FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MIDDLE-CLASS URBAN CULTURE AND POLITICS: SHEFFIELD 1825-1880 Alan Paul White Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. The University of Leeds, Department of Social Policy and Sociology Submitted March, 1990 Abstract This thesis examines the formation and development of the Sheffield middle-class through the focus of the Sheffield Club. In chapter two cultural institutions of the town prior to the formation of the Club are examined. The institutional formation and development of the Club is then traced from its foundation in 1843 through to 1880. The third chapter examines the membership of the Club in some detail in order to substantiate the claim that it represents the elite strata of Sheffield society. Investigation of the involvement of the Club membership in other key locations of power in the town is then presented. The fourth chapter examines the struggles concerning the gaining of a charter of incorporation for the town. The political and religious composition of the opposing groups are analysed. The intervention of the West Riding magistrates in the debate is also examined. Lastly, the role of the members of the Sheffield Club is assessed. The fifth and sixth chapters look in detail at the 1852 and 1857 Sheffield elections, and the 1865 West Riding election. The description of the elections is focused through the Sheffield Club in order to assess the strength of party support of its members. The claim that 1868 marks the beginning of the defection of the Sheffield middle class to the Tory party is then examined. It is argued that the defection of the elite of the Sheffield middle class began much earlier than this date. The conclusion draws together the main arguments of the thesis and examines the relationship between the elite and the middle class. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my thanks to the following: My supervisor Janet Wolff and John Seed who was the Research Fellow on the ESRC project for which I held the linked studentship. They both read and commented on previous versions of chapters; the librarians and staff of Sheffield Central Library, Manchester Central Library, Westminster Library, Camden Central Library, the Public Record Office, the British Library, the Institute of Historical Research, The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, all of whom dealt with the most arcane requests with ease; the Committees of Management of both the Sheffield and Leeds Clubs for permission to inspect their archives; the Earl Wharncliffe, for permission to inspect the Wharncliffe Muniments in the Sheffield Local Archives; Mr W R Chapman, assistant secretary of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, for permission to inspect the archives of the Chamber deposited in the Sheffield Local Archives; the Rev. Peter B Godfrey, for permission to inspect the archives of the Upper Chapel, Norfolk Street, Sheffield; Debbie Murrells who has typed the thesis up in a very short space of time; lastly, Janet who has helped in ways too numerous to mention. CONTENTS Abstract Acknowledgements Table of Contents List of Tables iv Abbreviations vii CHAPTER ONE 1:1 Introduction 1 1:2 Sheffield's Industries 4 1:2:1 Sheffield's Light Industry 5 1:2:2 Sheffield's Heavy Industry 7 1:3 Conclusion 9 Footnotes 10 CHAPTER TWO THE SHEFFIELD CLUB : I 2:1 Introduction 12 2:2 Precursors to the Sheffield Club 15 2:3: The Sheffield Club 30 2:3:1 The Sheffield Club: 1843-1863 31 2:3:2 The Sheffield Club: 1863-1880 38 2:4 Conclusion 44 Footnotes 45 CHAPTER THREE THE SHEFFIELD CLUB: II 3:1 Introduction 58 3:2 Occupational Analysis of the Sheffield Club 58 3:3 Analysis of Club Members Involvement in Other Local Institutions 74 3:4 Conclusion 86 Appendix 3.1 87 Footnotes 90 CHAPTER FOUR THE SHEFFIELD CHARTER OF INCORPORATION 4:1 Introduction 98 4:2 The Struggle for the Charter: 1836-8 99 4:3 The Struggle for the Charter: 1840-3 113 4:4 Social Composition of the Council 134 4:5 Conclusion 137 Appendix 4.1 140 Appendix 4.2 143 Footnotes 152 CHAPTER FIVE THE SHEFFIELD ELECTION OF 1852 AND ITS BACKGROUND 5:1 Introduction 163 5:2 Politics in Sheffield prior to 1835 165 5:3 Electorial Politics in Sheffield: 1835-52 173 5:4 The Sheffield Election of 1852 176 5:5 Analysis of the Voting of the Sheffield Club Members in the 1852 Election 184 5:6 Conclusion 188 Footnotes 189 CHAPTER SIX THE SHEFFIELD ELECTION OF 1857 AND THE WEST RIDING ELECTION OF 1865 6:1 Introduction 197 6:2 The Sheffield Election of 1857 199 6:3 The Involvement of the Sheffield Club Members in the 1857 Sheffield Election and the 1865 West Riding Election 209 6:4 Conclusion 221 Appendix 6.1 222 Appendix 6.2 224 Footnotes 228 CHAPTER SEVEN CONCLUSION 7:1 Introduction 232 7:2 The Sheffield Club as an Object of Study 233 7:3 Elites and Elite Theory 234 7:4 Hegemony and the Urban Elite 237 7:5 The Elite and the Petty-Bourgeoisie 240 7:6 The Urban Elite and the Aristocracy 242 7:7 Politics and the Elite 247 7:8 Sheffield's Middle Class Elite: Success or Failure? 250 7:9 Conclusion 254 Footnotes 255 BIBLIOGRAPHY 259 iv LIST OF TABLES TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE NO. 2.1 Members of the Monthly Club, 17th June 1783. 23 2.2 Membership of the Pitt Club; 29 May 1815. 28 2.3 Number of Members of the Sheffield Club 1844-1862 35 2.4 Expenditure on Newspapers for Selected Years of the Sheffield and Leeds Clubs. 38 2.5 Expenditure on Staff, Per Member of the Sheffield Club, the Leeds Club and the London Reform Club. 41 2.6 Number of Members of the Sheffield Club, 1863-1881 43 3.1 Aggregate occupational analysis of the membership of the Sheffield Club for 1849, 1859, 1868 and 1880. 61 3.2 Involvement of members of the Sheffield Club in the Town Council; 1849, 1859, 1868 and 1880. 76 3.3 Percentage of Sheffield Club Members who were Borough J.P.s for the years 1849, 1859, 1868 and 1880. 77 3.4 Percentage of members of the Sheffield Club who were West Riding - Sheffield Division - Magistrates over the period 1840-1889. 78 3.5 Names, Occupations, Religion and Politics of the 1868 Sheffield Magistrates Bench, by Club Membership. 79 3.6 Involvement of the Members of the Sheffield Club in the Church and Town Burghers for 1849, 1859, 1868 and 1880. 82 3.7 Involvement of Sheffield Club members in the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce for the years 1857, 1868 and 1880. 83 3.8 Officers of the Hallamshire Rifles, 10 May 1861, showing occupation and Sheffield Club membership. 85 4.1 Anti-Corporation Committee formed at Cutlers' Hall Meeting to 'Form and Arrange Business'. 109 4.2 £10 Householders in favour of the Sheffield Charter; by Townships. 125 4.3 Percentage of £10 Householders and Density of Inhabitants Per Acre and Inhabited House. 126 4.4 Names and Occupations of Those Who Signed Promissory Note, 18 May 1843. 133 4.5 Occupational Data on the Police Commissioners for 1841, and Sheffield Town Council for November, 1843. 136 5.1 The Results of the 1832 Sheffield Election. 169 5.2 Known Voting of Members of the Sheffield Club, 1832-65. 170 5.3 Voting of Those who invited Bailey to stand in 1832. 172 5.4 Poll for the 1852 Sheffield Election. 182 5.5 Voting of the 1854 Membership of the Sheffield Club in the 1852 Election. 186 5.6 Voting of the 1854 Membership of the Sheffield Club in the 1852 Election, By Occupational Group. 186 5.7 Voting of the Leeds Ward Members of the Leeds Club in the 1848 West Riding Election. 187 5.8 Voting of the Leeds Ward Members of the Leeds Club in the 1848 West Riding Election by Occupational Group. 187 6.1 Results of the 1857 Sheffield Election. 202 6.2 Voting in the 1854 Sheffield Election, by Townships. 202 6.3 Voting of the Executive of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, 1852 and 1857. 205 6.4 Analysis of Voting of the Executive of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, 1852 and 1857. 206 6.5 Voting of the members of the Sheffield Club in the 1857 Sheffield Election. 210 6.6 Voting of the 1857 Membership of the Sheffield Club in the 1857 Election, by Occupational Group. 210 6.7 Analysis of 'inflow' of votes of the members of the Sheffield Club, 1857. 211 6.8 Analysis of 'outflow' of votes of the members of the Sheffield Club, 1852. 212 6.9 Voting of the 1865 Membership of the Sheffield Club in the 1865 Election in the Southern Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire. 215 6.10 Voting of the 1865 Membership of the Sheffield Club in the 1865 Election for the Southern vi Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, by occupational group. 216 6.11 Analysis of 'inflow' of votes in the 1857 election for the Southern Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire for all those identifiable individuals who were members of the Sheffield Club over the period 1849-1865. 217 6.12 Voting of Selected Members of the Sheffield Club: 1841, 1848, 1852, 1857 and 1865. 218 6.13 Flow Chart of Votes of the Members of the Sheffield Club, 1841-1865. 220 vii Abbreviations EHR English Historical Review MAGMSC Minutes of the Annual General Meetings of the Sheffield Club MCMSC Minutes of the Committee of Management of the Sheffield Club NCRS Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Sheffield (in the Local History section of the Sheffield Local Archives) NH Northern History PRO Public Record Office SH Social History SI Sheffield Independent SLA Sheffield Local Archives (in Sheffield Central Library) SLR Sheffield Local Register ST Sheffield Times THAS Transactions of the Hunter Archaeological Society 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION "The steam engine and its appliances, with numberless other mechanical inventions, many of them of exquisite ingenuity, have enormously increased the producing power of this country, and created a population busily employed in wielding it Under these circumstances, old instruments, old institutions, old methods of instruction and discipline, adapted (and perhaps well adapted) to a different state of society, must many of them submit to be set aside; or where they are retained to be enlarged or modified "On Free Public Libraries, A Paper read before the Sheffield Literary and Philosophical Society on the 4th February 1853, by Samuel Bailey." "The men who held the reins of the commerce of this country, could command the destinies of the country, if they chose.