History of Oldham - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The history of Oldham is one of dramatic change, from obscure Pennine hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

to preeminent mill town

Mill town

A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...

and textile processing

Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution changed the nature of work and society. Opinion varies as to the exact date, but it is estimated that the First Industrial Revolution took place between 1750 and 1850, and the second phase or Second Industrial Revolution between 1860 and 1900. The three key drivers in...

capital of the world. Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...

's industrial history

Industrial history

Industry in the sense of professional manufacturing has existed for millennia, since the first cities rose.-Cottage industry:A cottage industry is an industry – primarily manufacturing – which includes many producers, working from their homes, typically part time...

includes hatting

Hatter

A hatter is a person engaged in hatmaking.Hatter also may refer to:*The Hatter, a fictional character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland* Luton Town F.C., team a.k.a. "The Hatters"* Stockport County F.C., team a.k.a. "The Hatters"...

, coal mining

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

, structural engineering

Structural engineering

Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....

, mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...

, textile machinery

Cotton-spinning machinery

Cotton-spinning machinery refers to machines which process prepared cotton roving into workable yarn or thread. Such machinery can be dated back centuries. During the 18th and 19th centuries, as part of the Industrial Revolution cotton-spinning machinery was developed to bring mass production to...

manufacture and cotton spinning

Spinning (textiles)

Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...

- for which the town is most noted for.

Oldham has been described as the "most prodigous" mill town

Mill town

A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...

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 the "one that grew the quickest, from most insignificant beginnings, [... into...] the cotton spinning capital of the world."

Since the mid-20th century, Oldham has seen the demise of its textile industry, and the troubled integration of new cultural traditions and religions. With respect to the ensuing depression that followed Oldham's slump in textile manufacture, one author remarked that "when the fall finally came, it was the town that crashed the hardest."

Etymology

At first glance, the toponymy

Toponymy

Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...

of Oldham seems obvious to imply "old village or place" from Eald (Saxon

Saxon language

Saxon language may refer to:* Any of the languages of the Saxons, a Germanic people:** Old English language, Anglo-Saxon, the ancestor of modern English** Old Saxon, the ancestor language of Low Saxon** Middle Low Saxon, language of the Hanseatic League...

) signifying oldness or antiquity, and Ham (Saxon) a house, farm or hamlet

Hamlet (place)

. However, Oldham is known to be a derivative of Aldehulme; undoubtedly an Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

name. It is believed to be derived from the Old English

Old English language

Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

ald combined with the Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

holmi or holmr, meaning "old promontory or outcrop", possibly describing the town's hilltop position. However, it has also been theorised that it may mean "holm or hulme of a farmer named Alda". The name is understood to date from 865 at the time of Danish Mercia

Danelaw

The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...

, a time when the similarly named Hulme

Hulme

Hulme is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. Located immediately south of Manchester city centre, it is an area with significant industrial heritage....

in nearby Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

is believed to have origin.

Aldhulme is the first known recorded use of the name in around the year 1180, and has been subsequently spelt as Aldholm (1226), Aldhulm (1237), Oldum, Oldom, Holdum, Olduum, Oldun, (1292), Oldome (1427), Oldam, Oldham, Ouldham (16th century), and Oldhulme (1622).

A local pronunciation

Pronunciation

Pronunciation refers to the way a word or a language is spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. If one is said to have "correct pronunciation", then it refers to both within a particular dialect....

(and one which acts purely as a nickname) is ˈ "Owdom".

Early history

The earliest known evidence of a human presence in what is now Oldham is attested by the discovery of Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

flint arrow-heads and workings found at Werneth

Werneth, Greater Manchester

Werneth is an area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is west-southwest of Oldham's commercial centre and one of Oldham's most ancient localities.-History:...

and Beesom Hill, implying habitation 7–10,000 years ago. Evidence of later Roman

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

and Celtic activity is confirmed by an ancient Roman road

Roman road

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

and Bronze age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

archaeological relics found at various sites within the town. Though Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

occupied territory around the area centuries earlier, Oldham as a permanent, named place of dwelling, is believed to date from 865, when Danish invaders

Danelaw

established a settlement called Aldehulme.

Unmentioned in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

, Oldham during the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

(from the time of its founding in the 9th century through to the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

) is believed to been nothing but a mere scattering of small and insignificant settlements spread across the moorland

Moorland

Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...

and dirt tracks which linked Manchester

Manchester

to York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

. However Oldham does appear in legal documents from this time, invariably recorded as territory under minor ruling families

Feudalism

Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...

and baron

Baron

Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...

s. In the 13th century, Oldham was documented as a manor held from The Crown

The Crown

The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...

by a family surnamed Oldham

Oldham (surname)

Oldham is a surname with origins tracing to the town of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. People named Oldham include:*Andrew Loog Oldham , British rock group manager*Arthur Oldham , English chorusmaster, composer...

, whose seat was at Werneth Hall

Werneth, Greater Manchester

Werneth is an area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is west-southwest of Oldham's commercial centre and one of Oldham's most ancient localities.-History:...

. It was this family which produced one of the greatest benefactors to education for the nation; Hugh Oldham

Hugh Oldham

Hugh Oldham was a Bishop of Exeter and a notable patron of education. Born in Lancashire to a family of minor gentry, he probably attended both Oxford and Cambridge universities, following which he was a clerk at Durham, then a rector in Cornwall before being employed by Lady Margaret Beaufort ,...

Industrial Revolution and cotton

Much of Oldham's history is concerned with textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution

Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution

; it has been said that "if ever the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

placed a town firmly and squarely on the map of the world, that town is Oldham." Oldham's soils were too thin and poor to sustain crop

Crop (agriculture)

A crop is a non-animal species or variety that is grown to be harvested as food, livestock fodder, fuel or for any other economic purpose. Major world crops include maize , wheat, rice, soybeans, hay, potatoes and cotton. While the term "crop" most commonly refers to plants, it can also include...

growing, and so for decades prior to industrialisation

Industrialisation

Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...

the area was used for grazing sheep, which provided the raw material for a local 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....

len weaving trade. In the 17th century there were in Oldham various thriving crafts and trades chiefly devoted to cloth-making and linen-making on a domestic basis. It was not until the last quarter of the 18th century that Oldham changed from being a cottage industry township producing garments via domestic manual labour

Manual labour

Manual labour , manual or manual work is physical work done by people, most especially in contrast to that done by machines, and also to that done by working animals...

, to a sprawling industrial metropolis of textile factories.

The climate, geology, and topography of Oldham were unrelenting constraints upon the social and economic activities of the human inhabitants. Located 700 feet (213 m) above sea level with no major river or visible natural resources, Oldham had poor geographic attributes compared with other settlements for investors and their engineers. As a result, Oldham played no part in the initial period of the Industrial Revolution, although it did later become seen as obvious territory to industrialise because of its convenient position between the labour forces of Manchester

Manchester

and southwest 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...

. Cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

spinning

Spinning (textiles)

and milling

Cotton mill

A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....

were introduced to Oldham when its first mill, Lees Hall, was built by William Clegg in about 1778, the beginning of a spiralling process of urbanisation and socioeconomic

Socioeconomics

Socioeconomics or socio-economics or social economics is an umbrella term with different usages. 'Social economics' may refer broadly to the "use of economics in the study of society." More narrowly, contemporary practice considers behavioral interactions of individuals and groups through social...

transformation. Within a year, 11 other mills had been constructed, and by 1818 there were 19 – not a large number in comparison with other local settlements. The first steam engine for Oldham went into operation in 1794. Oldham's small local population was greatly increased by the mass migration of workers from its outlying villages, resulting in a population increase from just over in 1801 to in 1901. The speed of this urban growth meant that Oldham, with little pre-industrial history to speak of, was effectively born as a factory town

Mill town

A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...

.

Oldham became the world's manufacturing centre for cotton spinning in the second half of the 19th century. In 1851, over 30% of Oldham's population was employed within the textile sector, compared to 5% across Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

. It overtook the major urban centres of Manchester

Manchester

and Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

as the result of a mill building boom in the 1860s and 1870s, a period during which Oldham became the most productive cotton-spinning town in the world. By 1911 there were 16.4 million spindles

Cotton-spinning machinery

in Oldham, compared with a total of 58 million in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

and 143.5 million in the world; in 1928, with the construction of Elk mill – the UK's largest textile factory – Oldham reached its manufacturing zenith. At its peak, there were over 360 mills, operating night and day.

Oldham was hit hard by the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861–1865, when supplies of raw cotton from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

were cut off. Wholly reliant upon the textile industry, the cotton famine created chronic unemployment in the town. By 1863 a committee had been formed, and with aid from central government, land was purchased with the intention of employing local cotton workers to construct Alexandra Park

Alexandra Park, Oldham

Alexandra Park is a public park in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It was created in response to the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861–1865 as an attempt to keep local textile workers employed. The park is located in the Glodwick area of Oldham....

, which opened on 28 August 1865. Said to have over-relied upon the textile sector, as the importation of cheaper foreign yarn

Yarn

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...

s grew during the 20th century, Oldham's economy declined into a depression, although it was not until 1964 that Oldham ceased to be the largest centre of cotton spinning. In spite of efforts to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of its production, the last cotton spun in the town was at Elk mill, in 1998.

Engineering

Facilitated by its flourishing textile industry, Oldham developed extensive structural

Structural engineering

and mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering

sectors during the 18th and 19th centuries. The manufacture of spinning and weaving machinery

Cotton-spinning machinery

in Oldham belongs to the last decade of the 19th century, when it became a leading centre in the field of engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

. The Platt Brothers

Platt Brothers

Platt Brothers & Co Ltd, was a British company based at Oldham, in North West England. They were textile machinery manufacturers, iron founders and colliery proprietors, and by the end of the 19th century, had become the largest textile machinery company in the world, employing over 12,000 workers...

, originated in nearby Dobcross

Dobcross

Dobcross is a village in Saddleworth—a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is located in a valley in the South Pennines, along the course of the River Tame and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, east-northeast of Oldham and west-southwest of...

village, but moved to Oldham. They were pioneers of cotton-spinning machinery, developing innovatory products which enabled the mass-production of cotton yarn. Platt Brothers became the largest textile machine makers in the world, employing over people in the 1890s, twice the number of their nearest rivals Dobson & Barlow in Bolton and Asa Lees on Greenacres Moor

Greenacres, Greater Manchester

Greenacres , or archaically Greenacres Moor, is an area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the west side of the River Medlock opposite the village of Lees....

. They were keen investors in the local area and at one time, were supporting 42% of the population. The centre of the company lay at the New Hartford Works in Werneth

Werneth, Greater Manchester

Werneth is an area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is west-southwest of Oldham's commercial centre and one of Oldham's most ancient localities.-History:...

, a massive complex of buildings and internal railways on a site overlooking Manchester. The railway station which served this site later formed the basis of Oldham Werneth railway station

Oldham Werneth railway station

Oldham Werneth railway station was situated on the Oldham Loop Line, 10 km north east of Manchester Victoria. The station was situated on Featherstall Road South, in the Werneth area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England...

, which together with the main building exists to this day. Platts gained prestigious awards from around the world, and were heavily involved with local politics and civic pride in Oldham. John and James Platt were the largest subscribers for promoting Oldham from a township to a Borough

Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

; pledging £100 (more than double of the next largest sum) in advance towards any expenses which may have been incurred by the Royal Charter

Royal Charter

A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

. In 1854 John Platt was made the (fourth) Mayor of Oldham, an office he was to hold twice more in 1855–56 and 1861–62. John Platt was elected in 1865 to become MP for Oldham

Oldham (UK Parliament constituency)

Oldham was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Oldham, England. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

, and was re-elected in 1868; he remained in office until his death in 1872. A bronze statue of Platt existed in the town centre for years, though was moved to Alexandra Park

Alexandra Park, Oldham

. There have been recommendations for it to be returned to the town centre.

Abraham Henthorn Stott, the son of a stonemason, was born in nearby Shaw and Crompton

Shaw and Crompton

Shaw and Crompton is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines, north of Oldham, southeast of Rochdale, and to the northeast of the city of Manchester...

in 1822. He served a seven-year apprenticeship with Sir Charles Barry, before starting a structural engineering practice in Oldham in 1847 that went on to become the pre-eminent mill architect firm in Lancashire

Lancashire

. Philip Sydney Stott, third son of Abraham and later titled as Sir Philip Stott, 1st Baronet

Sir Philip Stott, 1st Baronet

Sir Philip Sidney Stott, 1st Baronet , usually known as Sidney Stott until 1920, was an English architect, civil engineer and surveyor....

, was the most prominent and famous of the Stott mill architects. He established his own practice in 1883 and designed over a hundred mills in several countries. His factories, which improved upon his father's fireproof

Fireproofing

Fireproofing, a passive fire protection measure, refers to the act of making materials or structures more resistant to fire, or to those materials themselves, or the act of applying such materials. Applying a certification listed fireproofing system to certain structures allows these to have a...

mills, accounted for a 40% increase in the spindles of Oldham between 1887 and 1914.

Although textile-related engineering declined with the processing industry, leading to the demise of both Stotts and Platts, other engineering firms existed, notably electrical and later electronic engineers Ferranti

Ferranti

Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. Known primarily for defence electronics, the Company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but ceased trading in 1993.The...

in 1896. Ferranti went into receivership in 1993, but some of its former works continue in other hands, notably the original Hollinwood, Greater Manchester site now operated by Siemens

Siemens AG

Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....

.

Other notable engineering firms of Oldham included Dronsfield Bros Ltd., William Bodden & Sons Ltd., S. Dodd & Sons Ltd., George Orme Ltd., and Joseph Nadin Ltd.

Coal mining

On the back of the Industrial Revolution, Oldham developed an extensive coal mining sector, correlated to supporting the local cotton industry and the town's inhabitants, though there is evidence of small scale coal mining in the area as early as the 16th century. The Oldham Coalfield

Coalfield

A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological...

stretched from Royton

Royton

Royton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies by the source of the River Irk, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines, north-northwest of Oldham, south-southeast of Rochdale and northeast of the city of Manchester.Historically a...

in the north to Bardsley

Bardsley, Greater Manchester

Bardsley is a suburban area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on undulating land by the River Medlock, on Oldham's southern boundary with Ashton-under-Lyne in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside.-History:...

in the south and in addition to Oldham, included the towns of Middleton

Middleton, Greater Manchester

Middleton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Irk, south-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester...

and Chadderton

Chadderton

Chadderton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England, historically a part of Lancashire...

to the west. The Oldham Coalfield was the site to over 150 collieries during its recorded history

Recorded history

Recorded history is the period in history of the world after prehistory. It has been written down using language, or recorded using other means of communication. It starts around the 4th millennium BC, with the invention of writing.-Historical accounts:...

.

Though some contemporary sources suggest there was coal mining in Oldham at a commercial scale by 1738, older sources attribute the commercial expansion of coal mining with the arrival in the town of two Welsh

Welsh people

The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...

labourers, John Evans and William Jones, around 1770. Foreseeing the growth in demand for coal as a source of motive and steam power, they acquired colliery rights for Oldham, which by 1771 had 14 colliers. The mines were largely to the southwest of the town around Hollinwood, Greater Manchester and Werneth

Werneth, Greater Manchester

Werneth is an area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is west-southwest of Oldham's commercial centre and one of Oldham's most ancient localities.-History:...

and provided enough coal to accelerate Oldham's rapid development at the centre of the cotton boom. At its height in the mid-19th century, when it was dominated by the Lees and Jones families, Oldham coal was mainly sourced from many small collieries whose lives varied from a few years to many decades, though two of the four largest collieries survived to nationalisation

National Coal Board

The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...

. In 1851, collieries employed over 2,000 men in Oldham, though the amount of coal in the town was somewhat overestimated however, and production began to decline even before that of the local spinning industry. Today, the only visible remnants of the mines are disused shafts and boreholes.

Social history

Oldham's social history

Social history

Social history, often called the new social history, is a branch of History that includes history of ordinary people and their strategies of coping with life. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments...

, like that of other former unenfranchised

Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918

The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918 was the result of centuries of development in different kinds of constituencies. The three Reform Acts of the nineteenth century brought about some order by amending franchises in a uniform manner .After 1885 the occupation franchise The...

towns, is marked by politicised civil disturbances, as well as events related to the Luddite

Luddite

The Luddites were a social movement of 19th-century English textile artisans who protested – often by destroying mechanised looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life...

, Suffragette

Suffragette

"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...

and other Labour movement

Labour movement

The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...

s from the working class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

es. There has been a significant presence of "friendly societies

Friendly society

A friendly society is a mutual association for insurance, pensions or savings and loan-like purposes, or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose...

".

It has been put that the people of Oldham became radical in politics in the early part the 19th century, and movements suspected of sedition

Sedition

In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...

found patronage in the town. Oldham was frequently disturbed by bread and labour riots, facilitated by periods of scarcity and the disturbance of employment following the introduction of cotton-spinning machinery

Cotton-spinning machinery

. On 20 April 1812, a "large crowd of riotous individuals" compelled local retailers to sell foods at a loss, whilst on the same day Luddites numbering in their thousands, many of whom were from Oldham, attacked a cotton mill in nearby Middleton

Middleton, Greater Manchester

. John Lees, a cotton operative, was one of the victims of 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....

of 1819, and the 'Oldham inquest' which followed was anxiously watched; the Court of King's Bench, however, decided that the proceedings were irregular, and the jury were discharged without giving a verdict. Annie Kenney

Annie Kenney

Annie Kenney was an English working class suffragette who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union...

, born in nearby Springhead

Springhead, Greater Manchester

Springhead is a suburban area of Saddleworth, a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England.Situated along the eastern edge of the Greater Manchester Urban Area, Springhead is contiguous with the village of Lees, the Oldham districts of Greenacres and...

, and who worked in Oldham's cotton mills, was a notable of the Suffragette

Suffragette

movement credited with sparking off suffragette militancy when she heckled Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

, and later (with Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote...

) the first Suffragist to be imprisoned. Oldham Women's Suffrage Society was established in 1910 with Margery Lees as president and quickly joined the Manchester and District Federation of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies

National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies

The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies , also known as the Suffragists was an organisation of women's suffrage societies in the United Kingdom.-Formation and campaigning:...

. The Chartist

Chartism

Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...

and Co-operative movement

History of the cooperative movement

The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement began with the application of cooperative principles to business...

s had strong support in the town, whilst many Oldhamers protested against the emancipation of slaves

Atlantic slave trade

The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...

. The Riot Act

Riot Act

The Riot Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that authorised local authorities to declare any group of twelve or more people to be unlawfully assembled, and thus have to disperse or face punitive action...

was read in 1852 on election day

United Kingdom general election, 1852

The July 1852 United Kingdom general election was a watershed election in the formation of the modern political parties of Britain. Following 1852, the Tory/Conservative party became, more completely, the party of the rural aristocracy, while the Whig/Liberal party became the party of the rising...

following a mass public brawl over the Reform Act

Reform Act

In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is a generic term used for legislation concerning electoral matters. It is most commonly used for laws passed to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the British House of Commons...

, and irregularities with parliamentary candidate nominations.

For three days in late May 2001, Oldham became the centre of national and international media attention. Following high profile race-related

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

conflicts, and long-term underlying racial tensions between local white

White people

White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

and South Asian communities, major race riots broke out in the town. Occurring with particular intensity in the Glodwick

Glodwick

Glodwick is an area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is south-east of Oldham town centre.Glodwick is a multi-ethnic residential area in the south of the Oldham, home particularly to a large community of Pakistanis and British Pakistanis....

area of the town, the Oldham Riots
Oldham Riots
The Oldham riots were a short but intense period of violent rioting which occurred in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester, England, in May 2001...

were the worst racially motivated riots in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

for fifteen years prior, briefly eclipsing the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

in the media. At least 20 people were injured in the riots, including 15 police officers, and 37 people were arrested. Similar riots took place in other towns in northern England

Northern England

Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...

over the following days and weeks. The 2001 riots prompted governmental and independent inquiries, which collectively agreed on community relations improvements and considerable regeneration schemes for the town.

Municipal history

Lying within the historic county boundaries

Historic counties of England

The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...

of Lancashire

Lancashire

since the early 12th century

History of Lancashire

The History of Lancashire begins with its establishment as a county of England in 1182, making it one of the youngest of the historic counties of England.-Early history:In the Domesday Book, some of its lands had been treated as part of Yorkshire...

, Oldham was recorded in 1212 as being part of the thegn

Thegn

The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...

age estate of Kaskenmoor, which was held on behalf of King John

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

by Roger de Montbegon

Roger de Montbegon

Roger de Montbegon was a landowner in northern England , Baron of Horneby, and one of the Magna Carta sureties....

and William de Nevill. Oldham later formed a township

Township (England)

In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...

within the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham

Prestwich-cum-Oldham

Prestwich-cum-Oldham was an ancient ecclesiastical parish of the hundred of Salford, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, England...

, in the hundred of Salford

Salford (hundred)

The hundred of Salford was an ancient division of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England. It was sometimes known as Salfordshire, the name alluding to its judicial centre being the township of Salford...

.

In 1826 commissioners for the social and economic improvement of Oldham were established. The town was made a parliamentary borough

Parliamentary borough

Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...

, in 1832, though it was in 1849 when Oldham was incorporated as a municipal borough

Municipal borough

, giving it Borough status in the United Kingdom

Borough status in the United Kingdom

Borough status in the United Kingdom is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district...

, and in 1850 the Borough Council obtained the powers of the improvement commissioners. In 1880 the Hollinwood, Greater Manchester and Crossbank

Crossbank

Crossbank is an area of Lees, a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England.Historically a part of Lancashire, the name Crossbank is thought to derive from the days of the Knights Templar when a cross was etched into an earthen bank to denote lands granted to...

parts of Chadderton

Chadderton

Chadderton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England, historically a part of Lancashire...

and Ashton-under-Lyne

Ashton-under-Lyne

Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies on the north bank of the River Tame, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines...

townships were added to the Borough of Oldham. Oldham Above Town

Oldham Above Town

Oldham Above Town was, from 1851 until c.1881, a statistical unit used for the gathering and organising of civil registration information, and output of census information. It was a sub-district of the larger registration district of Oldham, in the then registration county of Lancashire, in...

and Oldham Below Town

Oldham Below Town

Oldham Below Town was, from 1851 until c.1881, a statistical unit used for the gathering and organising of civil registration information, and output of census information. It was a sub-district of the larger registration district of Oldham, in the then registration county of Lancashire,...

were, from 1851 until c.1881, statistical units used for the gathering and organising of civil registration information, and output of census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

data.

When the administrative county

Administrative counties of England

Administrative counties were a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974. They were created by the Local Government Act 1888 as the areas for which county councils were elected. Some large counties were divided into several administrative...

of Lancashire was created by the Local Government Act 1888

Local Government Act 1888

The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...

, Oldham was elevated to become the County Borough of Oldham

County Borough of Oldham

Oldham was, from 1849 to 1974, a local government district in the northwest of England coterminate with the town of Oldham.-Improvement Commissioners:...

and was effectively a unitary authority area exempt from the administration of Lancashire County Council

Lancashire County Council

Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It currently consists of 84 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, who won control of the council in the local council elections in June 2009, ending 28 years of...

. In 1951 parts of Alt, Bardsley

Bardsley, Greater Manchester

and Woodhouses civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

es were added to the County Borough of Oldham, and in 1954 other parts of these same civil parishes were added to it. Since 1961, Oldham has been twinned with Kranj

Kranj

' is the third largest municipality and fourth largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 54,500 . It is located approximately 20 km north-west of Ljubljana...

in Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

. Under the Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

, the town's autonomous County borough

County borough

County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...

status was abolished, and Oldham has, since 1 April 1974, formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham

Metropolitan Borough of Oldham

The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 219,600, and spans . The borough is named after its largest town, Oldham, but also includes the outlying towns of Chadderton, Failsworth, Royton and Shaw and Crompton, the village of...

, within the Metropolitan county

Metropolitan county

The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, typically with populations of 1.2 to 2.8 million...

of Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

Demographic history

With only a small local population during medieval times, as a result of the introduction of industry, mass migration of village workers into Oldham occurred, resulting in a population change from under 2,000 in 1714 to 12,000 in 1801 to 137,000 in 1901. Surname

Surname

A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

s of families forming the bulk of the parish of Oldham's earliest records include Assheton, Bardsley, Brearley, Broadbent, Butterworth, Buckley

Buckley (surname)

Buckley is a surname originating from either England or Ireland. It is particularly common throughout parts of England and Ireland, as well as Canada and the United States....

, Chadderton, Clegg, Coup, Crompton

Crompton (surname)

Crompton is an English surname of Anglo-Saxon origin.The name was first found in Crompton, England, where the family held a seat from the middle ages.The Crompton family have a well documented history...

, Dunkerley, Halkyard, Halle, Heap, Heywood, Hopwood, Jackson, Knott, Lees, Mellor, Neild, Ogden, Schofield, Scholes, Smethurst, Sandiforth, Tetlow, Taylor, Whitehead, Whittaker, Winterbottom, Wolfenden, and Wild. The population change of the town since 1801, demonstrates a trend of rapid population growth in the 19th century and, after peaking at 147,483 people in 1911, a trend of general decline in population size during the 20th century.

Compared against the average demography of the United Kingdom, Oldham has a high level of people of South Asian heritage, particularly those with roots in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

and Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

. Due to the town's prevalence as an industrial centre and thus a hub for employment, Oldham attracted migrant workers throughout its history, including those from wider-England, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

and parts of Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. During the 1950s and 1960s, in an attempt to fill the shortfall of workers and revitalise local industries, members of the wider Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

were encouraged to migrate to Oldham and other British towns. Many came from the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

and Indian subcontinent

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

and settled throughout the Oldham borough. Today, Oldham has large communities with heritage from Bangladesh

Bangladesh

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

and parts of the Caribbean. At the time of the 2001 census, over one in four of its residents identified themselves as from a South Asian or British Asian

British Asian

British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...

ethnic group. Cultural divisions along ethnic backgrounds are strong within the town, with poor cross-community integration and cohesion along Asian and white backgrounds.

Political history

Industrial workers in Oldham played a prominent role in the struggle for the vote

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...

. After hearing Major John Cartwright

John Cartwright (political reformer)

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...

explain his views on parliamentary reform in 1816, Joseph Healey (an apothecary

Apothecary

Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....

from Harpurhey

Harpurhey

-Landmarks:Harpurhey Edwardian Swimming Baths, situated on Rochdale Road was built between 1909-10 by Henry Price, Manchester's first City Architect. Listed grade II in, the baths were closed to the public in 2001 after serious defects were discovered and the entrance building is currently being...

) formed a Hampden Club in the town. After the passing of the Reform Act 1832

Reform Act 1832

The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...

, people of the newly created Oldham parliamentary borough

Parliamentary borough

Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...

elected the two 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...

candidates, 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 John Fielden

John Fielden

John Fielden , also known as Honest John Fielden, was a British social reformer and benefactor. He was the third son of Joshua Fielden, and began working in his father's mill at the age of 9. With his brothers, he expanded the family cotton business at Todmorden to become a wealthy businessman...

. Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

began his political career in Oldham. Although unsuccessful at his first attempt in 1899, Churchill was elected as the member of Parliament for the Oldham parliamentary borough constituency

Oldham (UK Parliament constituency)

Oldham was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Oldham, England. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

in the 1900 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1900

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

. He held the constituency for the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

until the 1906 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1906

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

, when he won the election for Manchester North West

Manchester North West (UK Parliament constituency)

Manchester North West was one of six single-member Parliamentary constituencies created in 1885 by the division of the three-member Parliamentary Borough of Manchester under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. Its first MP, William Houldsworth, had previously sat for Manchester...

as a Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

MP. After he became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

in 1940, Churchill was made a Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Oldham

Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885

The Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave the councils of municipal boroughs in England and Wales the power to award the title of honorary freeman to "persons of distinction and any persons who have rendered emininent services to the...

, on April 2, 1941.

Since 1997, the boundaries of two parliamentary constituencies

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

have divided Oldham; Oldham East and Saddleworth, and Oldham West and Royton (which includes the town centre), represented by Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

Phil Woolas

Philip James Woolas was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Oldham East and Saddleworth from his election in 1997 to 2010. He was the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration in the Home Office, as well as being the Minister of State for the Treasury...

and Michael Meacher

Michael Meacher

Michael Hugh Meacher is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Oldham West and Royton since 1997. Previously he had been the MP for Oldham West, first elected in 1970. On 22 February 2007 he declared that he would be standing for the Labour Leadership, challenging...

respectively.

Following the Oldham Riots
Oldham Riots
The Oldham riots were a short but intense period of violent rioting which occurred in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester, England, in May 2001...

in 2001, Oldham West and Royton gained notoriety at the 2001 general election

United Kingdom general election, 2001

The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...

when the leader of the far-right British National Party

British National Party

The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...

(BNP), Nick Griffin

Nick Griffin

Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin is a British politician, chairman of the British National Party and Member of the European Parliament for North West England....

, stood as a candidate (despite it being a safe seat

Safe seat

A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...

for Labour). Griffin received over 6,500 votes (a 16.4% share), beating the Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

to third place, and finishing narrowly behind the Conservatives

Conservative Party (UK)

in second. This was widely interpreted to be a reaction to the race riot

Race riot

A race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.-United States:The term had entered the...

s that had occurred in Oldham

Oldham

Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...

, Burnley

Burnley

Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....

and Bradford

Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

a few months earlier. Because of the heightened tension, the Returning Officer

Returning Officer

In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.-Australia:In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a State Electoral Commission who heads the local divisional office...

took the decision not to allow any candidates to make speeches after the declaration of the results. This led to Griffin and fellow BNP candidate Michael Treacy, who ran in the neighbouring constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth, symbolically gagging themselves on the platform wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "Gagged for Telling the Truth". At the 2005 election

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

, the BNP's share of the vote declined, and Labour's Michael Meacher won comfortably.

Commentary

The following commentary has been made about Oldham: