Peterloo Massacre

Peterloo massacre, public disturbance in St. Peter's Field, Manchester, England, Aug. 16, 1819, also called the Manchester massacre. A crowd of some 60,000 men, women, and children were peaceably gathered under the leadership of Henry Hunt to petition Parliament for the repeal of the corn laws and for parliamentary reform. The magistrates ordered the meeting to disband. A cavalry charge to aid the untrained Manchester yeomanry resulted in 11 deaths and injuries estimated at over 400. The government's endorsement of the magistrates' action created widespread indignation, which added moral force to the reform movement. The name Peterloo, later given the incident, was suggested by the name Waterloo.

Bibliography

See F. A. Bruton, Three Accounts of Peterloo (1921); studies by G. R. Kestevan (1967) and J. Marlow (1969).

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Peterloo Massacre

(Aug. 16, 1819) Brutal dispersal of a meeting held on St. Peter's Fields in Manchester, Eng. Called to protest unemployment and high food prices and demand parliamentary reform, the meeting drew about 60,000 people, including many women and children. Alarmed by its size, city officials ordered the city's volunteer cavalry to arrest the speakers. The untrained cavalry also attacked the peaceable crowd with sabres, and professional soldiers were sent to join the attack. After a 10-minute rout, about 500 people lay injured and 11 were dead. The incident (likened to Waterloo) came to symbolize Tory tyranny.