Chartism and the Chartists in Manchester and Salford

300 Pages·1995·18.646 MB·English

by  Paul A. Pickering (auth.)

CHARTISM AND THE CHARTISTS IN
MANCHESTER AND SALFORD
Also by Paul A. Pickering
WORK AND SOCIETY: The Impact of the Agricultural and Industrial
Revolutions on Britain (editor with Alex Tyrell)
Chartism
and the Chartists
in Manchester and Salford
Paul A. Pickering
First published in Great Britain 1995 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-39291-9 ISBN 978-0-230-37648-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230376489
First published in the United States of America 1995 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-12727-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pickering Paul A.
Chartism and the chartists in Manchester and Salford I Paul A.
Pickering.
p. em.
Originally presented as the author's thesis.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-12727-5
I. Chartism-England-Manchester. 2. Chartism-England-Salford
(Greater Manchester) I. Title.
HD8396.P52 1995
322.4'4'094273-<lc20 95-8228
CIP
------------------··-----
© Paul A. Pickering 1995
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1995 978-0-333-62052-6
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London WI P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95
Contents
List of Tables VII
Acknowledgements VIII
List of Abbreviations X
Introduction
Part 1: Chartist Manchester and Salford
'The Old Immoral World' -Working-Class Manchester
and Salford 9
2 'A Wall of Brotherhood' -The Reform Community 34
Part II: A Mosaic of Reform
3 Trade Unions and Politics 59
4 Municipal Chartism-Local Government in
Manchester and Salford, 1837--42 73
5 The League, Cheap Bread and the Irish 86
6 New Moral Worlds-Co-operation, Owenism and
Radical Christianity 105
7 Working-Class Self-Help 122
Part III: 'The Fustian Jackets'
8 Prison, Poverty and Professional Politics: A Biographical
Analysis of the Local Chartist Leadership 139
9 Class without Words: Rank-and-File Communication
in the Chartist Movement 159
I 0 Keeping the Faith 173
Conclusion 185
Appendix A: Local Chartist Portraits 189
Appendix B: Occupational Profile of Chartist Membership 211
v
VI Contents
Appendix C: The Chartist Banners 214
Notes 217
Bibliographical Note 284
Index 285
List of Tables
1.1 Census Figures for Manchester and Salford, 1801-31 19
1.2 General Summary of Population, 1841 19
1.3 Comparative Population and Constituency Figures, 1841 20
1.4 Statement of Weekly Expenditure in 1839 26
1.5 Comparative Retail Prices of Items of Household
Expenditure, 1836-41 27
1.6 Emergency Relief in Manchester, 1838-42 28
3.1 Trade Unions and the Chartists 61
4.1 Chartists elected to the Manchester Police Commission,
1830-42 79
4.2 Chartists Elected to the Salford Police Commission,
1835-42 82
8.1 Age in 1840/Place of Birth 141
8.2 Marital Status/Number of Children/Religion 142
8.3 Chartist Involvement 1838-43/A rrest/Prison 146
8.4 The Trade of Agitation 152
vii
Acknowledgements
This book, and the PhD thesis on which it is based, have had a lengthy
gestation. Over this time I have accumulated numerous intellectual and
emotional debts.
First. I should like to express my gratitude to Mr Alex Tyrrell. As the
thesis supervisor he was, in appropriate parts, spirited adviser, stern critic,
and friend. He has read the entire draft of this book and offered many
valuable suggestions. My work has been enriched by his guidance and
insight.
The examiners of the thesis, Dr Ted Royle, Dr Michael Roberts, and
Professor F. B. Smith, made numerous helpful observations, many of
which I have attempted to address in this book. In particular Dr Royle has
assisted me in preparing this work for publication by commenting on the
additional material.
I am also grateful to Dr Bill Murray who read several chapters of the
thesis and provided helpful comments and suggestions. Other scholars
have generously given advice on sources and/or discussed points of inter
est either in person or by letter: Dr Owen Ashton, Professor Peter Bailey,
Dr Philip Bull, Professor Rhys Isaac, Dr lain McCalman, Professor
Norman McCord, Dr Iowerth Prothero, Mr Stephen Roberts, and Mrs
Dorothy Thompson.
I am fortunate to have been a student and subsequently a casual staff
member in the Department of History at LaTrobe University. I wish to
acknowledge the assistance of those staff and students who contributed to
the discussion of work in progress papers over the years. I also wish
to acknowledge the financial assistance of successive research grants
from the School of Humanities at La Trobe.
The librarians and staff of several institutions provided generous assist
ance: the British Library, Colindale; the British Museum, London; the
Public Record Office, Kew; the Manchester Central Reference Library;
Cheetham's Library, Manchester; the University of London Library; the
Institute of Historical Research, London; the Baillieu Library, University
of Melbourne; Monash University Library, Melbourne; and the State
Library of Victoria.
The staff of the Borchardt Library, La Trobe University, especially
Margot Hyslop and Lea Beranek, deserve special thanks for their help.
Mr and Mrs Lot and Joan Crompton assisted me by visiting Manchester
to obtain copies of some additional material needed for this book.
viii
Acknowledgements IX
I wish also to thank my employer, Mr Harry Jenkins MP, for allowing
me adequate study leave which was crucial in bringing the thesis to com
pletion in I 992, and for accepting that my attention continues, at times, to
be on the struggles of the past.
My greatest debt is to my family. My parents, Don and Barbara
Pickering, provided encouragement from the outset and, as general
readers, found many errors in the first draft of this book.
My wife, Sue, patiently read the final draft and helped eliminate errors
and highlight lapses of clarity.
Since 1985 Sue has contributed more than her share to our family in
order to give me sufficient time to be an after-hours academic. Sue (who
wishes to be known as 'long-suffering'), and more recently our young
children, Daniel, Jessica and Timothy, are, in many ways, the latest of the
'Chartist victims'. Without their support and understanding this book
would not have been written.
Over the years I have benefited from a lot of good advice, but the
responsibility for the judgements and the mistakes in this book is mine.
P.A.P.