Historical Association branch meetings have in recent years become a regular feature in the Girls’ Division. Each year, a series of seven lectures are delivered by a range of academics from the North West and further afield.
The schedule of lectures has now been finalised for the forthcoming academic year and the presentations will take place once a month from September to March at 7.30pm in the Girls’ Division Sutcliffe Studio. Entry is free for Historical Association members and Bolton School pupils, and £4 for non-members. Teachers who attend can ask for a CPD certificate.
The Historical Association offers a varied programme of lectures by speakers of the highest calibre:
Monday 12 September 2022 - Dr Jenni Hyde, FRHistS
John Balshaw’s Jigge: Revelry and Royalism in Restoration Lancashire
John Balshaw’s Jigge, a little-known manuscript held by the British Library, was created in the small village of Brindle, Lancashire, at the time of the Restoration. This exciting document is one of the latest known examples of a stage ‘jig’, a form of musical entertainment which had been particularly popular during the Elizabethan period.
Monday 3rd October 2023 - Dr Peter Lindfield
George Shaw: Architect, Designer, and Forger of Ancient Tudor Buildings and Interiors.
George Shaw from Uppermill on the outskirts of Greater Manchester was an industrious architect, antiquary, and forger of ancient-style furniture in 1840s Britain.
Monday 7 November 2023 - Professor Catherine Fletcher
Guns and gunpowder in early modern Europe
We've all heard of the Gunpowder Plot, but how did the rise of gunpowder weapons change European societies? In the sixteenth century, growing access to guns led to serious concerns about their use by assassins and bandits.
Monday 5 December - The Great Debate & Professor Martin Alexander*
Beyond the D-Day Beaches: German and French perspectives on June 1944?
Operation OVERLORD -- the Allied invasion of Europe on D-Day, 6 June 1944 – has now slid from “memory” to “history”. The 75th anniversary brought final reunions and rendering of honours to the dwindling band of veterans of Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword -- the five Normandy beaches.
*Great Debate starts at 6.30pm / Lecture starts at 7.30pm. All welcome to attend both events.
Monday 9 January - Professor Pater Mandler
The Crisis of the Meritocracy: How Popular Demand (not Politicians) Made Britain a Mass Education Society
Before the Second World War, only 1/5 of young people had any experience of secondary school and hardly 1-2% of higher education; today of course everyone goes to secondary school for up to 7 years and half of all young people go on to higher education. How did we get here from there?
Monday 6 February 2023 - Dr Andrew Hobbs
The diaries of Anthony Hewitson (1836-1912), Victorian journalist
The only known diaries of a Victorian UK provincial journalist, those of Anthony Hewitson (1836-1912) of Preston, are available at Lancashire Archives.
Monday 6 March 2023 - Professor Stephen Kelly
Margaret Thatcher, British state collusion and the murder of Pat Finucane
The UK government’s decision in 2020 not to establish a public enquiry into the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has resurrected a contested debate surrounding the extent of collusion between the British state and Loyalist paramilitaries during Margaret Thatcher’s premiership (1979-1990).
For the most up-to-date information, visit the Historical Association website.
Don’t forget to follow @boltonhistory on Twitter, or ‘Bolton Historical Association’ on Facebook, for updates. Alternatively, please speak to Mr Owen, Head of History, in Bolton School Girls’ Division.
The School has hosted the Historical Association lectures since September 2014.
