The diaries of Samuel Bamford

Samuel Bamford

"Samuel Bamford (1788-1872) is one of the most famous of all nineteenth-century radicals. Born in Middleton, one of the weaving communities surrounding Manchester, he worked as a hand-loom weaver, sailor and warehouseman in turn and became heavily involved in the great upsurge of working-class radicalism in 1815-20, following the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the chief organisers of the reform meeting in St Peter's Field, Manchester, in 1819, which became the occasion of the Peterloo Massacre. He escaped with his life but was arrested and jailed for a year. He went on to become a poet, newsagent, journalist and writer. His well-known autobiographical works Passages in the Life of a Radical (1839-41) and Early Days (1848-9) brought him national prominence. It was described by E.P. Thompson as 'essential reading for any Englishman' and remains an essential source for the social...

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