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Popular Movements c. 1830–1850 PDF

214 Pages·1970·21.095 MB·English
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Popular Movements !830-1850 C. Each volume in the 'Problems in Focus' series is designed to make available to students important new work on key historical problems and periods that they encounter in their courses. Each volume is devoted to a central topic or theme, and the most im portant aspects of this are dealt with by specially commissioned essays from scholars in the relevant field. The editorial Intro duction reviews the problem or period as a whole, and each essay provides an assessment of the particular aspect, pointing out the areas of development and controversy, and indicating where conclusions can be drawn or where further work is necessary. An annotated bibliography serves as a guide for further reading. PROBLEMS IN FOCUS SERIES TITLES IN PRINT The Mid-Tudor Polity c. 1540-1560 edited by Jennifer Loach and Robert Tittler Church and Society in England: Henry VIII to James I edited by Felicity Heal and Rosemary O'Day The Reign of Elizabeth I edited by Christopher Haigh The Origins of the English Civil War edited by Comad Russell Reactions to the English Civil War 1642-1649 edited by John Morrill Absolutism in the Seventeenth Century edited by John Miller Britain after the Glorious Revolution 1689-1714 edited by Geoffrey Holmes Britain in the Age ofW alpole edited by Jeremy Black British Politics and Society from Walpole to Pitt 1742-1789 edited by Jeremy Black Britain and the French Revolution edited by H. T. Dickinson Europe's Balance of Power 1815-1848 edited by Alan Sked Enlightened Absolutism edited by H. M. Scott Popular Movements, c. 1830-/850 edited by J. T. Ward British Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century edited by C. C. Eldridge Later Victorian Britain, 1867-1900 edited by T. R. Gourvish and Alan O'Day The Revolution in Ireland, 1879-1923 edited by D. G. Boyce Britain Since 1945 edited by T. R. Gourvish and Alan O'Day TITLES IN PREPARATION The Early Stuart Church, 1603-1642 edited by Kenneth Fincham Politics and Culture in Early Stuart England edited by Kevin Sharpe and Peter Lake Popular Movements c. 1830-1850 EDITED BY J. T. WARD M MACMILLAN © J. T. Ward, Derek Fraser, M. E. Rose, W. H. Fraser, Alex Wilson, W. H. Chaloner,J. H. Treble, C. H. Hume 1970 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 W1P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1970 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-0-333-11137-6 ISBN 978-1-349-15366-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-15366-4 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Eleventh reprint 1993 Contents Acknowledgements vii List of Abbreviations ix Introduction: Britain c. I83o-I850: The Background I J. T. WARD I The Agitation for Parliamentary Reform 31 lJEREK FRASER 2 The Factory Movement 54 J. T. WARD 3 The Anti-Poor Law Agitation M. E. ROSE 4 Trade Unionism 95 W. H. FRASER 5 Chartism 116 ALEX WILSON 6 The Agitation against the Corn Laws I35 W.H.CHALONER 7 The Irish Agitation J. H. TREBLE 8 The Public Health Movement C. H. HUME Notes on Contributors 20I Index 202 v Acknowledgements The authors are greatly indebted to many librarians and other owners of papers who generously allowed them to use their collections. In par ticular, they wish to express their gratitude to the following owners for permission to quote from the material under their control: Bradford City Library (Balme Collection); the late Colonel G. W. Ferrand, O.B.E. (Ferrand MSS); the Co-operative Union, Holyoake House, Manchester (Owen Collection); Leeds City Reference Library (Samuel Fenton's diary); London University Library, Goldsmiths' Collection, and Columbia University Library (Richard Oastler's 'White Slavery' collection); Mrs C. M. Lyman of New Haven, Conn. (the late Professor Cecil Driver's collection); the late Professor David Owen of Harvard (Fielden MSS); Sheffield City Library (local pamphlets collection); the National Library of Ireland (Smith O'Brien papers); and University College London Library (Parkes papers). The editor wishes to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce extracts from the works listed below: Messrs George Allen & Unwin Ltd (for Max Beer, History of British Socialism); Messrs Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd (for Donald Read and Eric Glasgow, Feargus O'Connor); the London School of Economics and Political Science (for Sidney and Beatrice Webb, History of Trade Unionism); Messrs M:1cmillan & Co. Ltd (for F. C. Mather, 'The Government and the Chartists', in As a Briggs (e d. ), Chartist Studies); and Manchester University Press (for Mark Hovell, The Chartist Movement). Finally, the editor desires to express his gratitude to his colleagues Dr John Butt, who first suggested the theme ofthe book, and Professor S. G. E. Lythe, who gave invaluable advice on parts of it. vii List of Abbreviations Add. MSS Additional Manuscripts, British Museum AHR American Historical Review CHJ Cambridge Historical Journal EcHR Economic History Review EHR English Historical Review HJ Historical Journal HO Home Office HT History Today JEH Journal of Economic History JEccH Journal of Ecclesiastical History JMH Journal of Modern History NLI National Library of Ireland PP Parliamentary Papers PRO Public Record Office TLCAS Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society UCLL University College London Library vs Victorian Studies ix Introduction: Britain c. I83o-185o: The Background J. T. WARD THE second quarter of the nineteenth century had a distinctive character. Sandwiched between the long period of Pittite Toryism and the mid century liberal dominance, it was an age of change in many aspects of British life. A predominantly rural society was still slowly adjusting to its new role as 'the workshop of the world'. Technological advance and industrial evolution were producing varied results. To some ancient labour aristocracies and the mercantile oligarchies of some towns they had already given a foretaste of a bleak future. For many new 'hands' they had provided a harsh factory discipline - in addition to generally higher earnings. For consumers of all kinds they were starting to provide wider choices and cheaper prices. And for many industrial entrepreneurs they were providing an affluence which permitted major 'social' transformations. Some such 'self-made' men, proud of personal success stories later to be publicised by such industrial hagiographers as Samuel Smiles, now demanded increased participation in national management and decision-making. This was an era when many seemingly permanent attitudes and institutions - Richard Hooker's Elizabethan equation of Churchman and English citizen; the political and religious settlements of the Restoration and Revolution; the long dominance of the landed interest; the major remnants of mercantilist state interference - were questioned, eroded, amended or ended. The Crown itself was closely involved in the political struggle: George IV at least partly because of his desertion of Opposition causes and his unsavoury divorce; William IV, despite his general constitutional propriety, over' Reform'; Victoria initially because of her neglect of constitutional propriety. The Church of England was at least equally under attack, as Archbishop Howley discovered when he was stoned at Canterbury. Late Victorians recalled the Primate's 'princely honours' and personal mildness - and the Duke of 2 POPULAR MOVEMENTS c. 1830-1850 Cumberland's report that Howley 'said he would be damned to hell if he didn't throw the [Reform] Bill out'.l The peerage, consisting in 1830 of 4 Royal dukes, 18 dukes, 18 marquesses, 92 earls, 22 viscounts and 160 barons, was also under regular attack, above all for its political activities in the House of Lords-where it was joined by 16 Scottish representative peers (elected for each Parliament), 28 Irish representative peers (elected for life) and 26 English and 4 Irish bishops. The Commons, with 658 members - 188 representing 114 county constituencies, 465 representing 262 borough constituencies and 5 representing the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin2 ~ faced another range of assaults. As the House contained two members each for such con stituencies as Castle Rising (with scarcely any electors), Gatton, St Germans and St Michael (with 7 each), New Romney (8), Old Sarum and Winchelsea (u), Newport (12), Launceston (17), Orford (22), Lostwithiel (24) and Heytesbury (26) and none for Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham or Sheffield, hostile complaints were widespread and extending. An older radical tradition was revived in many forms, to provide some 'philosophic' background for many of the attacks on established insti tutions and entrenched privileges. Most important and influential, because (despite variations of emphasis) most consistent, was the newer utilitarian creed propounded by Jeremy Bentham and his apostles. Benthamite insistence upon the measuring-rod of utility, supplemented to some extent by the hedonistic calculus and notions of 'the greatest good of the greatest number', led to a denunciation of' the whole class of fallacies built upon authority, precedent, wisdom of ancestors, dread of innovation, immutable laws, and many others, occasioned by ancient ignorance and ancient abuses'. 3 But, despite the wide appeal of radical panaceas, an assortment of more liberal notions attracted the generality of the ever-growing bourgeoisie. The Tory Quarterly Review, the Whig Edinburgh Review, the Benthamite Westminster Review and the ultra-radical metropolitan journals bravely fighting 'the taxes on knowledge' provided no attraction for the northern Liberal manufacturer devoted to his Leeds Mercury or Manchester Guardian. On the political Right the conservative defenders of the old order themselves became the organisers of many of the changes in it; indeed, a prolonged rearguard action was transformed into a series of well planned and competently administered reforms. But controversy inevitably extended to 'new' subjects. Urban life created and extended problems of public health, sanitation, policing, amenity and local

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