Lot Essay
Cf. David Drakard, op. cit., pp.253 and 254, pls.731 and 732; also see J. & J. May, op. cit., p.135, pls.199 and 200.
The Peterloo Massacre, 16th August 1819.
At a time of great hardship for people in the weaving industry in Lancashire a crowd of up to 30,000 gathered at St, Peter's Field, Manchester, to hear 'Orator' Henry Hunt. No sooner had he begun his speech than the local yeomanry cavalry were ordered to arrest the speaker and his associates. In the ensuing mayhem the cavalry began to attack the unarmed civilians with sabres, then the Fifteenth Hussars were sent in as re-enforcements for the yeomanry and in the panic between eleven and fourteen people were killed and over six hundred injured. The events at 'Peterloo' took on a mythical air and soon became a symbol of oppression.
The Peterloo Massacre, 16th August 1819.
At a time of great hardship for people in the weaving industry in Lancashire a crowd of up to 30,000 gathered at St, Peter's Field, Manchester, to hear 'Orator' Henry Hunt. No sooner had he begun his speech than the local yeomanry cavalry were ordered to arrest the speaker and his associates. In the ensuing mayhem the cavalry began to attack the unarmed civilians with sabres, then the Fifteenth Hussars were sent in as re-enforcements for the yeomanry and in the panic between eleven and fourteen people were killed and over six hundred injured. The events at 'Peterloo' took on a mythical air and soon became a symbol of oppression.