The Trial of the George Fox Six
Linda Mary-Smalley describes how the treatment of six activists at Lancaster University - dubbed in the press as the George Fox 6 - became a land mark event in both the criminalisation of dissent and...
Author: dan_tierney
The Miners’ Strike 1984-5
The Miners’ Strike of 1984-5 was an event of huge national significance that also affected Lancaster and the surrounding area. Lancaster citizens formed both a Miners Support Group and hosted a summer camp for the...
The General Strike of 1926
The General Strike began on the 4th May 1926 with between 1.5 and 1.75 million workers throughout the country striking in solidarity. What follows is an account of what happened in Lancaster....
Isaac Hitchen’s House
In 1806, five men were tried and executed for ‘sodomy’ at Lancaster Castle, following a raid on the house of Isaac Hitchen in Warrington. Eleanor Levin has researched and written up this story into a...
Quaker Women Prison Reformers at Lancaster Castle
Margaret Fell and Elizabeth Fry are two significant female figures in Quaker history and both passed through Lancaster Castle: Fell was tried and imprisoned here as a religious dissident in the 1660s while Fry visited...
Lancaster Quakers and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
From the beginning of their organisation, Quaker Friends believed that all persons are equal in God's eyes and Quakers were active in denouncing slavery and campaigning for its abolition. However, living in a port town...
The Arrest of John Woodcock
This article tells the story of a 17th century Catholic priest who was pursued, arrested and executed for being at odds with the official religion of his day....
Thewlis And Wrennall
Two men are accused of dissent because of their Catholic faith. This article tells the story of their capture, their escape and their eventual fate...
The Burgess Altar
This article focuses on an altar constructed for the secret and illegal celebration of Mass in the 16th century, and on its subsequent history up to the present time. The story throws light on the...
Silent Histories from Lancaster Royal Grammar School
Silent Histories from Lancaster Royal Grammar School: Changing attitudes to conscientious objection at the school and the service of former pupils in the Friends Ambulance Unit....