THE IRISH MIDDLE-CLASS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY MANCHESTER By Neil Smith A DISSERTATION Submitted to The University of Liverpool in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2020 ABSTRACT THE IRISH MIDDLE-CLASS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY MANCHESTER By Neil Smith This thesis examines the presence of a middle class within the Irish migrant community in nineteenth- century Manchester with particular focus on the censuses between 1841 and 1901. The existing story of Irish migration in Manchester implies that there existed a common socio-economic structure across all the Irish migrant community. Whilst this theme dominates the majority of the historiography this thesis examines the middle-class Irish story, which has not been substantially investigated and uncovers a far more nuanced picture than previously acknowledged. The story of Irish poverty and degradation within the poorest of Manchester's working-class districts has been seen as the dominant factor in shaping and sustaining the image of the Irish migrant as a homogeneous lumpen proletariat. This thesis analyses the key role played by contemporary writers and observers who focused exclusively on the direst aspects of the Irish migrant experience. The study shows that the subsequent historiography of the Irish in Manchester and indeed, Britain as a whole, has until recently been dominated by this paradigm. The thesis shows that this 'poor Paddy' interpretation of the Irish in Manchester was not appropriate for a substantial and recognisable minority of the Irish community. The nature of the Irish middle-class is placed within the wider context of both the host and migrant communities, and the social stratification therein. The influence of an Irish diasporic elite on the political, commercial and cultural life of the city has previously been neglected and this thesis seeks to rectify this. This research is unique and original and will offer a significant contribution to the historiography by identifying levels of social stratification within the Irish migrant community in nineteenth- century Manchester. Therefore, this thesis adds to the Irish-migrant story in Manchester, an aspect of their experience which until now has not received the academic focus it warrants, and thus the nature of the Irish middle-class is placed within the wider literature on the Irish in Manchester. i DECLARATION I hereby certify that this thesis constitutes my own product, that where the language of others is set forth, quotation marks so indicate, and that appropriate credit is given where I have used the language, ideas, expressions or writings of another. I declare that the dissertation describes original work that has not previously been presented for the award of any other degree of any institution. Signed, ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have been kind enough to provide assistance in writing this research study. It is not possible to include all individually. I hope that those not mentioned will forgive me. I will confine myself to those who merit particular mention. My special thanks must go to Mervyn Busteed who has been my supervisor throughout what has been a long and sometimes, arduous journey. Without his inspiration, support and encouragement this thesis would have floundered. A great debt is also owed to my primary supervisor Professor Diane Urquhart who guided me through this marathon with unfailing advice, direction and good humour. I have also appreciated the warm, lively and supportive research atmosphere in the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University. Dr. Stephen Davies provided directional input at various key points with particular relevance to both policing and Manchester. Dr. Jonathan Bush, the archivist at Ushaw College, was very kind in reading and translating some of the Latin script with particular relevance to priests of the Salford diocese. Father David Lannon, former archivist for the diocese of Salford, proved unflappable, generous with his time and on several occasions found the 'unfindable'. Duncan Broady, the Curator at the Greater Manchester Police Museum and Archive, gave readily of the contents of his archive in relation to the Borough of Manchester Police Force recruitment and retention records. Without being able to provide names, thanks are also due to the librarians and archivists of the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society, Manchester Archives and Local Studies, Order of iii Presentation Sisters, The Portico Library, and University of Manchester Library. Very special thanks need to be paid to my wife Rosemary for the love, patience and tolerance she has shown throughout this long and sometimes fraught journey. Thank you everyone. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES ix Introduction 1 The Irish in Britain 3 Literature Review 11 Theoretical Concepts 27 Sources and Methods 41 Chapter 1. The Use of the Census in the evaluation of Socio-economic Status 50 Historical Importance of the Census 52 The Establishment of the Registrar General's Office and the Census of 1841 57 The Censuses of 1851 - 1901 59 The Classification of Occupations 67 Defining the Middle Class 69 The Victorian Middle-Class 75 Working Women in the Victorian Middle-Class 79 Conclusion 81 Chapter 2. Irish Settlement in Nineteenth-Century Manchester 83 Manchester: The First Industrial City 86 The Irish in Manchester 97 The Irish Presence: Numbers and Spatial Distribution 100 Identification and Quantification of the Irish Middle-Class in Nineteenth-Century Manchester 103 Conclusion 114 Chapter 3. Settlement and Control 116 Irish Lodging-House Keepers 117 The Establishment of the Borough of Manchester Police Force 133 Crime and Policing during Manchester’s Industrial Revolution 138 Irish recruitment and the Borough of Manchester Police Force 143 Conclusion 149 Chapter 4. Ministering to the Irish Diaspora in Nineteenth-Century Manchester 150 The Religious Context of Nineteenth-Century Manchester 152 The pre-famine growth of Catholicism in Manchester 159 Catholic Consolidation and Expansion from 1845 165 v The Irish Catholic Priest: Perceptions and Reality 175 Controversy and Suspicion 184 From Reservation to Acceptance: The Pastoral Dimension 192 Patrolling the boundaries of the Faith 196 Irish Teaching Orders in Nineteenth-Century Manchester 204 Conclusion 217 Chapter 5. Associational Culture and the Irish Middle Class in Nineteenth- 219 Century Manchester Theories of Associational Culture 220 Gender Roles and Associational Culture 223 The Development of Association Culture in Manchester 227 Associational Culture and Religious Identity 229 Secular Associational Culture 239 The Irish Diasporic Elite and Manchester’s development in the 249 Nineteenth Century Irish-Catholic Representation in the Public Arena 268 Conclusion 277 Conclusion 279 Bibliography 284 v LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Irish-born persons in England, Wales and Scotland 1841 – 1901 6 Table 2. The percentage of Irish-born persons in the four main British cities of settlement 8 Table 1:1. Classification of occupations - General Register Office 1851 Schema 68 Table 2:1. The numbers of middle-class persons residing in England and Wales, 1841 to 1901 compared with the population as a whole 79 Table 1:2. List of towns and cities in England by historical population 87 Table 2:2. Irish-born persons in England, Wales and Manchester 1841 – 1901 101 Table 3:2. The spatial distribution of the Irish-born middle-class persons among the various sub-districts of the Manchester registration district between the years 1841, 1861 to 1901 103 Table 4:2. The percentage of middle-class persons residing in England and Wales 1841, 1861 to 1901 compared with the population as a whole versus Irish middle-class persons residing in Manchester compared with Irish migrant population as a whole in the city 104 Table 5:2. Social Class I as defined by GRO 1951(Armstrong's modification) 109 Table 6:2. Social Class II 109 Table 7:2. Social Class III 110 vii Table 8:2. A comparison of the social classes by percentages (Middle-class England and Wales versus middle-class 110 Irish in Manchester) Table 9:2. Occupation of Irish-born persons residing in Cheetham Hill in 1841 112 Table 1:3. Irish-born Lodging-House Keepers in Manchester 1841, 1861-1901 124 Table 2:3. Irish-born Police Officers residing in Manchester 1841, 1861-1901 147 Table 1:4. Irish-born Ministers of Religion in Manchester 1841-1901 154 Table 2:4. Irish-born Secular Priests ministering in Manchester between 1825 to 1901 175 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1:2. A map of Manchester circa 1851 incorporating the enumeration sub-districts 107 Figure 2:2. The entrance to Victoria Park 113 Figure 3:2. A typical villa in Victoria Park 114 Figure 1:3 141 Long Millgate, circa 1891 125 Figure 2:3 Interior of a common lodging house in Ancoats c.1891 126 Figure 3:3. Manchester City Police 'peelers' parade in the yard of the city's Albert Street Police Station in the 1850s 144 Figure 4:3. An example of the Manchester Police Certificate of Commendation 145 Figure 1:4. The Diocese of Salford in the Nineteenth Century 166 Figure 2:4. Location of Catholic Churches in Nineteenth-Century Manchester 168 Figure 3:4. The Church of the Holy Name of Jesus circa 1880 170 Figure 4:4. The interior of the Holy Name 170 ix INTRODUCTION As if a precursor to the moral panic precipitated by the influx of poor Irish immigrants escaping the Great Famine of 1845-52, the 1836 Report on the State of the Irish Poor in Great Britain described the Irish as 'a less civilised population spreading themselves, as a kind of substratum, beneath a more civilised community'.1 The perpetuation of the ideologically, sensationally and politically serviceable images of Irish migrants as poor, disease-ridden drunken degenerates living in filthy conditions of their own making, through uncritical interpretation and empirical imbalance, has led the line between myth and fact to become indistinct.