John Cartwright (political reformer)
Encyclopedia
John Cartwright was an English
naval
officer, Nottinghamshire
militia major and prominent campaigner for parliamentary reform. He subsequently became known as the Father of Reform. His younger brother Edmund Cartwright
became famous as the inventor of the steam power loom
.
, being the elder brother of Edmund Cartwright
, inventor of the power loom
and the younger brother of George Cartwright
, trader and explorer of Labrador
. He was educated at Newark-on-Trent
grammar school
and Heath Academy in Yorkshire
, and at the age of eighteen entered the Royal Navy
.
He was present, in his first year of service, at the capture of Cherbourg
, and served in the following year in the Battle of Quiberon Bay
between Sir Edward Hawke and Admiral Hubert de Brienne, Comte de Conflans
. Engaged afterwards under Sir Hugh Palliser
and Admiral John Byron
on the Newfoundland station, he was appointed to act as chief magistrate of the settlement; and the duties of this post he discharged for five years (1765–1770).
From 1763 to 14 May 1766, Cartwright was commander of HM Cutter Sherborne
. His brother George, when at loose ends, went with him on a cruise out of Plymouth
to chase smugglers in Sherborne.
Ill-health necessitated his retirement from active service for a time in 1771. When the disputes with the American colonies began, he saw the colonists as having right on their side, warmly supported their cause and at the outbreak of the ensuing American War of Independence even refused an appointment as first lieutenant to the Duke of Cumberland, which would have put him on the path of certain promotion, since he did not wish to fight against the cause which he felt to be just. In 1774 he published his first plea on behalf of the colonists, entitled American Independence the Glory and Interest of Great Britain.
In 1776 appeared his first work on reform in parliament, which, with the exception of Earl Stanhope's
pamphlets (1774), appears to have been the earliest publication on the subject. It was entitled, Take your Choice, a second edition appearing under the new title of The Legislative Rights of the Commonalty Vindicated, and advocated annual parliaments, the secret ballot and manhood suffrage
.
The task of his life was thenceforth chiefly the attainment of universal suffrage
and annual parliaments. In 1778 he conceived the project of a political association, which took shape in 1780 as the Society for Constitutional Information
, including among its members some of the most distinguished men of the day. From this society sprang the more famous London Corresponding Society
. Major Cartwright worked unweariedly for the promotion of reform. He was one of the witnesses on the trial of his friends, John Horne Tooke
, John Thelwall
and Thomas Hardy
, in 1794.
He left his large estate in Lincolnshire
in 1803 or 1805
to move to Enfield
, Middlesex
, where he made friends with other leading Radical
s including Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet
, William Cobbett
and Francis Place
.
In 1812, he initiated the Hampden Clubs, named after John Hampden
, an English Civil War
Parliamentary leader, aiming to bring together middle class moderates and lower class radicals in the reform cause. To promote the idea, he toured northwest England later in 1812, in 1813 (getting arrested in Huddersfield
) and in 1815. He recruited John Knight
who founded the first Hampden Club in Lancashire
and later asked Major Cartwright to speak at what became the Peterloo Massacre
, but the elderly Cartwright was unable to attend. In 1819, he was arrested for speaking at a parliamentary reform meeting in Birmingham
, indicted for conspiracy and was condemned to pay a fine of £100.
Cartwright then wrote The English Constitution, which outlined his ideas including government by the people and legal equality which he considered could only be achieved by universal suffrage, the secret ballot and equal electoral districts. He became the main patron of the Radical
publisher Thomas Jonathan Wooler
, best known for his satirical journal The Black Dwarf
, who actively supported Cartwright's campaigning.
Cartwright had sent a copy of The English Constitution to former President of the United States
, Thomas Jefferson
. Jefferson wrote to Cartwright in July:
He died in London, on 23 September 1824, and was buried at St Mary's Church Finchley
. He had married in 1780, but had no children. In 1831, a monument from a design by Macdowell was erected to him in Burton Crescent, WC1H, London, where he had lived. Burton Crescent was later renamed Cartwright Gardens in his honour.
The Life and Correspondence of Major Cartwright, edited by his niece F. D. Cartwright, was published in 1826. This and other correspondence is currently being transcribed onto the internet by Brussels-based political analyst Gary Cartwright at http://www.cartwright.eu.com
, Lincolnshire
. The same year with 18 others, he erected a large mill at East Retford, called the Revolution Mill in celebration of the centenary of the Glorious Revolution
. He hoped to weave cloth using the weaving
patent
s of his brother Edmund Cartwright
. He also began the mechanical spinning of wool
, or rather worsted
. This business did not prove to be a success. The mill stood idle within a few years and was advertised to sale in 1798 and 1805.
named Cartwright Sound
, on the west coast of Graham Island
in the Queen Charlotte Islands
of British Columbia
, Canada
, in his honour in relation to his Royal Navy service under Admiral Howe.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
naval
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
officer, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
militia major and prominent campaigner for parliamentary reform. He subsequently became known as the Father of Reform. His younger brother Edmund Cartwright
Edmund Cartwright
Edward Cartwright was an English clergyman and inventor of the power loom.- Life and work :...
became famous as the inventor of the steam power loom
Power loom
A power loom is a mechanized loom powered by a line shaft. The first power loom was designed in 1784 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1785. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough, made the operation completely automatic. This was known as the...
.
Early life and naval career
He was born at Marnham in NottinghamshireNottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, being the elder brother of Edmund Cartwright
Edmund Cartwright
Edward Cartwright was an English clergyman and inventor of the power loom.- Life and work :...
, inventor of the power loom
Power loom
A power loom is a mechanized loom powered by a line shaft. The first power loom was designed in 1784 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1785. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough, made the operation completely automatic. This was known as the...
and the younger brother of George Cartwright
George Cartwright (trader)
George Cartwright , trader, explorer, born in Marnham, England, died unmarried in nearby Mansfield, England....
, trader and explorer of Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
. He was educated at Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
and Heath Academy in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, and at the age of eighteen entered the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
.
He was present, in his first year of service, at the capture of Cherbourg
Raid on Cherbourg
The Raid on Cherbourg took place in August 1758 during the Seven Year's War when a British force was landed on the coast of France by the Royal Navy with the intention of attacking the town of Cherbourg as part of the British government's policy of "descents" on the French Coast.-Background:Since...
, and served in the following year in the Battle of Quiberon Bay
Battle of Quiberon Bay
The naval Battle of Quiberon Bay took place on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. Nazaire...
between Sir Edward Hawke and Admiral Hubert de Brienne, Comte de Conflans
Hubert de Brienne, Comte de Conflans
Hubert de Brienne, Comte de Conflans was a French naval commander.-Early life:The son of Henri Jacob marquis de Conflans and Marie du Bouchet, at 15 he was made a knight of the Order of Saint Lazarus and the following year entered the Gardes de la Marine school at Brest...
. Engaged afterwards under Sir Hugh Palliser
Hugh Palliser
Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, 1st Baronet was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War...
and Admiral John Byron
John Byron
Vice Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN was a Royal Navy officer. He was known as Foul-weather Jack because of his frequent bad luck with weather.-Early career:...
on the Newfoundland station, he was appointed to act as chief magistrate of the settlement; and the duties of this post he discharged for five years (1765–1770).
From 1763 to 14 May 1766, Cartwright was commander of HM Cutter Sherborne
HMS Sherborne (1763)
HMS Sherborne was a 10-gun cutter of the Royal Navy. She served in the English Channel for her entire career, operating against smugglers...
. His brother George, when at loose ends, went with him on a cruise out of Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
to chase smugglers in Sherborne.
Ill-health necessitated his retirement from active service for a time in 1771. When the disputes with the American colonies began, he saw the colonists as having right on their side, warmly supported their cause and at the outbreak of the ensuing American War of Independence even refused an appointment as first lieutenant to the Duke of Cumberland, which would have put him on the path of certain promotion, since he did not wish to fight against the cause which he felt to be just. In 1774 he published his first plea on behalf of the colonists, entitled American Independence the Glory and Interest of Great Britain.
Nottinghamshire Militia and Reform
In 1775, when the Nottinghamshire Militia was first raised, he was appointed major, and in this capacity he served for seventeen years. He was at last illegally superseded, because of his political opinions.In 1776 appeared his first work on reform in parliament, which, with the exception of Earl Stanhope's
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope aka Charles Mahon, 3rd Earl Stanhope FRS was a British statesman and scientist. He was the father of the great traveller and Arabist Lady Hester Stanhope and brother-in-law of William Pitt the Younger. He is sometimes confused with an exact contemporary of his,...
pamphlets (1774), appears to have been the earliest publication on the subject. It was entitled, Take your Choice, a second edition appearing under the new title of The Legislative Rights of the Commonalty Vindicated, and advocated annual parliaments, the secret ballot and manhood suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
.
The task of his life was thenceforth chiefly the attainment of universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
and annual parliaments. In 1778 he conceived the project of a political association, which took shape in 1780 as the Society for Constitutional Information
Society for Constitutional Information
Founded in 1780 by Major John Cartwright to promote parliamentary reform, the Society for Constitutional Information flourished until 1783, but thereafter made little headway...
, including among its members some of the most distinguished men of the day. From this society sprang the more famous London Corresponding Society
London Corresponding Society
London Corresponding Society was a moderate-radical body concentrating on reform of the Parliament of Great Britain, founded on 25 January 1792. The creators of the group were John Frost , an attorney, and Thomas Hardy, a shoemaker and metropolitan Radical...
. Major Cartwright worked unweariedly for the promotion of reform. He was one of the witnesses on the trial of his friends, John Horne Tooke
John Horne Tooke
John Horne Tooke was an English politician and philologist.-Early life and work:He was born in Newport Street, Long Acre, Westminster, the third son of John Horne, a poulterer in Newport Market. As a youth at Eton College, Tooke described his father to friends as a "turkey merchant"...
, John Thelwall
John Thelwall
John Thelwall , was a radical British orator, writer, and elocutionist.-Life:Thelwall was born in Covent Garden, London, but was descended from a Welsh family which had its seat at Plas y Ward, Denbighshire...
and Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (political reformer)
Thomas Hardy was an early Radical, the founder and also the first Secretary of the London Corresponding Society....
, in 1794.
He left his large estate in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
in 1803 or 1805
to move to Enfield
Enfield Town
Enfield Town is the historic town centre of Enfield, formerly in the county of Middlesex and now in the London Borough of Enfield. It is north north-east of Charing Cross...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, where he made friends with other leading Radical
Radicalism (historical)
The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later became a general pejorative term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order...
s including Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet
Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet
Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet was an English reformist politician, the son of Francis Burdett and his wife Eleanor, daughter of William Jones of Ramsbury manor, Wiltshire, and grandson of Sir Robert Burdett, Bart...
, William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
and Francis Place
Francis Place
Francis Place was an English social reformer.-Early career and influence:Born in the debtor's prison which his father oversaw near Drury Lane, Place was schooled for ten years before being apprenticed to a leather-breeches maker. At eighteen he was an independent journeyman, and in 1790 was...
.
In 1812, he initiated the Hampden Clubs, named after John Hampden
John Hampden
John Hampden was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643) was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643)...
, an English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
Parliamentary leader, aiming to bring together middle class moderates and lower class radicals in the reform cause. To promote the idea, he toured northwest England later in 1812, in 1813 (getting arrested in Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
) and in 1815. He recruited John Knight
John Knight
John Knight is the name of:*John Knight , artist*John Knight , American baseball player*John A. Knight , general superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene...
who founded the first Hampden Club in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and later asked Major Cartwright to speak at what became the Peterloo Massacre
Peterloo Massacre
The Peterloo Massacre occurred at St Peter's Field, Manchester, England, on 16 August 1819, when cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000–80,000 that had gathered to demand the reform of parliamentary representation....
, but the elderly Cartwright was unable to attend. In 1819, he was arrested for speaking at a parliamentary reform meeting in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, indicted for conspiracy and was condemned to pay a fine of £100.
Cartwright then wrote The English Constitution, which outlined his ideas including government by the people and legal equality which he considered could only be achieved by universal suffrage, the secret ballot and equal electoral districts. He became the main patron of the Radical
Radicalism (historical)
The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later became a general pejorative term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order...
publisher Thomas Jonathan Wooler
Thomas Jonathan Wooler
The publisher Thomas Jonathan Wooler was active in the Radical movement of early 19th century Britain, best known for his satirical journal The Black Dwarf....
, best known for his satirical journal The Black Dwarf
The Black Dwarf
The Black Dwarf was a satirical radical journal of early 19th century Britain. It was published by Thomas Jonathan Wooler, starting in January 1817 as an eight page newspaper, then later becoming a 32 page pamphlet. It was priced at 4d a week until the Six Acts brought in by the Government in 1819...
, who actively supported Cartwright's campaigning.
Cartwright had sent a copy of The English Constitution to former President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
. Jefferson wrote to Cartwright in July:
"Your age of eighty-four, and mine of eighty-one years, ensure us a speedy meeting. We may then commune at leisure, and more fully, on the good and evil, which in the course of our long lives, we have both witnessed; and in the mean time, I pray you to accept assurances of my high veneration and esteem for your person and character".
He died in London, on 23 September 1824, and was buried at St Mary's Church Finchley
Finchley
Finchley is a district in Barnet in north London, England. Finchley is on high ground, about north of Charing Cross. It formed an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, becoming a municipal borough in 1933, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965...
. He had married in 1780, but had no children. In 1831, a monument from a design by Macdowell was erected to him in Burton Crescent, WC1H, London, where he had lived. Burton Crescent was later renamed Cartwright Gardens in his honour.
The Life and Correspondence of Major Cartwright, edited by his niece F. D. Cartwright, was published in 1826. This and other correspondence is currently being transcribed onto the internet by Brussels-based political analyst Gary Cartwright at http://www.cartwright.eu.com
Industry
In 1788, Major Cartwight sold his heavily mortgaged estates at Marnham, buying others at BrothertoftBrothertoft
Brothertoft is a village in Lincolnshire, England, about north-west of the town of Boston. It is part of the civil parish of Holland Fen with Brothertoft.-History:...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. The same year with 18 others, he erected a large mill at East Retford, called the Revolution Mill in celebration of the centenary of the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
. He hoped to weave cloth using the weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s of his brother Edmund Cartwright
Edmund Cartwright
Edward Cartwright was an English clergyman and inventor of the power loom.- Life and work :...
. He also began the mechanical spinning of wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
, or rather worsted
Worsted
Worsted , is the name of a yarn, the cloth made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from the village of Worstead in the English county of Norfolk...
. This business did not prove to be a success. The mill stood idle within a few years and was advertised to sale in 1798 and 1805.
Legacy
Captain George VancouverGeorge Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
named Cartwright Sound
Cartwright Sound
Cartwright Sound is a sound on the southwest coast of Graham Island in the Queen Charlotte Islands of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It was named by Captain George Vancouver in honour of John Cartwright, then serving in the Royal Navy under Admiral Howe and later a noted political...
, on the west coast of Graham Island
Graham Island
Graham Island is the largest island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago , lying off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is separated only by a narrow channel from the other principal island of the group, Moresby Island Graham Island is the largest island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago (formerly...
in the Queen Charlotte Islands
Queen Charlotte Islands
Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, in his honour in relation to his Royal Navy service under Admiral Howe.