Isaac Ironside
Encyclopedia
Isaac Ironside was a British
Chartist
and socialist politician
.
, Rotherham
, Ironside grew up in Sheffield
, the son of Samuel Ironside, a Wesleyan
lay preacher, and Mary Bradbury. On both sides of the family there were roots in the Independent Church in Masbrough - Mary's grandfather Isaac Bradbury was well known as an "Old Jacobin". Isaac's younger brother Samuel Ironside travelled as a Methodist missionary
to New Zealand
, where he became a supporter and signatory of the Treaty of Waitangi
. Isaac, meanwhile, moved into politics. He began work in the foundries
and undertook studies in his spare time.
Soon after marrying in the 1820s, Ironside moved to New Harmony
, Robert Owen
's utopian colony. However, the colony was not a success, and the couple returned to Sheffield. In 1833, he joined his father's new accountancy
business, and by the 1840s came to run it.
in the 1832 UK general election, but was narrowly defeated. In 1833, he became a founder member of Sheffield's Mechanics Institute. He increasingly became a leading figure in Sheffield Chartism, and spoke alongside Ebenezer Elliott
at a mass meeting in Paradise Square
in 1838. However, with the defeat of the first Chartist petition, the local movement was split between supporters of and opponents of violence, and he increasingly stayed away from meetings.
During the late 1830s, Ironside took up phrenology
, but soon abandoned it, as it was "not capable of rigid demonstration", and because many of its practitioners made implausible claims about it.
had Ironside removed from his post as honorary secretary of the Institute after Ironside placed eight books dealing with socialism
on the shelves. Montgomery also claimed that Ironside had encouraged subversion
by opening a coffee
room. Instead, Ironside worked with Owen, proposing agrarian communities, and opening a Hall of Science in Sheffield. He wrote a polemic attacking John Brindley and despite moving away from Owen, founded a Workers' Educational Institute at the Hall of Science in 1848.
representing Ecclesall
, where he founded the Central Democratic Association
to raise socialist and Chartist demands. By 1849, this grouping had grown to 22 members and was able to force the creation of a health committee and the construction of a model farm
on broadly Owenite principles at Hollow Meadows. Utilising Joshua Toulmin Smith
's localist ideas, he set up a system of "wardmote" committees where any local citizen could influence council policy. With their support, he ensured that Sheffield's streets were paved and underground sewer
s were laid during the 1850s. He also supported women's suffrage
, and encouraged Anne Knight
to found the Sheffield Female Political Association
.
, and leading support for Toulmin Smith's candidature for Sheffield at the 1852 UK general election. In 1856, he corresponded with Karl Marx
. He retained his seat on the council until 1868. He died in 1870 and was buried in Sheffield General Cemetery
.
Isaac and his wife Elizabeth had five daughters: Emma (1835), Frances (1841), Una (1845), Kate (1850), and Lilian (1852).
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
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 socialist politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Early years
Born near MasbroughMasbrough
Masbrough, occasionally spelt Masborough is a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, located in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, about 0.5 miles from Rotherham town centre.-Schools:...
, Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
, Ironside grew up in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, the son of Samuel Ironside, a Wesleyan
Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
lay preacher, and Mary Bradbury. On both sides of the family there were roots in the Independent Church in Masbrough - Mary's grandfather Isaac Bradbury was well known as an "Old Jacobin". Isaac's younger brother Samuel Ironside travelled as a Methodist missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, where he became a supporter and signatory of the Treaty of Waitangi
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....
. Isaac, meanwhile, moved into politics. He began work in the foundries
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
and undertook studies in his spare time.
Soon after marrying in the 1820s, Ironside moved to New Harmony
New Harmony, Indiana
New Harmony is a historic town on the Wabash River in Harmony Township, Posey County, Indiana, United States. It lies north of Mount Vernon, the county seat. The population was 916 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Evansville metropolitan area. Many of the old Harmonist buildings still stand...
, Robert Owen
Robert Owen
Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...
's utopian colony. However, the colony was not a success, and the couple returned to Sheffield. In 1833, he joined his father's new accountancy
Accountancy
Accountancy is the process of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers. The communication is generally in the form of financial statements that show in money terms the economic resources under the control of management; the art lies in...
business, and by the 1840s came to run it.
Chartism
A supporter of Chartism, Ironside joined the Sheffield Political Union in 1831 and worked as the campaign secretary for the Radical candidate Thomas Asline Ward, who stood for SheffieldSheffield (UK Parliament constituency)
Sheffield was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom 1832 to 1885. It elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of elections....
in the 1832 UK general election, but was narrowly defeated. In 1833, he became a founder member of Sheffield's Mechanics Institute. He increasingly became a leading figure in Sheffield Chartism, and spoke alongside Ebenezer Elliott
Ebenezer Elliott
Ebenezer Elliott was an English poet, known as the Corn Law rhymer.-Early life:Elliott was born at the New Foundry, Masbrough, in the Parish of Rotherham, Yorkshire. His father, was an extreme Calvinist and a strong Radical, and was engaged in the iron trade...
at a mass meeting in Paradise Square
Paradise Square
Paradise Square is a Georgian square in the City of Sheffield, England. Located to the northwest of Sheffield Cathedral, the square is set on a slope and was formerly used for public meetings.-History:...
in 1838. However, with the defeat of the first Chartist petition, the local movement was split between supporters of and opponents of violence, and he increasingly stayed away from meetings.
During the late 1830s, Ironside took up phrenology
Phrenology
Phrenology is a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules...
, but soon abandoned it, as it was "not capable of rigid demonstration", and because many of its practitioners made implausible claims about it.
Conflict
In 1839, poet James MontgomeryJames Montgomery
James Montgomery was a British editor, hymnwriter and poet. He was particularly associated with humanitarian causes such as the campaigns to abolish slavery and to end the exploitation of child chimney sweeps....
had Ironside removed from his post as honorary secretary of the Institute after Ironside placed eight books dealing with socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
on the shelves. Montgomery also claimed that Ironside had encouraged subversion
Subversion (politics)
Subversion refers to an attempt to transform the established social order, its structures of power, authority, and hierarchy; examples of such structures include the State. In this context, a "subversive" is sometimes called a "traitor" with respect to the government in-power. A subversive is...
by opening a coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
room. Instead, Ironside worked with Owen, proposing agrarian communities, and opening a Hall of Science in Sheffield. He wrote a polemic attacking John Brindley and despite moving away from Owen, founded a Workers' Educational Institute at the Hall of Science in 1848.
Power
In 1846, Ironside was elected to Sheffield Town CouncilSheffield City Council
Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors...
representing Ecclesall
Ecclesall
Ecclesall Ward—which includes the neighbourhoods of Bents Green, Ecclesall, Greystones, Millhouses, and Ringinglow—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the southwestern part of the city and covers an area of 9.4 km2. The population of...
, where he founded the Central Democratic Association
Central Democratic Association
The Central Democratic Association, also known as the Democratic Association or the Democrats, was a political party of Chartists which was prominent in Sheffield in the mid-nineteenth century.-Establishment:...
to raise socialist and Chartist demands. By 1849, this grouping had grown to 22 members and was able to force the creation of a health committee and the construction of a model farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
on broadly Owenite principles at Hollow Meadows. Utilising Joshua Toulmin Smith
Joshua Toulmin Smith
Joshua Toulmin Smith was a British political theorist, lawyer and local historian of Birmingham.Born in Birmingham as Joshua Smith, he moved to London in 1835 and pursued a career in law, studying at Lincoln's Inn...
's localist ideas, he set up a system of "wardmote" committees where any local citizen could influence council policy. With their support, he ensured that Sheffield's streets were paved and underground sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
s were laid during the 1850s. He also supported women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
, and encouraged Anne Knight
Anne Knight
Anne Knight was a social reformer noted as a pioneer of feminism.-Family background:Anne Knight was the daughter of William Knight , a Chelmsford grocer and his wife Priscilla Allen...
to found the Sheffield Female Political Association
Sheffield Female Political Association
The Sheffield Female Political Association was the first women's suffrage organisation in the United Kingdom.The group was founded in February 1851 by several Sheffield women who were also active in the Chartist movement, led by Anne Kent and Anne Knight...
.
Later years
In 1851, Ironside founded the Sheffield Free Press, becoming an outspoken supporter of David UrquhartDavid Urquhart
David Urquhart was a Scottish diplomat and writer.. He was a Member of Parliament 1847-52.-Early life and family:...
, and leading support for Toulmin Smith's candidature for Sheffield at the 1852 UK general election. In 1856, he corresponded with Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
. He retained his seat on the council until 1868. He died in 1870 and was buried in Sheffield General Cemetery
Sheffield General Cemetery
The General Cemetery is a cemetery in the City of Sheffield, England that opened in 1836, and closed for burial in 1978. It was the principal cemetery in Victorian Sheffield with over 87,000 burials. Today it is a conservation area , and it is listed on the English Heritage National Register of...
.
Isaac and his wife Elizabeth had five daughters: Emma (1835), Frances (1841), Una (1845), Kate (1850), and Lilian (1852).