The Chartists on the hill: William Lovett, George Jacob Holyoake and Karl Marx in Highgate Cemetery

Highgate Cemetery must be the most famous burial ground in England. This week I paid a visit in search of William Lovett, secretary to the London Working Men’s Association, author of the People’s Charter and more besides. I visited, by chance, just a day before the anniversary of Lovett’s death on 8 August 1877, climbing Highgate Hill to get there before passing through the huge stone gatehouse to buy the £10 ticket that gave me access to the cemetery proper. 

Louis Blanc's Chartist connection: a letter to Holyoake

The French socialist Louis Blanc had been a significant figure in the provisional government of 1848. But despite having popular support for his plans to guarantee work for all, the left was a minority in government, and Blanc fled into exile after narrowly escaping arrest or worse.