The Voice of the ‘Shoeless, Shirtless and Shameless’: Community Radicalism in the West Riding, 1829 to 1839

Abstract

This paper argues that the local dimension of working-class radicalism has been underestimated in accounts of the campaigns and agitations that fed into early Chartism. It illustrates this by examining three overlapping aspects of community radicalism in the West Riding textile district, from the late 1820s to the late 1830s. It looks firstly at informal, one-off actions and agitational endeavours rooted in a deep-seated radical culture. Secondly, it considers how leaders sought to initiate or influence campaigns and agitations on locally significant issues. Thirdly, it explores radical engagement in parochial administration and contests for the offices of local government. In all these spheres, working-class radicals and their allies were at the forefront of attempts to challenge the power of local elites and to articulate an alternative vision of democracy in action. Their engagement enhanced their leadership role and tapped into the deep reservoir of community support for radicalism that sustained early Chartism.