- Isaac Ironside
Isaac Ironside (
17 September 1808 -20 August 1870 ) was a BritishChartist andsocialist politician .Early Years
Born near
Masbrough ,Rotherham , Ironside grew up inSheffield , the son of Samuel Ironside, aWesleyan 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 brotherSamuel Ironside travelled as aMethodist missionary toNew Zealand , where he became a supporter and signatory of theTreaty of Waitangi ."Samuel Ironside in New Zealand", W. A. Chambers, ISBN 0-908596-15-4] Isaac, meanwhile, moved into politics. He began work in the foundries and undertook studies in his spare time."Ironside, Isaac", "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography "]Soon after marrying in the 1820s, Ironside moved to New Harmony,
Robert Owen 'sutopian colony. However, the colony was not a success, and the couple returned to Sheffield. [ [http://www.gerald-massey.org.uk/cooper/c_thoughts_3.htm John Arnold, Razor-Maker] ] In 1833, he joined his father's newaccountancy 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 candidateThomas Asline Ward , who stood for Sheffield in the1832 UK general election , but was narrowly defeated. In 1833, he became a founder member of Sheffield'sMechanics Institute . He increasingly became a leading figure in Sheffield Chartism, and spoke alongsideEbenezer Elliott at a mass meeting inParadise Square in 1838. [ [http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/peel/chartism/sychar.htm Chartism in South Yorkshire] ] 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. [Roger Cooter, "The Cultural Meaning of Popular Science"]Conflict
In 1839, poet
James Montgomery had Ironside removed from his post as honorary secretary of the Institute after Ironside placed eight books dealing withsocialism on the shelves. Montgomery also claimed that Ironside had encouraged subversion by opening acoffee room. [Friends of Sheffield General Cemetery, " [http://www.gencem.org/ed_resources/people/m-n/MontgomeryJamesrevised/index2.html Montgomery James] "] Instead, Ironside worked with Owen, proposingagrarian communities, and opening aHall of Science in Sheffield. He wrote a polemic attackingJohn Brindley and despite moving away from Owen, founded aWorkers' Educational Institute at the Hall of Science in 1848.Power
In 1846, Ironside was elected to Sheffield Town Council representing
Ecclesall , where he founded theCentral 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 modelfarm on broadly Owenite principles at Hollow Meadows. UtilisingToulmin Smith 'slocalist 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 undergroundsewer s were laid during the 1850s. He also supportedwomen's suffrage , and encouragedAnne Knight to found theSheffield Female Political Association . [Jane Rendall, " [http://www.worc.ac.uk/CHIC/women/rendell/glossary.htm Glossary] ", "Women's Politics in Britain 1780-1870: Claiming Citizenship"]Later Years
In 1851, Ironside founded the "Sheffield Free Press", becoming an outspoken supporter of
David Urquhart , and leading support for Toulmin Smith's candidature for Sheffield at the1852 UK general election . In 1856, he corresponded withKarl Marx . [ [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1856/letters/index.htm Letters of Marx and Engels: 1856] ] He retained his seat on the council until 1868. He died in 1870 and was buried inSheffield General Cemetery .Isaac and his wife Elizabeth had five daughtersGeneral Register Office, Indexes of Births (for the younger four daughters) and of Marriages (for Emma)] : Emma (1835), Frances (1841), Una (1845), Kate (1850), and Lilian (1852).
References
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