The last meeting of Kingswear Historians raised some very disturbing  points about a very well known designer and socialist thinker of the 19th century.

William Morris is still known for his exceptional patterns and colours which we still see in the marketplace today.

He also advocated not to have anything in your house that ‘you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’. 

He championed the working man who helped craft his beautiful products. 

However, behind the story of the beautiful art, there was a far more disturbing tale.

His family came from Tavistock and owned one of the richest arsenic mines in the world.

Morris  was a part owner.

Arsenic was a major component in the production of green dye and in the later part of the 19th century, green became the colour for the fashionistas.

The Kingswear Historians were horrified to hear that the arsenic in clothes, wallpaper, and the fabric dying process contributed to illness and death at all levels of society.

As an awareness of the dangers of arsenic grew  among medical professionals, campaigns were run  to ban its use.

Surprisingly, William Morris continued to promote the substance causing more illness in his workforce thus contradicting our perception of a moral and ethical man who wanted to improve the working man’s lot. 

Even today most people are unaware of his involvement in one of the biggest health scares of the 19th century.

Speaker, Geri Parlby gave an exceptionally well illustrated talk.

Her CV includes a first class degree in History and Theology and a masters in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute, and a theology doctorate from Roehampton University.

She has also worked as a former of Fleet Street journalist and film PR.

This background added real depth to her talk.

The Kingswear Historians will now break for the summer and the next talk will be in September when William Lindsay returns to talk about emigration from Dartmouth to Australia.