Sunday, July 17, 2005
Radical Tiverton
That's right - I said Radical!
On this site I will post interesting bits of Tiverton's History which I am developing into a Book. Hopefully others will also contribute, and help with my research. I am particularly interested in hearing from anyone with family connections to individuals I name from Tiverton's Radical History. If they have any passed down knowledge, tales, or documentary / Photographic material, I would love to hear or see it.
This all stems from an article I stumbled across by Friedrich Engels (Who wrote, along with Karl Marx, the Communist Manifesto) from the Socialist publication 'La Reforme' October 26, 1847:
"It will be recalled that at the last elections Mr. Harney, editor-in-chief of The Northern Star, was put forward as the Chartist candidate for Tiverton, a borough which is represented in Parliament by Lord Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary. Mr. Harney, who won on the show of hands, decided to retire when Lord Palmerston demanded a poll. Now something has happened which shows how the feelings of the inhabitants of Tiverton differ from those of the small number of parliamentary electors. There was a vacancy to fill on the borough council; the municipal electors, a far more numerous class than that of the parliamentary electors, gave the vacant seat to Mr. Rowcliffe, the person who had proposed Mr. Harney at the elections.
On this site I will post interesting bits of Tiverton's History which I am developing into a Book. Hopefully others will also contribute, and help with my research. I am particularly interested in hearing from anyone with family connections to individuals I name from Tiverton's Radical History. If they have any passed down knowledge, tales, or documentary / Photographic material, I would love to hear or see it.
This all stems from an article I stumbled across by Friedrich Engels (Who wrote, along with Karl Marx, the Communist Manifesto) from the Socialist publication 'La Reforme' October 26, 1847:
"It will be recalled that at the last elections Mr. Harney, editor-in-chief of The Northern Star, was put forward as the Chartist candidate for Tiverton, a borough which is represented in Parliament by Lord Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary. Mr. Harney, who won on the show of hands, decided to retire when Lord Palmerston demanded a poll. Now something has happened which shows how the feelings of the inhabitants of Tiverton differ from those of the small number of parliamentary electors. There was a vacancy to fill on the borough council; the municipal electors, a far more numerous class than that of the parliamentary electors, gave the vacant seat to Mr. Rowcliffe, the person who had proposed Mr. Harney at the elections.
# posted by Tivtrot @ 8:55 AM 
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1700 Society of Wool combers formed in Tiverton. First documented organisation of workingmen in the Town. Met regularly at the Half Moon Inn in Fore Street.
1714 - Riotous Assembly Act. An Act introduced by George II to curb the tradition of Riot against authority - particularly at this time Riots against enclosure, but also riots over employment. It is not a coincidence that around this time the first workingmen's clubs were being formed. The Act made assembly of more than twelve persons effectively illegal, any County Sheriff, or Borough or Town official or Law officer could 'read the Riot Act' to the assembled crowd, giving them an hour to disperse. This allowed certain loopholes, which were obviously exploited rapidly by the working people of Tiverton.
For some time, whilst investigating the History of the town, I puzzled over a curiosity. Each time Riots or Strikes were described in detail in the 18th or 19th Centuries, the Townspeople assembled at the top of Exeter Hill. Exeter Hill is on the old, pre-Turnpike Exeter Road, which passes out of the Town up Canal Hill, then turns steep Right up towards Cranmore Castle – what is now the Butterleigh Road. Why would the people of Tiverton make such an arduous trip to assemble? There had to be a reason. Finally I realised it must have to do with the Riot Act. I read a copy of the Act, and sure enough, it was. The Act covered only assembly with a Borough, so they would assemble outside the Parish boundary at the top of Exeter Hill, ensuring the only authority able to disperse them would be from the County, or from the neighbouring Hundred of Bickleigh (An unlikely event in any good time) then they would make their way with an agreed plan to the Town, probably in small groups, where they would reassemble to take action. The Act would then be read by the Town Authorities to the assembled crowd, who were then allowed an hour’s grace to disperse. Often the reading of the Riot Act would be followed by swift action, before the hour's 'grace' elapsed. This was with good reason, the Act effectively gave a license to kill to the Authorities, though when this was excercised too vigorously it was obviously counterproductive. The penalties for Riotous Assembly could be equally severe, with Death and or (Death sentences were often, though not always, commuted to Transportation or Hard Labour) Transportation to the Colonies the severest penalties
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For some time, whilst investigating the History of the town, I puzzled over a curiosity. Each time Riots or Strikes were described in detail in the 18th or 19th Centuries, the Townspeople assembled at the top of Exeter Hill. Exeter Hill is on the old, pre-Turnpike Exeter Road, which passes out of the Town up Canal Hill, then turns steep Right up towards Cranmore Castle – what is now the Butterleigh Road. Why would the people of Tiverton make such an arduous trip to assemble? There had to be a reason. Finally I realised it must have to do with the Riot Act. I read a copy of the Act, and sure enough, it was. The Act covered only assembly with a Borough, so they would assemble outside the Parish boundary at the top of Exeter Hill, ensuring the only authority able to disperse them would be from the County, or from the neighbouring Hundred of Bickleigh (An unlikely event in any good time) then they would make their way with an agreed plan to the Town, probably in small groups, where they would reassemble to take action. The Act would then be read by the Town Authorities to the assembled crowd, who were then allowed an hour’s grace to disperse. Often the reading of the Riot Act would be followed by swift action, before the hour's 'grace' elapsed. This was with good reason, the Act effectively gave a license to kill to the Authorities, though when this was excercised too vigorously it was obviously counterproductive. The penalties for Riotous Assembly could be equally severe, with Death and or (Death sentences were often, though not always, commuted to Transportation or Hard Labour) Transportation to the Colonies the severest penalties
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