Image ID: 21547

Reform Bill celebration

Courtesy of Mansfield Museum and Art Gallery

Leeming Street
Mansfield
England

Engravings were made of the picture - which bear the following inscription:- Triumphal Arch erected by John Ellis, across Leeming Street, on the day of general rejoicing in Mansfield, the 20th of the 7th month, 1832, which took place the 7th day of the 6th month 1832, in commemoration of the passing of the Reform Bill. (the engravings differ slightly from the picture - which included three cannon - also donated by John Ellis) -Source A.S. Buxton, Mansfield 100 years ago, published 1923. The Reform Bill was developed to extended voting rights to previously disfranchised citizens, particularly the working and middle classes, and to allow fair, proportional representation in parliament. At Lord Grey's election victory, he tried to introduce parliamentary reform. On 22nd September 1831, the House of Commons passed the Reform Bill. However, the Tories still dominated the House of Lords, and after a long debate the bill was defeated. When people heard the news, Reform Riots took place in several British towns; the most serious of these being in Bristol, in October 1831, and in Derby. On 7th May 1832, Grey and Henry Brougham met the king and asked him to create a large number of Whig peers in order to get the Reform Bill passed in the House of Lords. William was now having doubts about the wisdom of parliamentary reform and refused. Lord Grey's government resigned and King William IV now asked the leader of the Tories, the Duke of Wellington, to form a new government. Wellington tried to do this but some Tories, including Sir Robert Peel, were unwilling to join a cabinet that was in opposition to the views of the vast majority of the people in Britain. Peel argued that if the king and Wellington went ahead with their plan there was a strong danger of a civil war in Britain. When the Duke of Wellington failed to recruit other significant figures into his cabinet, William was forced to ask Grey to return to office. In his attempts to frustrate the will of the electorate, William IV lost the popularity he had enjoyed during the first part of his reign. Once again Lord Grey asked the king to create a large number of new Whig peers. William agreed that he would do this and when the Lords heard the news, they agreed to pass the Reform Act. Many people were disappointed with the 1832 Reform Bill. Voting in the boroughs was restricted to men who occupied homes with an annual value of £10. There were also property qualifications for people living in rural areas. As a result, only one in seven adult males had the vote. Nor were the constituencies of equal size. Whereas 35 constituencies had less than 300 electors, Liverpool had a constituency of over 11,000. The scene seen here shows a celebration arch for the passing of the Reform Bill. A flag also mentions "A tear of Sympathy for Poland" which refers to the similar problems which had been occurring in that country. After the Congress of Vienna, St. Petersburg had organized its Polish lands as the Congress Kingdom of Poland, granting it a quite liberal constitution, its own army, and limited autonomy within the tsarist empire. In the 1820s, however, Russian rule grew more arbitrary, and secret societies were formed by intellectuals in several cities to plot an overthrow. In November 1830, Polish troops in Warsaw rose in revolt. When the government of Congress Poland proclaimed solidarity with the insurrectionists shortly thereafter, a new Polish-Russian war began. The rebels' requests for aid from France were ignored, and their reluctance to abolish serfdom cost them the support of the peasantry. By September 1831, the Russians had subdued Polish resistance and forced 6,000 resistance fighters into exile in France, beginning a time of harsh repression of intellectual and religious activity throughout Poland. At the same time, Congress Poland lost its constitution and its army. At this time throughout Europe there was a great fear of revolution and revolt of the working and middle classes (particularly after the events of the french revolution and Polish revolt). Hence the Government's need to reform the constitution before the people took power into it's own hands.

Date: 1832

Organisation Reference: NCCW000844

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