Freedom of Belief in Britain: Heresy, Blasphemy and Your Right to have an Opinion
Adrian Gray
- Regions:
- Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, East Midlands, Yorkshire & Humber
- Notice Period:
- Short (maybe less than one month's notice)
- Type:
- Historian
- Fee:
- Paid: Around £65 minimum and £1 per head for numbers above 50 attending.
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 7th October 2026
- Tagged:
- Politics | Faith | History Of Britain | Political History
From 1400 to 1600 the parts of Britain regularly burnt or hanged people for their religious beliefs including the crime of heresy, and until the early 1900s people were imprisoned for blasphemy against the Church of England. In the late 1800s clergymen went to prison for holding 'the wrong type of service' and members of the Salvation Army were persecuted by vindictive magistrates. Now we have people being arrested for what they say on social media and discussion about how accusations of 'Islamophobia' might affect freedom of speech. This talk looks at the history of this precious freedom including some of the frankly bizarre law cases which have marked its development, and the tragic story of some of the victims. Atheist or religious, it affects everyone.
Views: 2641 | Enquiries: 4About Adrian Gray
I am a Cambridge-educated historian with around 30 published books on a variety of historical topics which you can see on my Amazon author page at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adrian-Gray/e/B0034P9K2M/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1529568674&sr=1-1
I specialise in the counties of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, but I also speak on a number of national issues such as Victorian crime and social history, the history of religious freedom, and the history of education and government inspection (which is a lot more interesting than it sounds!). I am one of the leaders of local community efforts to develop Christian heritage for tourism in Notts and Lincs, hosting coach tours from the USA and also very popular local history walks. I am fascinated by human stories so also do several talks to do with rebellious or scandalous people!
I provide a range of lively and fully-illustrated talks that can be tailored for local needs. You can email me for a full list of talks. I am a skilled presenter having worked as a teacher for many years and also as a tour guide in my home area.
How do you know I am any good? Well, I have a high level of repeat-invitations and can give some examples if you feel you need them.
Other Talks on SpeakerNet by Adrian Gray
- Mayflower Pilgrims: Why did Their Leaders All come from Notts and Lincs?
- The Price of Freedom: Nottinghamshire's Thomas Helwys
- The Top Ten Scandals from Sherwood Forest
- Tales from Darkest Lincolnshire
- The Wrays of Glentworth: Radical Gentry in Tudor England
- The 'Black Prince' of Scunthorpe
- East Coast Main Line Disasters
- Thomas Cooper of Gainsborough and Lincoln - Radical, Chartist, Poet, Preacher
- Nottinghamshire Tales of Faith and Courage
- Lincolnshire Tales of Faith and Courage
- Dangerous Women of Lincolnshire
- Lincolnshire’s Troublemakers – Hutchinson, Wheelwright and Sir Henry Vane
- Worksop, Witches and a Place in American History: the Life of Richard Bernard
- Love and Cannibals - a Victorian Widow's Journey to the Jungle
- The Capricious River Trent
- The Historical Landscape of Bassetlaw-North Nottinghamshire
- Mayflower Chaos: How the Story of what happened has been used and abused
- Scandals of the Lincolnshire Gentry
- Historical Highlights of the West Lindsey Landscape
- Kyrgyzstan - Mountains and Nomads
- By Train through the Andes
- Tudor Lincolnshire's Greatest Woman: Catherine Willoughby of Grimsthorpe
- The Historic Landscape of Newark and Sherwood
- Changing Life in Lincolnshire 1940-1980
- The Amazing Heritage Railways of Colorado
- Romance and Disaster – Marriage Disasters of the Sherwood Aristocracy
- Strange Tales of the Lincolnshire Clergy
- The Hill Railways of India
- Money, Lust and Power: More Scandals of the Lincolnshire Gentry
- 'GENERAL' WILLIAM BOOTH: FROM NOTTINGHAM TO THE WORLD
- Wesley, Lincolnshire and the Rise of Methodism
- Strange Tales of the Nottinghamshire Clergy
- Around Japan by Rail
- The Meandering Trent
- TALES FROM A LINCOLNSHIRE VILLAGE: REVESBY
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