Today in Labor History February 23, 1829: The British authorities exposed the Cato Street Conspiracy and arrested all the conspirators. Those involved had planned to murder all the British cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister and overthrow the government. The authorities executed 5 conspirators and exiled 5 others to Australia. No one knows how many people were truly involved in the conspiracy. However, numerous trade unions, Irish Republicans and shoemakers were supposedly ready to support it. They were angry about the Peterloo Massacre and government repression, like the Six Acts that were enacted to suppress any further radical organizing. They were also angry about the ongoing privation caused by the depression. The Peterloo Massacre occurred 10 years prior, when the cavalry massacred at least 19 workers and veterans of the Battle of Waterloo while they were demonstrating for the vote.

Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote about the massacre in his poem, “The Masque of Anarchy.” The authorities censored it until 1832, ten years after his death. Mike Leigh’s 2018 film Peterloo is an excellent portrayal of the massacre, and the events leading up to it. Many writers have written novels about Peterloo, including the relatively recent “Song of Peterloo,” by Carolyn O’Brien, and “All the People,” Jeff Kaye. However, perhaps the most important is Isabella Banks‘s 1876 novel, “The Manchester Man,” since she was there when it happened and included testimonies from people who were involved.

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