BIRMINGHAM POLITICAL UNION
Birmingham and London ~~ Before and after the Great Reform Bill
The Birmingham Political Union was a parliamentary reform group originally founded 1829/30 by Thomas Attwood a local banker on a personal crusade for monetary reform together with a handful of business men who shared his economic philosophy and middle class background.
Described as a middle class radical and currency crank (The Fight for the Charter, Neil Stewart) Attwood had trouble finding public support for his start-up organization, but after re-branding himself as a political reformer he was able to get the organization off the ground. During the next decade the BPU became a major political force in the Midlands with some 9,000 registered members in its first year.
The BPU was an important part of the reform movement of 1830 to 1832. Its efforts culminated in the passage of the Great Reform Bill. Daniel O’Connell (MP and Mayor of Dublin) once said “It was not Grey and Althorp who carried the 1832 Reform Bill but the brave and determined men of Birmingham.”
Well ... yes and no! Indeed, the BPU played a great “provincial” role in driving the 1832 Reform Movement (and several years later it jump-started Chartism) through public addresses, mass meetings, newspaper reports and petitions. Nevertheless, the BPU was not a “national” organization, and there were other organizations and individuals involved in the successes and failures of the 1832 Reform Bill. The BPU alone did not save the country in 1832, but Thomas Attwood had a knack for putting a positive spin on the Union's failures or lukewarm success. He was a master at claiming all the success even when it was't entirely his. Like all political careerist (The Fight for the Charter, Neil Stewart) Attwood was adept at gauging public sentiment and using the winds of war to his own advantage. It was classic Attwoodism when he claimed the BPU "had accomplished the greatest political change recorded in the history of the world!" [Carlos T Flick, "Thomas Attwood, Francis Place, and the Agitation for British Parliamentary Reform" Huntington Library Quarterly Vol 34 #4 (1971) p355-356.] http://www.jstor.org/stable/38169 |
Plaque on Newhall Hill
Site of the Great Reform Meeting of 1832
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1832 - The First Reform Act - Limited the Franchise to the Middle Class "Representation of the People Act (the first Reform Act) extended the vote to men meeting property qualification, reduced rotten boroughs and redistributed Parliamentary seats to better represent urban areas."
UK Parliament - Living Heritage |
As a result of the 1832 Reform Act, Birmingham acquired two Members of Parliament, including Thomas Attwood and Joshua Scholefield. This led to the town receiving a charter, incorporating it as a municipal borough in 1838 with the ability to appoint its first mayor, William Scholefield, the second son of Joshua Scholefield MP. (Birmingham did not become a county borough and city until the end of the 19th century.)
Unfortunately, the 1832 Reform Act did not give the vote to the working man, as the country was led to believe would happen once the middle classes had more voting power. The Act extended the vote to middle class men who owned or rented property worth ten pounds sterling - giving rise to the somewhat derogatory term "the ten pound voters!"
Unfortunately, the 1832 Reform Act did not give the vote to the working man, as the country was led to believe would happen once the middle classes had more voting power. The Act extended the vote to middle class men who owned or rented property worth ten pounds sterling - giving rise to the somewhat derogatory term "the ten pound voters!"
"The Act to Amend the Representation of the People in England and Wales (or Great Reform Act) of 1832 reshaped the political landscape of Great Britain. Yet it did so without producing a significant alteration in the elected government or a massive extension of the franchise."
Carolyn Vellenga Berman [BRANCH]. On the Reform Act of 1832 |
From the working man's point of view the 1832 Reform Act accomplished no great political change at all. Friend of the people, John Fielden MP (Member of Parliament for Oldham, Yorkshire) reflected that general opinion when he told the great meeting at Peep Green "The Reform Act has proved a complete failure." Others (Barker and McCaulay of Yorkshire) said that the 1832 Reform Act simply united the middle and upper classes!
After the dust settled on the hoopla surrounding the passage of the 1832 Bill, the leaders of the Birmingham Political Union found themselves going it alone on currency reform and other issues. Membership fell off, and its middle class leaders discovered they actually had very little real power over the government or the country. The BPU fell into decline, eventually closing its doors in 1834 until some three years later (May 1837) increasing public disappointment in the 1832 Reform Act together with a distressed economy brought Attwood and the BPU roaring (at least temporarily) back to life.
1837 - The BPU Revival
By 1836 Birmingham was showing signs of great distress. Trade was suffering and unemployment was rife. The better off working man felt angry and impotent because he didn't have the vote to put things right, and the poorer working man felt angry and afraid because he didn't have the money to put bread on the table.
The BPU decided take action, and in June 1837 they summoned the public to attend a meeting in support of the revived Union and a new program of reform including household suffrage.
Although they didn't know it at the time, the Birmingham Political Union was sewing the seeds for a new nationwide movement that would eventually become known for all times as the Chartist Movement.
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Second Demise of the Birmingham Political Union
As the Chartist Movement found its feet, the re-activated Birmingham Political Union would once more ceased to be.
In its 'second coming' the BPU was (as before) headed by middle class men who traditionally adhered to peaceful "law and order" protest to gain reform. However, the ascending Chartist Movement with its working class base grew frustrated and impatient at the failure of the 1832 Reform Bill to make change.
In its 'second coming' the BPU was (as before) headed by middle class men who traditionally adhered to peaceful "law and order" protest to gain reform. However, the ascending Chartist Movement with its working class base grew frustrated and impatient at the failure of the 1832 Reform Bill to make change.
In 1839, Parliament's rejection of the National Petition (presented by Attwood) calling for the suffrage and other reforms widened the gap that already existed between the middle and working classes. The working class lost faith in the middle class and the old "law and order" way of doing things. As a result the working class became increasingly influenced by the firery, revolutionary talk of the Northern radicals who eventually dominated Chartism.
Meanwhile, in Birmingham, working class militants were gaining support. Amid much bitterness the middle class leaders of the BPU dissolved the working class wing of the council before they themselves resigned and gave up the cause. On 9th April 1839 the Birmingham Political Union held its last meeting, closing its doors forever more [Speeches That Change Britain, Reeks p 27]. As Mark Hovell put it in his book The Chartist Movement: "The Birmingham Union died in giving birth to the Chartist Movement."
Meanwhile, in Birmingham, working class militants were gaining support. Amid much bitterness the middle class leaders of the BPU dissolved the working class wing of the council before they themselves resigned and gave up the cause. On 9th April 1839 the Birmingham Political Union held its last meeting, closing its doors forever more [Speeches That Change Britain, Reeks p 27]. As Mark Hovell put it in his book The Chartist Movement: "The Birmingham Union died in giving birth to the Chartist Movement."
Support for Mr John Collins
In one of its lasts acts, after its collapse, the Birmingham Political Union gave its support to their former working class colleague, John Collins, who was at the time incarcerated as a political prisoner in Warwick Gaol. On June 26th 1840, twenty-one former council members of the disbanded BPU approved a remaining balance of seventeen pounds sterling (after all debts were discharged) to be paid over to the committee responsible for taking subscriptions for the benefit of Mr John Collins and his family (Birmingham Journal 25 September 1841).
In one of its lasts acts, after its collapse, the Birmingham Political Union gave its support to their former working class colleague, John Collins, who was at the time incarcerated as a political prisoner in Warwick Gaol. On June 26th 1840, twenty-one former council members of the disbanded BPU approved a remaining balance of seventeen pounds sterling (after all debts were discharged) to be paid over to the committee responsible for taking subscriptions for the benefit of Mr John Collins and his family (Birmingham Journal 25 September 1841).