Ten Per Cent and No Surrender: The Preston Strike, 1853–1854 - Softcover

Dutton, H. I.; King, J. E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521072573 ISBN 13: 9780521072571

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

This is a study of industrial unrest in the cotton industry at a time when the economy was on the threshold of mid-Victorian prosperity, and when Chartism was still much more than a memory. The town of Preston was the crucial battlefield, and here the masters and men fought out a bitter trial of strength. The strike of 1853-54 closed the Preston cotton industry for seven months, and disrupted production in many other towns in Lancashire. Against the implacable opposition of the masters, the strikers toured the country to organize support, and raised £100,000 in subscriptions from their fellow operatives. The dispute featured prominently in the national and provincial press, and the weavers' delegates, notably George Cowell and Mortimer Grimshaw, became celebrities overnight. After five months, the employers brought in blackleg labour, and when the detested `knobsticks' failed to break the strike they had the operatives' leaders arrested. These moves did not deter the cotton workers, who were forced back to work only when their financial reserves were exhausted. Their campaign ended defiantly, as it had begun, with cries of `Ten Per Cent still, and no surrender'. This book is their story.

About this title

Book Description

This is a study of industrial unrest in the cotton industry at a time when the economy was on the threshold of mid-Victorian prosperity, and when Chartism was still much more than a memory. The town of Preston was the crucial battlefield, and here the masters and men fought out a bitter trial of strength.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0521072573
• ISBN 13: 9780521072571
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288