The events that took place in Manchester on 16th August 1819, historian Robert Poole has claimed that this incident was the defining event of the age[1]. The massacre that happened in St Peters field was ironically named Peterloo after the British military victory against Napoleon in 1815. 50,000 to 60,000 people riled together to support the call for parliamentary reform and universal suffrage was the key focal point of the invited speaker’s messages. The role of women during this well-planned gathering is an interesting aspect to look at and discuss.
When discussing the Peterloo massacre it’s important to note that there are various different accounts that differ from the last. For example, when looking at the number of women who attended the gathering, some reports say that the crowd consisted of mainly men and there were no more than 100 women. However, when you consult the casualty records, there were more than 100 women listed as injured[2]. The participation of women in the meeting at St Peters Field is hugely significant as it marks the first time there was organised female activity in British politics[3]. There are clear reasons for why many women chose to gather with the men at Peterloo. These reasons being that the women wanted to stand with their husbands and brothers in support of them campaigning for the vote. Furthermore, many women chose to attend this gathering to push for women’s right to vote. The women who participated in this gathering were women of all backgrounds however the driving force is considered to be the working women, the gathering at Peterloo has been described by some as a clear showing of working class solidarity. The choice of venue further gives evidence for this as Manchester was were many factories were, therefore a high amount of working class people resided there. The Manchester female reform society was the main organisational force of the female participation in the meeting.
Most of the women who participated in this event wore all white and carried flags, many of these were of the Manchester reform society. Some of the women were put at the front of the parades showing the carrying the various flags. The violence that followed the and dispersed the crowd at St Peters Field, was seemingly increasingly more brutal for the women of the mass. The reformers present of the event stressed that a great deal of women took part in the gathering, and many of these women were terribly injured during the violence carried out by the cavalry. Accounts from people present at Peterloo suggest that the violence was worse for women and were sexually driven due to the fact that there faces and breasts were horribly slashed by the cavalry[4].
The role of women during the events of Peterloo is clearly significant in the broad spectrum of the push for the right to vote amongst women. The participation of women, allows people to see the emergence of the women’s political campaign for the vote.
[1] Robert Poole, ‘By the Law or the Sword’: Peterloo Revisited, The Historical Association and Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2006.
[2] M. L. Bush, The Women at Peterloo: The Impact of Female Reform on the Manchester Meeting of 16 August 1819, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
Britain and rights 