Feargus O’Connor - last of the gentleman radicals

Feargus O’Connor permeates Chartist Ancestors as he permeated Chartism itself. The two can barely be separated. But up to now I haven’t written a biography of the all-important Chartist leader - ‘The great I AM of radicalism’, as a frustrated William Lovett dubbed him.

That has now changed, and I have managed to pull something together that tells his story, beginning with a childhood spent among a most remarkable family in Cork, and ending with his committal to a lunatic asylum in the early 1850s.

The full version of the sketch of O’Connor shown right can be found here. But I was especially pleased to discover that there are surviving portraits of his Irish nationalist uncle Arthur, eccentric father Roger, and adventurous elder brother Frank - or Francisco, as he is better known to history, quite a tale in itself.

O’Connor led a fascinating life. A family inheritance enabled him to live as an independent gentleman radical (perhaps one of the last of the breed), and for a decade he pretty much embodied Chartism, leading it on through good times and bad with unflagging energy.

Yet I must admit there is also much not to admire about him. 

You can read more about the man without whom Chartism might never have been more than a footnote in the history books at:

• Feargus O’Connor, 1794-1855 and
• The tragic death and magnificent funeral of Feargus O’Connor

Kennington 1848: the women in white bonnets, the man in the dustman's hat and the coachman

The daguerreotype images of the famous Chartist Kennington Common meeting on 10 April 1848 have fascinated historians since they first came to light in the Royal Collection in the mid-1970s. Though not the first crowd photographs, as is sometimes claimed, they are the first such pictures of a protest meeting, and they provide a real glimpse into this historic moment in time.

Professor Fabrice Bensimon, historian of the nineteenth century and a noted expert on the Chartist movement at Sorbonne Université, has spent many hours pouring over the two surviving daguerreotypes in an attempt to shed light on the people who made up the crowd. His research appears in a recent article in the Journal of Victorian Culture¹.

A slightly new look for Chartist Ancestors

You may notice that the Chartist Ancestors website has had a bit of a makeover. To be honest, I hope it isn't too noticeable as I was quite happy with the look and feel of it as it was.

However, the theme (design template) I was using is now being flagged by Wordpress as having a 'known vulnerability', so to be on the safe side I have switched to a new one. 

Register for Chartism Day 2024

Registration is now open for Chartism Day 2024. This year’s conference takes place at the University of Reading on Saturday 7 September - and, as ever, all are welcome.

Professor Mike Sanders will be giving the keynote address on Disraeli, Young England and the Chartists, and there are loads of other great speakers.

In addition to the speakers programme, there will be a ‘silent auction’ for artwork and other goodies kindly donated by graphic artist Polyp - you may have seen his fantastic Peterloo and Tom Paine graphic novels, and he has a new one called COURAGE! coming out on the fight for the franchise.

Find out more at this link…

The full programme and a registration button can be found Here on Eventbrite.

Emma Miles: the life of a female Chartist activist

Born in 1819, Emma Miles was one of a number of female activists in their early twenties who made the City of London Female Chartist Association something of a media sensation with their unashamed views on political reform and the place of women in public life.

The daughter of a well known London clockmaker (whose work today sells for thousands of pounds and can be found in museums), Emma dismissed the very idea that women should be content to be ‘an ornament to the domestic hearth’ and declared that she would remain a Chartist to the end of her life.

Emma would later marry a fellow Chartist activist and emigrate to Ohio.

I’ve been digging into Emma’s story a little after identifying her with some certainty in the baptism and marriage records to be found on Ancestry (others sharing her name being too young or too old, too far from London, or too married). 

Frustratingly, however, I have not yet managed to identify the right Mary Ann Walker in the records. 

Emma’s life story can be found here.