Only surviving protest banner from 1819 Peterloo Massacre unveiled at Touchstones

The only surviving protest banner from the historic ‘Peterloo Massacre’ of 1819 is on display at Touchstones Museum in Rochdale.

Led by Samuel Bamford, a group of Middleton people carried the banner from Middleton to Manchester as they marched with thousands of others from north west towns and villages including Heywood, Rochdale, Middleton, Oldham, Lees, Saddleworth, Stalybridge, Ashton, Stockport, Bolton and Bury.

The group travelled to St Peter’s Field in central Manchester on 16 August 1819 to hear political speeches, but the day became known as the Peterloo Massacre after the authorities attacked the marchers. 15 people were killed and another 700 were injured after soldiers and special constables attacked the public protest calling for democratic representation.

The rare banner is on public display for the first time in many years at Touchstones, along with other Peterloo artefacts at a special Peterloo exhibition running from 18 May until 2 November 2019.

 

 

The Middleton banner was made from locally-woven blue silk and hand-painted with gold lettering; it was one of two carried by the Middleton contingent to Manchester. The second was green and inscribed with ‘Parliaments Annual’ and ‘Suffrage Universal’. This was lost after being cut from marcher Thomas Redford’s hand by a soldier soon after violence broke out.

The surviving banner was smuggled out of Peterloo and reunited with the Middleton group, who carried it home where it was then hung in the Suffield Arms pub. For many years, the historic banner was also hung in Middleton library.

In the 1970s, urgent conservation work was undertaken to help preserve it after years of exposure to heat and light had caused the silk fabric to split and disintegrate. To preserve it for future generations, the banner is now kept in dark storage with regulated environmental conditions. After consultation with conservation experts, Touchstones is showing the banner for the first time in years.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Peterloo, and to explore issues surrounding protest and democracy, various exhibitions and events are being held across Greater Manchester this spring and summer.

The Touchstones exhibition is unique because of the banner, which is on show alongside other original artefacts from the 1819 massacre including a police truncheon featuring a royal coat of arms, a decorative wooden finial painted with the words ‘Hunt and Liberty’, a scarlet-coloured plume from a Hussar soldier’s uniform on the day, commemorative jugs and material relating to Samuel Bamford.

Other exhibits at Touchstones include props from the 2018 film Peterloo, directed by Mike Leigh and starring Maxine Peake, and project work with the Rochdale Youth Parliament and Children’s Council.

A Protest Family Fun Day will also be held on Thursday 30 May; an adult song and music workshop on Saturday 8 June and an adult craft workshop on Saturday 13 July, and a pop-up performance and art event on Saturday 10 August for families at Touchstones.

The screening of the Sam Bamford film, called ‘Our Sam, The Middleton Man’, is on 27 June at 5pm in Manchester Central Library. 

Details on all Greater Manchester events can be seen on the website:

• www.peterloo1819.co.uk

A permanent public memorial to Peterloo, designed by the Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller, will be unveiled in Manchester on 16 August, exactly 200 years after the massacre.