Sixty-one more Scottish Chartists named

In January 1842, the Chartist movement in Scotland refused to endorse the wording of the second petition, work on which had begun in England the previous October.

Anxious to gain the support of Irish nationalists, both in Ireland and in the great cities of England and Scotland where there were substantial migrant communities, the National Charter Association leadership had included in the petition a call for repeal of the Act of Union.

This had not been elevated to a seventh point, but was listed alongside demands for repeal of the New Poor Law, cuts in spending on the monarchy and armed forces, and other radical causes.

Nonetheless, the union was a sensitive issue in Scotland, and a convention of Scottish delegates voted (on the chairman’s casting vote) not to endorse the petition.

Read the full story, along with the names of the 61 delegates to the Scottish convention.