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Physical-Force Chartism: The Cotton District and the Chartist Crisis of 1839*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2009

Robert Sykes
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There is a real need to integrate local and national approaches to the study of Chartism. The inadequacies of the pioneering studies of the national movement certainly revealed the need to return to the local roots of the movement. However, the pattern of local studies largely established by the important volume of Chartist Studies edited by Asa Briggs has had some unfortunate consequences. The attempt to provide a comprehensive account of Chartism in a given locality, and cover the entire period from 1838 to 1848, has often precluded extended examination of key issues. Such matters as the relationship between Chartism and other forms of popular protest, Chartist ideology and tactics, the relationship between the Chartists and the middle class, and the whole cultural and organisational dimension of Chartism have only recently begun to receive detailed analysis. There has been a marked tendency for one of the most remarkable aspects of Chartism, the extent to which diverse localities were united in a national movement, to be obscured. Indeed it is evident that many historians returned to the local roots of Chartism without adequate assessments of Chartist ideology, tactics, national organisation and national leadership. Some important recent work has done much to enhance our understanding of such matters. A more meaningful assessment of how events in the localities interacted with the national movement is now possible.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Review of Social History , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , August 1985 , pp. 207 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1985

Footnotes

*

I am grateful for the valuable comments of Dr I. J. Prothero and Mrs Dorothy Thompson on an early draft of this article. All dates cited refer to the year 1839, unless otherwise specified.

References

1 Hovell, M., The Chartist Movement, 3rd ed. (Manchester, 1966)Google Scholar; West, J.. History of the Chartist Movement (London, 1920)Google Scholar.

2 Chartist Studies, ed. by Briggs, A. (London, 1959)Google Scholar.

3 For a collection of studies, explicitly seeking to use local evidence to illuminate specific themes of national importance, see The Chartist Experience: Studies in Working-Class Radicalism and Culture, 1830–60, ed. by Epstein, J. and Thompson, D. (London, 1982)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 Prothero, I. J., “William Benbow and the Concept of the General Strike”, in: Past & Present, No 63 (1974)Google Scholar; id., Artisans and Politics in Early Nineteenth-Century London (Folkestone, 1979); Parssinen, T. M., “Association, Convention and Anti-Parliament in British Radical Politics, 1771–1848”, in: English Historical Review, LXXXVIII (1973)Google Scholar; J. C. Belchem, ”Henry Hunt and the Evolution of the Mass Platform”, ibid., XCIII (1978); Epstein, J., The Lion of Freedom: Feargus O'Connor and the Chartist Movement, 1832–1842 (London, 1982)Google Scholar; and G. Stedman Jones, “The Language of Chartism”, in: The Chartist Experience.

5 The main focus is on the Southern, much larger part of the cotton district in South-East Lancashire and North-East Cheshire, which was more militant and active in 1839 than North Lancashire.

6 Vincent to Minikin, 26 August 1838, Minikin-Vincent Papers, Labour Party Library.

7 See Sykes, R.A., “Popular Politics and Trade Unionism in South-East Lancashire, 1829–42” (unpublished Ph.D., Manchester, 1982), ch. 9, for an examination of radicalism in the 1830'sCrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 Manchester Guardian, 26 September 1838; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 29 September 1838.

9 There were torchlight meetings at Stockport, Ramsbottom, , Bolton, , Rochdale, , Oldham, , Leigh, , Hyde, and Bury, , see especially Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 6 and 20 October, 3, 10 and 17 November, 15 12 1838Google Scholar; Northern Star, same dates; reports in Treasury Solicitor's Papers 11/815–16. Public Record Office, London.

10 Hyde Magistrates to Russell, 16 November 1838, Home Office Papers (hereafter HO) 40/38, Public Record Office; Treasury Solicitor's Papers 11/815/2683 and 2687.

11 See Phillipps to all local magistrates, 15 December 1838, HO 41/13; id. to the Leigh magistrates, 24 December 1838, ibid., for the go-ahead to arrest Stephens.

12 Manchester Guardian, 8 and 22 May; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 11 and 25 May.

13 For recent re-assessments which recognise the dynamic interrelationship between Chartist moral-and physical-force strategies, see Epstein, The Lion of Freedom, op. cit., pp. 124–26; Maehl, W. H. Jr, “The Dynamics of Violence in Chartism: A Case Study in North-Eastern England”, in: Albion, VII (1975)Google Scholar.

14 Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, 2 August 1879.

15 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 22 December 1838; Northern Liberator, 17 November 1838.

16 Northern Star, 12 January.

17 Ibid., 8 December 1838.

18 17 middle-class leaders appeared at Manchester Chartist events 3 or more times between September 1838 and March 1839, but only 3 appeared so frequently from March to July (and all 3 were former manual workers). 10 of the 17 did not appear at all after March.

19 Manchester Guardian, 8 May; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 11 May; Northern Star, 6 April and 11 May.

20 Bolton Free Press, 20 April; Northern Star, 20 April; Robertson to Lovett, 15 April, British Museum, Additional Manuscripts 34245 A, ff. 33–34.

21 Heywood Democrat, 6 June (Bury Public Library); Fletcher, M., Letters to the Inhabitants of Bury (Bury, 1852), No IXGoogle Scholar.

22 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 29 June.

23 Higginbottom, , Buckley and Lord to Russell, 12 12 1838Google Scholar, HO 52/37; Bentley to Russell, 17 December 1838, and Mills to Russell, 29 December 1838, HO 40/38.

24 Manchester Guardian, 16 March; Manchester Courier, 16 March; Chorlton and Hibbert to Russell, 23 April, HO 40/37.

25 Stockport Advertiser, 15 March; Brookes to Wemyss, 21 April, HO 40/43; Evans to Russell, 4 May, HO 40/37.

26 Manchester Guardian, 8 May; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 11 May; Treasury Solicitor's Papers 11/1030/4424, B to G.

27 Stockport Advertiser, 14 December 1838; Bolton Chronicle, 15 December 1838; Manchester Guardian, 16, 20 and 23 February; Manchester Courier, 16 February, 11, 18 and 25 May; Northern Star, 30 March; Bolton Free Press, 4 May; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 4 May. At nearby Failsworth two Chartist pikes were later preserved by the local Liberal club, see Marcroft, A., Oldham Liberal Bazaar Souvenir. Landmarks of Local Liberalism (Oldham, 1913), p. 103Google Scholar.

28 Smith to Russell, 6 December 1838; id. to Derby, 6 December 1838; Wilkinson to Russell, 12 December 1838; Manchester constables to Russell, 2 December 1838, HO 52/37; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 29 December 1838; Bolton Chronicle, 29 December 1838; Egerton to Russell, 3 January, Bancks to Russell, 11 May, and Sanderson and Newton to Russell, 22 May, HO 40/37; Manchester Guardian, 13 April; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 27 April; Bolton Free Press, 11 May. An old soldier, William Douglas, was reputed to have drilled the Chartists, J. Lunn, Leigh. The Historical Past of a Lancashire Borough (Leigh, n.d.), p. 86.

29 Manchester Courier, 2 March; Bolton Free Press, 9 March; Northern Star, 18 May; Manchester Guardian, 25 May; Chadwick to Russell, 8 March, HO 40/37; Wemyss to Phillipps, 23 July and 6 August, HO 40/43.

30 Royds to Russell, 24 December 1838, HO 40/37; Manchester Guardian, 6 March and 1 May.

31 For Lees see Mills to Russell, 29 December 1838; Manchester Guardian, 1 May; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 4 May. For Hollinwood see Butterworth Diary, 24 April, Oldham Public Library; Manchester Guardian, 27 April; Hordern, Evans and Hibbert to Russell, 1 May, HO 40/37.

32 Ibid.; Mills to Russell, 17 May, HO 40/37; Brierley, Ben, Home Memories and Recollections of a Life (Manchester, 1886), p. 24Google Scholar.

33 Stockport Advertiser, 28 March, 19 April and 17 May; Pendlebury to Russell, 29 July and 9 August, HO 40/41. For a detailed account of Stockport Chartism see Reid, C. A. N., “The Chartist Movement in Stockport” (unpublished M.A., Hull, 1974)Google Scholar.

34 Grundy to Russell, 19 July, and Walker to Russell, 25 July, HO 40/37; Wemyss to Phillipps, 29 July, 6 and 11 August, HO 40/43.

35 Darbishire to Russell, 9, 11 and 14 July, HO 40/44; Wemyss to Phillipps, 14 and 16 July, HO 40/43.

36 Lomax to Russell, 15 July, HO 40/44. When another leading Chartist, George Lloyd (a joiner), was arrested, pike staves were found in his room, see Bolton Free Press, 17 August; Winder to Russell, 17 August, HO 40/44.

37 Lomax to Russell, 25 March, HO 40/37; Manchester Guardian, 16 March.

38 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 30 March and 17 August; Manchester Guardian, 27 July. Arming with pikes certainly took place in the adjoining village of Gorton, see Higson, John, The Gorton Historical Recorder (Gorton, 1852), p. 185Google Scholar.

39 Manchester Guardian, 4, 8 and 11 May; Treasury Solicitor's Papers 11/815/2683. The leader of the drilling was an ex-soldier.

40 Scholefield (Mayor of Birmingham) to Russell, 9 May, HO 40/50.

41 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 6 and 20 July; Northern Star, 6 and 20 July; Manchester Guardian, 17 July; Jowett to Russell, 3 July, HO 40/37; Treasury Solicitor's Papers 11/1030/4424 A, Case against Higgins.

42 Stockport Advertiser, 2 and 9 August; North Cheshire Reformer, 2 and 9 August; Manchester Guardian, 3 August; Pendlebury to Russell, 31 July, HO 40/41; Thomas to Wemyss, 31 July, HO 40/43. A large amount of evidence, including verbatim copies of letters about the supply of guns, can be found in Assizes 65/2, Public Record Office.

43 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 3 and 10 August; Manchester Guardian, 7 and 17 August. See also the later trial report in Manchester Times, 18 April 1840; Interviews with Duke and Broadbent, HOf 20/10.

44 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 10 August; Interview with Livesey, HO 20/10; Manchester Guardian, 10 and 17 August; Potter to Russell, 9 August, HO 40/43. See Assizes 65/2 for a copy of Richardson's letter asking for his money to be refunded.

45 Manchester Guardian, 17 August; the report of Lloyd's trial in Manchester Chronicle and Salford Standard, 11 April 1840; for further evidence about Rawson selling guns, see Wemyss to Phillipps, 6 August.

46 Dunning, Th., “The Reminiscences of Thomas Dunning (1813–1894) and the Nantwich Shoemakers' Case of 1834”, in: Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1947, p. 114Google Scholar.

47 In a secret session at the Convention, McDouall, one of the most vociferous in claiming in public that working-class arming was well advanced, “admitted that if he named 400 armed men for his neighbourhood he would probably overstate the number.” Lowery, Robert, Radical, and Chartist, , ed. by Harrison, B. and Hollis, P. (London, 1979), p. 143Google Scholar.

48 Manchester Guardian, 14 August; Manchester Chronicle and Salford Standard, 11 April 1840; Foster to Phillipps, 10 August, HO 40/43. Thompson was not a Chartist, but was simply seeking a profitable trade, see the interview with Thompson, HO 20/10.

49 See, e.g., the comments that Lancashire reports show “an increased disposition to arm”, Russell to Foster, 2 May, HO 41/13; and, in July, the belief of the Manchester-area military commander, Colonel Wemyss, that three hundred “stand of arms” had reached Stockport in one week, and the Northern-area commander, General Napier, that “pike-making is redoubled”. Napier, W., The Life and Opinions of General Sir Charles James Napier (London, 1857), II, pp. 52, 54, 56Google Scholar.

50 See, e.g., the references to “very large quantities of pikes and fire-arms”, and “the drilling and exercising of large bodies of men”, Manchester Guardian, 4 May (leader); and to “thousands” being “armed and ready for mischief, Mott (Assistant Poor Law Commissioner) to Lefevre, 22 March, Ministry of Health Papers 12/5593, Public Record Office. Mott's view was specifically endorsed by the very experienced Manchester-based magistrate J. F. Foster, see Foster to Russell, 11 April, HO 52/40.

51 Brierley, Home Memories, op. cit., p. 24.

52 For a penetrating analysis see Belchem, “Henry Hunt”, loc. cit.; id., “Republicanism, Popular Constitutionalism and the Radical Platform in Early Nineteenth-Century England”, in Social History, VI (1981); id., “1848: Feargus O'Connor and the Collapse of the Mass Platform”, in: The Chartist Experience.

53 Epstein, The Lion of Freedom, ch. 4; Parssinen, “Association, Convention and Anti-Parliament”, loc. cit., pp. 521–30; Jephson, H., The Platform. Its Rise and Progress (London, 1892), II, ch. 17Google Scholar.

54 Stockport Advertiser, 19 July.

55 Epstein, The Lion of Freedom, pp. 122, 154–55, 163; R. A. Sykes, “Early Chartism and Trade Unionism in South-East Lancashire”, in: The Chartist Experience, pp. 166–68.

56 Cases No 12, 21 and 44, HO 48–32; Cases No 2–4 and 7, HO 48/33; Fox Maule to Foster, 6 February, Ministry of Health Papers 12/6039; Manchester Churchwardens to Russell, 14 February, HO 44/33.

57 Mather, F. C., Public Order in the Age of the Chartists (Manchester, 1959)Google Scholar.

58 Thomas, S., The Bristol Riots (Bristol, 1974), pp. 9–10Google Scholar.

59 Russell to Foster, 2 May; id. to the Lord Lieutenants of all counties, 4 May, HO 41/13; F. C. Mather, “The Government and the Chartists”, in: Chartist Studies, op. cit., pp. 378–81.

60 Napier, General Sir Charles James Napier, op. cit., II, p. 59.

61 Epstein, The Lion of Freedom, pp. 157–58, correctly comments that they were a “familiar catalogue of ultra-radical tactics”. Lovett, William, who said he wrote the actual address, records that there were only trifling objections, and virtually unanimous endorsement from Convention delegates, The Life and Struggles of William Lovett, 2nd ed. (London, 1967), pp. 171–77Google Scholar.

62 Rushton, A., My Life as Farmer's Boy, Factory Lad, Teacher and Preacher (Manchester, 1909), p. 66Google Scholar.

63 Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, 6 September 1879. For one quite rare critical comment by a Chartist in 1839, dismissing all but the strike plan as “Whig” measures, see Heywood Democrat, 6 June.

64 Such assumptions about the balance of forces in any final confrontation were deeply ingrained into radical ideology, see Prothero, “William Benbow”, loc. cit., passim, but esp. pp. 145, 165–66.

65 Stedman Jones, “The Language of Chartism”, loc. cit., passim, but esp. pp. 3–12. By social interpretation Stedman Jones means the approaches so heavily conditioned by the assumption that Chartism was essentially a social phenomenon produced by, in varying degrees, the Industrial Revolution, poverty and class-consciousness that they have consequently neglected the specific political and ideological form and content of the movement.

66 For further discussion of such issues, see Sykes, “Popular Politics and Trade Unionism”, op. cit., esp. chs 7, 10 and 14.

67 The Life and Struggles of William Lovett, op. cit., pp. 173, 175.

68 Robert Lowery, op. cit., pp. 127, 128–30, 142.

69 The significance of this event has been stressed by Thompson, Dorothy, see “Chartism as a Historical Subject”, in: Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Labour History, No 20 (1970), p. 12Google Scholar; id., The Early Chartists (London, 1971), p. 27.

70 Epstein, The Lion of Freedom, pp. 170–71.

71 Of course not even Peterloo had unified radicals on a course of spontaneous resistance, see Belchem, “Henry Hunt”, pp. 760–61; id. “Republicanism, Popular Constitutionalism and the Radical Platform”, loc. cit., pp. 14–17.

72 Robert Lowery, p. 135.

73 See Prothero, “William Benbow”, passim, for the best discussion. In 1839 Benbow was himself active in the Manchester area. He lectured specifically on the Holiday scheme at Middleton and Bolton, see Manchester Guardian, 16 February; Bolton Free Press, 29 June. Copies of his pamphlet were found in the possession of several arrested Chartists, see Assizes 65/2.

74 Northern Star, 6 July; Bolton Free Press, 13 July. Cf. Lowery's similar comments, Robert Lowery, p. 142.

75 Northern Star, 6, 13, 20 and 27 July. By far the best discussion of the Convention's deliberations is in Epstein, The Lion of Freedom, pp. 171–81.

76 Northern Star, 3 and 10 August. For the Star's circulation, see Epstein, The Lion of Freedom, p. 68.

77 Judge, K., “Early Chartist Organization and the Convention of 1839”, in: International Review of Social History, XX (1975), p. 393Google Scholar.

78 Deegan to Fletcher, 6 August, British Museum, Add. Mss 34245 B, f. 110.

79 Bolton Free Press, 10 August; Bolton Chronicle, 10 August.

80 Taylor to Smart, 8 August, British Museum, Add. Mss 34245 B, f. 123; and see the similar comments from another militant centre, Bradford, Bussey to Smart, 6 August, ibid.

81 The attendance of Chartist crowds at Church services in many areas in late July and August was, perhaps, more of a symptom of this tactical confusion (as opposed to the climax of a theme of Chartist concern with religion) than is allowed in Yeo, E., “Christianity in Chartist Struggle 1838–1842”, in: Past & Present, No 91 (1981)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

82 Pendlebury to Russell, 31 July; Thomas to Wemyss, 31 July; Stockport Advertiser, 2 and 9 August; North Cheshire Reformer, 2 and 9 August; Manchester Guardian, 3 August.

83 Manchester Guardian, 3 and 7 August; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 10 August; Potter to Russell, 7 and 9 August, HO 40/43.

84 Manchester Guardian, 10 August; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 10 August; Wemyss to Phillipps, 6 August; Potter to Russell, 7 August.

85 The following account is based on Manchester Guardian, 14 and 17 August; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 17 August; Manchester Times, 17 August; Manchester Courier, 17 August; Manchester Chronicle and Salford Standard, 17 August; Wemyss to Phillipps, 12 August; Potter to Russell, 12, 13 and 15 August; Maude to Russell, 13 August, HO 40/43.

86 Manchester Guardian, 14 August and 13 November (both leaders).

87 Sykes, “Early Chartism and Trade Unionism”, loc. cit., pp. 162–64.

88 Bolton Free Press, 29 June and 13 July; Northern Star, 20 July.

89 Phillipps to Darbishire, 17 and 30 July, 5 and 8 August, HO 41/44; Darbishire to Russell, 29 July, 4 and 11 August; Winder to Russell, 4 August, HO 40/44; Bolton Chronicle, 10 August; Bolton Free Press, 10 August.

90 This account is based on Bolton Chronicle, 17 August; Bolton Free Press, 17 August; Manchester Courier, 17 August; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 17 August; Manchester Guardian, 14 and 17 August; Darbishire to Russell, 12–16 and 18 August; Winder to Russell, 14, 16 and 17 August; Wemyss to Phillipps, 14 and 15 August, HO 40/44; Napier to Phillipps, 17 August, HO 40/53.

91 Grundy to Russell, 5 June, HO 40/37; Manchester Guardian, 5 and 8 June. For Llanidloes see Thompson, The Early Chartists, op. cit., pp. 17, 222–25.

92 The police were seen as being intended “to spy upon” the people and possibly “a foul conspiracy” to introduce the New Poor Law. Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 15 June; Northern Star, 15 June.

93 Manchester Guardian, 14 and 17 August; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 17 August; Bolton Free Press, 17 August; Walker and Grundy to Russell, 12 August, Walker and Hargreaves to Russell, 13 August, and Walker to Russell, 14 August, HO 40/37; Wemyss to Phillipps, 16 August, HO 40/43.

94 Manchester Guardian, 7, 10, 14 and 17 August; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 10and 17 August; Chadwick and Ashworth to Wemyss, 13 August; Wemyss to Phillipps, 14 August, HO 40/44.

95 See the long report of the strike, Smith to Russell, 5 September; also Chisenholme to Russell, 13 August; Earl of Balcarres to Phillipps, 13 August, HO 40/37; Wemyss to Phillipps, 15 August; Manchester Guardian, 17 August.

96 Manchester Guardian, 14 and 17 August; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 10 and 17 August; Wemyss to Phillipps, 14 August, HO 40/43. O'Connor had also spoken in Rochdale against a month's strike, see Northern Star, 13 July.

97 Manchester Guardian, 14 August; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 17 August; Northern Star, 17 August; Foster, J., Class Struggle and the Industrial Revolution (London, 1974)Google Scholar. For further criticism of Foster on this and other points see Sykes, R. A., “Some Aspects of Working-Class Consciousness in Oldham, 1830–1842”, in: Historical Journal, XXIII (1980)Google Scholar.

98 Manchester Guardian, 29 June; Wemyss to Phillipps, 2 July, HO 40/43.

99 Interview with Stephens, HO 20/10; Stephens, ' Monthly Magazine, 01 1840, p. 16Google Scholar; Stockport Advertiser, 2 August; Northern Star, 10 and 17 August.

100 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 17 August; Manchester Guardian, 17 August; Manchester Chronicle and Salford Standard, 17 August.

101 North Cheshire Reformer, 16 August; Stockport Advertiser, 16 August.

102 The relative success of the strikes was not determined by minor changes in the state of trade, as is implied in D. Read, “Chartism in Manchester”, in: Chartist Studies, p. 48.

103 For comparative figures of prisoners see the list in Parliamentary Papers, 1840, XXXVIII, pp. 691–750. For a detailed analysis of the imprisoned Chartists, see Ch.Godfrey, , “The Chartist Prisoners, 1839–41”, in: International Review of Social History, XXIV (1979)Google Scholar. The strikes are dismissed in a single sentence as “pathetic failures” in Ward, J.T., Chartism (London, 1973), p. 132Google Scholar. The Northern Star carried very little news about the Lancashire strikes, which is probably the main reason why historians have missed their importance.

104 Manchester Guardian, Manchester Courier, Manchester Chronicle and Salford Standard, Manchester Times, and Manchester and Salford Advertiser, all 24 August.

105 Potter to Russell, 20 August, HO 40/43.

106 Northern Star, 17 October and 5 December 1840.

107 Burnley magistrates to Russell, 13 August, and Clitheroe magistrates to Russell, 19 August, HO 40/37; Blackburn Standard, 14 August; Preston Chronicle, 17 August; Wigan Gazette, 16 August; Manchester Courier, 17 August.

108 Church, R. A., Economic and Social Change in a Midland Town. Victorian Nottingham 1815–1900 (London, 1966), pp. 132–35Google Scholar; Wyncoll, P., Nottingham Chartism (Nottigham, 1966), pp. 21–23Google Scholar; Macclesfield Courier, 17 August; Swanswick (from Macclesfield) to Russell, 12–14 and 17 August, HO 40/41; Assizes 65/2, examinations of Macclesfield Chartists.

109 Maehl, W. H. Jr, “Chartist Disturbances in Northeastern England, 1839”, in: International Review of Social History, VIII (1963), pp. 404–13Google Scholar; D. J. Rowe, “Some Aspects of Chartism on Tyneside”, ibid., XVI (1971), pp. 30–36; Northern Liberator, 17 August; Carlisle Mayor to Russell, 14 and 15 August, HO 40/41; Carlisle Journal, 17 August; Carlisle Patriot, 17 August; Whitehaven Herald, 17 August.

110 Napier to Phillipps, 12 and 15 August, HO 40/53; Baxter, J. L., “Early Chartism and Labour Class Struggle: South Yorkshire, 1837–1840”, in: Essays in the Economic and Social History of South Yorkshire, ed. by Pollard, S. and Holmes, C. (Barnsley, 1976), p. 142Google Scholar; Kaijage, F. J., “Labouring Barnsley, 1816–1856” (unpublished Ph.D., Warwick, 1975), pp. 495–96Google Scholar.

111 Tholfsen, T. R., “The Chartist Crisis in Birmingham”, in: International Review of Social History, III (1958), pp. 468–72Google Scholar; Maehl, “The Dynamics of Violence”, loc. cit., pp. 112–13, 118.

112 Northern Liberator, 17 August; Thorn (from Birmingham) to Home Office, 12, 14 and 15 August, HO 40/53; Wilson, A., The Chartist Movement in Scotland (Manchester, 1970), pp. 82–83Google Scholar; Goodway, D., London Chartism 1838–1848 (Cambridge, 1982), p. 33Google Scholar.

113 Napier, General Sir Charles James Napier, II, pp. 73, 77.

114 Robert Lowery, p. 144.

115 Bolton Free Press, 24 and 31 August, 14 December; Manchester Guardian, 21 September; Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 16 November; Smith to Russell, 5 September.

116 Bury Chartism was left virtually leaderless when John Rawson, the secretary, emi-grated, and Matthew Fletcher (backed by the local committee) quarrelled with O'Connor and withdrew from political agitation. Manchester Guardian, 9 October; Northern Star, 21 and 28 September, 5,12 and 19 October, 9 November.

117 Northern Star, 16 and 30 November.

118 Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 28 September.

119 No evidence of any actual preparations for a rising in the cotton district is presented in the two best studies of these events: Peacock, A. J., Bradford Chartism, 1838–1840 (York, 1969)Google Scholar, and Epstein, The Lion of Freedom, ch. 5.

120 Frost, who led the Monmouth rising, was in Manchester shortly beforehand, according to a reference in Northern Star, 19 October. For assertions that the Manchester and Hyde Chartists knew in advance see Manchester Guardian, 11 December; Wemyss to PhiUipps, 20 November, HO 40/43.

121 Shaw to Phillipps, 17 and 18 December, HO 40/43.

122 The local police believed there was a conspiracy, and possibly more significantly so did two usually well-informed and important moderates in the local radical movement, George Condy, editor of the Advertiser, and Abel Heywood, the principal radical bookseller and newsagent in Manchester. They both tried to forestall any rising, see Manchester and Salford Advertiser, 25 January 1840; Bolton Free Press, 25 January 1840; Shaw to Phillipps, 20 May 1840, HO 44/35.

123 Wemyss to Phillipps, 22 December, HO 40/40.

124 Thompson, The Early Chartists, p. 26.

125 For a full account see Sykes, “Popular Politics and Trade Unionism”, ch. 15.

126 Northern Star, 20 and 27 August 1842.