How did the government respond to a mass protest at ‘Peterloo’ in 1819?

Lesson at a glance

Suitable for: Key stage 3, Key stage 5

Time period: Empire and Industry 1750-1850

Curriculum topics: Political and social reform

Suggested inquiry questions: What do these documents reveal about events at ‘Peterloo’? What was the role of the military? How did local magistrates respond to events? What do these documents infer about the attitude of the government and its critics towards reform? Which document in this collection is the most useful for understanding events at ‘Peterloo’?

Potential activities: Use the documents and the external video links in this lesson to write a report on the events at St. Peter's Field. Explain what happened and who was responsible for the outcome. Research the impact of this event.

Download: Lesson pack

Political reform in 19th century Britain

Between 1815 and 1819, there were a series of disturbances in Britain. Political meetings were held to protest against the government and demand reform. The climax came in 1819, when 60,000 people gathered at St. Peter’s Fields in Manchester. The main speaker at the meeting was Henry Hunt, a leading political reformer. The crowd gathered to hear Hunt speak about parliamentary reform.

However, the Manchester magistrates chose to arrest Hunt. They used the local yeomanry (amateur cavalry) to seize him. In the chaos that followed, 11 people died and many were injured. This event soon became known as ‘Peterloo’, after the recent Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

After these events some people blamed the magistrates; others cited the violence of the crowd. Many attacked the behaviour of the yeomanry, saying they were guilty of overreacting because the meeting was peaceful. However, the government chose to defend the magistrates and the yeomanry and promptly introduced new laws to restrict political rights.

Using the original documents in this lesson, find out about events at ‘Peterloo’ and the response of the authorities.


Tasks

Task 1

A letter sent to authorities in Manchester on behalf of Lord Sidmouth, Home Secretary, 4 August 1819. Catalogue ref: HO 41/4 f.434

This letter advised on steps to be taken before the meeting happened in St Peter’s Fields in August, 1819.

  • What steps should be taken to discourage the meeting in Manchester from happening? 
  • On what grounds would Lord Sidmouth be prepared to use force to ‘disperse the mob’ or break up the meeting? 
  • What does the letter suggest about the government’s attitude to the meeting? 
  • Why do you think the writer chose to use capital letters for some words like: ‘Reflection’; ‘Advertisement’; ‘Inexpediency’; ‘Acts of Felony’?

Task 2

Engraving showing events at St Peter’s Fields on 16 August 1819 in Manchester. Catalogue ref: MPI 1/134 

The engraving shows how events at ‘Peterloo’ soon became used as radical propaganda. This picture was purchased by John Jenkins, an ex-weaver and ex-Royal Marine, who ‘by the aid of a magnifying glass [made the figures] appear as large as life’ while he described what happened. In November 1819 Jenkins had been exhibiting the picture at Chudleigh, in Devon, when his activities came to the attention of Gilbert Burrington, vicar of Chudleigh and magistrate. Burrington sent Jenkins to the Exeter House of Correction as a vagrant and passed information of his seditious conduct to the Home Secretary. 

House of Correction: a place where those who had committed minor offences and considered capable of reformation were confined. 

  • Can you describe what is happening in this scene? 
  • What do the flags reveal about the purpose of the meeting? 
  • Does the source infer anything about the role of women in political protest? 
  • Who does the artist show sympathy for? How is this achieved? 
  • What is the value of the original caption and key displayed with the image? 
  • What other sources would be useful to understand what happened? 
  • Why do you think John Jenkins was arrested for displaying this picture? [See task caption] 
  • What are the similarities and differences between this source and the illustration image for the lesson? 
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of visual evidence?

Task 3

A scrap of paper giving account of events at St. Peter’s Fields in Manchester shows that few expected the Yeoman Cavalry to be used to break up the crowd. This brief, vivid, immediate account is said to be our earliest report of ‘Peterloo’, 16 August 1819. This information was received in London the following day and sent to the office of Lord Sidmouth. Catalogue ref: HO 42/192 f207 

The Liberty cap has been a symbol of freedom since at least Roman times. It was worn during the American Revolution and was adopted during the French Revolution. In Britain in 1819, the ‘Cap of Liberty’ was also the name of a radical weekly newsletter. 

  • This note was written on the day. Can you think of any advantages or disadvantages this might mean for historians? 
  • What was the size of the crowd mentioned here? 
  • What do you think was the purpose of the flags and liberty caps seen at the meeting? 
  • How and why were ‘lives lost and a number wounded’ at the meeting? 
  • Does the writer justify the use of the cavalry against the crowd? 
  • Does the writer reveal his attitude to these events? Explain your views.  
  • Compare this source to Source 2 showing events at St. Peter’s Fields. Can you spot any similarities and differences with this version of events? 

Task 4

Extract from a printed paper called ‘Evidence disproving some of the charges’: an attempt to explain away the death of a child called William Fildes at ‘Peterloo’. This was a move by the authorities to justify their actions, and provide a summary of the various inquests carried out by the Manchester authorities. They were happy to admit that a child was trampled to death in the Yeomanry charge, and blame the mother for letting go of her child when startled by the charge. Catalogue ref: HO 42/199 f217. 

  • How did Anne Fildes explain the cause of her son’s death? [First part.] 
  • What did Robert Henry Wilson say happened? [Second part.] 
  • Why do you think the local authorities in Manchester circulated this information? 
  • What does this source infer about the impact of events at ‘Peterloo’? 
  • How could this information also be used by radical reformers?  
  • Why do you think this is a Home Office record? [Clue: What was the role of the Home Office?] 
  • What additional evidence does this source infer about events at ‘Peterloo’ compared to Source 3? 

Task 5

Letter from the Home Office on the conduct of the Manchester magistrates, 23 August 1819Catalogue ref: HO 41/4 f.496

  • What was the opinion of Lord Sidmouth, Home Secretary, on the actions of the magistrates? 
  • How did the Prince Regent react to the events in Manchester? 
  • Why do you think both government and monarch praised the magistrates? 
  • How do their views compare with those of the artist who made the engraving, Source 2? 
  • How does this source relate to the content of Source 3? 
  • The events at St. Peter’s Fields in Manchester quickly became known as the ‘Peterloo Massacre’. Is this a helpful description? Explain your answer. 

Background

‘Popular radicalism’ was based on democratic ideals and was critical of government corruption.  After the French Wars, there was a return to public political meetings and riots. The Spa Fields riots were incidents of public disorder resulting from the second of two mass meetings held at Spa Fields, Islington in London, 1816. There was a rising at Pentrich in Derbyshire in 1817. A few months before these events, a demonstration was held in Manchester by radical weavers known as the ‘Blanketeers’. They planned to march to London and present a petition to the Prince Regent about the depression in the textile industry in Lancashire and the suspension of Habeas Corpus (making it possible for people be imprisoned unlawfully). This so-called ‘March of the Blanketeers’ was broken up violently and the leaders imprisoned. 

Perhaps the best-known demonstration for political rights at this time is known as the ‘Peterloo Massacre.’ The reform meeting at St Peter’s Field in Manchester in August 1819 followed two years of revived interest in the radical press, mass petitioning and trade unionism, still illegal at this time.  

It has been estimated that perhaps 60,000 men, women and children met at St Peter’s Field to hear Henry Hunt and others speak in favour of political reforms and rights for the poor. For several weeks beforehand, the reformers practised military drills with those planning to attend to ensure order on the day. However, local magistrates believed the reformers were preparing for armed rebellion; they declared the meeting illegal and warned people to stay at home. The meeting went ahead and started peacefully. However, when Hunt arrived, the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry (the amateur cavalry) were sent by the magistrates to arrest him. They slashed their way through the crowd, killing 11 people and resulting in 400 people being injured. The 15th Hussars on standby, who had previously fought at Waterloo, came in to support the yeomanry and cleared the field. Out of contempt for what happened, the disaster soon became referred to as the ‘Peterloo’. 

Mr W. R. Hay, a Lancashire magistrate, justified the position of the local authorities when he wrote to Lord Sidmouth, 16 August 1819 to say: ‘the whole bore the appearance of insurrection; that the array was such as to terrify all the king’s subjects, and was such as the magistrates had felt a decided conviction that no legitimate purpose could justify’. He goes on to describe the flags at the hustings which can be seen in the engraving showing the event: ‘The flag on which was “Equal Representation or Death,” was a black one; and in addition, on the same side, had “No borough mongering – Unite, and be Free;” at the bottom, “Saddleworth, Lees, and Morley Union;” on the reverse, “No Corn Laws; – Taxation, without Representation, is unjust and tyrannical.” On the Middleton flag was, “Let us die like men, and not be sold like slaves;” reverse, “Liberty is the birth right of man.”’ 

However, others reported events differently. The radical ‘Manchester Observer’ and ‘The Times’ of London commented on the deaths and hundreds of casualties caused by the cavalry, which the authorities tried to discredit by referring to individual cases, as shown by one of the sources in this lesson. 

There were further protest meetings resulting in arrests as news of events spread. The government, which had supported the actions of magistrates after ‘Peterloo’, introduced new laws to prevent any future disturbances. The ‘Six Acts’ were aimed at suppressing any meetings for the purpose of radical reform. They meant that drilling for military exercises was forbidden and warrants were issued to search for arms. Far more repressive was the extension of stamp duty to more newspapers, increased powers for magistrates to seize seditious literature, and powers to prevent meetings designed to present petitions.


Teachers' notes

Students use sources from The National Archives to examine events at St Peter’s Field, Manchester in August 1919 

Starter Activity

Teachers can use our illustration image, an anonymous print published in 1819, as a starter document to introduce the lesson. [Students are later tasked to compare this to another image in Source 2.] 

The image from the British Museum is entitled: ‘To Henry Hunt, Esquire, as chairman of the meeting assembled on St. Peter’s Field, Manchester on the 16th of August, 1819’. The title continues: ‘and to the Female Reformers of Manchester and the adjacent Towns who were exposed to and suffered from the Wanton and Furious Attack made on them by that British Armed Force the Manchester and Cheshire Yeomanry Cavalry’.  According to the National Portrait Gallery, who have also have print of this image, it was published by radical journalist Richard Carlile. From 1817, Carlile promoted two radical weeklies, ‘The Black Dwarf’ and ‘Sherwin’s Weekly Political Register’. In 1819 he was put on trial for publishing the work of Thomas Paine and was heavily fined and jailed for 9 years.  

It shows a view of the scene around the platform on the day. A woman holds a banner inscribed ‘Manchester Female Reform’ which shows a female figure trampling on ‘Coruption’. There are three more banners on the platform saying: Universal Suffrage’; ‘Liberty or Death’, ‘Universal Civil and Religious Liberty’. In the foreground a man holds a banner on which a female figure holds a sword and is pursued by one of the yeomanry. Each banner is topped with a cap of Liberty.  

  • Ask the students to describe what they see. 
  • Who does the artist show sympathy for? How is this achieved? 
  • What do we learn about the role of female reformers at this meeting? 
  • What does the original caption of this image add to our understanding of events at ‘Peterloo’? 
  • What other sources do we need to help understand what happened? 
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of visual evidence? 

In this lesson, students examine a letter sent to the authorities in Manchester on behalf of Lord Sidmouth, the Home Secretary on 4 August 1819. Sidmouth gave advice on the steps to be taken before the meeting happened in St Peter’s Fields. 

Students can explore what is revealed about the government’s attitude to the meeting.  Are they prepared to use force to disperse the crowd? In what situation would the public behaviour be the subject of prosecution?  

The second source is a coloured engraving of the events at St Peter’s Fields on 16 August 1819 in ManchesterStudents can discuss the advantages and disadvantages of visual evidence. The engraving shows how ‘Peterloo’ soon came to be used as radical propaganda. It is also possible for them to find out more about the story of John Jenkins who bought the engraving by using other original sources on the ‘Chudleigh show’ in our themed collection Democracy and Protest (part 2).  

Students then look at a scrap of paper giving an account of events at St. Peter’s Fields in Manchester which shows that few expected the Yeoman Cavalry to be used to break up the crowd. This brief, vivid, immediate account is said to be our earliest report of ‘Peterloo’, 16 August 1819. This information was received in London the following day and sent to Lord Sidmouth’s office. With this document, students acquire more context for the engraving seen in Source 2. 

The fourth source is an extract from a printed paper called ‘Evidence disproving some of the charges’: an attempt to explain away the death of a child called William Fildes at ‘Peterloo’. Here the authorities justify their actions, admit that a child was trampled to death in the Yeomanry charge, and blame the mother for letting go of her child when startled by the charge. There was a huge amount of public discussion after events at ‘Peterloo’, and this source could have been used by the radical press to explain the use of force by the authorities to break up a peaceful meeting. 

The final source is letter from the Home Office on behalf of Lord Sidmouth, the Home Secretary, praising the conduct of the Manchester magistrates at ‘Peterloo’. Apparently the Prince Regent had also extended his praise of their handling of the situation. Both feared revolution and were not sympathetic to reforming the political system. Sidmouth was responsible for the Six Acts of 1819 following ‘Peterloo’, which were intended to reduce disturbances and radical propaganda. A contemporary magistrate’s account by W. R. Hay can also be found in our themed collection Democracy and Protest (part 2). 

By way of conclusion, teachers could ask the students, which document in this lesson is the most useful for understanding events at ‘Peterloo’? How did the government respond? What are the limitations of looking at this evidence to evaluate any understanding of these events? 

You may want to split the lesson for students working individually or use the document sources in paired/group work. All sources are transcribed and difficult language defined in square brackets. For further original sources on ‘Peterloo’ and the later ‘Cato Street Conspiracy’, see our themed collection Democracy and Protest (part 2)which teachers could also use to create further tasks and activities. 

Please note that content in this lesson has been redeveloped from content in our Power, Politics & Protest focussed topic website, which has been archived as the interactive parts no longer work. 

Sources

Illustration image entitled:  To Henry Hunt, Esquire, as chairman of the meeting assembled on St. Peter’s Field, Manchester on the 16th of August, 1819. © The Trustees of the British Museum. 

Source 1: A letter sent to authorities in Manchester on behalf of Lord Sidmouth, Home Secretary, 4 August 1819, Catalogue ref: HO 41/4 f.434 

Source 2. Engraving of the events at St Peter’s Fields on 16 August 1819 in Manchester, Catalogue ref: MPI 1/134 

Source 3: An account of events at St. Peter’s Fields in Manchester sent to the office of Lord Sidmouth, 16 August 1819, Catalogue ref: HO 42/192 f207 

Source 4: Extract from a printed paper called ‘Evidence disproving some of the charges’, Catalogue ref: HO 42/199 f217. 

Source 5: Letter from the Home Office on the conduct of the Manchester magistrates, 23 August 1819Catalogue ref: HO 41/4 f.496 


External links

Unboxing Peterloo from The National Archives

Peterloo 2019 – An animation with historian Dr Robert Poole

Video from Royal Holloway, University of Londonlooking at the historical significance of the Peterloo Massacre of 1819.

Explore collections at the British Museum to find other prints, including those of George Cruikshank, and objects relating to ‘Peterloo’. 

The People’s History Museum: online exhibition on Peterloo: Disrupt? Peterloo and Protest

Connections to curriculum

Key stage 3

Britain as the first industrial nation – the impact on society. 

Key stage 5

AQA GCE History: Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783–1885: Government and a changing society, 1812–1832 

Edexcel GCE History: Protest, agitation and parliamentary reform in Britain, c1780–1928: Aspects in depth: Mass protest and agitation. 

OCR GCE History: British Period Study: British Government in the Age of Revolution 1783–1832: Liverpool and the radical challenge 1812–1822: Peterloo, government policy on law and order. 

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Lesson at a glance

Suitable for: Key stage 3, Key stage 5

Time period: Empire and Industry 1750-1850

Curriculum topics: Political and social reform

Suggested inquiry questions: What do these documents reveal about events at ‘Peterloo’? What was the role of the military? How did local magistrates respond to events? What do these documents infer about the attitude of the government and its critics towards reform? Which document in this collection is the most useful for understanding events at ‘Peterloo’?

Potential activities: Use the documents and the external video links in this lesson to write a report on the events at St. Peter's Field. Explain what happened and who was responsible for the outcome. Research the impact of this event.

Download: Lesson pack

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