AGM 2025 and talk (History Section)

The Annual General Meeting of the History Section. All History Section members are welcomed.

After the AGM, Amber Flood will present a talk “Suggesting social change and other “monstrous” requests in the Devon and Exeter Institution, c. 1813–1892”.

The Devon and Exeter Institution (DEI) was part of a nationwide move towards establishing subscription libraries in nineteenth-century urban areas. This period of rapid industrialisation brought with it a wave of social change and articulations of class. Though the main aim of subscription libraries was to promote intellectualism and the advancement of knowledge, it is evident that these spaces were reserved for elite personalities. This paper therefore seeks to interrogate episodes within the minute books of the DEI which highlight the moments of tension that occurred when changes were made or, when proposals towards social change were dismissed. 

Amber Flood is a PhD student at the University of Exeter in collaboration with the Devon and Exeter Institution. Her research interests include social change and intellectual culture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Attendance at the AGM is free for History Section members. Non-members £3.00. Light refreshments will be provided after the talk and all attendees will be asked to make a small donation.

If you are intending to attend please contact the Organiser (details below) by Friday 24 January 2025. AGM papers will be sent to all attendees in advance of the meeting.