Stephen Ridgwell
Biographic Data
| ID | 4623456 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stephen Ridgwell |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stephen |
| FAMILY NAME | Ridgwell |
| SIGNATURE | RIDGWELL S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2931-8309 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 10 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Capital Entertainment
Throughout the nineteenth century, pantomimes were a much-loved source of winter amusement in London. Capable of generating large amounts of revenue, they also played a major role in the capital’s theatrical economy. From the most fashionable West End houses to the less prestigious neighbourhood establishments, pantomimes were a colourful highlight of the festive season. Over the course of four decades, from the last years of the Regency to the m…
Radical Vic
In nineteenth-century London, theater-going was a genuinely mass activity. Within a rapidly expanding entertainment industry, working-class playgoers abounded. Opened to the public in 1818, the Coburg Theatre, later renamed the Victoria and known as the Vic, developed an especially strong association with popular drama. Although much has been written on the kind of work that places like the Vic presented, much less has been said about their opera…
‘A kind of republic’
Theatregoing in nineteenth-century London was a mass activity. It was also one that extended beyond the playhouses of the West End. Between 1837 and 1870, the City of London Theatre was one of a number of venues catering mainly to the inhabitants of the East End. Locating the City within a distinctive East End theatre complex, this article traces the life cycle of a significant social and cultural institution that combined entertainment with elev…
The Queen of the Vic
Early in 1850, Charles Dickens went to the Victoria Theatre in Lambeth. One of several theatres sited close to the bridges linking the southern bank of the Thames with the north, the Vic was a prominent neighborhood institution catering to a mostly working-class audience. Launched in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, a move designed to coincide with the opening of Waterloo Bridge, its investors’ hopes of drawing a more upmarket crowd were largely…
Of Mouchers and Men
Vagrants loomed large in nineteenth-century consciousness. In quiet country lanes and crowded city streets, mouchers, lurkers, casuals and cadgers appeared to be everywhere. Provoking a mix of fear, pity, and plain old curiosity, these off-grid antipodes to a settled life – what Mayhew called the wandering or nomadic ‘tribes’ – seemed almost to demand attention (p. 6). Given the inherently elusive nature of the subject, where officialdom could no…
K is for Keeper’
The gamekeeper was an important but controversial presence in the late Victorian and Edwardian countryside. Admired by some for his skills in woodcraft and deep understanding of nature, for others the keeper was much less benign: a destroyer of wildlife; a barrier against wider public access to the land; and the upholder of fiercely contested laws. At a time when debates about the land and its present and future use formed a major part of contemp…
Poachers in view
For early film-makers in Britain the countryside was a highly valuable resource. As a modern urban culture acquired a distinctly ruralist orientation, the landscapes and lives of rural Britain became popular subjects for a rapidly developing visual mass media. Within this expanding visual economy, rural settings provided both picturesque space for the screen and interesting situations and characters to fill it. Forming a distinctive sub-genre to …
The Business of Having Fun
Poaching and its representation in Edwardian England, c. 1901–14
The poacher has been closely studied by historians of crime and protest in England. While much has been done to reveal the complex nature of poaching, this work has tended to concentrate on the nineteenth century and been largely concerned with practice. By shifting attention to the opening decades of the twentieth century, and by focusing instead on representation, this article explores the place of the Edwardian poacher in a rapidly expanding c…
Lurcherland
In Victorian England poachers and dogs were subject to increasing levels of public interest and engagement. This article considers how their various interactions were represented across a range of printed and visual media and suggests that in establishing the poacher as a largely positive figure the dog had a vital role to play. If a number of other factors worked in favour of the poacher, not least the widespread dislike of the Game Laws, import…
K is for Keeper’
The gamekeeper was an important but controversial presence in the late Victorian and Edwardian countryside. Admired by some for his skills in woodcraft and deep understanding of nature, for others the keeper was much less benign: a destroyer of wildlife; a barrier against wider public access to the land; and the upholder of fiercely contested laws. At a time when debates about the land and its present and future use formed a major part of contemp…
Poaching and its representation in Edwardian England, c. 1901–14
The poacher has been closely studied by historians of crime and protest in England. While much has been done to reveal the complex nature of poaching, this work has tended to concentrate on the nineteenth century and been largely concerned with practice. By shifting attention to the opening decades of the twentieth century, and by focusing instead on representation, this article explores the place of the Edwardian poacher in a rapidly expanding c…
Lurcherland
In Victorian England poachers and dogs were subject to increasing levels of public interest and engagement. This article considers how their various interactions were represented across a range of printed and visual media and suggests that in establishing the poacher as a largely positive figure the dog had a vital role to play. If a number of other factors worked in favour of the poacher, not least the widespread dislike of the Game Laws, import…
Poachers in view
For early film-makers in Britain the countryside was a highly valuable resource. As a modern urban culture acquired a distinctly ruralist orientation, the landscapes and lives of rural Britain became popular subjects for a rapidly developing visual mass media. Within this expanding visual economy, rural settings provided both picturesque space for the screen and interesting situations and characters to fill it. Forming a distinctive sub-genre to …
The Business of Having Fun
Poaching and its representation in Edwardian England, c. 1901–14
The poacher has been closely studied by historians of crime and protest in England. While much has been done to reveal the complex nature of poaching, this work has tended to concentrate on the nineteenth century and been largely concerned with practice. By shifting attention to the opening decades of the twentieth century, and by focusing instead on representation, this article explores the place of the Edwardian poacher in a rapidly expanding c…
K is for Keeper’
The gamekeeper was an important but controversial presence in the late Victorian and Edwardian countryside. Admired by some for his skills in woodcraft and deep understanding of nature, for others the keeper was much less benign: a destroyer of wildlife; a barrier against wider public access to the land; and the upholder of fiercely contested laws. At a time when debates about the land and its present and future use formed a major part of contemp…
Of Mouchers and Men
Vagrants loomed large in nineteenth-century consciousness. In quiet country lanes and crowded city streets, mouchers, lurkers, casuals and cadgers appeared to be everywhere. Provoking a mix of fear, pity, and plain old curiosity, these off-grid antipodes to a settled life – what Mayhew called the wandering or nomadic ‘tribes’ – seemed almost to demand attention (p. 6). Given the inherently elusive nature of the subject, where officialdom could no…
‘A kind of republic’
Theatregoing in nineteenth-century London was a mass activity. It was also one that extended beyond the playhouses of the West End. Between 1837 and 1870, the City of London Theatre was one of a number of venues catering mainly to the inhabitants of the East End. Locating the City within a distinctive East End theatre complex, this article traces the life cycle of a significant social and cultural institution that combined entertainment with elev…
The Queen of the Vic
Early in 1850, Charles Dickens went to the Victoria Theatre in Lambeth. One of several theatres sited close to the bridges linking the southern bank of the Thames with the north, the Vic was a prominent neighborhood institution catering to a mostly working-class audience. Launched in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, a move designed to coincide with the opening of Waterloo Bridge, its investors’ hopes of drawing a more upmarket crowd were largely…
Capital Entertainment
Throughout the nineteenth century, pantomimes were a much-loved source of winter amusement in London. Capable of generating large amounts of revenue, they also played a major role in the capital’s theatrical economy. From the most fashionable West End houses to the less prestigious neighbourhood establishments, pantomimes were a colourful highlight of the festive season. Over the course of four decades, from the last years of the Regency to the m…
Radical Vic
In nineteenth-century London, theater-going was a genuinely mass activity. Within a rapidly expanding entertainment industry, working-class playgoers abounded. Opened to the public in 1818, the Coburg Theatre, later renamed the Victoria and known as the Vic, developed an especially strong association with popular drama. Although much has been written on the kind of work that places like the Vic presented, much less has been said about their opera…
Art (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Sociology (6 works) · History (5 works) · History (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Politics (5 works) · Theater, Performance, and Music History (5 works) · Aesthetics (4 works)