Stroud to hold Chartist Festival
In March 1839, John Frost was chosen to be the prospective Chartist parliamentary candidate for Stroud up on Rodborough Common.
In May 1839, 5,000 people met on Selsley Hill in support of the People’s Charter, and the Six Points that would empower the working class.
In the November that year, the last armed insurrection on British soil took place in Newport, led by John Frost. The government had rejected a petition presented by the Chartists and then crushed the subsequent protest calling for electoral equality for the working classes.
The People's Charter
In 1838 a People's Charter was drawn up by William Lovett and Francis Place, two self-educated radicals. The Charter had six demands:
- All men to have the vote
- Voting should take place by secret ballot
- Parliamentary elections every year, not once every five years
- Constituencies should be of equal size
- Members of Parliament should be paid
- The property qualification for becoming a Member of Parliament should be abolished
It took another 80 years for the Chartists demands to be met and even now, the demand of an election every year still stands. The stipulation of constituencies being of equal size leads to periodic boundary reviews.
Chartist Weekend
A two-day event to commemorate the Chartist movement – the 19th century campaign to reform Parliament and get the vote for the working classes – takes place in Stroud on May 17 and 18.
Organised by Radical Stroud with the support of the Stroud and District Trade Union Council and the Unite the union’s Gloucester District branch, the festival will feature live music, poetry, history talks and film, all at the Prince Albert pub in Rodborough.
The event is the brainchild of Stroud-based historian Stuart Butler, who specialises in the study of working-class history and Stroud’s long history of dissent.
The event will start with a walk and a small community gathering on the Saturday at 12.15pm on Selsley Hill at the place, where, in 1839, 5,000 people met in support of the People’s Charter.
Donations
Donations will be taken throughout the weekend, with proceeds being split between the Trinity Rooms Community Hub, which is raising funds to buy its building, and the Heavens Valley Community Benefit Society, which is fundraising to repay the loans used to buy the Heavens Valley for the community.
Stuart Butler says:
“Relatively little is well-known about Stroud’s involvement with the protest movement of the 19th century, so the festival is a way for people to learn more about it. The gathering of thousands of people locally to call for political reform was perhaps the precursor to the ethos of political activism that we still see in Stroud today.”
Stuart Butler is a local writer, poet, historian, walking footballer and psychogeographer who traces the radical origins of Stroud through hill and vale, river and brook.
Stroud and District Trades Council is an organisation formed to represent local Trade Unions in the area.
Amplify Stroud is supported by Dialect rural writers collective. Dialect offers mentorship, encouragement and self-study courses as well as publishing.
You can find out more at https://www.dialect.org.uk/
Member discussion