Peterloo Memorial Campaign

Image of Sam c/o this verbatim, totally factual, visual history of Peterloo. (Though I expect most of you already have a copy!)
polyp.org.uk/books/peterl...

Polyp's drawing of Samuel Bamford as a young man, in front of the clock tower of the church in Middleton.

Just time to wish a happy 238th birthday to Samuel Bamford, weaver, writer, poet and Radical, who led the Middleton contingent to Peterloo in August 1819.

Peterloo in Rock - What’s on in Glossop Experience the powerful fusion of progressive folk rock with classic rock, indie and blues as The Reformers of Peterloo showcase Peterloo in Rock.  The show begins in the immediate aftermath […]

@peterloomemorial.bsky.social This will be a cracker.

Glossop, Sat 7th March.

All other gigs have sold out, standing ovations etc...

We suggest a stroll in the hills, then a gig?! Easy by train.

Gig visuals by author of PETERLOO graphic novel.

whatsoninglossop.com/event/peterl...

Online talk on The Radical Life of Thomas Paine, on his 289th birthday - Monday 9 February, 7pm - with @peterloomemorial.bsky.social chair Polyp, who published a Fantastical Visual Biography of Paine. Book now!

humanists.uk/events/in-co...

polyp.org.uk/books/paine-...

@peterloomemorial.bsky.social Another Peterloo in Rock gig in Glossop... coming soon!

Really looking forward to this!

Paine needs to be bought back into popular history more than ever right now, as USA democracy slides into crisis...

"These are the times that try men's souls."

Coat of arms of the former West Riding of Yorkshire (or at least one variation of) Taken by Flickr user:Tim Green 2.0

In early April 1820, what could have been a significant uprising occurred in the West Riding of Yorkshire, It was closely linked to unrest in the west of Scotland, particularly around Glasgow and the aftermath of the "Peterloo" trials. The unrest unfolded in several towns. 1/3

#OTD in 1819: The Seditious Meetings Act is passed. One of the 'Six Acts' passed to suppress radical movements in the wake of Peterloo.

statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...

#History

CW: maternal death
17 December 1819 Mary Heys died. Four months earlier, while pregnant, she had been trampled by cavalry at the Peterloo Massacre Manchester, resulting in severe bruising, daily fits, and ultimately her death giving birth prematurely.

Pile of green books showing just the spines on which are the title ‘Chartist Lives’ and the author name ‘Mark Crail’

#Chartism #BookSky #History
Forty-two inspirational, committed, tumultuous, stirring, eccentric, breathtaking, unwavering, astonishing, entertaining, hapless, tragic and reprehensible Chartist lives for a tenner…
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

The Transactions social media graphic has a background image of an aerial photograph of green patchwork fields with the teal cover of the Transactions journal front cover placed to the left with the caption written on a cream banner to the right 'Published on behalf of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire.'

Most read in Transactions:
'The Preston Strike in Literature: Dickens, Gaskell and Bamford' by Robert Poole
Read it #OpenAccess online: bit.ly/DiGaBa 🔐
@peterloomemorial.bsky.social @sslh.bsky.social

YouTube video by Oliver Sykes Journalism Peterloo Memorial e-petition

COUNCIL PETITION RE CLEANING THE PETERLOO MEMORIAL
We've loads of paper signatures but could do with more on the e-petition. Please sign now! (Ignore any glitch message; the link works, petition is live.)
democracy.manchester.gov.uk/mgEPetitionD...
Polyp explains all:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mcE...

YouTube video by Oliver Sykes Journalism Peterloo Memorial e-petition

COUNCIL PETITION RE CLEANING THE PETERLOO MEMORIAL
We've loads of paper signatures but could do with more on the e-petition. Please sign now! (Ignore any glitch message; the link works, petition is live.)
democracy.manchester.gov.uk/mgEPetitionD...
Polyp explains all:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mcE...

Freethought History Webinar #4: Thomas Paine, the Freethinking Democratic Hero Cancelled from Popular History. With Paul Fitzgerald (9 September 2025) - The Freethinker An invitation to the fourth in our Freethought History Webinar series.

Reminder! The next Freethought History Webinar, ft. Paul Fitzgerald aka Polyp on Thomas Paine, is happening on 9 Sep. Sign up now!

@polypartist.bsky.social

freethinker.co.uk/2025/08/free...

E P Thompson & the Making of the English Working Class. Made in August Cover of the 1963 hardback edition E P Thompson & the Making of the English Working Class. Made in August E P Thompson signed the contract for the Making of the English Working Class in August …

E P Thompson signed the contract for the Making of the English Working Class in August 1959 and delivered it in August 1963. It remains in print. He was meant to deliver 60,000 words covering 1790-1921. In fact he wrote 100,000 words on the period 1790-1830s 👇
wp.me/p15p2Q-eV0

Two shots of the Peterloo Memorial, which carries the names of the 18 people killed in 1819 and the towns from which the demonstrators travelled to Manchester on 16 August. The first looks shabby and dirty, the second clean and shiny after the annual cleaning

If you came to the Peterloo commemoration on 16 August you may have signed a petition to the council asking to add an anti-mould treatment to the annual cleaning of the memorial.
There's an online version to sign at democracy.manchester.gov.uk/mgEPetitionD...
More at www.facebook.com/groups/33595...

The Peterloo tapestry, a long stretch of cloth covered with items created by the public to commemorate the Peterloo massacre, with a red woollen Liberty cap in the foreground

Also very good to see the Peterloo tapestry, created by members of the public in the run-up to the bicentenary in 2019, on display in the bar of 53two!
#Peterloo2025 #Peterloo

Musicians in 19th-century costume on stage with guitars, keyboards etc, in front of the image of a heart pierced by a sabre, labelled "Reformers of Peterloo".

Afterwards at 53two we saw Reformers of Peterloo perform Peterloo in Rock, a musical show about 1819 and the fight for democracy (have we won yet?) Featuring the art of @peterloomemorial.bsky.social's Polyp as an ever-shifting backdrop.
One more performance tonight 8pm!
#Peterloo2025 #Peterloo

Lord Mayor Carmine Grimshaw reading the details of Peterloo victim Sarah Jones.

Remembering two-year-old William Fildes, the first victim of Peterloo

Remembering the dead around the Peterloo Memorial

The story of Edmund Dawson, read by a relative.

Thanks to all those who joined us at the Peterloo Memorial today to remember those who were killed on St Peter's Field in 1819 during the campaign for democracy.
#Peterloo2025 #Peterloo

A wreath of red and white flowers and green leaves, the colours of the English republican flag.

All ready with the wreath for the Peterloo 206th anniversary commemoration at 1pm today, Saturday 16 August.
The red, white and green reflects the flag used by English republicans in the 19th century.
We'd love to have less formal flowers, too.
#Peterloo2025

Today!

Peterloo and its place in the Chartist memory So much is being written about Peterloo in this bicentenary year that I am reluctant to pitch in. But I think it is worth commenting on the ways in which memories of the 1819 massacre were co-opted…

The #Peterloo massacre took place #OnThisDay 16 August 1819. How did the Chartists remember it?
chartistancestors.blog/2019/05/10/p...

#OtD 16 Aug 1819 the Peterloo massacre took place when British cavalry charge into a crowd of 60,000-80,000 working-class people demanding the right to vote. 15 were murdered and up to 700 injured, including many women. Learn more in our podcast: workingclasshistory.com/2018/11/07/e...

Sources for the Peterloo Massacre The Society for the Study of Labour History has created a resource pack and guide to sources on the Peterloo massacre of 1819. Compiled by the Society’s Archives and Resources Committee, the …

The #Peterloo massacre took place in Manchester, #OnThisDay 16 August 1819. Our free resource pack offers a guide to sources in the archives.
sslh.org.uk/2019/05/01/s...

The Magistrate who sent the Yeomanry in at Peterloo on 16th August 1819 went on to be a founder of the modern Tory Party The Magistrate who gave the order to send the Yeomanry in at Peterloo in Manchester in August 1819 was William Hulton (1787-1864). In a review of books published to mark the 150th anniversary of Pe…

206th anniversary of Peterloo, Monday 16th August 1819, central Manchester. 60,000 protested for the vote. Local businessmen on horseback cut them down. The Magistrate who sent them in 👇
wp.me/p15p2Q-eQC

Manchester, August 16, 1819.

And today, 2.10-2.50 this afternoon...

Also tomorrow:

One day to go!