I first heard of Peterloo when I had been working at the Library for a few years and I was shown a little book, filled with names. It was the Peterloo Relief Fund Account Book (or English MS 172) a little notebook which records recipients of the Peterloo Relief Fund giving their names, addresses, details of their injuries and the amount of money paid to them.
Peterloo Relief Fund Account Book. A list of recipients of the Peterloo relief fund giving their names, addresses, details of their injuries and the amount of money paid to them.
The next time I heard about Peterloo was during Manchester International Festival 2013 when Maxine Peake recited all 37 verses of Shelley’s poem, ‘The Masque of Anarchy’, directed by Sarah Frankcom, just yards from the site of the Peterloo Massacre itself.
But it was until Monday evening 5th October 2015, at a rally for The People’s Post organised by the CWU (Communication Worker’s Union) that I truly understood the significance of Peterloo and what went on at Peter’s Fields. When Lindsay German addressed the crowd of over 8000 people that had amassed in Cathedral Gardens, she spoke of the democratic reform that the Peterloo rally had been demonstrating for, and subsequently brought about.
Cathedral Gardens, Manchester, Monday 5th October 2015
I had not understood that those killed and injured at Peterloo had been taking part in a peaceful rally, much like the one I attended on Monday, to claim their democratic rights – and to defend the rights of the poor. In the back of the Peterloo Relief Account Book is a newspaper cutting, which is an account from a man named James Haslam, I have transcribed the cutting below so you can read about where first he heard of Peterloo…
Originally posted on CHICC Manchester, read full post here: Where First I Heard of Peterloo
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I first heard of Peterloo when I had been working at the Library for a few years and I was shown a little book, filled with names. It was the Peterloo Relief Fund Account Book (or English MS 172) a little notebook which records recipients of the Peterloo Relief Fund giving their names, addresses, details of their injuries and the amount of money paid to them.
The next time I heard about Peterloo was during Manchester International Festival 2013 when Maxine Peake recited all 37 verses of Shelley’s poem, ‘The Masque of Anarchy’, directed by Sarah Frankcom, just yards from the site of the Peterloo Massacre itself.
But it was until Monday evening 5th October 2015, at a rally for The People’s Post organised by the CWU (Communication Worker’s Union) that I truly understood the significance of Peterloo and what went on at Peter’s Fields. When Lindsay German addressed the crowd of over 8000 people that had amassed in Cathedral Gardens, she spoke of the democratic reform that the Peterloo rally had been demonstrating for, and subsequently brought about.
Cathedral Gardens, Manchester, Monday 5th October 2015
I had not understood that those killed and injured at Peterloo had been taking part in a peaceful rally, much like the one I attended on Monday, to claim their democratic rights – and to defend the rights of the poor. In the back of the Peterloo Relief Account Book is a newspaper cutting, which is an account from a man named James Haslam, I have transcribed the cutting below so you can read about where first he heard of Peterloo…
Originally posted on CHICC Manchester, read full post here: Where First I Heard of Peterloo
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