Chartism and the Chartist Land Company in Kidderminster
Chartism is an important movement in the development of freedom and democracy in Britain. They put forward modest demands for the vote for working men, payment of members of parliament, equal electoral districts, secret ballots and annual parliaments. However, they were seen as a threat to the state and various attempts were made to suppress and control their activities.
There are many good national texts on the history of the Chartism and a good starting point for those who want to know more about the develoment of Chartism is Dorothy Thompson’s "The Chartists: Popular Politics in the Industrial Revoloution" published by Wildwood House in 1984. I have also benefited over the years from a battered second hand copy of Mark Hovell's "The Chartist Movement" published postumously after his death in the First World War serving as an officer in the Sherwood Foresters. Hovell's text is written at an important time as it is writing about events within living memory - in much the same way that people now could look back to events and records of the 1930's.
Much of the local detail presented below is drawn from Len Smith’s excellent book Carpet Weavers and Carpet Masters The handloom carpet weavers of Kidderminster 1780-1850 published by the late Ken Tompkinson which is also well worth reading for the political and economic context of Kidderminster in the days before the coming of the steam powered carpet loom first in Lord Ward's Shed in 1853 later in competitors factories threw thousands of industrious workers out of work.
Chartism is an important movement in the development of freedom and democracy in Britain. They put forward modest demands for the vote for working men, payment of members of parliament, equal electoral districts, secret ballots and annual parliaments. However, they were seen as a threat to the state and various attempts were made to suppress and control their activities.
The campaign for the Charter in Kidderminster started with the formation of the Kidderminster Working Men’s Association in early 1838 which met weekly at the Lamb public house. A large contingent from Kidderminster attended what Mark Hovell (Chartist History Manchester University 1925) described as the official beginning of the Chartist Movement - The Newhall Hill meeting in Birmingham attended by 200,000 people.
Shortly after this on 27th August 1838 a contingent from the Birmingham Political Union attended to speak at Lion Fields in the town. Over 5000 attended but an allegedly drunken mob of Operative Conservatives drowned out the speakers.
A fortnight later a more orderly meeting took place when more than 300 people crowded into the Plough Inn. This meeting established a Council of 13 members including William Charlton, the trade union leader jailed for his part in the weavers strike of 1828 and James Quin as Chairman. According to Smith Charlton eloquently set out his position:
"We demand universal suffrage as our constitutional right. There is nothing more rational, nothing more just, than that we should have a voice in our own house…Let us proceed in a legal, peaceable, and determined manner, although there are those in Parliament who may laugh at our petitions, I am persuaded the cause must and will triumph. The united voice of a nation never yet was heard in vain."
Collection of signitures for the first National Petition was now being organised. According to Smith, based on local newspaper reports they were claiming 2,500 signitures by December. However, this conflicts with Dorothy Thompson's figure of 1,832 based on the June 1839 reports of the Chartist Northern Star. Whatever the actual figure this reflected a significant proportion of the 20,753 population recorded in the 1841 census.
According to Smith Charlton was a pragmatist seeking to engage with the middle class liberals. During early 1939 Charlton sought to create common ground on the issue of the corn laws. It is apparerent that The Liberals had formed their own Reform Association which was led by Henry Brinton and George Talbot amongst others with local Solicitor James Batham as Secretary. Chartists and Liberals co-operated on a number of levels, politically in opposing Tories in debate, adminstratively in meeting together to plan joint action and socially in the Working Mens Association grand dinner where 650 liberals and chartists sat down together to toast the good health of their shared objectives. However, this co-operation was short lived as a result of the Bull Ring Riots in Birmingham.
Chartism like many radical movements suffered from internal strife and factionalism. In 1841 some of the natioanal leadership set up the quasi religious Chartist Church, which split the movement, again we find Charlton acting as the peacemaker trying to heal the self inflicted wounds of the campaign. In 1842 Joseph Sturge formed the Complete Sufferage Movement which was aiming to provide a broad based campaign extending the call of Chartism to the middle class. William Charlton offered himself as a delegate from Kidderminster, his actions were roundly condemned by Kidderminster Chartists as a dissertion of the cause. Charlton never again took an active part in Kidderminster politics and left to seek his way in America three years later. Dispite his split from Chartism efforts were made to encourage his to stay and his farewell was attended by several thousand people who were enthralled by a two hour "tour-de-force" which listed all the grievences that the working classes were subjected to.
Fergus O'Connor
From the split of 1842 to 1845 little happened to lift Kidderminster Chartists out of the doldrums. In April 1845 Fergus O'Connor launched his land plan. Fergus O'Connor was an Irish Barrister, politician and newspaper proprietor. A useful comparision might be with the late Bob Maxwell, because like Captain Bob his days ended in disgrace with his financial affairs in a shambles, the investors let down, but for all his faults he was a visionary dreaming of delivering a new utopia for the people. His utopia was the freedom of independant self sufficiency in the rural idyll land and of course the franchise. Today, irony of ironies many his homes are sought after housing not for the idependant rural artisan but the car commuting executive.
Smith claims that George Holloway was a great advocate of the scheme and that his pub the Nag's Head in Bewdley Street was the Chartist's regular meeting place. Holloway was active in the Working Men's Association from the start and had been the local group's correspondent to the O'Conner's newspaper the Northern Star as well as the Treasurer. After Charlton's departure from the movement he became the recognised leader of Kidderminster Chartism. Like Charlton he had been a member George Talbot's class at th the New Meeting Sunday School and owed much of his learning to George Talbot. Smith claims that another reason was the strong tradition of building clubs in the town.
There are few local records of the Chartist Land Company. George Talbot's Worcestershire Chronicle records that the local branch shortly before the company was closed to new members in December 1847 had 260 members subscribing for 898 shares and forwarded a total of £370 in just over two years. As a provisionally registered company the names of the subscribers are recorded in the register of members deposited with the Board of Trade. These, with deposits of a circular and handbill have found their way into the Public Record Office. From the 3 large volumes recording an estimated 70,000 membership throughout the country an attempt has been made to extract the details of the Kidderminster members. This suggests that about 170 or about two thirds of the claimed membership has been found in the company register. Given the complexity of the task and the speed with which it was conducted it is possible that many names have been missed, however, this list of 170 does start to give strong information about who were the members of the Chartist Land Company in Kidderminster. Much anylisis is required, but the main occupations shown are typical working trades of Kidderminster, Wolverley and Cookley including weavers, labourers, forgemen and shopkeepers. Listed amongst those found is George Holloway who is shown as a publican of Bewdley Street, Kidderminster.
One of the aims of this further study of the membership of the Chartist Land Company is to prove the claim made by Smith that Holloway lead the Chartists into the ranks of the Liberals. There can be no doubt that Holloway ended his days with the plaudits "Father of the Council" and "Father of the Liberal Party" but it is unclear whether Chartism became part of mainstream Kidderminster Liberalism.