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 We ...

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 Edward ...

. He was educated at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield and the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

, 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, 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 ...

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 in

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 H ...

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 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 Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

, a study of working class authorship entitled 'The Victorian Working Class Author' (1999) and has edited, with Owen Ashton and

Robert Fyson The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, 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 Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

, 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 ...

. 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 th ...

(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

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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