Thomas Attwood (6 October 1783 – 6 March 1856) was a British

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

political campaigner A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...

and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. He was the leading figure of the

underconsumption Underconsumption is a theory in economics that recessions and stagnation arise from an inadequate consumer demand, relative to the amount produced. In other words, there is a problem of overproduction and overinvestment during a demand crisis. The ...

ist Birmingham School of economists, and, as the founder of the

Birmingham Political Union The Birmingham Political Union (General Political Union) was a grass roots pressure group in Great Britain during the 1830s. It was founded by Thomas Attwood, a banker interested in monetary reform. Its platform called for extending and redistrib ...

, the leading figure in the public campaign for the

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

of 1832.

Life and career

Thomas Attwood was born in

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and from ...

, then a detached part of

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, and attended Halesowen Grammar School (now Earls High School) before being moved to

Wolverhampton Grammar School Wolverhampton Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Wolverhampton, England. History Initially a grammar school for boys, WGS was founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns, a master of the ancient guild of Merchant Taylors, who ...

. On 12 May 1806, Attwood married Elizabeth Carless from Lower Ravenhurst Farm, an area which is now part of the

Moor Pool Moor Pool (or Moorpool) is a garden suburb within the ward of Harborne, Birmingham, England. It was designated a Conservation Area in July 1970, which was raised by an Article 4(2) direction order in 2006. A Conservation Area Character Apprais ...

estate. They had two sons, George de Bosco Attwood (15 March 1808), who stood unsuccessfully for the Walsall constituency in the 1832 general election, and Thomas Aurelius Attwood (4 March 1810). Their daughter Angela married

Daniel Wakefield Daniel Wakefield (1776–1846) was a writer on political economy. Life Daniel, born in 1776, was the second son of Edward Wakefield (1750–1826), merchant, of London, by his wife Priscilla Bell, daughter of Daniel Bell. Edward Wakefield (1774 ...

with whom she emigrated to New Zealand. He founded the

in 1830. This was a political organization campaigning for cities, and large towns such as Birmingham, to be directly represented in Parliament. The Birmingham Political Union was foremost among groups lobbying the government for the passage of a

Reform Bill In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

to achieve this aim. The

Days of May The Days of May was a period of significant social unrest and political tension in the United Kingdom in May 1832, after the Tories blocked the Third Reform Bill in the House of Lords, which aimed to extend parliamentary representation to the ...

in 1832 brought the people's struggle for wider

enfranchisement Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

to a head, and the

was passed on 15 May 1832. After this success he became one of the first two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MPs) for

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

(along with

Joshua Scholefield Joshua Scholefield (23 May 1775 – 4 July 1844) was a British businessman and Radical politician. He was elected as one of Birmingham's two first members of parliament when the town was enfranchised as a result of the Reform Act 1832. Born in Sh ...

) on 12 December 1832, a position he held until 1839. Attwood lived at The Grove, a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

house in

Harborne Harborne is an area of south-west Birmingham, England. It is one of the most affluent areas of the Midlands, southwest from Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in ...

, between 1823 and 1846. He died in

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

in 1856.

Memorials

Thomas Attwood statue, Highgate Park, Birmingham

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

statue of Thomas Attwood by local sculptor

Peter Hollins Peter Hollins (1 May 1800 – 16 August 1886) was a British sculptor operating throughout the 19th century. Life He was born on 1 May 1800 at 17 Great Hampton Street, Birmingham, the fourth child and eldest son of the sculptor and architect W ...

stood in Calthorpe Park from 1859 to 1974Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis then moved to Larches Green, Sparkbrook, Birmingham between 1974 and 2008, but is now in store. A 1993 bronze statue sat, having left his plinth, and scattered his bronze pages, on the steps of

Chamberlain Square Chamberlain Square or Chamberlain Place is a public square in central Birmingham, England, named after statesman and notable mayor of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain. The Victorian square was drastically remodelled in the 1970s, with most of the V ...

in Birmingham until 2016 when works to demolish the Central Library and rebuild Chamberlain Square began. The statue was reinstalled in 2020 once the works were completed. Attwood Street, a residential street in

, commemorates his achievements.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* www.thepeoplescharter.co.uk *
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Attwood, Thomas 1783 births 1856 deaths English economists Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies People educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School People from Halesowen People from Birmingham, West Midlands UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841

Life and career

Memorials

See also

References

Bibliography

External links