Durham E-Theses Political radicalism in the North East of England 1830-1860 : Issues in historical sociology. Wilson, Keith. How to cite: Wilson, Keith. (1987) Political radicalism in the North East of England 1830-1860 : Issues in historical sociology., Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1680/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Abstract Political Radicalism in the North East of England, 1830-1860: Issues in Historical Sociology Keith Wilson This work aims to examine the growth, patterning and decline of working class political radicalism in the period 1830-60. It does so by focussing on one region as a means of highlighting the limitations of simple structural explanations and analyses in detail the factors in culture, ideology, work regimes and labour processes which influenced class formation and class responses to developments in the law and the State. Regional study is seen as having a crucial contribution to make to explanations at the national level but much existing local history is regarded as being empiricist and atheoretical in its approach. North East labour history in particular has been understudied and undertheorised, and the region's contribution to theoretical and historiographical debate has been less than that of similar regions. The argument is advanced that there is a need for greater theoretical debate and that a fusion of History and Sociology provides the approach which is most appropriate for such studies to take. The work proceeds through the consideration of three case studies and argues that the course of the radical movement was sufficiently different from that of other locations to call into question the generalisability of several well established theoretical models. In such a way this work makes a contribution to the study of North East labour history, to wider debates concerning the historiography of the working class movement, to debates surrounding class and State formation, and to the development of a Historical Sociology which is seen as crucially important to realising the full potential of 'History from Below'. Political Radicalism in the North East of England 1830-1860: Issues in Historical Sociology Keith Wilson B.A.; B.Soc.Sc. 1 987 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Department of Sociology and Social Administration Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Durham The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Contents Page List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Against Parochialism: The Politics of Local Labour History Chapter 2: Service or Partnership: The Role of Theory in the Study of Radical Movements 47 Chapter 3: 'Flowers of the Northern Wreath': Class Relations and Reform Movements in Sunderland 88 Chapter 4: 'One Huge Colliery': The Roots of Radicalism Among the Durham Miners 150 Chapter 5: 'Christianity and Priestianity': The Politics of Dissent in Darlington 206 Chapter 6: Mapping the Variables: The patterning of Radicalism Explored 246 Chapter 7: Prototypicality Reassessed: Foster's Theories of Class Struggle and the North East 295 Chapter 8: 'Iniquitous Acts', 'Nefarious Statutes': Senses of Injustice and the Course of Reform 324 Chapter 9: Summary and Conclusions 389 Sources and Bibliography 398 Appendix 1: Details of Nominations to the Chartist General Council 437 Appendix 2: Maps of North East England Showing Coal Measures, Extent of Magnesian Limestone and Principal Places Mentioned in the Text 441 (iv) List of Figures and Tables Page Figure 1: Index of Shipbuilding in Sunderland 137 Figure 2: Population Growth in Sunderland and the Wearmouths 138 Figure 3: Growth of Darlington's Population 1801-1871 238 Figure 4a: The Population of County Durham 1831 255 Figure 4b: The Population of County Durham 1841 256 Table 1: Summary of Models Employed in Studies of North East Chartism 37 Table 2: The Matrix of Variables Influencing the Patterning of Radicalism 265 Table 3: Different Forms of Paternalism: A Comparison of Management Strategies in Coal and Textiles 283 (v) Acknowledgements Over the several years of study which this thesis has taken my debts to others have been considerable. In particular I would like to thank Huw Beynon, my supervisor, whose contribution as both guide and inspiration was immeasurable and whose example I can only aspire to. Thanks are also due to Ray Challinor, R.P. Hastings, Geoff Pearson, Roy Sturgess, Carol Jones and above all Pat Storey who provided advice, encouragement and information at the outset. Frank Ennis, Pete McMylor, Derek Kirton, Pat McIntyre and others in the discussion group at Durham University helped clarify many of the early themes and provided a much needed source of inspiration and comradeship, as did Stuart Howard throughout. The staff of all the various libraries and records offices were always helpful and I would like to thank them all, especially those of Darlington and Sunderland public libraries and Brian and Sarah at Bishop Auckland Technical College. I am grateful to Durham County Council for financial support and the staff at Topline Secretarial Services for their work on the final manuscript. Above all I would like to thank my parents and my wife Jackie who supported me in every possible way. For them a mere acknowledgement can never be enough. I Chapter 1 Against Parochialism: The Politics of Local Labour History There were many reasons for wanting to undertake a study of political radicalism in the North East of England in the 1830s-60s. Firstly, no comprehensive study exists and on several grounds it can be argued that one is long overdue. As a region the North East was to the forefront of economic development in this period with coal, iron and railways forming a triple alliance of self generative supply and demand which was at least, if not more central to capital formation as any other set of industries.(1) Large scale capitalist enterprise brought to the region new forms of the labour process and an enlarged workforce at the point of production, suggesting once again that the position of the North East was potentially prototypical in respect of the development of class formation, class consciousness and working class ideologies. At this point the thesis clearly owes a debt to John Foster who has argued for the prototypicality of workers in Oldham as a vanguard group of the working class in the 1830s and '40s.(2) It can be argued, however, that a similar case can be made out for the North East. Yet it remains an area which is both understudied and undertheorised. Studies of the making of the English working class tend to have been based either in the textile area of Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire (the 'Manufacturing districts') or in the area 2 served by the memoirs of Francis Place.(3) Yet the North East's position both as an area of early intensive capital development, , albeit within a regional framework of considerable feudal legacies, and as a centre of radical activity, logically demands serious consideration. Only by a close reading of local detail can sense be made of issues such as the periodisation, the temporal and spatial patterning of radicalism, the answers to questions such as why, how and where did the working class develop, and why it did, or did not, develop significant revolutionary potential. Asa Briggs, who set out to purposely counterbalance accepted treatments of radicalism with a series of provincial studies, significantly failed to include the North East. (4) Hence there is a gap where the study of North Eastern radicalism should be. Such a study would not be without its obstacles. In 1970 Martin Bulmer commented that although there are a number of political biographies of prominent local figures, there does not exist any sociological study of the structure and dynamics of grass root politics in County Durham. (5) Bulmer himself attempted to pull together a contemporary sociology of the area by editing a collection of works from different contributors. No similar work, however, exists for the nineteenth century. Instead there are a number of different types of isolated studies which not only fail to connect together, but which also tend to display a singular lack of overt theorisation. Firstly, there are a number of biographies and autobiographies of radical figures such as Robert Lowery, Chartist delegate to the convention of 1839 and later teetotal missionary, Devyr the Chartist plotter who fled to America, W.E. 3 Adams a subsequent newspaper proprietor