Collections Encounter: Peterloo
| Dates: | 14 August 2026 |
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| Times: | 14:10 - 15:30 |
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| What is it: | Drop-in session |
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| Organiser: | John Rylands Library |
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Join us to explore the Peterloo Collection, revealing the tragic events on the 16 August 1819, when around 60,000 men, women and children gathered to attend a planned meeting at St Peter’s Field, in the centre of Manchester.
Find out more about why people came to hear Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt and other radical leaders demanding social reform and why orders were given to the cavalry to break up the meeting and arrest the speakers resulting in the death of 18 people and injuring hundreds.
This collection encounter offers a rare opportunity to view The Peterloo Relief Fund Account Book, a small volume that records payments made to those who were wounded in the Massacre, and to the dependants of those killed. Some 350 names, addresses are recorded, with graphic descriptions of their injuries and the circumstances in which they were inflicted, bearing witness to a violent turning point in Manchester's history.
Join us in the Reading Room on level 2 from 2:10 – 3:30pm.
This event is free, no booking required, just drop in.
Travel and Contact Information
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John Rylands Research Institute and Library
150 Deansgate
Manchester
Gtr Manchester
