Samuel Bamford
Samuel Bamford (1788-1872) was an English radical, poet, and activist known for his involvement in the early 19th-century reform movement advocating for universal suffrage. Born in Middleton, near Manchester, he was raised in a politically charged environment influenced by his father, a former Methodist who became a radical after reading Thomas Paine. Throughout his life, Bamford faced personal hardships, including the deaths of family members and professional setbacks in his attempts to establish himself as a weaver and bookseller.
Bamford became a prominent figure during the political turbulence of the era, notably participating in the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, where he led a peaceful contingent advocating for reform. His account of the event became a significant historical document. Despite being arrested after the massacre, he remained committed to reform for a time, though eventually grew disillusioned with political activism. He found some financial stability as a correspondent for the Morning Herald and published several volumes of poetry and autobiographical works, often reflecting the struggles of the working class.
Bamford's literary contributions included dialect poetry that captured the essence of his Lancashire roots, as well as more traditional forms. His life and work provide insights into the social and political challenges of early 19th-century England, making him a notable figure in the history of British radicalism.
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Subject Terms
Samuel Bamford
Radical
- Born: February 28, 1788
- Birthplace: Middleton, Lancashire, England
- Died: April 13, 1872
- Place of death: Harpurhey, Lancashire, England
Biography
Samuel Bamford was born on February 28, 1788, in Middleton, near Manchester. He was the son of a handloom weaver, Daniel Bamford, who taught in Sunday school and composed hymns. When Samuel was an infant, Daniel Bamford read Tom Paine’s The Rights of Man and The Age of Reason, and promptly abandoned Methodism to form a radical group that attracted considerable local opposition. The family moved to Manchester, where Daniel became the manager of cotton factory; Samuel’s mother and two of his siblings died of smallpox soon afterwards. Samuel attended Manchester Grammar School for a while, but was sent back to Middleton to live with an uncle when his father remarried.
Bamford worked as laborer in a local warehouse, and then on a farm, but could not settle. In 1805, he walked to South Shields and found work on a coal ship but soon returned to Manchester to work as a warehouse laborer again. In the meantime, he read widely, equally inspired by radical tracts and the poetry of such writers as John Milton and Robert Burns. He married his wife “Mima” (Jemima) in 1812—the marriage was to last 52 years—and set himself up as a weaver, poet and bookseller, none of which vocations proved successful. In 1816, he formed a Middleton branch of the Hampden Reform Club and became an activist in cause of universal suffrage. He was arrested and charged with treason in 1817; although he was acquitted for lack of evidence, he became more cautious thereafter. He led the Middleton contingent to the famous gathering at St. Peter’s Fields on August 16, 1819, and his subsequent account of the so-called “Peterloo Massacre”—when troops charged the crowd, killing numerous women and children—in Passages in the Life of a Radical became a significant historical source.
Bamford was arrested after Peterloo in spite of the determined peacefulness of his contribution, and sentenced to a year in Lincoln Prison. He became disillusioned with political activism thereafter, somewhat to the detriment of his reputation as a reformist. He attempted to return to the weaving trade, but competition from factories was too strong. The verses he wrote in some profusion—many of them in Lancashire dialect—included many dire laments.
Bamford finally achieved a measure of financial stability when he became the Manchester correspondent for the Morning Herald in 1826. He refused to join the Chartists, and even agreed to serve as a special constable at the height of their agitation. In 1851, he became a messenger at Somerset House—a post that was almost a sinecure—but he did not like London and returned north after a few years. His more orthodox items of poetry can be found in The Weaver Boy (1819) and Homely Rhymes (1843), but scholars tend to find the esoterica in Tawk o’Seawth Lankeshur, by Sanhul Beamfort and The Dialect of South Lancashire: Or, Tim Bobbin’s Tummus and Meary, with his Rhymes more interesting. In addition to Passages in the Life of a Radical he wrote a further two volumes of autobiography, Early Days. He died on April 13, 1872, at Harpurhey.