Abel Heywood - Radicalism and Chartism

Radicalism and Chartism

During the next two decades Heywood had an ambiguous relationship with Manchester's frenetic Radicalism and agitation. In 1828 he was involved in the protests to reform the management of the Mechanics' Institute. Run on the model of the Edinburgh School of Art, total power was given to honorary members, who paid £10 a year. The managers of the institution were then chosen by these honorary members, effectively ensuring constant middle class directorship. Anger over this and other matters such as the high annual subscription fee of £1 for ordinary members and the strict prohibition of political lectures or literature, including newspapers, eventually boiled over. A number of subscribers, including Heywood, signed a document demanding the right to be allowed to elect nine directors from their own ranks, and once this was met with an unsatisfactory compromise these protestors broke away and formed the New Mechanics' Institute, electing Rowland Detrosier president. Although it is not known for certain if Abel remained in the old Institute or joined the new one, his brother and business partner John was an important member of the new Institute's governing provisional committee. By 1834 the rebels were drawn back to the old Institute, after the flight of over one hundred members had forced them into the democratic reforms sought by the subscribers.

Despite these radical leanings, Abel's business prospered and he was able to be active in public life, becoming one of the Commissioners of Police, essentially a 180 strong town council, in 1836, having responsibility for paving and sanitation. In April 1840 he was again prosecuted for his publishing, this time for a blasphemy charge. Heywood presented an affidavit in extenuation, in which he declared that as soon as he had learned that the papers were blasphemous he withdrew them from sale. Having previously received fines and imprisonment on other charges, he was permitted to change his plea from not guilty to guilty in return for a suspended sentence. Pressed by the Government, the court decided to discharge him rather than press for judgment. Correspondence between Sir Charles Shaw, the Chief Commissioner of Police for Manchester, and the Home Office, have since revealed that Heywood had informed Shaw of a planned Chartist rising in Bolton on the night of 22/23 January 1840. In return, Shaw instructed the Government to pressure the court to let him off.

Despite this, Heywood remained an active Chartist, and his business published much of the reading material of the town's movement, including the Northern Star. He often used his wealth to bail out Chartists such as Feargus O'Connor, and in 1841 was elected treasurer of the National Charter Association, as well as sitting on the executive committee. At the same time he campaigned actively for the incorporation of the city and, once this was achieved, was elected to the council in 1843.