ANNUAL MARTINEAU SOCIETY MEETING 2025
Dates: 22-25th June 2025
Venue: Grand Hotel Tynemouth
Address: Grand Parade, Tynemouth, NE30 4ER
Website: https://www.grandhoteltynemouth.co.uk
Tourist Website: https://www.visitnorthtyneside.com/destinations/destination/tynemouth/
Accessibility: Wheelchair access
Registration: from 5pm on Sunday 22 June 2025
Conference Organiser: Valerie Sanders – V.R.Sanders@hull.ac.uk or sandersvalerie56@gmail.com
Introduction
The 2025 Martineau Society Conference will take place in the historic resort of Tynemouth, UK, 22-25 June 2025. The conference venue will be Grand Hotel Tynemouth.
Tynemouth is steeped in history, and has major attractions, good shopping and a lively nightlife. The dramatic Tynemouth Priory & Castle dominates the headland. The site dates back centuries and is the burial place of Saints and Kings of the old Kingdom of Northumbria. Tynemouth also has strong maritime history connections. The Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade was the first of its kind in the world and there is a magnificent monument to the local-born Lord Collingwood – who took over from Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar – looking across the river. There are many lovely walks round Tynemouth, with the walk along the seafront particularly stunning. The promenade takes you to the historic North Shields Fish Quay. Front Street and Percy Park Road both have a mix of shops well worth browsing as well as traditional pubs, cafes and bistros offering anything from a cup of coffee to a la carte dining, with a Metro Station recently restored to its Victorian splendour.
Tynemouth is especially important for Martineau scholars. It is where, with the onset of illness, Harriet Martineau took up lodgings in Mrs Halliday’s house in Tynemouth from 1840 to 1845 to be near her doctor and family members in Newcastle. While in Tynemouth Martineau was confined to her room and couch, but received a stream of visitors, and continued to write. She authored The Playfellow series of children’s tales, a novel The Hour and the Man about the Haitian slave leader Toussaint Louverture, and the reflective Life in the Sickroom. She also corresponded and wrote on child labour, factory hours, sanitation, town planning, social cohesion etc. Also while there, she refused the offer of a civil list pension on the grounds that the money would come from an unjust system of taxation. Martineau claimed controversially to have been cured of her illness while in Tynemouth, by the new science of mesmerism.
Conference fee
£200 per person for whole conference (includes refreshments, lunches, 2 evening meals, and trails)
£30 for day attendance (includes refreshments, lunch, and trail
Accommodation
Delegates will need to book their conference accommodation direct with the Grand Hotel Tynemouth (phone 0191 293 6666/email reservations@grandhoteltynemouth.co.uk)
Or delegates can find their own accommodation, details of which can be found from the Tynemouth Tourist Information website (https://www.visitnortheastengland.com/places/tynemouth-whitley-bay/tynemouth-whitley-bay-where-to-stay/
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Registration: Delegate Details
Name(s):
Address:
Telephone:
Email:
Title of Paper or Presentation (max 45 mins including Q&A):
Please complete this Registration Form and send it to arrive by 30th April 2025 by email attachment to Dr Sharon Connor (sharonconnor@live.co.uk) or by post to 13 Lancaster Road, Formby, Merseyside L37 6AS. Please include any dietary requirements or allergies.
Conference payment to be received by 30th April 2025
The fee for the full Conference is £200 per person.
The Conference Day Rate is £30 with the option of dinner(s), to be paid on the day(s) attended.
Please pay either by cheque made out to the Martineau Society (posted with your Registration Form) or directly to the Martineau Society bank account, giving your name as reference:
Bank sort code: 60-15-54
Account number: 14082748
Bursaries
The Martineau Society sponsors students to attend the annual meeting.
Bursaries are usually £250. Do you wish to claim a bursary? If so, do you meet these criteria below?
The applicant should
– be a research student
– present a paper on their research at the conference
– be a member of the Society (annual student membership will be waived for the year you present a paper to the Conference).
– arrange for a letter/email of support to be sent, from a supervisor or departmental administrator if unavailable, indicating reasons for his/her support for the applicant’s attendance at the conference.
Additional Financial Help
Help with conference expenses is also available in exceptional circumstances to current
Martineau Society members who wish to give a paper or presentation. Please send an explanatory letter/email.
ALL APPLICATIONS FOR FUNDING SHOULD BE SENT TO THE SOCIETY ADMINISTRATOR, PROFESSOR GABY WEINER
by post to 27 East Street, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 2LJ UK
or by email to: gabyweiner@icloud.com
If you have any further queries, please contact conference organiser Professor Valerie Sanders – V.R.Sanders@hull.ac.uk or sandersvalerie56@gmail.com