There has recently been renewed interest in the politics of suburbia, however the politics of the working-class suburb remains a neglected subject. Between 1870 and 1914 there was an enormous expansion of working-class suburbs outside the boundaries of the L.C.C. in town such as Walthamstow, Tottenham and Edmonton. This process has been seen by some as having a de-radicalising influence on working-class politics. In this thesis I seek to show that in reality there was a complex politics in suburban Walthamstow involving existing residents, developers and new suburbans in contests over competing visions of the suburb’s destiny as a place. In contrast to the traditional image of the Conservative suburb, we find that Radicalism was successful in establishing itself after 1870 by exploring a growing sense of Walthamstow as a working-class place. As a result Radical-Progressivism became the dominant popular political ideology in Walthamstow between 1894 and 1914. However, this dominance was never uncontested, and by the end of the period, as Walthamstow’s suburbanity was changing, there were signs that Radicals were having increasing difficulty in maintaining their claim to represent Walthamstow’s working class against challenges from both the left and the right.

This dissertation is about the perceived relationship between science and eccentricity in early nineteenth-century Britain. Taking a cultural-historical approach, it explores how ideas about science and eccentricity gave order and meaning to people’s lives. It begins by examining how eccentricity was defined as a cultural phenomenon. The term ‘eccentric’ was first used figuratively to describe people who were seen to be like comets, and, into the nineteenth century, eccentricity continued to be associated with comet-like qualities: visionariness, liminality and lawlessness. These themes recur throughout the main body of the thesis, which is composed of three case-studies. In each study, eccentricity is looked at in connection with a different medium of self-presentation. Chapter 2 explores eccentricity as cultural performance: focusing on the carnivalesque lectures and demonstrations of the anti-Newtonian natural philosopher and prophet, William Martin (1772-1851), it argues that eccentric characters could serve useful social functions. The central argument of the chapter concerns the role of audiences in the creation of eccentric identities. This is explored through the activities of Martin’s opponents and ‘disciples’. Eccentricity could be mediated through performance, but it also had a literary dimension. Chapter 3 applies techniques of close reading to two ‘eccentric’ books by the Somerset fossil collector, Thomas Hawkins (1810-1889). Hawkins aimed to flesh out the Mosaic account of Creation by supplementing biblical exegesis with evidence from geological science. He styled himself as visionary, recording profound interpretations of fossil signs in ambiguous, vatic language. The chapter examines how Hawkins constructed his ‘eccentric’ prophetic persona through writing. It argues that his books were labelled ‘eccentric’ because they disregarded the genetic conventions governing the production of scientific works. The final case-study explores the relationship between eccentricity and visiting. Focusing on response to the natural history collection of Charles Waterton (1782-1865), it describes how visitors draw on stories, images and gossip in interpreting objects on display. The early nineteenth century saw the rise of the culture of the celebrity. To many visitors, Waterton was the most curious specimen in the collection. The chapter explores how visitors’ anecdotes, circulated in memoirs, travel narratives, newspapers and magazines, functioned to establish and propagate eccentric reputations. The dissertation ends with some reflections on how the case studies might contribute to our understanding of eccentricity in British culture today.

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Social historians, and particularly women's historians, have looked at various aspects of married life. The best-researched areas are probably economic relations of spouses and, more recently, birth control. This thesis, which is based on oral history research, is an attempt to survey all aspects of marriage and married life from courtship to the birth of children. The text is divided into six chapters intended to cover the life cycle of the martial relationship from inception to the end of the first ten years or so. The thesis can be roughly divided into two parts. The first three chapters look at the period before marriage and areas examined include: influence of family background on marriage choices; courtship practices including pre-martial sex; spousal selection; motivation for marriage; weddings. The remaining three chapters look at different aspects of married life including housing; gender roles; marital sex; family planning; parenthood. This work is unusual in that it considers equally men and women and their experiences of marriage. The findings are based on sixty-seven interviews with men and women who were married in either the 1930s or the 1950s and who were born in either Birmingham or Hull. All respondents came from a manual working-class background and none remained in education past the minimum school leaving age. With one exception none of the respondents were married to each other. The material generated by the interviews enables a comparison of expectations and experience of marriage across cohorts, and its analysis reveals some of the changes in the relationships between men and women that occurred during the twentieth century.

This dissertation seeks to examine, understand and analyse the threat posed by Oswald Mosley and the British fascists leading up to and during the Second World War. It focuses on the culmination of events and analysis that led to the British government’s internment policy in 1940 as well as the administration and effects of that policy. Based on research using newly declassified Security Service files, this dissertation seeks to contribute to our understanding of an episode in Britain’s history which until now has been described as a ‘draconian mistake’ and a ‘dark spot’ on her wartime record and which has been inaccurately and undeservedly blamed on the incompetence of the Security Service. It aims to explore the threat posed by the British fascists in the interwar period, the escalation of that threat during the ‘Phoney War’ and the resulting decision to intern the British Fascists under Defence Regulation 18b. Furthermore, this dissertation is a study of how Defence Regulation 18b was administered as well as the functions and interactions of the departments involved; for the first time, including the Security Service. It seeks to contribute to the study of British fascism and to the growing study of the Security Service, as well as provide insight into the practice of executive detention.

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This thesis undertakes an historical analysis of the position of women through the organisation of British Climbing c.1857-1955. The thesis examines the problematic use of internal histories that are dependent on the particular. and gendered, organisation of climbing. The argument is structured around a narrative of three emerging phases of British climbing activity: Alpine mountaineering (c.1850s). rock climbing (c.1880s) and high peak expeditionism (c.1920s). Charting these phases using primary and secondary sources. the thesis argues that academic history as written from a basis of male authority and claims to expertise. tempts historians along a particular interpretive path: one where not only male achievement and endeavour invariably takes absolute precedence. but does so from a basis of largely unquestioned circumstances of production and reproduction of knowledge. The analysis shows that far from being a male preserve. women have been climbing since the inception of the sport and at the time when the first climbing clubs. established by and for men. were founded. By examining these key climbing organisations. with particular reference to their foundation. character and aims. the thesis shows how social practices which turned upon articulations of gender were deployed in a way that served to sideline women and their achievements. However. in response. women founded their own clubs and inaugurated their own set of values and climbing practices in the context of the sport. By considering the experiences of individual climbers through this context of organisational. that is. mainly club history. the thesis illustrates the way's in which organisational location could either benefit or disadvantage women. individually and collectively. in terms of validation of their activity. both within and beyond the climbing community. Due to the nature of existing historical interpretations. the thesis argues that gender has been. and remains. the primary point of mediation for understandings of the identity of 'the climber'. for the organisational development of British climbing. and for how climbers have been perceived both by their contemporaries. historians and in the public domain