John Shuttleworth (1786 – 26 April 1864) was an
English
English usually refers to:
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* English people
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Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
political activist and campaigner for
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
ary reform in nineteenth century
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
.
Life
Shuttleworth was born in Manchester. He became a cotton dealer there, and was for a time a business partner of
John Edward Taylor
John Edward Taylor (11 September 1791 – 6 January 1844) was an English business tycoon, editor, publisher and member of The Portico Library, who was the founder of the ''Manchester Guardian'' newspaper in 1821, which was renamed in 1959 ...
.
In 1814 Shuttleworth was a supporter of the
Lancasterian school The Monitorial System, also known as Madras System or Lancasterian System, was an education method that took hold during the early 19th century, because of Spanish, French, and English colonial education that was imposed into the areas of expansion. ...
in Manchester; and in 1815 he spoke against the
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They were ...
in the year of their introduction at a Manchester meeting.
In the following years he was part of the "small determined band" or
Little Circle
The Little Circle was a Manchester-based group of Non-conformist Liberals, mostly members of the Portico Library, who held a common agenda with regards to political and social reform. The first group met from 1815 onwards to campaign for expande ...
that discussed economics, with Taylor,
Archibald Prentice
Archibald Prentice (1792–1857) was a Scottish journalist, known as a radical reformer and temperance campaigner.
Life
The son of Archibald Prentice of Covington Mains in the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire, and Helen, daughter of John Stoddart of The ...
,
Absalom Watkin
Absalom Watkin (1787–1861), was an English social and political reformer, an anti corn law campaigner, and a member of Manchester's ''Little Circle'' that was key in passing the Reform Act 1832.
Early life
Absalom Watkin was born in London t ...
and others. The ''
Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' was founded in 1821, and in 1823 Taylor gave up his partnership with Shuttleworth, dealing in cotton, twist and weft, to become its full-time editor. In 1824 the Circle took control of the ''
Manchester Gazette
The ''Manchester Gazette'' was a conformist non-Tory newspaper based in Manchester, England.
Founded by William Cowdroy (previously editor of the ''Chester Chronicle'') in 1795, the newspaper was written and printed by him and his four sons. Alt ...
'', with Prentice becoming its editor. In 1828 Prentice and the Circle's vehicle shifted to the ''
Manchester Times
The ''Manchester Times'' was a weekly newspaper published in Manchester, England, from 1828 to 1922. It was known for its free trade radicalism.
From 1828 to 1847, the newspaper was edited by Archibald Prentice, a political radical and advocate ...
''.
In 1821 Shuttleworth provided support to
Rowland Detrosier
Rowland Detrosier, also Rowley Barnes, (c. 1800 - 23 November 1834) was an English autodidact, radical politician, preacher and educator, particularly associated with Manchester.
Early life
Detrosier's parents were Manchester merchant Robert Norri ...
, finding him work in the factory of the cotton spinner Benjamin Naylor.
Shuttleworth was a Unitarian, a member of the
Cross Street Chapel
Cross Street Chapel is a Unitarian church in central Manchester, England. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians. Its present minister is Cody Coyne.
His ...
congregation of
William Gaskell
William Gaskell (24 July 1805 – 12 June 1884) was an English Unitarian minister, charity worker and pioneer in the education of the working class. The husband of novelist and biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, he was himself a writer and poet, and ...
.
Notes
External links
*
1786 births
1864 deaths
English businesspeople
English activists
History of Manchester
19th-century British businesspeople
{{UK-activist-stub