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Some Aspects of Working-class Consciousness in Oldham, 1830–1842

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

R. A. Sykes
R. A. Sykes
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
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Extract

John Foster's book, Class struggle and the industrial revolution, with its central focus upon ‘the development and decline of a revolutionary class consciousness’ in Oldham in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, has aroused considerable controversy amongst historians. Indeed most recently Foster's picture of intense, often violent class conflict has been directly challenged by Dr Gadian. He has contended that ‘class collaboration, rather than class war’ was the key to the radical success in the town. On the basis of comparative figures on the size of the workforce in the factories of the various Lancashire towns, he has criticized Foster's emphasis upon the concentration of economic power in the hands of a relatively small number of capitalist families. Moreover he has even claimed that ‘the prevalence of small-scale industry in Oldham did much to enable masters and men to ‘harmonize and unite in some common remedy’, as was possible in Birmingham’.

Type
Communications
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , March 1980 , pp. 167 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

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References

1 Foster, J., Class struggle and the industrial revolution (1974).Google Scholar See also Foster, J., ‘Nineteenth century towns: a class dimension’, The study of urban history, ed. Dyos, H. J. (1968),Google Scholar and Musson, A.E., ‘Class struggle and the labour aristocracy 1830–1860‘,Google Scholar and Foster, J., ‘Some comments on “class struggle and the labour aristocracy”‘, Social History, III (Oct. 1976), 335–66. I am grateful for the valuable comments of Dr I. J. Prothero on an early draft of this article.Google Scholar

2 Gadian, D.S., ‘Class consciousness in Oldham and other north-west industrial towns 1830–1850‘, Historical Journal, xxi, 1 (1978), 161–72.Google Scholar

3 Ibid. pp. 162, 170.

4 Jones, G. Stedman, ‘Class struggle and the industrial revolution’, New Left Review, xc (Mar.-Apr. 1975), 35–69.Google Scholar

5 Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 168. For the sake of comparability I have followed Gadian's example, in including the mills listed in the original survey as being either in Blackburn or Preston under Blackburn, and excluding totally a third subsidiary sector, smallware manufacture, which was also covered by the survey.

6 The distortion is also very slightly accentuated by the fact that fourteen small-scale waste cotton firms outside Oldham cannot be attributed to any specific town because of the arrangement of the original survey and therefore have to be omitted.

7 Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 170.

8 Ibid.

9 Gatrell, V.A.C., ‘Labour, power, and the size of firms in Lancashire cotton in the second quarter of the nineteenth century’, Economic History Review, 2nd ser, xxx, 1 (1977), 95–139, esp. p. 97.Google Scholar

10 Joyce, P., ‘The factory politics of Lancashire in the later nineteenth century’, Historical Journal, xviii, 3 (1975), 525–53, esp. P. 528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11 Razzell, P.E. and Wainwright, R.W., The Victorian working class. Selections from letters to the Morning Chronicle (1973), p. 192.Google Scholar

12 Ibid. pp. 192–3; Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 170.

13 83 out of 95 prosecutions in one quarter. Reports of the inspectors of factories, 31 Dec. 1838 (Parl. Papers, 1839, xix), Report by L. Horner, p. 4.

14 Butterworth, E., Historical sketches of Oldham (Oldham, 1856), pp. 191–2.Google Scholar

15 Manchester Courier, 24 Oct., 21, 28 Nov. 1829; Manchester Guardian, 2, 9, 16, 30 July 1831.

16 Butterworth diary, 3 Apr. 1834, Oldham Local History Library.

17 Ibid. April 1834, passim.

18 Bouverie to Phillipps, 21 July 1834, Public Record Office, H.O. 40/32/1.

19 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 5, 12 Nov., 24 Dec. 1836; Butterworth diary, March 1837.

20 Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 169.

21 Butterworth diary, 19 Apr. 1834; Oldham magistrates to Graham, 10 Aug. 1842, H.O. 45/249.

22 Butterworth diary, Apr., May, June 1833, for the Oldham bricklayers, carpenters and joiners; Manchester Guardian, 11 May 1833 for the masons.

23 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 9 Apr., 27 Oct., 24 Dec. 1836, 3 June 1837.

24 See especially the articles on the background to the strike, Manchester Guardian, 13 Mar. 1841, and Manchester Courier, 20 Mar. 1841.

25 Manchester Times, 19 Sept. 1829, 15 May 1830. In both cases they were responding to the initiatives of Henry Hunt and William Cobbett, and significantly in the second case they did not adopt the class conciliatory rules of the Birmingham Political Union.

26 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 19 Mar. 1831; Voice of the People, 5 Mar. 1831.

27 Manchester Times, 12 Nov. 1831.

28 Butterworth diary, June 1832.

29 Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 164.

30 Poor Man's Guardian, 21 July 1832.

31 Cf. Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 163.

32 Butterworth diary, June, July 1835.

33 Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 170; Foster, Class struggle, pp. 52–6.

34 Butterworth diary, 5, 8 Dec. 1832.

35 Ibid. 14 Dec. 1832.

36 An address from one of the many thousand non-electors of the borough of Oldham, 29 Dec. 1832; Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, 22 Dec. 1832.

37 Over 90% of those voting for either Fielden or Cobbett voted for them as a pair, but only 39% of those voting for Bright also voted for Burge and 63% of those voting for Burge also voted for Bright. Such salient features and the overwhelming size of the radical majorities are clear but the exact figures are uncertain. At some variance with the poll book the Manchester Guardian for 15 December 1832 gave Fielden 673 votes, Cobbett 644, Bright 153, Burge 101 and Stephen 3. However, despite minor variations both it and the Butterworth diary for 13 December 1832 agree with the poll book as did a later local historian (after a study of conflicting sets of figures), Marcroft, A. in Oldham Liberal Bazaar Souvenir, Landmarks of Local Liberalism (Oldham, 1913), p. 84Google Scholar in placing Fielden at the head of the poll. Foster, who totally ignores the anti-slavery issue and candidate, appears to follow the standard works, Dod and McCalmont, in placing Cobbett at the head of the poll - surely erroneously. See Foster, , Class struggle, p. 285;Google ScholarDod, C. R., Electoral facts from 1832 to 1853 impartially stated, ed. Hanham, H. J. (1972), p. 238,Google ScholarMcCalmont's parliamentary poll book with introduction by Vincent, J. and Stenton, M. (8th edn 1971), p. 225.Google Scholar

38 Cf. Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 162.

39 Foster, Class struggle, p. 184.

40 1832 and 1835 Oldham poll books, Oldham L.H.L.

41 Wheeler's Manchester Chronicle, 18 July 1835.

42 Manchester Guardian, 29 July 1837.

43 Barlow to Smith, 15 June 1841, J. B. Smith Election papers, Manchester Central Library.

44 Manchester Times, 26 June 1841.

45 1847 Oldham poll book, Oldham L.H.L.

46 Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 167.

47 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 1 June 1839.

48 Ibid. 17 Aug. 1839.

49 This had nothing to do with the control that Foster alleges the radicals and trade unions had over the Oldham police. They were co-operating fully with the Oldham magistrates. See the police report on the Oldham Chartists, Mills to Russell, 17 May 1839, H.O. 40/37. Also note the energetic police action against the strikers in both 1834 and 1842, Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 19 Apr. 1834, 13 Aug. 1842; cf. Foster, Class struggle, pp. 56–61.

50 For Fielden's criticism of violent language, see Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 9 June, 15 Dec. 1838, 14 Sept. 1839; Fielden to the Convention, 1 May 1839, National Convention letter books, British Museum, Add. MSS 34245A, fo. 365. For his Oldham speeches see Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 5 Jan., 1 June 1839.

51 Foster, Class struggle, p. 143.

52 For references to splits between ‘Cobbettites’ and militants, see Champion, 17 Nov. 1839, Northern Star, 1 Aug. 1840.

53 Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 168.

54 Northern Star, 12 Sept. 1840.

55 See especially the Oldham area delegate meetings, ibid. 20 Nov., 11 Dec. 1841.

56 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 25 June 1841; cf. Gadian, ‘Class consciousness’, p. 162.

57 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 26 Feb. 1842.

58 Gadian, ‘Class consciousness‘, p. 172.

59 Poor Man's Guardian, 29 Dec. 1832.

60 Operative, 18 Nov. 1838.

61 Northern Star, 30 Apr. 1842.

62 E.g. ibid. 15 May 1841.

63 Notes to the People, Sept. 1851, quoted in Ernest Jones, Chartist, ed. J., Saville (1952), p. 173.Google Scholar