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Peterloo
585 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1969
4 people want to read
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June 3, 2014
Usually, my reading is historical non-fiction. Actually, I was attracted to the topic of 'Peterloo' by a fictional novel. I recently read 'The Manchester Man' written by Linnaeus Banks (Mrs) published in 1876, which included a stark account, said to be based on fact, of the events on St.Peter's Field in Manchester on the 16th of August 1819.
Robert Walmsley's 'Peterloo-The Case Re-opened' (1969) has left me wondering if this 'Manchester Massacre' ever really happened at all. With the Preface and Prologue, Walmsley's thesis covers almost six hundred pages, utilising a vast amount of primary source material, documents, letters, newspaper reports, court trial transcripts, Parliamentary debates etc. In fact, hardly a page does not include some example of the above list, which are all printed on the page in a smaller font to the writers contributions.
In short, whatever happened on the site of St.Peter's Square Manchester in 1819, the event was distorted by the press reports of the day, (little changes) and exaggerated by supporters of the Radical faction. So, how many folk marched to Peterloo that day? Estimates have been given to any number between 40 and 150 thousand. What happened when the Yeomanry Corps appeared? Were they provoked by the throwing of stones and brickbats? Did the magistrates have the Riot Act read? What of the casualties? How many people actually lost their lives? Two? Five? Fifteen? Fifty?
How many injured? Over four hundred with sabre wounds? The Radical Henry Hunt is quoted in the book as producing a list of killed and injured, but unfortunately this is not reproduced in the text. In fact, even in the newspaper reports of the day there are no quotes from the great unwashed, no accounts given by attendees of the meeting, save from the great and the good. It is approaching two hundred years since these events, and the facts are still clouded in the dust.
Robert Walmsley's 'Peterloo-The Case Re-opened' (1969) has left me wondering if this 'Manchester Massacre' ever really happened at all. With the Preface and Prologue, Walmsley's thesis covers almost six hundred pages, utilising a vast amount of primary source material, documents, letters, newspaper reports, court trial transcripts, Parliamentary debates etc. In fact, hardly a page does not include some example of the above list, which are all printed on the page in a smaller font to the writers contributions.
In short, whatever happened on the site of St.Peter's Square Manchester in 1819, the event was distorted by the press reports of the day, (little changes) and exaggerated by supporters of the Radical faction. So, how many folk marched to Peterloo that day? Estimates have been given to any number between 40 and 150 thousand. What happened when the Yeomanry Corps appeared? Were they provoked by the throwing of stones and brickbats? Did the magistrates have the Riot Act read? What of the casualties? How many people actually lost their lives? Two? Five? Fifteen? Fifty?
How many injured? Over four hundred with sabre wounds? The Radical Henry Hunt is quoted in the book as producing a list of killed and injured, but unfortunately this is not reproduced in the text. In fact, even in the newspaper reports of the day there are no quotes from the great unwashed, no accounts given by attendees of the meeting, save from the great and the good. It is approaching two hundred years since these events, and the facts are still clouded in the dust.
Displaying 1 of 1 review