John Bedford Leno - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

John Bedford Leno was a 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...

, Radical

Radicalization

Radicalization is the process in which an individual changes from passiveness or activism to become more revolutionary, militant or extremist. Radicalization is often associated with youth, adversity, alienation, social exclusion, poverty, or the perception of injustice to self or others.-...

, Poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

and printer

Printer (publisher)

In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...

who acted as a "bridge" between Chartism

Chartism

and early Labour movements, as well as between the working and ruling classes. He campaigned to give the vote to all common men and women, driven by a strong desire for "justice and freedom for all mankind". He was a leading figure in the Reform League, which campaigned for the Reform Act 1867

Reform Act 1867

The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised the urban male working class in England and Wales....

. He was called the "Burns

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...

of Labour" and "the poet of the poor" for his political songs and poems, which were sold widely in penny publications, and recited and sung by workers in Britain

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

and even America

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

. He was an entertaining and persuasive orator and his speeches were in great demand around London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He owned, edited and contributed to Radical

Radicalization

and Liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

newspapers and journals, and printed and distributed bills advertising London Reform meetings and demonstrations.

Roots

John Bedford Leno was born on 29 June 1826 at 14 Bell Yard, Uxbridge

Uxbridge

Uxbridge is a large town located in north west London, England and is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. It forms part of the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is located west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres...

, 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...

, England

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...

. He was the eldest child of John Leno (1800–1885) (Gentleman's footman

Footman

A footman is a male servant, notably as domestic staff.-Word history:The name derives from the attendants who ran beside or behind the carriages of aristocrats, many of whom were chosen for their physical attributes. They ran alongside the coach to make sure it was not overturned by such obstacles...

, baker

Baker

A baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades...

and publican

Publican

In antiquity, publicans were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects...

) and Phoebe Bedford (1801–1875) (Lady's maid

Lady's maid

A lady's maid is a female personal attendant who waits on the lady of the house. The position is very similar to a gentleman's valet. Traditionally, in eras past, the lady's maid was not as high-ranking as a lady's companion, who was a retainer rather than a servant, but the rewards included room...

, needlewoman & teacher in a Dame's school) who met whilst working for Mr. Chippendale, a well known Uxbridge

Uxbridge

philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

. The Uxbridge

Uxbridge

Leno's belonged to a family that resided in Swanbourne

Swanbourne

Swanbourne is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located about two miles east of Winslow, three miles west of Stewkley, on the secondary road B4032.-History:...

, Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

, England in the 16th century.

Early years

Although not well educated, John Bedford Leno's mother taught him to read and it is to her he attributed his love of learning. He was sent to preparatory school at the age of eight but was quickly expelled on the grounds of telling a falsehood. He maintained that this was untrue. He suspected that the lie had been fabricated by a few of the better off scholars who found out that he hailed from Bell Yard, and thought it degrading to have to associate with someone of such poor standing.

He was then sent to live with his aunt at Stanwell Moor. She was in charge of the parish poor house, along with her husband, in which they had apartments. He found the workhouse

Workhouse

In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...

a "queer" place. In a strange twist of fate he next worked as a cleaner and errand boy at the very same school he had been expelled from. At the age of twelve he worked for a firework maker whom he disliked for making false marketing claims and building sub-standard squibs.

He became a rural postboy under the Uxbridge

Uxbridge

post master, who was also a printer and stationer. John Bedford Leno delivered to the Uxbridge Common, Ickenham

Ickenham

Ickenham is a suburban area centred on an old village in Greater London, part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.While no major historical events have taken place in Ickenham, settlements dating back to the Roman occupation of Britain have been discovered during archaeological surveys, and the...

, Ruislip

Ruislip

Ruislip is a suburban area, centred on an old village in Greater London, and is part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.It was formerly also a parish covering the neighbouring areas of Eastcote, Northwood, Ruislip Manor and South Ruislip in the area. The parish appears in the Domesday Book, and...

and Eastcote

Eastcote

Eastcote is a suburban area established around an old village in Greater London, and is part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot...

areas, walking twenty miles every day, from 6am to dinner time before returning to finish off the day with some print work. It is during his time as postboy that his theatrical interest was aroused; he was often called upon to read out the contents of letters to the villagers, many of whom were illiterate. He found that he had the power to "create smiles and draw forth tears" and found this very satisfying.

This lasted for twelve months before he became so useful in the print office that he was enrolled as a printer's apprentice. Due to his incomplete education he struggled for three years and made little progress. Despite this, he persevered and was given extra instruction after work by the most able, and benevolent, printer in the office called Mr. Kingsbury, who he felt indebted to for the rest of his life.

Theatre, Singing, Poetry & Gambling

During this time, Uxbridge

Uxbridge

was regularly visited by theatre groups and John Bedford Leno watched numerous actors perform with admiration. When one of the visiting theatre companies hit some bad luck, and was on the verge of bankruptcy, John Bedford Leno was spurred into action. Despite never having acted before, he and three friends decided to put on
an amateur performance of "Roundheads and Cavaliers", with the proceeds going to the manager of the impoverished theatre company. John Bedford Leno played the lead character and also arranged for billings to be distributed around the town. The identities of the actors were not revealed and rumours were circulated that they were persons of "the highest social position". The performance was a sell out and was followed by one of the bankrupt theatre company's own plays. This proved so successful that it then played in Uxbridge

Uxbridge

for the next nine months and saved the company from ruin. The manager of the company later became wealthy and attributed much of his success to John Bedford Leno and his three enterprising friends.

John Bedford Leno's father bought a malthouse with an inheritance gained from his recently deceased brother, Mathew Leno, who had won the grand prize in a government lottery a few years earlier. John Bedford Leno had bad memories of this place and some of the rogues that filled it. He was often called upon to sing to customers, having a good voice, and to take part in singing competitions which he usually won. However, his interest in poetry was sparked here by a customer leaving a copy of "Lives of The Poets" by Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...

. John Bedford Leno read and re-read it and decided to become a poet.

His oratory skills were further honed by attending "Falcon Harmonic Meetings" in which attendees sang songs and debated their merits. John Bedford Leno was given post of honour in three successive years. Unfortunately he could not finance his attendance at these evenings, as well as eat, so he had to supplement his income somehow. He did this by taking up gambling, which he found he had a talent for and ensured that he became a master at whatever game he played.

Introduction to Politics

John Bedford Leno was also introduced to politics at his father's malthouse. He became friends with a Chartist

Chartism

, Fred Farrell, who used to argue about various theories with Mr. Kingsbury, from the print office, who was a conventional 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...

. He was introduced to the "Examiner

Examiner

The Examiner was a weekly paper founded by Leigh and John Hunt in 1808. For the first fifty years it was a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles, but from 1865 it repeatedly changed hands and political allegiance, resulting in a rapid decline in readership and loss of...

" newspaper, "Star", "New Moral World" and other various publications and could soon hold his own in arguments about one tenet or another.

He became converted to Chartism

Chartism

and joined at the first opportunity. He formed a branch in his home town and became its branch secretary, buying and selling Chartist publications to the residents of Uxbridge

Uxbridge

Printing

Towards the end of his apprenticeship

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...

John Bedford Leno grew to be more competent than some of his more qualified colleagues and became office foreman. After seven years he finished his apprenticeship

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...

but parted ways with his employer due largely to the financial difficulties of the business and ensuing tensions between the two of them. He found work in another printing works in Eton, Berkshire

Eton, Berkshire

Eton is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The parish also includes the large village of Eton Wick, 2 miles west of the town, and has a population of 4,980. Eton was in Buckinghamshire until...

for a while before again being released due to tensions with his foreman (JBL was quick-witted and had a strong sense of justice which, when combined with an exploitative or dishonest employer, landed him in trouble). Printing was suffering a slump and so John Bedford Leno decided his best chance of employment was to be found in the country. He travelled far and wide, surviving by singing and reciting poetry in exchange for food or money and travelled over a thousand miles around the country before deciding to head back to Uxbridge

Uxbridge

. Upon his return he was persuaded to hold a Benefit Concert for himself at the town hall, which he did and raised £40. He bought himself his own printing press and set up shop in Windsor St, Uxbridge.

Chartism

As well as founding the Uxbridge Chartist

Chartism

branch John Bedford Leno also daringly established the Eton branch in Windsor

Windsor, Berkshire

Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....

which was the home of Queen Victoria. He also served as a Delegate of the Chartist movement.

His first publication was the "Manuscript Newspaper", of which he was co-editor. This was then succeeded by the "Uxbridge Pioneer" which was edited by Gerald Massey

Gerald Massey

Gerald Massey was an English poet and self-educated Egyptologist. He was born near Tring, Hertfordshire in England.-Biography:...

, Kimber, Hudson, Gurney and a few others who had all been elected by the Uxbridge Young Men's Improvement Society. Political differences soon caused a split in this group and John Bedford Leno and Gerald Massey

Gerald Massey

Gerald Massey was an English poet and self-educated Egyptologist. He was born near Tring, Hertfordshire in England.-Biography:...

went on to produce their own paper; "Spirit of Freedom, and Working Man's Vindicator

Spirit of Freedom, and Working Man's Vindicator

The Spirit of Freedom, and Working Man's Vindicator was a Chartist publication noted for its rigorous and untiring determination to call a "man a man, and a spade a spade". It was "full of fire and breathed the spirit of republicanism"....

". This was printed for the next year until Gerald Massey

Gerald Massey

Gerald Massey was an English poet and self-educated Egyptologist. He was born near Tring, Hertfordshire in England.-Biography:...

left Uxbridge

Uxbridge

to work as the secretary for the Tailor's Association in London

London

. Here Gerald met the "Promoters", a body of gentleman who were known as Christian Socialists (now known as the Christian Socialist Movement

Christian Socialist Movement

The Christian Socialist Movement, or CSM, is a socialist society affiliated to the British Labour Party.The CSM was an amalgamation of the Society of Socialist Clergy and Ministers and the Socialist Christian League. R. H. Tawney made one of his last public appearances at the Movement's inaugural...

) and included many eminent men. They decided to set up a Working Printers' Association which they invited John Bedford Leno to take charge of. He declined however, on the grounds that they would be setting up in opposition to some of his old friends who had just set up their own "Co-operative Printers' Association" in London

London

, which he joined as a rank and file printer. When their existence became known to the heads of the Christian Socialists, they received considerable financial support, from the likes of Frederick Maurice and Thomas Hughes

Thomas Hughes

Thomas Hughes was an English lawyer and author. He is most famous for his novel Tom Brown's Schooldays , a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford .- Biography :Hughes was the second son of John Hughes, editor of...

, the author of "Tom Brown's Schooldays". The "Co-operative Printers' Association" disbanded after three years and John Bedford Leno set up his own printing shop in Drury Lane

Drury Lane

Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....

, London in which he lived with his family for most of the rest of his life.

One of John Bedford Leno's first London experiences was attending the Chartist rally at Clerkenwell

Clerkenwell

Clerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. From 1900 to 1965 it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance...

Green in 1848. This was disbanded by an army of police constables who swept the green. When asked to disperse by a plain clothes policeman John Bedford Leno at first refused, whereupon he was battered in the face with a truncheon.

International Socialism

In 1848 John Bedford Leno joined the First International, which had been started by his friend, George Julian Harney

George Julian Harney

George Julian Harney was a British political activist, journalist, and Chartist leader. He was also associated with Marxism, socialism, and universal suffrage.-Early life:...

. He attended International Meetings (the first international) at Jacques, a cafe kept by a French exile in Chapel St. just off of Oxford Street, London.

After one such meeting he was approached by the Russian revolutionary, Alexander Herzen

Alexander Herzen

Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen was a Russian pro-Western writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism", and one of the main fathers of agrarian populism...

, who inquired whether he would mind running an underground printing office for him. It would be used to print leaflets which were to be used to flood Russia with revolutionary literature. John Bedford Leno eagerly agreed and they arranged to meet again. Herzen never showed up and it seems he had been forced to flee, later being caught and thrown into prison in Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

.

John Bedford Leno met 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...

several times while he was in London

London

. After a public meeting of the Reform League in 1855 an impromptu committee meeting was held in the parlour of a tavern in Chancery Lane

Chancery Lane

Chancery Lane is the street which has been the western boundary of the City of London since 1994 having previously been divided between Westminster and Camden...

. Here John Bedford Leno reminisced about conversing with the Russian who he found to "be deeply interested, a firm believer in the doctrines and who never ceased to advocate".

When Napoleon III

Napoleon III of France

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...

visited England in 1858 Leno arranged for an "appropriate welcome" to be made. Leno had a hatred of Napoleon because of his "betrayal of the French Republic" (Napoleon became Emperor of the French after a coup in 1851), and believed he was no friend of England. This view was shared by other Chartists, Lord John Russell, Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...

and John Bright

John Bright

John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...

. Leno printed 10,000 leaflets advertising Napoleon's visit and called for demonstrations at Cheapside

Cheapside

Cheapside is a street in the City of London that links Newgate Street with the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Mansion House Street. To the east is Mansion House, the Bank of England, and the major road junction above Bank tube station. To the west is St. Paul's Cathedral, St...

and Long Acre. The French refugees in London responded in great numbers, wanting revenge for their expatriation. Napoleon was the main subject of debate in London

London

debating halls at this time and it was in one of these that Leno gave a speech arguing for regicide in certain circumstances i.e., when a monarch used a nation's troops for their own or unconstitional ends, as Napoleon had done.

John Bedford Leno was also a Delegate of the International

International

----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...

and a member of the committee appointed to meet Lajos Kossuth

Lajos Kossuth

Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.-Family:Lajos...

in 1851 and Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...

in 1864, the Hungarian and Italian revolutionaries.

Post-Chartism

He spent much time attending meetings, making speeches, giving council or writing political articles or songs during this period. He was a regular contributor to the weekly journal the "Christian Socialist" and served as a representative to the Christian Socialists.

Jones

Ernest Charles Jones

Ernest Charles Jones , was an English poet, novelist, and Chartist.- Background :Born in Berlin, he was the son of a British Army Major, equerry to the Duke of Cumberland, afterwards King of Hanover. In 1838 Jones came to England, and in 1841 published anonymously The Wood Spirit, a romantic novel....

offered to pay Leno to join him in his battle against Harney

George Julian Harney

George Julian Harney was a British political activist, journalist, and Chartist leader. He was also associated with Marxism, socialism, and universal suffrage.-Early life:...

for leadership of the Chartist movement. However, Leno declined, having just started his own group (known as the Propagandists

The Propagandists

The Propagandists were a Nineteenth Century political group in The United Kingdom led by the Radical ex-Chartist John Bedford Leno. They would speak on behalf of common workers in legal and social matters and met weekly at the "Windsor Castle" pub in Holborn....

who pledged to speak on behalf of the working class, free of pay). They met weekly to hold discussions at the "Windsor Castle", Holborn and leading members included George Odger

George Odger

George Odger was a pioneer British trade unionist. He is best remembered as the head of the London Trades Council during the period of formation of the Trades Union Congress and as the first President of the First International.-Early years:...

, William Randal Cremer

William Randal Cremer

Sir William Randal Cremer usually known by his middle name "Randal", was an English Liberal Member of Parliament and pacifist....

, George Howell, Robert Applegarth

Robert Applegarth

Robert Applegarth was a prominent British trade unionist and proponent of working class causes.-Biography:Robert Applegarth was born in Hull in the United Kingdom. His father was the captain of a whaling brig. He spent a brief period in a dame school but had no other formal education and began...

, William? Davis & John Henriette.

Most of the Propagandists

The Propagandists

joined the Universal League for the Material Elevation of the Industrious Classes

Universal League for the Material Elevation of the Industrious Classes

The Universal League for the Material Elevation of the Industrious Classes was a 19th Century English political movement and organization.It was founded on 14 December 1863 by Marquis Townshend who was one of the few aristocrats to support the reform movement. It was made up of Radicals and trade...

in 1863, of which Leno was made chairman. It was from the nucleus of this group that the Reform League

Reform League

The Reform League was established in 1865 to press for manhood suffrage and the ballot in Great Britain. It collaborated with the more moderate and middle class Reform Union and gave strong support to the abortive Reform Bill 1866 and the successful Reform Act 1867...

was formed in 1865.

The Reform League and the Reform Act 1867

When the Reform League was established to press for 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...

and the ballot, John Bedford Leno was elected a member of its council almost unanimously. The Reform League was the successor of Chartism

Chartism

and achieved much success unlike its predecessor.

Hyde Park Demonstration

At the height of the Reform League

Reform League

's popularity it arranged for a meeting to he held at Hyde Park

Hyde Park, London

Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...

. The authorities declared it to be illegal but the Reform League

Reform League

thought otherwise and was determined it should be held.

The procession started off from the Reform League

Reform League

's headquarters, at 8 Adelphi Terrace

Adelphi, London

Adelphi is a district of London, England in the City of Westminster. The small district includes the streets of Adelphi Terrace, Robert Street and John Adam Street.-Adelphi Buildings:...

, headed by a cab containing the Reform League

Reform League

's president, Edmond Beales

Edmond Beales

Edmond Beales was the President of the Reform League and was a central figure in the 19th century British reform movement.-Biography:...

, his friend Colonel Dickson and a few other aristocratic supporters. As they headed up Regent Street

Regent Street

Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations...

it was decided that these gentlemen would visit Gunter's Tea Shop

Gunter's Tea Shop

Gunter's Tea Shop in London's Berkeley Square had its origins in a food business named “Pot and Pine Apple” started in 1757 by Italian Domenico Negri. Various English, French and Italian wet and dry sweetmeats were made and sold from the business. In 1777 James Gunter became Negri’s business...

in Berkeley Square

Berkeley Square

Berkeley Square is a town square in the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It was originally laid out in the mid 18th century by architect William Kent...

and so left the procession.

This left John Bedford Leno, his brother and a few others, at the head of the procession. When they reached Marble Arch

Marble Arch

Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...

they were confronted by a line of policemen. They demanded to be let through, but were refused, and so signified their intention to break through the line. This they tried, only to be laughed at. While arguing with the police, Leno's friend, Humphreys, noticed that the railings would stand no pressure and began to sway them backwards and forwards. He was soon helped by the masses and the railings fell. The people flooded into Hyde Park

Hyde Park, London

Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...

despite the efforts of the police to restrain them.

Simultaneously, two other parts of the demonstration also broke into the park; one from Knightsbridge

Knightsbridge

Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...

headed by Charles Bradlaugh

Charles Bradlaugh

Charles Bradlaugh was a political activist and one of the most famous English atheists of the 19th century. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866.-Early life:...

, and another from Park Lane

Park Lane (road)

Park Lane is a major road in the City of Westminster, in Central London.-History:Originally a country lane running north-south along what is now the eastern boundary of Hyde Park, it became a fashionable residential address from the eighteenth century onwards, offering both views across Hyde Park...

.

The meeting then proceeded as planned under the Reformer's Tree

Speakers' Corner

A Speakers' Corner is an area where open-air public speaking, debate and discussion are allowed. The original and most noted is in the north-east corner of Hyde Park in London, United Kingdom. Speakers there may speak on any subject, as long as the police consider their speeches lawful, although...

. At its end it was decided to hold another meeting the next evening in Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...

. Leno and the leaders of the Reform League heard a rumour that the government was determined to oppose it and so decided to confront the Home Secretary

Home Secretary

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...

, Walpole

Spencer Horatio Walpole

Spencer Horatio Walpole, QC, LLD was a British Conservative politician who served three times as Home Secretary in the administrations of Lord Derby.-Background and education:...

. They pointed out to him that if the police or military stepped in bloodshed would ensue. With tears in his eyes Walpole

Spencer Horatio Walpole

Spencer Horatio Walpole, QC, LLD was a British Conservative politician who served three times as Home Secretary in the administrations of Lord Derby.-Background and education:...

agreed that restraint was the best option. Leno and George Odger

George Odger

went back to the crowds and announced the next evening's meeting at Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

. The crowds dispersed and the police and military held back, out of sight, and the meeting passed without violence.

The next evenings meeting at Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

was chaired by Leno and was also peaceful.

A Second English Civil War

Gustave Paul Cluseret

Gustave Paul Cluseret was a French soldier and politician who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...

fled 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 arrived in London

London

just after the Reform League

Reform League

's Hyde Park demonstration in 1867. He met a dozen members of the Reform League

Reform League

, including John Bedford Leno, in a private room of the "White Horse" in Rathbone Place. He proposed that they create civil war in England

England

and offered the service of two thousand sworn members of the Fenian

Fenian

The Fenians , both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood , were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish republican...

body, and that he would act as their leader.

John Bedford Leno was the first to reply and denounced the proposal, stating that it would surely lead to their "discomfiture and transportation", and added that the government would surely hear of the plot. During subsequent speeches Leno noticed that only a matchboard partition divided the room they occupied, with another adjoining room, and that voices could be heard on the other side. Leno declared his intention to leave at once, the others agreed, and the room was soon cleared. The next day the meeting was fully reported in the Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, although Leno's speech had been attributed to George Odger

George Odger

, who had in fact supported Cluseret

Gustave Paul Cluseret

Gustave Paul Cluseret was a French soldier and politician who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...

's proposal. Leno concluded that there had been a leak and that the traitor had been none other than Robert Hartwell, the editor of The Bee-Hive

The Bee-Hive (journal)

The Bee-Hive was a trade unionist journal published weekly in the United Kingdom between 1861 and 1878.The Bee-Hive was established in 1861 by George Potter, with professional journalist George Troup as editor and Robert Hartwell as the main contributor...

journal.

John Bedford Leno was fully satisfied with the success of the Reform League

Reform League

and, being opposed to unnecessary violence, bitterly opposed the interference of Cluseret

Gustave Paul Cluseret

Gustave Paul Cluseret was a French soldier and politician who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...

, as did most of the other members of the Reform League

Reform League

. Cluseret

Gustave Paul Cluseret

Gustave Paul Cluseret was a French soldier and politician who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...

's "call to arms" was rejected and he left England

England

for Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

to start his War of the Commune.

Working Class Liberal

In 1868 John Bedford Leno and William Worley helped Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone

and the Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

party assess which boroughs would have strong support for 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...

Liberal candidates. They visited thirty-three boroughs in all. The Liberal Whip thanked them in a letter stating that "none had gauged events with equal accuracy". At the time of the General Election

General election

In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...

Leno was rewarded by being chosen as the parliamentary agent of the former secretary of the Reform League, George Howell, in the Aylesbury

Aylesbury

Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...

division. Unfortunately, they were faced by millionaire bankers, John Abel Smith

John Abel Smith

John Abel Smith was a British Member of Parliament for Chichester and Midhurst.He was the son of John Smith who preceded him as MP for Midhurst....

and Lionel de Rothschild

Lionel de Rothschild

Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild was a British banker and politician.-Biography:The son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Hanna Barent Cohen, he was a member of the prominent Rothschild family....

, who could afford to transport all of their voters to the poll, and Howell lost by two hundred votes.

John Bedford Leno also strove hard for the abolition of liability of the goods of poor tenants for rent, for limited liability with regard to investments, for the spread of education, for the abolition of drunkenness, although he was not an abstainer, and rushed to the assistance of Joseph Arch

Joseph Arch

Joseph Arch was an English politician, born in Barford, Warwickshire who played a key role in what Karl Marx called the "Great awakening" of the agricultural workers in 1872.-Biography:...

in his support for the agricultural labourer in 1872.

He thought there was justice underlying Socialism, but felt that it was coming piecemeal and that its advocates were too eager.

Whenever it was thought advisable to send deputations on questions affecting the working classes he was generally chosen, and so would meet with Palmerston

Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...

, Disraeli, Derby

Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby

Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, KG, PC was an English statesman, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and to date the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. He was known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley...

and Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone

. He was intimate with almost all of the working class leaders of the day and stood in the foremost rank of those selected as future working class members of the British House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

, although he never took up this post.

Publishing

Throughout his adult life Leno published a wide variety of literature. As well as political matter he published trade journals (his handbook of shoemaking became the definitive cobblers book for the next seventy years), newspapers (he set up the first newspaper in Westminster) and non-fiction books such as "The History of Temple Bar".

It was for his poems and songs, however, that he was best known, and was most proud of. He reminisced that Ernest Jones

Ernest Jones

Alfred Ernest Jones was a British neurologist and psychoanalyst, and Sigmund Freud’s official biographer. Jones was the first English-speaking practitioner of psychoanalysis and became its leading exponent in the English-speaking world where, as President of both the British Psycho-Analytical...

had once said to him "Do you think, Leno, that a writer of lyrics could ever acquire a big reputation?". Leno's "Song of the Spade" was published in most European languages, to at least four different tunes, in Europe and America, and was proclaimed by the Athenaeum

Athenaeum (magazine)

The Athenaeum was a literary magazine published in London from 1828 to 1921. It had a reputation for publishing the very best writers of the age....

as "being one of the best songs we possess", as well as giving him the title of the "Burns of Labour".

His admirers included Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone

, Thornton Hunt and William Morris

William Morris

William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...

amongst others.

Demise

In his sixties his health slowly declined, including his voice which he had used to such a great effect in singing and oration. He suffered from gout

Gout

Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...

, which sometimes limited his mobility. His eldest son died in 1882, followed by his wife Sarah (née. Thrift) in 1886 and then his eldest daughter.

He wrote an autobiography which was published with a collection of his poems in 1892 and was called "The Aftermath with Autobiography of the Author."

In late 1892 he was incapacitated from work by paralysis and received financial support from William Randal Cremer

William Randal Cremer

Sir William Randal Cremer usually known by his middle name "Randal", was an English Liberal Member of Parliament and pacifist....

M.P., William Bowen Rowlands

William Bowen Rowlands

William Bowen Rowlands , was a British politician and Member of Parliament.He was educated at Jesus College, Oxford, matriculating on 22 March 1854 at the age of 18...

and several other members of Parliament. In 1893 he was granted a gratuity of £50 from the Royal Bounty by Prime Minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone

.

He spent the last two years of his life in Windsor St, Uxbridge

Uxbridge

where he died on 31 Oct 1894 aged 68. He was buried at Hillingdon

Hillingdon

Hillingdon is a suburban area within the London Borough of Hillingdon, situated 14.2 miles west of Charing Cross.Much of Hillingdon is represented as the Hillingdon East ward within the local authority, Hillingdon Council...

parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

church and was survived by one son and three daughters.

Songs

"Mr. Leno is a working man to the backbone. He believes in the honour and dignity of labour, and sings while he toils in a right royal spirit. He is a Radical, but a poetic Radical, which is being a Radical with a difference." -- Birmingham Daily Gazette, 9 Jan 1868

"Drury Lane Lyrics show keen relish for eternal beauty and deep sympathy with human nature under various circumstances." -- Athenaeum, 28 Mar 1868

"Mr. Leno's "Lyrics" are on the side of labour and struggling humanity, and will serve in no small degree to cheer the working man" - Falmouth and Penryn Weekly Times, 11th Jan 1868

The Song of the Spade

His most popular song.

"We are not surprised that so spirit-stirring a song should find a home on the other side of the Atlantic; indeed, it is as well known there as in the author's native land. We may here add that the Chevalier de Chatelaine, the able French translator of Chaucer and Shakespeare, has not deemed this song of Mr. Leno's beneath his dignity; for he has rendered it familiar to his countrymen in a translation of uncommon excellence." -- Woolwich Gazette, 18th Jan 1868

Give me the spade, and the man who can use it,

A fig for your Lord and his soft silken hand;

Let the man who has strength never stop to abuse it,

Give it back to the giver - the land, boys, the land!

There's no bank like the earth to deposit your labour,

The more you deposit, the more you shall have;

If there's more than you can give to your neighbour,

And your name shall be dear to the true and the brave.

Give me the spade! England's hope, England's glory!

That fashioned the field from the bleak barren moor.

Let us blazon its rare deeds in ballad and story,

While 'tis brightened with labour - not tarnished with gore.

It was not the sword that won our last battle,

Created our commerce - extended our trade, -

Gave food to our loving wives children, and cattle,

But the queen of all weapons - the spade, boys, the spade.

Give me the spade! There's a magic about it

That turns the black soil into bright shining gold,

What would our fathers have done, boys, without it, -

When the land lay all bare, and the night winds blew cold?

Where the tall forest stood, and the wild beasts were yelling,

And our stout-hearted ancestors shrank back afraid, -

The rich corn-stack is raised, and man claims a dwelling,

Then hurrah! for our true friend - the spade, boys, the spade!

Judge not a Man

"The Music is melodious and facile - the Words straight forward and sensible, such as we should be glad to see more frequently wedded to sweet Music - and is likely to prove a favourite" - The Sunday Times

The Sunday Times

The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...

, Oct 1857

Judge not a man by the cost of his clothing,

Unheeding the life-path that he may pursue,

Or oft you'll admire a heart that needs loathing,

And fail to give honor where honor is due.

The palm may be hard, the fingers stiff jointed, -

The coat may be tattered, the cheek worn with tears;

But greater than kings are labor's anointed!

You can't judge a man by the coat that he wears.

Give me the man as a friend and a neighbour

Who toils at the loom - with the spade - or the plough;

Who wins his diploma of manhood by labor,

And purchases wealth by the sweat of his brow.

Why should the broad cloth alone be respected -

The man be despised who in fustian appears?

The angels in heaven have their limbs unprotected!

Then why judge a man by the coat that he wears.

Judge a man by the work he is doing,

Speak of a man as his actions demand;

Watch well the life that each is pursuing,

And let the most worthy be chief of the land,

That man shall be found midst the close ranks of labor,

Be known by the work that his industry rears;

His chiefdom when worn shall be dear to his neighbour,

We'll honour the man whatever he wears!

Poems

"Mr. Leno is, beyond all question, the poet of the poor. His language consists of the choicest Saxon, and his thoughts are the every day thoughts of the great mass of his countrymen, sublimated by a rich and vigorous fancy. He is the very antithesis of the modern poet, and as such, objects to the use of all glitter and tinsel. What Ebeneezer Elliott was to the principles of Free Trade in Corn, John Bedford Leno is to the more enduring theme of Labour - Equally strong, plain, and uncompromising" - Woolwich Gazette, 18th Jan 1868

King Labour

The Wizard, King Labour, walked over the land,

And the spade for a sceptre he bore;

And each step he took left an Eden behind,

While the desert untamed frowned before.

He levelled huge mountains, and blasted the rocks,

Where for ages vast treasures lay hid;

And shewed Heaven the coffer where Earth stored her wealth,

And laughed loud as he shattered the lid.

I marked every step the magic king took,

Till he bounded the wide spreading plain,

And I marked how the eye of God followed his path

While the heavens sang a gladsome refrain,

And this was its burthen - "There's plenty for all,

Look abroad in the light of the day,

And view the corn challenge the sickel and scythe,

With its lances well poised for the fray."

The harvest well-garnered-Toils heralds went forth,

Their speed by Good-Humour increased,

And they said to each child of the universe, "Come!

And let none be shut out from the feast!"

"Come, come" said King Labour, "Earth's treasures are mine,

Bid the tyrants of earth to beware;

Their bride may be Death, if they court Famine's hand,

For still there's the Sword of Despair."

Sample Titles of Other Poems

England's Glory
Liberty
My Father's Sword
Up, Brothers, Up
Freedom's Day
There's Plenty For All
Toil On, Toil On
Song of the Slopworker
What Is Labour
A Harvest Song
The Weaver's Song
The Shoemaker's Linnet
The Injured Peasant
Ben The Miner
Give Me A Thousand Warriors
The Ostler's Song
Gather Ye, Gather Ye
The Last Idler
A Modern Inferno
The World Is Moving

Political career

184x Founder & Branch Secretary of Uxbridge Chartists
184x Founder & Branch Secretary of Eton Chartists
1851 Member of committee appointed to meet Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.-Family:Lajos...
185x Chartist Delegate
185x Christian Socialist Representative
185x Founder of The Propagandists
The Propagandists
The Propagandists were a Nineteenth Century political group in The United Kingdom led by the Radical ex-Chartist John Bedford Leno. They would speak on behalf of common workers in legal and social matters and met weekly at the "Windsor Castle" pub in Holborn....
1863 Chairman of the Universal League for the Material Elevation of the Industrious Classes
Universal League for the Material Elevation of the Industrious Classes
The Universal League for the Material Elevation of the Industrious Classes was a 19th Century English political movement and organization.It was founded on 14 December 1863 by Marquis Townshend who was one of the few aristocrats to support the reform movement. It was made up of Radicals and trade...
1864 Member of committee appointed to meet Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
1865 Member of the Executive Committee of the Reform League
Reform League
The Reform League was established in 1865 to press for manhood suffrage and the ballot in Great Britain. It collaborated with the more moderate and middle class Reform Union and gave strong support to the abortive Reform Bill 1866 and the successful Reform Act 1867...
1868 Liberal Party election agent
1870 Director of Adelphi Permanent Building Society

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