The Chartist Movement 1838 - 1848

Page 5 of 6

• 1. The 1848 Petition
• 2. Demonstration in London
• 3. The Chartist story
• 4. A national movement
• 5. Chartist legacy
• 6. Find out more
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Chartist legacy

Feargus O'Connor died in 1855, suffering from general paralysis of the insane, induced by syphilis. His madness in his last years led him to exhibit some excruciating behaviour in the House of Commons, including an assault on a fellow MP, but he was of sound mind up to 1850. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London, where 40,000 people attended his funeral.

'...40 000 people attended his funeral.'

William Lovett died in 1877, having spent his life since the years of the Chartist Movement promoting working-class education. Thomas Clark lived only two years longer than Feargus, the man he had so admired. Thomas Cooper spent the second part of his long life as a Christian preacher. He died in 1892, the same year as Samuel Kydd, another well-known figure in the movement. John Frost returned to Britain from exile in 1856; Robert Peddie was not heard of again; and George Binns died in New Zealand, aged only 31.

The People's Charter was not enacted in the 1840s. In the short term Chartism failed, but it was a movement founded on an optimism that was eventually justified. It was a powerful assertion of the rights of working people, creating in them a long-term self-confidence and self-reliance. During the century after the end of the movement, most of the Chartist demands were passed into law, and undoubtedly the Chartist issues of democratic inclusion and the rights of citizenship remain highly relevant today.

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Published: 2002-05-01