The People’s Champions: Tavistock Radicals and Reformers in the 19th Century – by member Andrew Thompson, Independent Heritage Consultant, Historian & Archaeologist. 

19th century Tavistock had a reputation as a stronghold of radical politics. Yet the town’s colourful and sometimes controversial radical figures have been airbrushed out of local history and heritage. This talk examines the town’s association with some of the country’s most significant reforming and radical voices, from the House of Bedford’s support for moderate constitutional change to the pioneering socialist writing of physician Charles Hall. It also discusses and celebrates lesser-known religious preachers, Chartists, trade unionists and campaigners for women’s suffrage, who fought for political rights and against the social injustices created by the industrial revolution. 

Image - A coloured print of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 (published by Richard Carlile – in the public domain and accessed at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peterloo_Massacre.png). Tavistock Radicals held a meeting to protest about it.