Key Information
Register:
NationalYear of Inscription:
2010Type of Heritage:
DocumentNominating Institution:
The John Rylands University Library, Manchester University Library
Peterloo Relief Fund Account Book
On 16 August 1819, 80,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Fields in Manchester to advocate for reform of Parliament. At least 15 protesters were killed that afternoon by government soldiers and 700 seriously injured. Spectators were brutally cut down by mounted cavalry wielding sabres, others were trampled by horses and panicking crowds.
The Peterloo Relief Fund Account Book provides vivid, first-hand documentary evidence of one of the most significant events in British history. This small volume records payments made to those who were wounded in the Massacre, and to the dependants of those killed. Some 350 names are recorded, with graphic descriptions of their injuries and the circumstances in which they were inflicted.
