Enfilade

Nathan Drake, The New Terrace Walk, York, ca. 1756, oil on canvas, 76 × 107 cm
(York Art Gallery)

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From the York Georgian Society:

York and the Georgian City: Past, Present, and Future
King’s Manor, York, 18 May 2024

This conference aims to re-evaluate the notion of York as a Georgian city, one of the founding premises of the York Georgian Society in 1939. It will examine to what extent York can be described as a ‘Georgian’ city, and whether that label is relevant or meaningful in the present day. This is the first conference organised by the York Georgian Society in conjunction with the Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies at the University of York. It will be held in the beautiful and historic King’s Manor just outside the city walls, historically the most important building in York after the Minster.

Keynote lectures will be given by Professor Rosemary Sweet of the University of Leicester and Madeleine Pelling, historian, writer, and broadcaster. Others speakers are from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of York: Professor Jon Mee, Dr Matt Jenkins, and PhD students Constance Halstead and Rachel Feldberg. The day ends with a round table to discuss issues raised on the day and a reception. Tickets cost £5 for students, £15 for members of the Society and University of York staff, and £25 for others. The price includes morning coffee, a light lunch, afternoon tea, and a reception.

p r o g r a m m e

10.15  Registration and coffee

10.50  Introduction — Charles Martindale (University of Bristol) and Jim Watt (University of York)

11.00  First Keynote
Chair: Charles Martindale
• Rosemary Sweet (University of Leicester) — When Did York Become Georgian?

12.00  First Panel: University of York Student Papers
Chair: Jon Mee
• Rachel Feldberg — Sense and Sociability: Jane Ewbank’s Critical Engagement with Georgian York
• Constance Halstead —  Different Cities, Different Sensibilities: The Influence of Social Milieu on Anne Lister’s Discussion of Her Journal

12.50  Lunch

2.00  Second Keynote
Chair: Adam Bowett
• Madeleine Pelling (historian, writer, and broadcaster) — Writing on the Wall: Graffiti, Rebellion, and the Making of 18th-Century Britain

3.15  Second Panel
Chair: Jim Watt
• Matt Jenkins (University of York) — An Archetypal Georgian City?: Contradictions and Conformity in 18th-Century York
• Jon Mee (University of York) — Manchester College, York, 1803–40: An Outpost of Rational Dissent in an Anglican City

4.15  Tea

4.45  Roundtable
Chair: Charles Martindale
• Rosemary Sweet, Madeleine Pelling, Adam Bowett, and Peter Brown (formerly Director of Fairfax House)

5.30  Reception