Introduction

On 16 August 1819 a huge crowd, estimated to be made up of 60,000 people, gathered on St. Peter’s Field in the centre of Manchester, ready to hear radical orator Henry Hunt and other reformers talk. There were important problems to address. Restrictions on the import of grain, known as the Corn Laws, and high unemployment had hit many people hard. At this time, only around two per cent of the population were eligible to vote and many felt that their needs were not fairly represented in government.  

Shortly after it began, the meeting was declared illegal and the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry were called upon by the city’s magistrates to arrest the reformers. They stormed the crowd, sabres drawn, and were joined shortly afterwards by Cheshire Yeomanry and the 15th Hussars. In the ensuing chaos it is estimated that around fifteen people were killed and more than 600 were injured. The episode became known as ‘Peterloo’: an ironic comparison with the Battle of Waterloo.  

The Trafford Area

There is evidence that a small number of the crowd came from areas that now fall within the Trafford boundaries, although the majority of people there on the day came from the areas hit hardest by the economic depression. These were centres of textile manufacturing, such as Oldham, Stockport and Manchester itself.

The Trafford area was home to many important representatives of the authorities – the constabulary, the magistrates and the yeomanry. It also played a significant role in the days and months preceding the massacre, hosting meetings of special constables and gathering yeomanry together in preparation for the day.