SAMUEL

See also:

• SAMUEL BAMFORD (1788-1872)

BAMFORD (1788-1872)  , English labour politician, was born at Miston, near Middleton, Lancashire, on the 28th of February 1788 . Himself a stalwart weaver, he was opposed to physical force movements and did all he could to restrain the violent resistance to trade oppression which was so common; yet through attending and speaking at the meeting (1819) at Peterloo, Manchester (q.v.), which was intended to be a peaceful gathering to petition for Parliamentary reform and a repeal of the Corn Law but ended in a massacre, he was arrested for a breach of the law, convicted and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment . He was the author of several widely popular poems (principally in the Lancashire dialect) showing sympathy with the conditions of his class, and his Passages in the Life of a Radical (1840--1844) is an authoritative history of the condition of the working classes in the years succeeding the battle of Waterloo . He died at Harpurhey on the 13th of April 1872, and was accorded a public funeral, attended by thousands .