Stephen Frederick Roberts (1958 - July 2022) was an historian of nineteenth-century Britain who wrote extensively about

Chartism Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, w ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. He was educated at

Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Bishop Vesey's Grammar School (BVGS) is a selective state grammar school with academy status in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands. Founded in 1527, it is one of the oldest schools in Britain, the oldest state school in the West Midlands and the ...

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

and the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, from where he held B.A. and M.Litt. degrees. At the University of Birmingham he was taught by the leading historian of

Dorothy Thompson Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30, 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. She was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 and was one of the few women news commentators on radio ...

, who had been a major influence on his work. This is reflected in the co-editing of a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

for Thompson entitled 'The Duty of Discontent' (1995), a collaboration with her on a collection of contemporary illustrations entitled 'Images of Chartism' (1998) and the editing of a posthumous collection of her writings entitled 'The Dignity of Chartism' (2015). Roberts has been described as an example of that increasingly rare phenomenon - the schoolteacher-scholar. For thirty years he held a teaching post at

Hagley Catholic High School Hagley Catholic High School is a coeducational school for ages 11–18 situated in the village of Hagley, Worcestershire, England. Currently a member of the Catholic Emmaus trust of schools, it was founded by the Catholic community in Worcester ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

whilst at the same time being a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Research in Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Birmingham. He has described how a day might begin by teaching the

Great Plague of 1665 The Great Plague of London, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long Second plague pandemic, Second Pandemic, a period of intermittent bubonic plagu ...

to teenagers and might finish giving a paper on Chartism to a university seminar attended by venerable professors. For a brief period, Roberts also taught at Newman University, Birmingham. Roberts was the author of two monographs on Chartism: 'Radical Politicians and Poets in Early Victorian Britain' (1993) and 'The Chartist Prisoners' (2008). He also wrote, with Owen Ashton, a study of working class authorship entitled 'The Victorian Working Class Author' (1999) and has edited, with Owen Ashton and Robert Fyson, a bibliography entitled 'The Chartist Movement' and a collection of essays entitled 'The Chartist Legacy' (1999). Roberts has also looked at these times from the other side of the political spectrum, editing, with Mark Acton, a collection of material relating to the colourful ultra-Tory MP for Lincoln, Colonel Sibtorp. Roberts' interest in a biographical approach to writing history was reflected also in his work on Victorian Birmingham. His series 'Birmingham Biographies' (www.birmingham-biographies) sought to recover the stories of Birmingham politicians and businessmen who have been overshadowed by

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the Cons ...

. This series consists of short biographies of, amongst others, the photographer Sir Benjamin Stone (2014), the entrepreneur Sir

Richard Tangye Sir Richard Trevithick Tangye (24 November 183314 October 1906) was a British manufacturer of engines and other heavy equipment. Biography Richard Tangye was born at Illogan, near Redruth, Cornwall, the fifth son in a family of six sons and thre ...

(2015) and the pen maker and art collector

Joseph Gillott Joseph Gillott (11 October 1799 – 5 January 1872) was an English pen-manufacturer and patron of the arts based in Birmingham. Pen manufacturing After a brief period of schooling, Gillott began working in the cutlery trade in his home t ...

(2017). These men are gently sent up in Mocking Men of Power, a collection of contemporary cartoons co-edited with Roger Ward. This book draws on Birmingham's famous satirical magazines the Dart and the Owl. 'Birmingham 1889: One Year in a Victorian City' (2017), an entertaining look at what local people did and thought in the year Birmingham became a city, also makes extensive use of these magazines. Roberts spoke about the Chartists on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

and Radio WM. Since 2015 he had been visiting fellow at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Publications on Chartism

# 'Radical Politicians and Poets in Early Victorian Britain' (Mellen, 1993) # 'The Chartist Movement, A New Annotated Bibliography' (Continuum, 1995) # 'The Duty of Discontent: Essays for Dorothy Thompson' (Continuum, 1995) # 'Images of Chartism' (Merlin, 1998) # 'The Victorian Working Class Writer' (Continuum, 1999) # 'The Chartist Legacy' (Merlin, 1999) # 'The People's Charter' (Merlin, 2003) # 'The Chartist Prisoners' (Lang, 2008) # 'The Dignity of Chartism' (2015)

Publications on Victorian Birmingham

# 'Dr. J.A.Langford' (2014) # 'Sir Benjamin Stone' (2014) # 'Mocking Men of Power' (2014) # 'Sir Richard Tangye' (2015) # 'Joseph Chamberlain's Highbury' (2015) # 'Now Mr Editor!' (2015) # 'Joseph Gillott' (2016) # 'Birmingham 1889' (2017)

Publications on Victorian Lincoln

# 'The Parliamentary Career of Charles de Laet Waldo Sibthorp' (2010)

References

External links

Chartism & The Chartists
musings, information & illustrations about the Chartists from Stephen Roberts {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Stephen 1958 births People educated at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School British historians