The Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser was the longest running and most successful newspaper of the Chartist movement, spanning the years 1837-1852. With a circulation greater than The Times and read out aloud in pubs, workplaces and homes to those unable to read, it influenced a huge section of the working classes in the industrial cities. (1)
The newspaper enjoyed a national readership amongst working class people fighting for their right to vote. In addition, It campaigned against exploitation and the evils of the factory system. It was written by many of those engaged in the attempt to alter society. The newspaper campaigned against the hated Poor Laws and for international causes like independence of Canada, Irish home rule, and ending slavery in the Americas. Significantly, many regular working people formed its network of readers and correspondents, making a truly mass, grassroots activist movement at a time when only a privileged minority had access to parliamentary politics. (2)
Local historians and trade unionists have campaigned for over forty years to get the site of the production recognised by Leeds Civic Trust. We need your help to raise funds for the production of the plaque, as well as a ceremony to unveil it on Saturday 30th November 2024, the 160th anniversary of its final issue printed in Leeds.
Image key
Pink: Northern Star office
Yellow: Alice Mann’s bookshop and printing office
Green: Leeds Mercury office
Blue: Leeds Times office
Orange: Leeds Intelligencer office
Purple: Leeds Commercial Library
The ceremony will include the unveiling of the plaque by the widow and family of the late Malcolm Chase, Professor of Social History at Leeds University and author of five books and numerous articles on working-class and trade union politics in British history. It will also support a free-to-attend reception at the historic Leeds Commercial Library which will include a performance of historic ballads and folk songs by the Commoners’ Choir and a lecture by yours truly on the history of the Northern Star and the Chartist movement. To support our efforts, please consider donating to a crowdfunder set up by local trade unionists to support these efforts and leave a lasting legacy on the streets of Leeds. At the time of writing we have met 1/3rd of our fundraising target, with just less than a month to spare – please help!
The Chartist legacy remains today every time you cast your vote, write to your MP, and share campaigns on social media – some people even write whole PhDs on the topic. This plaque commemorates the collective efforts of working people in Leeds and nationwide in agitating for their rights. For more information on the Northern Star and the Chartist movement more generally, check out Mark Crail’s fantastic website Chartist Ancestors.
(1) Jim Mussell (2012) ‘The Northern Star‘, Nineteenth Century Serials Edition [https://ncse.ac.uk/headnotes/nss.html]
(2) Me, ‘The Chartist Pen Name Generator’, drvicclarke.com [https://drvicclarke.co.uk/2018/05/03/self-identity-in-the-chartist-press-or-the-chartist-pen-name-generator/]
(3) Ordnance survey map of Leeds [Yorkshire 218], 1846-7, published 1852. National Library of Scotland [https://maps.nls.uk/view/102344959]
Dr Vic Clarke 