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. 

In remembrance of William Lovett

Chartist memorabilia is getting harder to find. But I was delighted to come across this death/remembrance notice for William Lovett.

Working on behalf of the London Working Men's Association, Lovett was the author of the People's Charter and secretary to the First Chartist Convention. But he was sidelined in later Chartism by Feargus O'Connor and his supporters, and moved on to devote his energies to secular education.

The remembrance notice is typical of those produced at the time (Lovett died in 1877). Interestingly, it gets a mention in trade union newspaper The Bee-Hive's report of Lovett's death, and its text is quoted there in full.

Unlike some of those who went to their graves before him, Lovett was no populist and was never a great platform orator. Similarly, his funeral was quiet and attended mainly by those who had known him well - in contrast to the great outpourings of popular grief that attended the funerals of O'Connor and others.

I have written more here about the simple and secular funeral of William Lovett, and the tragic death and magnificent funeral of Feargus O'Connor.

A list of Chartist leaders - but where did it come from, and when (and why) was it compiled?

My collection of Chartist ephemera now includes this intriguing four-page document. Entirely without preamble or explanation, it lists 44 of the best known figures in Chartism, their names apparently written in their own hand.

My first thought when I got my hands on it was that this was the delegate list for a conference taking place on 19 November 1841 - a date which appears very clearly on the final page.

However, with further investigation, that appears not to be the case, and I have to say that it is not entirely obvious when the list was created or why. What I do know, and some thoughts about what it might represent, are set out here.

Download a PDF showing the document in full.

William Lovett: autobiography of a Chartist

William Lovett occupies a pivotal place in the history of Chartism. He drafted the People’s Charter, was secretary to the London Working Men’s Association, and subsequently served as secretary to the first Chartist Convention of 1839.

Importantly, William Lovett also wrote and published an autobiography. The Life and Struggles of William Lovett first appeared in 1876 and provides a useful insight into the life of this fascinating man and his perspective on the world.

The full text of Lovett’s autobiography has been transcribed and can now be found on the ever excellent Minor Victorian Poets and Authors website.

It is well worth reading the introduction by the socialist philosopher R H Tawney which appeared in later editions, particularly because it draws attention to the viewpoint from which Lovett wrote and to the gaps in what he had to say about Chartism.

There is already an enormous volume of work by Chartists on the Minor Victorian Poets and Authors website, and more is planned, including the full text of Chartism: a New Organization of the People, written by William Lovett and John Collins in 1840 while both were in Warwick Gaol.

There is also more about William Lovett on Chartist Ancestors, including
*  A biographical sketch of William Lovett taken from The Charter newspaper of 17 March 1839;
*  An article on William Lovett and Knowledge Chartism; and
*  William Lovett’s own all-too-brief account of the First Chartist Convention.

William Lovett born 8 May 1800

Chartist anniversaries fall thick and fast in May. On 7 May 1839, the first Chartist petition was presented to Parliament, and today is the birthday of William Lovett, the man who wrote the text of the People’s Charter and served as secretary to the First Chartist Convention of 1839.

Lovett was born at Newlyn near Penzance. His father died at sea before William was born, so he was brought up by his mother, aunt and grandmother in a strict Methodist household. Moving to London in 1821 if not earlier, he became active in radical politics.

Lovett played a part in early trade unionism, the co-operative stores movement and other causes, refused to serve in the militia – at some personal cost – and joined the National Union of the Working Classes.

It was on his initiative that the London Working Men’s Association was founded in 1836 and it was this body from which the Charter emerged.

In truth, there was nothing new about the Six Points, all of which had long been part of the radical canon. Neither did Lovett or the LWMA organise the famous petition to Parliament (this originated with the Birmingham Political Union).

And, had the organisation of Chartism been left to Lovett and his LWMA comrades, it is likely that it would scarcely merit a footnote in the history books. They were unable even to print copies in time for its launch.

But Lovett was a man of great principle, who went to prison for his Chartist activities and played an honourable if not always effective part in the radical politics of the day. Lovett died on 8 August 1877, and is buried in Highgate Cemetery.

For more on William Lovett, see the Chartist Ancestor pages on
William Lovett and Knowledge Chartism
William Lovett’s profile and portrait in The Charter
William Lovett’s account of the First Chartist Convention

William Lovett: author of the People's Charter

William Lovett was without doubt the Father of the People’s Charter. He had been a founder member of the London Working Men’s Association, and of radical bodies before that, and was a natural choice to draft its political platform.

The third in our series of profiles and portraits of delegates to the General Convention of the Industrious Classes – otherwise known as the First Chartist Convention – offers a fairly detailed account of his life up to 1839, and shortly before his arrest and imprisonment for sedition.

Both words and text are taken from Lovett’s own newspaper, The Charter. In all, there were 12 such profiles, all of which will be added to Chartist Ancestors in due course. The page on William Lovett can be seen here.

Nominally, the Charter was the work of 12 men – six drawn from the ranks of the London Working Men’s Association, and six sympathetic MPs. The Charter, and its famous six points, were, however, almost entirely the work of Lovett – albeit based on many previous radical programmes.

It is important to distinguish the Charter and the petitions which supported it. The first was a draft parliamentary bill extending the franchise to all working men; and the petitions raised numerous grievances, many of which, they contended, could be solved by enacting the Charter.

And while the Charter was the work of the London Working Men’s Association, the first petition originated with the Birmingham Political Union. It was the marriage of these two things and the building of a mass platform (that is, popular support) that first made Chartism unique.

See the profile and portrait of William Lovett.

See also pages on:
* The London Working Men’s Association
* The Chartist petitions
* A Chartist timeline