Description: John Fielden, industrial magnate and radical Member of Parliament for Oldham in Lancashire from 1832 to 1847, was best known as a leading advocate of factory reform. Drawing on a rare collection of Fielden family papers, this biographical study provides a fresh assessment of each of the movements in which Fielden became involved and of his role within them, and discusses the influences that shaped this radical industrialist who occupied a unique place in Parliament as the voice of the people.
Review Quotes: "The very first full-scale biography of one of the most paradoxical of all early Victorians....Weaver has found and used a significant body of unpublished letters....Weaver's work is an immensely useful biographical complement to recent monographs on Chartism, the Factory Movement, and early Victorian politics."--Victorian Studies
"A fascinating and well-written account of English popular protest during the troubled years 1832-1847, built around the career of a man who was at least as important as the few Tory radicals who heretofore have been the center of historians' attention."--Albion"A finely crafted scholarly contribution of first-rate importance....The author has restored Fielden to his rightful place in the story of the early Victorian origins of the British welfare state."--The Historian"[An] important addition...to our knowledge of nineteenth-century radicalism."--Journal of Economic History"This well-researched book represents an important contribution to 19th-century studies."--CHOICE