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Senate House Library, University of London

Oastler, Richard: letter, 23 Jun 1833


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0096 AL93

Held at: Senate House Library, University of London

Title: Oastler, Richard: letter, 23 Jun 1833

Date(s): 1833

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 2 leaves

Name of creator(s): Oastler | Richard | 1789-1861 | factory reformer

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Richard Oastler was born in Leeds in 1789. After his business as a commission agent failed in 1820, he was appointed steward to Thomas Thornhill, an absentee Yorkshire squire. An opponent of slavery in the colonies, he began to campaign vigorously for improvements to the working conditions in British factories, and had some success in influencing legislation. He fell from prominence after the rise of Chartism in the early 1840s. He died in 1861.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Letter from Richard Oastler of Fixby Hall, Huddersfield, [West Riding of Yorkshire] to John Foster, Esq of 1 Vincent Square, Westminster, 23 Jun 1833. Chiefly relating to the Ten Hours Bill. Lord Althorp had advocated 2 sets of 8 hours as the maximum for children under 14 to work. 'The news came just in time for your Hudd meeting - one hour before we began - & thus before 15,000 to 20,000 people I had the opportunity of blowing the whole scheme to rags' [referring to a speech Oastler made at a meeting on 18 Jun 1833. Urging the London section not to yield a single point: 'If they yield they disgrace themselves and give us another year's excitement and in my opinion hurry on a bloody revolution'. Autograph, with signature. With Oastler's black seal, bearing the motto: 'The Altar, the Throne and the Cottage'.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

See hard copy catalogue.

Conditions governing access:

Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Please contact the University Archivist for details. 24 hours notice is required for research visits.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Catalogue of the manuscripts and autograph letters in the University Library at the central building of the University of London (1921). A copy is available in the Library's Palaeography Room.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

See archivist

Immediate source of acquisition:

Found inside a copy of John Phipps's A guide to the commerce of Bengal - classmark: [G.L.] 1823.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

On negative microfilm - reference: MIC 242/2.

Related material:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Compiled by Anya Turner.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: July 2008


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Child labour | Labour
Legislation | Law
Working time | Personnel management | Organization and administration | Health services administration | Public administration | Government
Working conditions

Personal names
Oastler | Richard | 1789-1861 | factory reformer

Corporate names

Places
Huddersfield | West Riding | Yorkshire | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe