Cowardly slaughter of the innocents

The Chronicles of Alda

From Oldham’s local history perspective, there can surely have been no darker day than Monday, August 16, 1819.

Now a date largely forgotten by local folk, it remained bitterly etched into the minds of our borough’s common people for many decades afterwards.

For it was on that fateful day that five of our unarmed men were murdered via the sabres of those cowards of the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry in St Peter’s Field, Manchester.

In recorded national history, the day’s slaughter has always been remembered as The Peterloo Massacre. But not many realise that one third of the 15 people murdered hailed from Oldham.

Dawn had broken beautifully on that August morning as political reformers all over Lancashire gathered for a peaceful march to Manchester.

Largely comprising of common men, women and children, the rally in Manchester was to listen to a speech by Henry Hunt, calling for the universal right to vote and increased parliamentary representation.

The local Reformers had adopted as their uniform a white hat with green rim and at Oldham town centre they had all gathered by about 8.30am.

The atmosphere was akin to one of carnival — a sea of white hats and people excitedly comparing colourful banners.

Staring

Chadderton’s was four yards long and three yards wide made of the most beautiful green and white silk by weavers from Denton Lane who were on the march.

The Lees contingent had designed what became known as the notorious Black Flag of Lees. Pitch black with staring white letters it is said to have struck fear into the hearts of spectators who lined the road to Manchester with its motto “Equal Representation or Death”.

Underneath was the word “love” with a heart and two crossed hands — and beneath those was the gruesome death’s head and cross bones!

Around 9am, thousands of local folk led by the radical John Knight, set off on the march to Manchester arriving just before noon to join an estimated crowd of 80,000 in St Peter’s Field.

Journalists were in attendance and John Tyas, reporting for The Times in London, described how the Oldham banners were “by far the most elegant displayed during the day.”

Of one thing that all eyewitness commentators agreed upon — there was not one hint of trouble or hostility from the crowd.

And yet, at about 1.40pm, the part-time soldiers of the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry, largely comprised of businessmen and Tories, commenced their cowardly slaughter with the murder of two-year-old William Fildes — yes, two-years-old and trampled to death by the Yeomanry horses.

Under orders from the High Sheriff of Lancashire William Hulton, the Manchester and Salford cavalry then charged into the crowd on horseback, cutting down innocent people with their sabres.

Within 20 minutes, 15 people were dead and hundreds more injured in one of the most shameful atrocities this country has ever witnessed involving the military against its own defenceless people.

Many said it had been orchestrated by Manchester’s corrupt Deputy Constable Joseph Nadin, who had insisted he needed military help to disperse the crowd.

The murder of the five men of this borough among those massacred has largely been forgotten — after all, they were only working class men — so let’s put the record straight and record their names here for posterity — John Ashton, Thomas Buckley, John Lees, William Dawson and Edmund Dawson.

As for the landed and privileged William Hulton, he said, “August 16, 1819 was the proudest day in my life.”


Author’s Footnote: The Chronicles of Alda are based on historic fact with a little conjecture and a sprinkling of poetic licence.