Robert Knox must have been one of the youngest delegates to
the First Chartist Convention of 1839. He was just 24 years old when his
profile appeared in The Charter newspaper.
That profile, and the sketch portrait of Knox that appeared in the same paper, now appears on Chartist Ancestors ... more »
William Lovett was without doubt the Father of the People’s
Charter. He had been a founder member of the London Working Men’s Association,
and of radical bodies before that, and was a natural choice to draft its
political platform.
John Frost is one of the best known figures in Chartism. His fame comes from
his ill-fated leadership of the Newport rebellion in December 1839, his
subsequent transportation to Australia, and the campaign that led eventually to
his return.
The General Convention of the Industrious Classes in 1839 set
an unprecedented challenge to the undemocratic House of Commons, and there was enormous
interest in the delegates elected to it by mass meetings held all over the
country.
