page_title: Preston Strike of 1842
section_title: The 1842 Memorial
hierarchical_section_title: Preston Strike of 1842 / The 1842 Memorial
caption_attribution_description: English: The Preston Martyrs This statue commemorates four workers – George Sowerbutts, a 19 year old weaver from Chandler Street employed at Gardner’s Mill, Bernard McNamara, a cotton stripper aged 17 from Birk Street employed at Oxendale’s mill, William Lancaster aged 25 and John Mercer aged 27, a handloom weaver from Ribbleton Lane – who on 13th August 1842, at this end of Lune Street, in the presence of the Chief Constable and the Mayor, were shot by troops of the 72nd Highlanders. All four young workers died between one and six days after the shooting – death from gunshot wounds in those days was seldom instant. As one of the leading centres of the industrial revolution, Preston was also a centre of class conflict – vividly portrayed in Dickens’ Hard Times, published in 1854. The late 1830s and early 1840s were a period of intense industrial and political struggle, which came to a head in a combination of factory strikes and Chartist agitation for Parliamentary reform that swept the country following the rejection of the People’s Charter by the House of Commons in 1842. In Preston this took the form of a head-on collision between strikers and the authorities on 12th and 13th August, of which the shootings were the awful culmination. Whether planned or not, the four deaths had the desired effect in quelling the agitation. Source: J. S. Leigh, Preston Cotton Martyrs – the millworkers who shocked a nation (Palatine Books 2007).
context_page_description: The Preston Strike and Lune Street Riot, which took place in Preston, in Lancashire, England over 12 and 13 August 1842, were part of the 1842 General Strike or ‘Plug Plot Riots’. These strikes and disturbances were prompted by depression in 1841-2 which resulted in wage cuts of over 25%. They were influenced by the Chartist movement and the government's rejection of the petition for ‘People's Charter of 1838’, signed by over 1 million people who demanded a more democratic political system.
  Disputes spread throughout the North West of England from late July 1842. Workers in Manchester and Stockport struck on 10 August, Bolton on 11 August and in Preston a mass meeting was called for Friday 12th. The demands made at most of the strike meetings were for a return to 1840 wages and an acceptance of the Charter. One of the Chartist leaders was Preston handloom weaver Richard Marsden.
context_section_description: A permanent memorial in memory of the cotton workers was unveiled on Lune Street on 13 August 1992 - the 150th anniversary of the shooting. The memorial was designed and produced by the British artist and sculptor Gordon Young. It was inspired by Goya's painting The Third of May 1808 picturing Spanish civilians being executed in 1808 for resisting Napoleon’s troops.
  The memorial was funded and supported by the Preston Trades Union Council, Preston Labour History Group, Preston Borough Council, Lancashire County Council, the Art Department of Preston Polytechnic (now the University of Central Lancashire) and North West Arts.
  It was hoped that the placing of the memorial in Preston would remind people now and in the future that "Never without sacrifice have gains been made towards justice and democracy".
  The drinking establishment adjacent to the statues is named 1842 as of 2016 in reference to the date of the shooting.
caption: The Preston Martyrs Memorial, Lune Street
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