhappy lobbied Secretary of State, Michael Gove, Society for the Study about – viz. ‘impact’ – are non-negotiable and plan to do so again. of French History by now, but we identified issues where Malcolm Crook - 6 there seemed room for improvement. Most Earlier this summer, I was invited to The London Mosque eye-catching of these were anti-diluvian represent the Society at a lunch held in Humayun Ansari - 7 proposals concerning how maternity the Houses of Parliament to honour Eric leave is taken into account in producing Hobsbawm and Hugh Thomas. The event New President-Elect research outputs. We feel confident that was organised by the All-Party Group on for the RHS these will be changed. We were also happy Archives and History. Following on from 8 to commend some proposals – such as this occasion, I have been invited to RHS Fellowships ‘double-weighting’ of major monographs – attend the officers’ meetings of the Group. 9 as in the interests of the discipline. Many parliamentarians are of course historians by training and affection, so RHS Prizes and Peter Mandler, my successor as President there are important links to nurture here. Awards from late 2012 (see p. 8), is currently our 10-11 Vice-President and chair of the Education Also over the summer, our Publications Forthcoming Events 12 2 Committee has been discussing with Brepols and In September, our indefatigable administrators, the Institute of Historical Research, our partners Sue Carr and Melanie Ransom, reported to in the Bibliography of British and Irish History, our Finance Committee that the Society’s plans to introduce a reduced BBIH subscription membership has passed the 3,000 mark for the for the Society membership from 2012. We first time in its history. It is encouraging to see anticipate a reduced rate being particularly particular growth in the category of Members – helpful to our Retired Fellows (a group which usually early career scholars, a group for which now numbers over 600) and to those who are the Society has particular concern, and whose independent scholars. activities we nurture through our prizes and awards for research activity. Much else is in the pipeline. In November, I will be leading a delegation of Council to participate Growing membership subscriptions allow us to in a research symposium at the University of continue and expand the work of the Society – its Glamorgan for one of our two annual visits to publications, its events, its awards, and so on – institutions outside London. In the same month, which forms the backdrop to the highlights I have we will host the annual Colin Matthew Lecture mentioned. In all of this normal and everyday for the Public Understanding of History, and I work, I am very lucky to draw on the help of will deliver the third of my four Presidential an excellent team. Linchpin of much that we Addresses. In December, I will be present at the have done in recent years has been the Society’s East London Mosque, representing the Society at Honorary Secretary, Vanessa Harding. Vanessa is the launch of our latest Camden Series volume, standing down from her post in November. This is the fascinating The Making of the East London an appropriate time to thank her warmly for all Mosque (see p. 7). In addition, we are also that she has achieved for the Society during her currently working with The National Archives tenure. on our Gerald Aylmer Seminar in February 2012 devoted to ‘Locating the Past’. priorities, essentially the big questions facing TNA News from TNA at the moment. We hope that by answering these key questions we will be able to provide an even Ruth Roberts, TNA more effective service to researchers. At The National Archives (TNA) we have dedicated We are keen to increase collaboration with the staff who are committed to carrying out historical academic community, so if you think a visit from research enabling us to provide sound advice, TNA’s Research Team would be beneficial to you improve access to our collection and share and your institution please let us know and we knowledge with not just the academic community would be happy to arrange a visit. Maybe you’d but the wider general public. Collaborating with like to hear more about working with TNA or academics to undertake such historical research our new research strategy, or are particularly is important and we welcome applications to interested in a specific project or collection, or partner and/or support external research projects. would like to find out more about TNA’s general However, due to limited resources, we are plans for the future. We could attend a staff unable to support every application we receive. development session or speak to students – We are therefore in the process of drawing up whatever format works best for you. Please do get a set of historical research priorities. These in touch if you are interested. priorities will be available on our website soon but, in the meantime, if you are interested in And, lastly, if you haven’t already, please sign up undertaking historical research in collaboration for alerts for our online newsletter by emailing: with The National Archives please email research@ [email protected]. The nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk for further information. newsletter allows you to keep up-to-date with TNA. For previous editions see: http://www. As well as the historical research priorities, we nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/research/news.htm. have also identified a set of strategic research to Rob Lees and Jill Hughes, co-founders of MaD, a 3 Making an Impact in not-for-profit community theatre company based in Moston in North Manchester. They write and the Community perform topical plays for mainly local, working- class audiences and they seized on one of the Andrew Davies, University of Liverpool book’s central episodes: a feud between rival gangs on the city’s north side during the 1880s. When I started research on youth gangs and street Knife-crime was all too resonant for some of the violence in Victorian Manchester and Salford, I group’s younger members, and they helped to flesh never dreamed I’d find myself playing Angus Reach, out Lees and Hughes’ script for Angels with Manky author of one of my primary sources, on film. Faces, a tragi-comedy set in Victorian Manchester. I published some of my findings in The Gangs of Manchester in 2008. Keen to attract local as well In this collaboration, my academic expertise as academic readers, I opted for a ‘true crime’ became a resource for the group. I was able to publisher, Milo Books, rather than a university advise on language, costumes and sets, and – just press. What I didn’t fully anticipate was the sheer as importantly – make calls to journalists and local hunger for history beyond academia and the media. TV / radio producers, some of whom were initially Invitations to read from the book flooded in: from sceptical of the newsworthiness of ‘community libraries, schools, community centres, youth clubs, arts’. At the first production meeting, Rob Lees probation hostels and a writer-in-residence at HM pointed out that the main risk we ran was being Prison Manchester (Strangeways). accused of glamorising gangs. We took the decision that no fight scenes were to be acted out on stage. Many of those who attended the public talks had MaD productions regularly intersperse live scenes already read the book and were eager to discuss and black-and-white film sequences shot by long- its implications for our present-day concerns with term collaborator, Paul Cliff. For Angels, Paul gangs and knife-crime. Older Mancunians, aware filmed two fight sequences featuring members of that they had enjoyed opportunities denied to the cast and junior supporters of the community their own grandchildren, lamented the decline football club, FC United of Manchester. of apprenticeships, but they also bemoaned the demise of local lads’ clubs – initially formed in Several celebrities did filmed cameos in Angels: response to fears surrounding gangs in the 1880s. actors from Coronation Street and Early Doors, and members of The Smiths and Inspiral Carpets, whose How did the filming come about? I offered the book songs we used as soundtracks to our films. We even had Terry Christian playing a wayward priest. The first run of Angels with Manky Faces – a week at Manchester’s Library Theatre in August 2009 – sold-out weeks in advance.