The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #23907 Message #3974193
Posted By: GUEST,henryp
30-Jan-19 - 06:55 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Peterloo Massacre (Harvey Kershaw)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Peterloo Massacre (Harvey Kershaw)
Samuel Bamford (28 February 1788 – 13 April 1872), was an English radical and writer, who was born in Middleton, Lancashire.
Bamford was one of five children born to Daniel Bamford, a muslin weaver and part-time teacher, and his wife, Hannah. After his father withdrew him from Manchester Grammar School, Bamford became a weaver, and then a warehouseman in Manchester. In 1817 he was imprisoned in the New Bailey Prison in Salford on suspicion of high treason, on account of his political activities. From there he was taken to London and examined before the Privy Council presided over by Lord Sidmouth as Home Secretary. After promising to be of future good behaviour, he was released and was then able to return to live in his cottage at Middleton with his wife Jemima.
In August 1819, Bamford led a group from Middleton to St Peter's Fields, to attend a meeting pressing for parliamentary reform and the repeal of the Corn Laws. There they witnessed the Peterloo Massacre, and Bamford was arrested and charged with treason. Although the evidence showed that neither he nor any of his group had been involved in the violence, he was found guilty of inciting a riot and sentenced to a year in Lincoln gaol. The experience of the massacre made a deep impression on Bamford, convincing him that state power would always succeed against radical militancy. He came to be seen as a voice for radical reform, but opposed to any activism that involved physical force. From Wikipedia.
Bamford's walk is repeated every year;
To mark the anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre you are invited to join in a commemorative walk from Middleton following the route of Middleton's own Sam Bamford from Barrowfields to St Peter's Field in Manchester as he and 6,000 followers did on 16th August 1819.
We will walk via the old cemetery (with a brief pause at Sam Bamford's grave and monument) before following the route he described in detail in his autobiography 'Passages In The Life Of A Radical' to join other marchers as we approach Manchester, culminating in a solemn commemoration in Albert Square at 1pm.
Meet at 8.45am for a prompt start at 9am from the Blue Plaque marking the original assembly point in Barrowfields by St. Leonards Church. The walk is led by Martin Gittins.