The Group met for a very lively and interesting evening when Jackie Morgan spoke to us on the subject of ‘Besant, Bradlaugh and Butler,’ all portrayed as Victorian reformers.
With the advent of improved agriculture and a growing population in the early 1800’s, the development of textiles and the iron industry came to the fore. The rivers became linked through the canal system, supplying the mill towns where the greater populations were to be found. So, the maintenance of law and order was very much needed.
A number of Acts of Parliament came into being, starting with the Great Reform Act of 1832, introducing major changes to the electoral system of England and Wales, followed by the Anatomy Act in the same year, which dealt mainly with the situation found in the workhouses. The Factory and Education Acts followed in 1833, to improve the conditions for children, especially those working in the factories. The New Poor Law introduced the next year focussed again on workhouses, where older women, on the whole, were to be found picking oakum for use in the shipbuilding industry.
So, enter Josephine Butler (1828 – 1906), an educated lady living in Liverpool with 3 children. Josephine visited the ladies in the workhouses for 24 years and campaigned against the situations found there. Many suffered from contagious diseases like syphilis acquired when ‘working’ as prostitutes. At that time women were examined by the Metropolitan Police and any found to be diseased were placed in Lock Hospitals. The men were never examined since they would have objected, so the Women’s Suffrage movement came to the fore, as did better education for women. The abolition of child prostitution and the trafficking of young girls to Europe, where the age of consent was 13 years old, also came into being.
Annie Besant (1847 – 1933), had married a clergyman at the age of 18 but on becoming an atheist, separated from her husband. She was a British Socialist, ‘Women’s Rights,’ and educational activist, also a campaigner for Home Rule, her mother being an Irish Catholic, and father English, but having completed a medical degree from Trinity College, Dublin. She later became a theosophist and then the leader, in 1914, of the Indian National Congress, with a vision to getting India independence. Her funeral in 1933 had been in the Indian tradition.
Earlier in her life she had met up with Charles Bradlaugh, another political activist and atheist and the founder of the Secular Society and Chronicle, whose followers were also freethinkers. Together in 1877, they succeeded in establishing the right to republish the pamphlet ‘Fruits of Philosophy’, which dealt with contraception. At the time, the book was banned, and prison sentences were in the offing but were quashed. The pair of them were as well involved in the Bryant and May Match Factory dispute in 1888, when the match girls went on strike over working a 14-hour day with poor pay and excessive fines. ‘Phossy jaw’ was also an issue, acquired from working with white phosphorus used in the match production.
Charles Bradlaugh was the MP for Northampton, who although voted in following 6 by-elections was unable to take his seat in Parliament with his being an atheist. However, he took the oath in 1886 when Gladstone, the Liberal politician was Prime Minister of the UK. Bradlaugh died in 1891 and in his Will, he had specified wishing his funeral to be a cheap and low-key affair. However, attendees came from far and wide such was his popularity. Throughout his life, he had fought for the underdog, under-privileged and downtrodden.
So ended a bit of a history lesson for me and I am sure many others too.
Our next meeting is to be on Wednesday 1 May, when we will look forward to a second visit from Sue Pacey, local author, beekeeper, and former midwife. It would be good to see some ‘new’ faces in the Parish Room when we meet at 7pm. Do speak to Trish, Marilyn J., or myself if you wish to know more.
Wendy Drake