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Recent Posts
Democratic Vistas by Paul Salveson
Read a facinating article placing the Parbold Bottle in the history of democratic reform
Reflections on our Reformers Picnic
Fine our more about our picnic with Harp and a Monkey at the Parbld bottle in September 2024
Some insights into the history of the Bottle are given in this
fascinating article from the Preston Chronicle of 1st Sept 1832.
Patriotic Celebration
“A beacon has lately been erected on Parbold Hill by Messrs Taylor and Holmes, the spirited proprieters of the Parbold stone quarries. The object of the Beacon is “to commemorate the coronation of King William the Fourth and the passing of the Reform Bill,
also to the memory of Charles Dicconson Esq of Wrightington Hall”. A dinner was given on the occasion, on the top of the hill, by the proprieters of the quarries to their workmen, and two ounces of tea to each of their wives.
After dinner music was introduced and the afternoon was spent singing and dancing. About eight o’clock the company separated highly delighted with their hospitable entertainment”.
The restoration ceremony in September 1958
Why was the Reform Pillar built in the unlikely setting of Parbold?
Parbold seems an unlikely setting for a show of Reformist radicalism. It was a small farming village of about 380 inhabitants in 1832. There were around a dozen farms averaging 17 acres and there was quarrying, boatmaking and flour milling. For more information see the excellent book by John Virgoe “A History of Parbold”.
The Reform Movement was a nationwide uprising. There was huge public pressure to change the system of democratic representation. The Parbold quarry workers’ desire to build the Reform Pillar was probably a reflection of the national mood of rejoicing at that time.
The Reform Movement in 1832
1832 was the midst of the industrial revolution. People were working under extreme conditions for poor pay.
Democracy was primitive and most people were not allowed to vote.
Parliament was dominated by wealthy landowners, businessmen and people with hereditary privilege.
Cities were expanding rapidly but had no representation in Parliament. For example Manchester, with a population of 140,00, had no MP yet the so-called rotten boroughs, often with tiny populations, had an MP. Old Sarum an uninhabited hill in Wiltshire had 2 MPs!
The ruling class had all the power. But the growing Reform Movement was demanding change and there was civil unrest.
Only 13 years earlier, at Peterloo in Manchester, about 20 people had been massacred at a peaceful Reformers demonstration.
The ruling class didn’t want change, however there was a growing acceptance that change was inevitable.
Change finally came in 1832 in the form of the Great Reform Act.
Progress of democracy in the UK following the Great Reform Act
The Great Reform Act introduced moderate but important changes to our voting system. The number of MPs increased and seats were more fairly distributed, so that larger towns gained MPs and small boroughs lost their MP. Those eligible to vote increased from 440,000 to 652,000, opening up voting to the middle classes who owned or occupied property worth £10 rental a year. This meant working people didn’t qualify to vote. Women were excluded by law from voting.
Further changes came in the Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884. In 1918 The Representation of the People Act gave the vote to men over 21 and to women aged over 30 with a property qualification. Women finally got the vote on the same terms as men in 1928. In 1969 the voting age was reduced to 18 years.