170th Anniversary of The Great Preston Lock-out 1853-1854
On 14th May 2024, 5:45pm to 8:00pm, at The Central Methodist Church, Lune Street, Preston, join the UCLAN History Team alongside colleagues for an evening examining The Great Preston Lock-out 1853-54.
The event features a series of talks on new research to be published in a special edition of Transactions of The Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire (2024), the screening of a short film by Sara-Ann Kennedy, and a performance of songs from the lock-out by Greg Butler and Tom Walsh.
Tickets are FREE but booking is required via: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/booking/t-lnmdvvy
The Great Preston Strike and Lock-out began as a series of isolated strikes at a small number of mills in August/September 1853, became a general lock-out involving most textile operatives in October 1853, and then once again became a strike in February 1854, though this time on a much larger scale than during the previous summer and continued until early May 1854. The strike lasted seven months and paralyzed the cotton industry in the city of Preston. The primary leaders were George Cowell and Mortimer Grimshaw.
The dispute was immortalised by journalists and writers such as Samuel Bamford, Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Karl Marx, who were inspired by the actions of the operatives and their famous cry of ‘Ten per cent and no surrender!’
For any further information please contact Jack Southern jsouthern2@uclan.ac.uk
