iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

JoannaMWilliams @joannamw.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Get a lot more from my book…

JoannaMWilliams @joannamw.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

In all the excitement about 'Emmeline's Loving Comrade' don't forget about my two previous books, both of which have connections with Richard Pankhurst. The radical world of the later 19th century was a small but vibrant place!

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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Alan Turing died on this day 1954, aged forty-one.

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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

The Reform Act in England and Wales gained royal assent on this day 1832. It widened the electorate to about 20 per cent of adult males and redistributed parliamentary seats to industrial towns including Manchester, Birmingham, Bolton, Salford, Rochdale, Ashton and Bury.

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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Hebden Bridge, west Yorkshire, photo by Alice Longstaff, 1907-92 (Pennine Heritage).

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JoannaMWilliams @joannamw.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

My book ‘Emmeline’s Loving Comrade: Richard Marsden Pankhurst’ includes fascinating and unusual images:

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History Today @historytoday.com · 29/05/2026

Surgeons trying to eliminate pain eventually arrived at anaesthesia – but not before a contest with older, more unusual therapies. Why was mesmerism so magnetic? ⌛️ Last chance to read this archive article for free buff.ly/zgdXFTB

buff.ly

Mesmerism: Pain Management before Anaesthetics

Surgeons trying to eliminate pain eventually arrived at anaesthesia – but not before a contest with older, more unusual therapies. Why was mesmerism so magnetic?

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Victorian Commons @victoriancommons.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Our senior research fellow @martinspychal.bsky.social will be featuring on Today in Parliament at 11:30 p.m. on BBC Radio 4, talking about why MPs 'take the Chiltern Hundreds' to resign from the Commons. It will be available on catch up here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 - Today in Parliament, 22/05/2026

Sean Curran reports as rank-and-file MPs get the chance to bring in their own laws.

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

21 May 1790 The first patient, Mary Cottery, was registered with the newly founded Manchester Lying-In Charity (later, St Mary’s Hospital), which provided midwives to ‘poor married women’.

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JoannaMWilliams @joannamw.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Richard Pankhurst links with another of the outstanding people I have written about. ‘Manchester’s Radical Mayor: Abel Heywood, the man who built the Town Hall’ explains how their political careers intertwined in the 1880s.

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

17 May 1966 Bob Dylan played the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, prompting a shout of ‘Judas’ from the audience for playing an electric set.

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History of Parliament @histparl.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, defeated and captured Henry III at the Battle of Lewes on 14 May 1264. The victory secured de Montfort's position as the de facto ruler of England, and paved the way for his momentous 1265 parliament.

historyofparliament.com

Simon de Montfort's 1265 Parliament and Magna Carta

Simon de Montfort's famous 1265 Parliament opened in Westminster Hall. This is one of two anniversaries this year, along with the sealing

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

15 May 1815 A panic at the Collegiate Church (Manchester Cathedral) that the roof was falling in led to one child being killed and 5 injured.

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History Today @historytoday.com · 15/05/2026

Signed in 1916, the Sykes-Picot Agreement became shorthand for Western treachery, greed, and imperialism in the Middle East. ⌛️ Last chance to read this archive article for free www.historytoday.com/archive/hist...

historytoday.com

Sykes-Picot: Architects of Failure in the Middle East

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Britain’s War Memorials @britwarmemorial.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Milson war memorial plaque. St. George’s Church, Milson, Shropshire. First World War. #LestWeForget

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JoannaMWilliams @joannamw.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Have a listen about my new book about Emmeline Pankhurst’s husband

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Zoe Thomas @zoethomas.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

So great to see amazing @unibirmingham.bsky.social @mbsbirmingham.bsky.social PhD researcher Kelly Bosomworth‘s work in “The Women’s Library at 100“ exhibition @lselibrary.bsky.social as part of her wider PhD project all about the Six Point Group 😍

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

12 May 1785 In front of a huge crowd, James Sadler, possibly accompanied by a cat, ascended in a hot air balloon from a garden in Manchester. Balloon Street marks the site. The names of Sadler's Yard and Sadler's Cat pub commemorate the balloonist and his cat.

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History Today @historytoday.com · 12/05/2026

The #Cyrillic alphabet is celebrated across the Slavonic-speaking world, but not only as an appreciation of literacy – it has a political dimension too. ⌛️ Last chance to read this archive article for free www.historytoday.com/archive/hist...

historytoday.com

Inventing Cyrillic

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Victorian Commons @victoriancommons.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Checking what we have written on Somerset constituencies, we find we also have a candidate called Thomas Buckler Lethbridge, who stood for Bridgwater in 1837, when he described it as a 'scene of depravity and fraud'. Notoriously corrupt, it was punished by losing the right to elect MPs in 1870.

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JoannaMWilliams @joannamw.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a bold new deal with the EU, forming a new customs union. Fixing our trading relationship with Europe is the only way to turbocharge our economy and fix the cost of living crisis. Add your name: www.libdems.org.uk/trade

libdems.org.uk

Fix Britain's Trade

Liberal Democrats want to turbocharge our economy by forming a Customs Union with the EU, tearing down the trade barriers and red tape holding us back.

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

9 May 1584 Manchester ‘No single women were allowed in the town unless under the guardianship of their relatives, or in others’ employ’.

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History Today @historytoday.com · 07/05/2026

Before the secret ballot, voting in Britain was a theatrical, violent and public affair. 🔓 This archive article is free for 7 days www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...

historytoday.com

Voting Before the Secret Ballot

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Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Come on, guys, please let’s get the word out, and spread these articles around. Media complicity in Reform’s rise is truly shameful.

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Patrick - Here for the craic❗️🤷🏼‍♂️😉 @paddyopatrick.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Today in London a migrant took my blood pressure, ECG, & completed pre op assessment✅ Another took my blood✅ Soon one will keep me breathing & give pain relief during my op✅ Others will look after me in recovery & on a ward✅ They do this every year ❤️ Without them I’d be seriously ill or dead 🤷🏼‍♂️

Image shows Telegraph headline falsely claiming 1 in 12 ppl in london are illegal migrants

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Britain’s War Memorials @britwarmemorial.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

War memorial plaque. St. Peter’s Church, Worfield, Shropshire. Boer War and Egyptian Campaign. #LestWeForget

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

This week in 1790 Manchester’s Lying-In Charity (later St Mary’s Hospital) was founded at a meeting at the Bridgewater Arms, providing midwives and ‘men-midwives’ (obstetricians) to poor married women in their own homes or in the Lying-In Hospital.

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

The provision of a hospital for births was not applauded by all in Manchester, with critics arguing that it encouraged a husband to be unfaithful while his wife was absent from home.

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

This week in 1857 the Art Treasures Exhibition opened in Old Trafford, in a huge temporary iron and glass building, displaying 16,000 works. It had 1.3m visitors including Queen Victoria in less than 6 months. Charles Hallé formed an orchestra to perform there - the origins of the Hallé.

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

28 April 1768 The first stone of St John’s Church Manchester was laid. The church occupied St John’s Gardens where 22,000 bodies are buried.

St John's Gardens - stone cross standing in flower bed of formal gardens, surrounded by trees

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

29 April 1862. 2,000 – 3,000 unemployed workers met in Stevenson Square as Manchester experienced the cotton famine - raw cotton was stopped from reaching Lancashire due to the American Civil War. The same day the Mayor called a meeting to discuss forming a relief committee.

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

30 April 1851 A meeting at Manchester’s (old) Town Hall advocated a half-holiday (Saturday afternoons off) for milliners and dressmakers. In 1843 William Marsden had helped broker a deal for the half day with the town’s warehouse owners, and this spread to other employers.

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

This week in 1896 ‘The Hundred and One Dalmatians’ and ‘I Capture the Castle’ author Dodie Smith was born in Whitefield. She lived in Old Trafford until she was a teenager.

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(Dr) Debbie Challis @poisonchallis.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Yoga with sonnets for #Shakespeare Day @porticolibrary.bsky.social Gorgeous.

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The Portico Library @porticolibrary.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

🧵 Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes into lovingly repairing historic books from The Portico's 19th-century collection...

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The Portico Library @porticolibrary.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Did you know that Dickens visited the Portico a few days before he set off for a family holiday to Italy in June 1843? Let's join him from Manchester... 🔗 Book your spot: www.theportico.org.uk/event-calend...

theportico.org.uk

PicturesofItaly — The Portico Library

A bookclub but with a difference - just a few passages to read & discuss in a relaxed environment. Come with us to Italy this summer . . .

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The Portico Library @porticolibrary.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Join The Portico's Creative Producer and cultural historian Dr Debbie Challis for our next edition on Wednesday 20th May as we explore Charles Dickens' connection with the library...

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

This week 1853 Charlotte Bronte visited Manchester staying with Elizabeth Gaskell, who described Bronte as having a nervous dread of strangers. Bronte had previously described Elizabeth Gaskell's House @eilzabethgaskellsh.bsky.social as ‘a large, cheerful, airy house, quite out of Manchester smoke’

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

This week in 1902 football club Newton Heath was relaunched as Manchester United.

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Philippa Vishnyakov @revealmcr.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

27 April 1773 A survey filed at Chetham’s Library showed Manchester to have 3,402 houses and Salford 866.

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History Today @historytoday.com · 27/04/2026

#MaryWollstonecraft was born #OnThisDay in 1759. Why were female explorers of the #19thcentury so vehemently #antifeminist? The case of Mary Wollstonecraft may hold the answer. 🔓 This archive article is free for 7 days www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...

historytoday.com

The Cautionary Case of Mary Wollstonecraft

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The Portico Library @porticolibrary.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

🧵 Slow down, read closely, think and discuss - that's what our Slow Reading Clubs are all about...

Charles Dickens pictures from Italy event poster

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History of Parliament @histparl.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

On 27 April 1992, Betty Boothroyd became the first female Speaker of the House of Commons. To mark the anniversary we are resharing this #HistParl article by @emmapeplow.bsky.social, featuring clips from Boothroyd's interview as part of our Oral History project.

historyofparliament.com

A tribute to Betty Boothroyd - The History of Parliament

In today's blog, we pay tribute to Betty Boothroyd, the first female Speaker of the Commons, who sadly died yesterday. Dr Emma Peplow, Head of our Oral

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History of Parliament @histparl.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

On this day in 1599, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland 1653-58, was born. Head to our website to explore our varied collection of articles on one of the most important figures in British parliamentary history.

historyofparliament.com

Oliver Cromwell - The History of Parliament

Dr David Scott, Editor of the 1640-60 House of Lords section, explores the role of the peers in securing the right of Parliament to meet regularly. The Triennial Act of February 1641 was the first…

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The Portico Library @porticolibrary.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Conversation will be guided by Amy Etherington, Portico Kitchen staff member and MA in Literature with a specific interest in Gothic and women’s fiction from the 19th century. 🔗 Book your spot here: www.theportico.org.uk/event-calend...

theportico.org.uk

DiningwithJaneAusten — The Portico Library

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of her birth, join the Portico Kitchen for an afternoon of thoughtful conversation and delectable bites centred on the work of Jane Austen.

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