John Bedford Leno - Chartism

Chartism

As well as founding the Uxbridge Chartist branch John Bedford Leno also daringly established the Eton branch in Windsor which was the home of Queen Victoria. He also served as a Delegate of the Chartist movement.

His first publication was the "Manuscript Newspaper", of which he was co-editor. This was then succeeded by the "Uxbridge Pioneer" which was edited by Gerald Massey, Kimber, Hudson, Gurney and a few others who had all been elected by the Uxbridge Young Men's Improvement Society. Political differences soon caused a split in this group and John Bedford Leno and Gerald Massey went on to produce their own paper; "Spirit of Freedom, and Working Man's Vindicator". This was printed for the next year until Gerald Massey left Uxbridge to work as the secretary for the Tailor's Association in London. Here Gerald met the "Promoters", a body of gentleman who were known as Christian Socialists (now known as the Christian Socialist Movement) and included many eminent men. They decided to set up a Working Printers' Association which they invited John Bedford Leno to take charge of. He declined however, on the grounds that they would be setting up in opposition to some of his old friends who had just set up their own "Co-operative Printers' Association" in London, which he joined as a rank and file printer. When their existence became known to the heads of the Christian Socialists, they received considerable financial support, from the likes of Frederick Maurice and Thomas Hughes, the author of "Tom Brown's Schooldays". The "Co-operative Printers' Association" disbanded after three years and John Bedford Leno set up his own printing shop in Drury Lane, London in which he lived with his family for most of the rest of his life.

One of John Bedford Leno's first London experiences was attending the Chartist rally at Clerkenwell Green in 1848. This was disbanded by an army of police constables who swept the green. When asked to disperse by a plain clothes policeman John Bedford Leno at first refused, whereupon he was battered in the face with a truncheon.