Thomas Jonathan Wooler (1786 – 29 October 1853) was a British publisher active in the

Radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

movement of early 19th century Britain, best known for his satirical journal '' The Black Dwarf''. He was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and lived there for a short time before moving to London as a printer's apprentice. He worked for the radical journal ''The Reasoner'', then became editor of ''The Statesman''. His interest in legal matters led him to write and publish the pamphlet ''An Appeal to the Citizens of London against the Packing of Special Juries'' in 1817. In response to the Gagging Acts (

Treason Act 1817 The Treason Act 1817 ( 57 Geo. 3. c. 6) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It made it high treason to assassinate the Prince Regent. It also made permanent the Treason Act 1795, which had been du ...

and

Seditious Meetings Act 1817 The Seditious Meetings Act 1817 ( 57 Geo. 3. c. 19) was an act) of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made it illegal to hold a meeting of more than 50 people. Content The provisions of the act were similar to those of previous Seditio ...

) passed by the British government in January 1817, Wooler started publishing ''The Black Dwarf'' as a new radical unstamped (untaxed) journal. Within three months, he was arrested and charged with

seditious libel Seditious libel is a criminal offence under common law of printing written material with seditious purposethat is, the purpose of bringing contempt upon a political authority. It remains an offence in Canada but has been abolished in England and ...

. The prosecution claimed that Wooler had written articles libelling

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Foreign Secretary, ...

's government, but Wooler, defending himself by convincing the jury that although he had published the article, he had not written it himself, and therefore was not guilty. He continued to publish ''The Black Dwarf'' and to use it to argue for parliamentary reform. Wooler was an active supporter of Major John Cartwright and his Hampden Club movement. In 1819, he joined the campaign to elect Sir Charles Wolseley to represent Birmingham in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. Birmingham had not been given permission to have an election, and the campaigners were arrested and charged with "forming a seditious conspiracy to elect a representative to Parliament without lawful authority." Wooler was found guilty and sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. After his most prominent patron, Cartwright, died in 1824, Wooler gave up publishing ''the Black Dwarf''. For a while, he edited the '' British Gazette'', but, after the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

was passed, he gave up politics to become a lawyer, though Lincoln's Inn refused to admit him as a student in 1825. He attempted to obtain writ of ''mandamus'' against the Inn, but was unsuccessful. He then became a prisoners' advocate at the police-courts, and wrote books and pamphlets on the British legal system, including ''Every Man his Own Lawyer'' in 1845.

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Expanding ethical discourse in Wooler’s Black Dwarf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooler, Thomas Jonathan English activists English non-fiction writers English legal writers 1786 births 1853 deaths English magazine editors English male non-fiction writers