Abel Heywood - Later Publishing and Political Career As A Liberal

Later Publishing and Political Career As A Liberal

Heywood served as alderman in 1853 and in 1859 stood unsuccessfully as a Radical Liberal candidate for Manchester. His first term as Mayor was in 1862–1863, during the cotton famine, and in 1865 he stood again as a Liberal for Manchester, again unsuccessfully. He would not repeat the attempt, instead becoming Mayor again in 1876–1877. A major achievement was his role in guiding Manchester Town Hall to its completion.

In 1866, Heywood noticed that working-class people were just beginning to use trains to travel for pleasure. Seeing no affordable travel guides, he began to publish a series of Penny Guides, short travel guides that covered such places as Buxton, Southport, Bath and the Isle of Wight. The first edition of A Guide to Bakewell and Haddon Hall was issued in 1893. By 1912, Heywood had about one hundred different guide pamphlets in publication.

The clock bell of the Town Hall, Great Abel, is named after Heywood and weighs 8 tons 2.5 cwt. It is inscribed with the initials AH and the Tennyson line Ring out the false, ring in the true.