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Rotunda radicals
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Rotunda radicals
The Rotunda radicals, known at the time as Rotundists or Rotundanists, were a diverse group of social, political and religious radical reformers who gathered around the Blackfriars Rotunda, London, between 1830 and 1832, while it was under the management of Richard Carlile. During this period almost every well-known radical in London spoke there at meetings which were often rowdy. The Home Office regarded the Rotunda as a centre of violence, sedition and blasphemy, and regularly spied on its meetings.
When Carlile took over its lease in May 1830 the building was in a poor state of repair. He announced that the Rotunda would regain the prestige it had in its days as the Surrey Institution, where Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Hazlitt had spoken, and would become a forum of free speech against political and religious despotism. Using money from wealthy radical patrons such as William Devonshire Saull and Julian Hibbert, he spent £1300 on refurbishments and offered its two auditoriums for hire by radical groups and speakers.
During Carlile's first year at the Rotunda, the most popular attraction was Robert Taylor, a former Anglican cleric, turned infidel. Dressed in ecclesiastical clothes, in a room decorated with the signs of the zodiac, Taylor gave theatrical sermons which mocked the rituals of the established church and claimed that Christianity was based on astrological allegory. He was nicknamed the "Devil's Chaplain" and, in one of his most dramatic performances, he used stage props and lighting to "raise" the Devil, who would then be transformed into an "angel of light". Taylor continued to deliver sermons, as well as political melodramas and satires, until July 1831, when he was imprisoned for blasphemous libel.
Carlile's occupancy of the Rotunda coincided with a period of intense political agitation, which preceded the passing of the Reform Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45). Although he was a republican, influenced by Thomas Paine, Carlile was more interested in religious than parliamentary reform. However, in July 1830 he rented out the Rotunda to two political reform groups: the Radical Reform Association (RRA) and the Metropolitan Political Union (MPU).
The RRA campaigned for universal manhood suffrage, annual parliaments and elections by ballot. Its leader was Henry Hunt and members included Henry Hetherington, John Cleave, William Lovett, James Watson and James Bronterre O'Brien. The MPU was a more moderate organisation which sought an alliance between middle and working-class radicals to achieve parliamentary reform. Its members included the MPs Daniel O'Connell and Joseph Hume, as well as Hunt and others from the RRA. The alliance was short lived. Following an MPU meeting at the Rotunda in support of the French July Revolution, several of its leaders claimed that Hetherington, Lovett and others had made seditious speeches and refused to work with them. The MPU lost momentum and soon folded.
In the autumn of 1830, following a general election, the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, declared his complete opposition to parliamentary reform. RRA meetings became crowded and volatile, with tricolour flags on display. In early November, after Hunt and others had addressed a crowd of 2000, with several thousand more outside, 1500 people marched towards the House of Commons but were dispersed following clashes with the police. Fearing a repetition of such events, the police advised King William IV to cancel a visit to the City of London, planned for the following day.
Wellington resigned a few days later, but the RRA did not survive for much longer. Hunt tried to distance himself from the demonstration and tempers became frayed when he objected to a tricolour and accused Carlile of being a police spy. This caused a split in the RRA and the group was unable to continue after Carlile doubled the cost of their room hire.
Other Rotunda speakers at this time included William Cobbett, who gave a series of lectures on the July Revolution, John Gale Jones and Carlile himself, who reviewed parliamentary speeches and expressed sympathy for the Swing Riots. In January 1831 Carlile's support for the rioters led to him being prosecuted for seditious libel and imprisoned for over two years, and for the next few months Taylor's performances provided almost all of the Rotunda's income.
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Rotunda radicals
The Rotunda radicals, known at the time as Rotundists or Rotundanists, were a diverse group of social, political and religious radical reformers who gathered around the Blackfriars Rotunda, London, between 1830 and 1832, while it was under the management of Richard Carlile. During this period almost every well-known radical in London spoke there at meetings which were often rowdy. The Home Office regarded the Rotunda as a centre of violence, sedition and blasphemy, and regularly spied on its meetings.
When Carlile took over its lease in May 1830 the building was in a poor state of repair. He announced that the Rotunda would regain the prestige it had in its days as the Surrey Institution, where Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Hazlitt had spoken, and would become a forum of free speech against political and religious despotism. Using money from wealthy radical patrons such as William Devonshire Saull and Julian Hibbert, he spent £1300 on refurbishments and offered its two auditoriums for hire by radical groups and speakers.
During Carlile's first year at the Rotunda, the most popular attraction was Robert Taylor, a former Anglican cleric, turned infidel. Dressed in ecclesiastical clothes, in a room decorated with the signs of the zodiac, Taylor gave theatrical sermons which mocked the rituals of the established church and claimed that Christianity was based on astrological allegory. He was nicknamed the "Devil's Chaplain" and, in one of his most dramatic performances, he used stage props and lighting to "raise" the Devil, who would then be transformed into an "angel of light". Taylor continued to deliver sermons, as well as political melodramas and satires, until July 1831, when he was imprisoned for blasphemous libel.
Carlile's occupancy of the Rotunda coincided with a period of intense political agitation, which preceded the passing of the Reform Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45). Although he was a republican, influenced by Thomas Paine, Carlile was more interested in religious than parliamentary reform. However, in July 1830 he rented out the Rotunda to two political reform groups: the Radical Reform Association (RRA) and the Metropolitan Political Union (MPU).
The RRA campaigned for universal manhood suffrage, annual parliaments and elections by ballot. Its leader was Henry Hunt and members included Henry Hetherington, John Cleave, William Lovett, James Watson and James Bronterre O'Brien. The MPU was a more moderate organisation which sought an alliance between middle and working-class radicals to achieve parliamentary reform. Its members included the MPs Daniel O'Connell and Joseph Hume, as well as Hunt and others from the RRA. The alliance was short lived. Following an MPU meeting at the Rotunda in support of the French July Revolution, several of its leaders claimed that Hetherington, Lovett and others had made seditious speeches and refused to work with them. The MPU lost momentum and soon folded.
In the autumn of 1830, following a general election, the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, declared his complete opposition to parliamentary reform. RRA meetings became crowded and volatile, with tricolour flags on display. In early November, after Hunt and others had addressed a crowd of 2000, with several thousand more outside, 1500 people marched towards the House of Commons but were dispersed following clashes with the police. Fearing a repetition of such events, the police advised King William IV to cancel a visit to the City of London, planned for the following day.
Wellington resigned a few days later, but the RRA did not survive for much longer. Hunt tried to distance himself from the demonstration and tempers became frayed when he objected to a tricolour and accused Carlile of being a police spy. This caused a split in the RRA and the group was unable to continue after Carlile doubled the cost of their room hire.
Other Rotunda speakers at this time included William Cobbett, who gave a series of lectures on the July Revolution, John Gale Jones and Carlile himself, who reviewed parliamentary speeches and expressed sympathy for the Swing Riots. In January 1831 Carlile's support for the rioters led to him being prosecuted for seditious libel and imprisoned for over two years, and for the next few months Taylor's performances provided almost all of the Rotunda's income.