The role of a museum curator is essentially one of a storyteller; bringing to life the stories behind seemingly ordinary objects. Who owned them? What were they used for? Why have we kept them? Some objects instantly evoke memories for people while others need a little more explanation.

An otherwise ordinary looking bell on display at Portland Basin Museum is one such object.

At first glance it seems nothing special, it’s just like any other bell. But it was at the centre of one of the most important and turbulent periods of Tameside’s history.

The Chartist movement was a working class movement calling for a fairer system of government. Their People’s Charter included demands such as the vote for every male adult and votes by secret ballot. The movement was particularly strong in the cotton towns around Manchester where it drew support from weavers, factory workers and the unemployed. By 1842 there were around sixty Chartist associations in Lancashire and Cheshire.

In 1842 Parliament rejected the People’s Charter, despite a petition signed by over three million people. At the same time, an economic downturn had led cotton mill owners to reduce workers’ wages. Their decision was met with anger by workers and, although some mill owners reversed their decision, the majority pressed ahead with the cuts.

Workers in Stalybridge went on strike and angry crowds broke into mills. Their practice of removing plugs from the boilers to stop the machinery led to the strike being known as the Plug Riots. Workers from neighbouring towns joined in and marched to Manchester demanding reforms. The strike continued for almost two weeks until workers had no choice but to return to the mills.  

The rejection of the charter for the third time in 1848 led to more riots across the country. Mass demonstrations took place across Tameside, with Hyde being particularly active.  Among those arrested following the disorder was Amos Armitage, who was charged with ringing this bell through the streets of Hyde to call together meetings of fellow chartists.

A century later, local artist Harry Rutherford interpreted the scenes in his painting of the Chartists’ House. The Chartist Hall sits proudly in the background, while in the foreground Rutherford has painted a tableau of characters involved in the uprising. The local hero Joseph Rayner Stevens is talking from the platform as the militia is marching in to arrest him. The work is not a historical representation of the events, rather a celebration of local pride and history. Part of Tameside Museums’ collection, it is one of the very few paintings celebrating the significant political movement of Chartism in the North West.

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