The political identity of “inhabitant” in early nineteenth-century England
In the decades leading up to the Reform Act 1832, inhabitant became a leading political identity adopted to campaign about national matters of general interest. This was a shift from the earlier eighteenth-century practice, when representations about national issues (other than those from interest groups) broadly came from corporate bodies, county meetings at the assizes, burgesses, freemen and freeholders. The paper outlines the broad pattern of change through the eighteenth century before presenting more granular evidence of nineteenth-century urban practices. Inhabitant had practical advantages as an organising identity. But it was also rhetorically useful, part of the legitimation of the engagement by wider sections of the population in national campaigns that occurred in these decades. The paper additionally argues for the importance of constructing a continuous picture of the changing identities people self-consciously deployed and the methods they used to organise.
Mary O’Connor is a DPhil student at Somerville College, University of Oxford, in the late stages of a thesis about the processes of organising in early-nineteenth century England, with a particular focus on (part of) London and the cotton towns of Manchester and around. All welcome- this seminar is free to attend, but advance booking is required.
This page was last updated on 30 June 2024
