Stephen Roberts

James Whateley and the Survival of Chartism Stephen Roberts

What happened to the Chartists after the movement was over? Many local spokesmen in fact remained prominent figures in their communities - and carried the principles they had fought for in the 1840s into their later careers. This book tells the stories of two such men who became, respectively, a town councillor and a minister in Birmingham. James Whateley spoke up for working men in the council chamber. He called for polling hours to be extended into the evenings to increase working class participation; and he campaigned on behalf of postmen who made up to eight deliveries a day and who, faced with few letter boxes, had to wait for each door to be opened. Charles Clarke, from his pulpit, inspired members of his congregation to enter local politics and improve their town - six of them became mayors - and campaigned for free, compulsory, secular schooling for working class children. The book is illustrated with twelve contemporary cartoons and photographs.