Malcolm Chase

Socialist Historians pay tribute to Malcolm Chase, (1957-2020), leading historian of working-class Teesside & Chartism

The London Socialist Historians Group which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, has paid tribute to the historian Malcolm Chase who has died aged 63.

A Leeds University obituary is here:

https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/history/news/article/1503/professor-malcolm-chase

Malcolm Chase published in 2007 arguably the best history and certainly the best researched history of Chartism yet seen. He continued to encourage new research into Victorian working-class politics.

He spoke at the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research on Chartism after the publication of his history.

The historians say that Malcolm Chase did much to frame and encourage twenty-first century research into Chartism and post-Chartism.

He had been at Leeds University’s Middlesbrough outpost from 1982 and LSHG convenor Keith Flett then living part-time in the town was encouraged by him to research aspects of the post Chartist history of working-class Teesside. One published result was ‘The early history of Stockton Co-op’

Cleveland & Teesside L.H.S., Bulletin No. 59, 1990.

LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett: I last heard Malcolm Chase speak at the Newport Rising event in November 2019 having known him for the best part of 40 years. Although he had clearly been very ill the hope was that his appearance signalled the road to full recovery.  Sadly it was not to be. His legacy is not just his impressive published work but the encouragement he gave to others to dig around in the archives and produce new research. He was also of course a great socialist beard wearer.