ONE HOT AUGUST DAY IN 1819, hundreds of women “reformers” in white gowns marched into Manchester. These women had already faced society’s ridicule for stepping outside their traditional domestic roles. Soon they would be in mortal danger. Manchester, like several other large industrial cities, had no member of parliament to represent its citizens’ interests. Working-class people did not even have the right to vote. The movement for parliamentary reform was gaining fresh impetus during the postwar trade depression following the end of the Napoleonic wars.
“Radicals” such as Henry Hunt, Joseph Harrison, and John Knight advocated universal (male) suffrage, secret ballots and annual parliaments. They believed that parliamentary reform would give people more power to overturn unpopular legislation such as the infamous Corn Laws, which kept the price of bread artificially high. Food was expensive, jobs scarce and wages low: a handloom weaver earned on average only six shillings per week. Everyday items such as soap and salt were also heavily taxed. Many poor people in England’s industrial districts subsisted on potatoes.
“Union Societies” were formed to spread the radicals’ ideas. They organized mass petitions to parliament demanding reform. Unfortunately, these petitions, including the ill-fated “Blanketeers’ March” from Manchester to London in 1817, achieved little other than stiffening the government’s resolve to suppress dissent.
The suffering Lancashire textile districts proved fertile ground for reform. Men and women attended Union Club meetings in towns and open-air meetings on the moors. Samuel Bamford, a weaver from Middleton, recalled that women first started voting at Lancashire reform meetings after a suggestion by him, which “the women were mightily pleased with”.
Women soon formed their own “political unions”. The earliest was probably the one set up by Alice Kitchen (or Kitchin) in June 1819. The Blackburn Female Reforming Society aimed to “assist the male population of this country to obtain their rights and liberties, which … are necessary for our wellbeing and happiness”. Members paid a penny a week, and the money went towards any expenses incurred by the men’s Union Societies. Kitchen hoped that similar societies would be formed nationwide, “to let our tyrants know that Englishwomen are not either ignorant and unmindful of the cruel acts of our country’s oppressors”.
The Tory press was horrified, and the cartoonists sharpened their pens. The Morning Post ( July 1, 1819) accused the Blackburn women of “poisoning of the minds of the rising generation of the lower orders with sentiments subversive of all order and good Government, and utterly destructive of the social and moral tie”. By early August, Stockport had its own Female Reforming Society, with a Mrs. Hallworth as president. She modestly asked men to withdraw from their meeting because “it is something new for women to turn political orators” and she did not want to “be laughed at”.
These women’s unions were not campaigning for votes for women – a revolutionary idea – they wanted “universal suffrage” for their menfolk. Places such as Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, and Preston soon had their own societies, each with its own committee, secretary and treasurer. Susannah Saxton was the secretary of the Manchester Female Reform Union. Her husband, John Thacker Saxton, wrote for the Manchester Observer, the local radicals’ press organ.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
How Did Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice Become A Christmas Story?
HO, HO, HO…how did Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice become a Christmas story? Devoney looser investigates
Jane's Beloved Friend
Judith Stove introduces her new biography of Anne Lefroy
Women Of Peterloo
MEN WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES DEMANDING REFORM IN AUGUST 1819. MANY WOMEN CAME TO MANCHESTER FOR A DAY OF PROTEST, AND NOT ALL OF THEM MADE IT HOME, AS SUE WILKES REPORTS
Darcy's Picture Gallery
WHAT MIGHT ELIZABETH BENNET HAVE SEEN AS SHE WANDERED THROUGH THE CORRIDORS OF PEMBERLEY? VICTORIA C SKELLY CONSIDERS HOW THE OWNERS OF GREAT ESTATES IN JANE AUSTEN’S TIME VIEWED ART
Austen's Festive Music
A LARGE COLLECTION OF MUSIC WRITTEN OUT BY JANE AUSTEN REVEALS SOME POPULAR NURSERY RHYMES AND HER CHRISTMAS FAVOURITES, WRITES ROS OSWALD. PICTURES FROM THE NOVELS, BY CE BROCK
Last Days In Winchester
Jane Austen left Chawton on may 24, 1817, to seek medical help in the nearby city of Winchester. Elizabeth Jane Timms traces those final weeks of her life. line drawings by Ellen Hill c1901
The Archbishop's Bones
An important discovery was made recently in a London church. Maggie Lane was quick to spot the connection with Jane Austen
Bath Time
The 17th Jane Austen festival, which takes place in bath in september, includes more than 80 events, as Jackie Herring explains. pictures from last year’s festival by Owen Benson
A New Online Face
The Jane Austen society of North America by Iris Lutz
Candour And Comfort
Female friendships outside the family group rarely feature in Jane Austen’s fiction, yet she and Cassandra enjoyed a close relationship with the three youngest daughters of many down park, Hampshire as Hazel Jones explores
Monumental Milestones
Manchester International Airport revamps with a new terminal and sustainable fuel.
Hands Off My Football Team!
The European Super League followed a model shaped in the U.S. Opposition from fans scuttled the idea
RETURN TO 60° SOUTH
OCEAN RACER NICK MOLONEY RETURNED TO THE DEEP SOUTH WITH A MEMORABLE VOYAGE TO ANTARCTICA
The World's Favorite Drug
The dark history of how coffee took over
A Big Kick For Women's Soccer
After this summer’s World Cup, pro teams around the world are aiming to woo new fans
£440m airport project to bring thousands of jobs
TERMINAL 2 TO BE COMPLETED - SOUNDING DEATH KNELL FOR T1 AFTER 60 YEARS
SNOW MISERY
PLANES GROUNDED AT AIRPORT AND HUGE QUEUES ON ROADS
Snow closes airport after coldest night
FLIGHTS were halted and Manchester Airport was closed temporarily as ice and blizzards also kept office workers and school pupils at home yesterday.
Roy's back at Lansdowne
Soccer legend scores plush pad at record-setting luxury development
Shirlaine Forrest
Whether shooting rock gigs, fashion models or the high-speed track sport of roller derby, Shirlaine Forrest is one of the busiest photographers you will ever meet. She pauses just long enough to tell Keith Wilson why she always carries a bag of sweets and how Bob the Builder fixed it for her