Sir Francis Ronalds’ second sister Mary Anne (1794-1882) married one of his old schoolmates, Peter Martineau (1785-1869). Peter was the son of Peter Finch Martineau. His first cousins included Harriet and James Martineau and engineer John Martineau. Peter was a wealthy sugar refiner and held an important patent for whitening Read more

Please click here for draft minutes of this year’s AGM. Read more

We’re delighted to announce the publication in paperback by Gardners Books of Stuart Hobday’s new book Encounters with Harriet Martineau (to see cover, click here). It can be ordered from all good bookshops, ISBN 9781911586210   Read more

A new collection on Harriet Martineau entitled Harriet Martineau and the Birth of the Disciplines  and edited by two Martineau Society members, Valerie Sanders and Gaby Weiner, was published by Routledge in 2016.  Many of the chapters were written by  Martineau Society members; for example, Lesa Scholl on Autobiography, Ruth Watts on Education, John Vint and Read more

David Hamilton We couldn’t initially find the conference hotel in Hull since it has repeatedly changed its identity. Known locally as the ‘Station’ Hotel, it was part of the Mercure network (when we booked) and, when we arrived, we discovered it has become a Britannia Hotel. Yet, as befits a Read more

Despite always having lived on Merseyside, I’m embarrassed to admit that I only visited Sudley House in South Liverpool, for the first time this year. Sudley House and its picture collection are run by National Museums Liverpool, and the estate was bequeathed to the city in 1944 by Emma Holt. Read more

For a post from Glen Huntley who has written about the Martineau home in Toxteth Park, please click here Read more

The Harriet Martineau Lecture is held in Norwich annually, celebrating the legacy of this remarkable, world-changing woman by inviting globally-renowned radical writers to respond to her life and work. This year’s Harriet Martineau Lecture will be given two of Mexico’s finest journalists, Lydia Cacho and Anabel Hernández, who will describe Read more

This is a Cadbury Research Library event for International Women’s Day. Our very own Stuart Hobday will look at the personal side of Martineau’s life and her influence on other Victorian luminaries such as Charles Darwin and George Eliot, drawing on his new book ‘Encounters with Harriet Martineau’ (Unbound, 2016) Please Read more