British Social History

A new series of five programmes that looks at important topics from our history 1760-1851.

Production

Logo for BBC

Seasons

5 Episodes • Premiered 1981

A new series of five programmes that looks at important topics from our history 1760-1851.

Still image for British Social History season 1 episode 1: Richard Arkwright and the First Factories

1. Richard Arkwright and the First Factories

The first in a new series of five programmes that looks at important topics from our history 1760-1851. Today's programme examines the earliest powered cotton mill set in a leafy Derbyshire valley.

Still image for British Social History season 1 episode 2: The Poor Weaver

2. The Poor Weaver

The historical drama for schools takes a closer look at Glasgow in 1834, when the city filled with Highlanders, Lowlanders and Irish people, all looking for work.

Still image for British Social History season 1 episode 3: Shame

3. Shame

A new play about the Workhouse Act of 1834. An old cottage is the home of Cathy's aunt and uncle. It may be cosy and comfortable now, but once it witnessed terrible things - which have left their mark.

Still image for British Social History season 1 episode 4: Man Made the Slave

4. Man Made the Slave

Set in the Midlands in 1840, this edition tells the story of Thomas Cooper, a leading member of protest movement the Leicester Chartists.

Still image for British Social History season 1 episode 5: The Railways

5. The Railways

Railways - 'A device for making the world smaller'. Keith Chegwin visits the Liverpool to Manchester line and looks at ways in which the railways changed the 19th century.

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