John Cleave (born circa 1790) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

based Chartist leader, a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

and

newspaper publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

Early career

Born of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

stock, as a young boy John Cleave went to sea and is first documented for his political activities as late as 1828, in

, working to assist

Henry Hetherington Henry Hetherington (June 1792 – 24 August 1849) was an English printer, bookseller, publisher and newspaper proprietor who campaigned for social justice, a free press, universal suffrage and religious freethought. Together with his close asso ...

at the Civil & Religious Association.

Printer, bookshop and coffee shop owner

A few years later in 1831 Cleave was a

at Snow Hill in London then at Shoe Lane where he also operated a bookshop and

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...

alongside his printing business. Cleave was now working on ''

The Poor Man's Guardian The ''Poor Man's Guardian'' was a penny weekly newspaper published in London, England by Henry Hetherington from July 1831 to December 1835. Hetherington published his ''Poor Man's Guardian'', a successor to his earlier (1830–31) penny daily ...

'' along with

and James Watson.

His own newspaper

In 1834 he felt ready to start his own newspaper '' Cleave's Weekly Police Gazette'' which as well as reporting on recent crimes also contained a political campaigning and reform element within its pages, a combination that was very successful, being sold to over 40,000 avid readers per week by 1836.

Campaigner to sell more newspapers

Cleave was refusing to pay stamp duty on his newspaper, in line with other radical publishers and pamphleteers, which of course brought him into conflict with the authorities who levied fines and wanted such seditious radicals imprisoned. It was the view of radical publishers that a free press was vital to social, political and moral improvement and that the government were oppressing the people's firmly held beliefs and rights to communicate. The law was gradually reformed and the fourpenny tax on newspapers was reduced to one-penny and pamphlets had their tax removed altogether.

Chartism

Also in 1836 Cleave joined forces with

William Lovett William Lovett (8 May 1800 – 8 August 1877) was a British activist and leader of the Chartist political movement. He was one of the leading London-based artisan radicals of his generation. A proponent of the idea that political rights could ...

and Henry Hetherington to form the new

London Working Men's Association The London Working Men's Association was an organisation established in London in 1836.

. He was soon to be closely involved in the National Charter Association too, and was its first Treasurer. In 1837 Cleave accompanied

Henry Vincent Henry Vincent (10 May 1813 – 29 December 1878) was active in the formation of early Working Men's Associations in Britain, a popular Chartist leader, brilliant and gifted public orator, prospective but ultimately unsuccessful Victorian membe ...

, a gifted younger orator and emerging Chartist leader, on a speaking tour of northern England where the two men initiated the establishment of Working Men's Associations in northern cities such as

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...

, and towns such as Bradford, Halifax and

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

. The two men formed strong bonds during this time and Henry Vincent was later to marry Cleave's daughter Lucy in 1841.

The 1840s

In the 1840s as the National Charter Association divided over policy differences and the careers of the early leaders ran their differing courses Cleave sided with the moderate moral force Chartists alongside

and continued to work for

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

and the complete removal of stamp duty from all newspapers until his death in 1847.

External links

LMA Learning Zone profile of the man himself
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleave, John Chartists Politicians from London 1847 deaths Year of birth uncertain 1790 births