The publisher Thomas Jonathan Wooler (1786 – 29 October 1853) was active in the Radical movement of early 19th century Britain, best known for his satirical journal ''

The Black Dwarf ''The Black Dwarf'' (1817–1824) was a satirical radical journal of early 19th century Britain. It was published by Thomas Jonathan Wooler, starting in January 1817 as an eight-page newspaper, then later becoming a 32-page pamphlet. It was pric ...

''. He was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

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 due to ...

and

Seditious Meetings Act 1817 The Seditious Meetings Act 1817 (57 Geo. III c. 19) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which made it illegal to hold a meeting of more than 50 people. Content The provisions of the Act were similar t ...

) 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 Sedition and seditious libel were criminal offences under English common law, and are still criminal offences in Canada. Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection ...

. 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. He held many important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secret ...

'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 Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. T ...

. 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 was passed, he gave up politics to become a lawyer. Wooler went on to write books and pamphlets on the British legal system, including ''Every Man his Own Lawyer'' in 1845.

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External links

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 19th-century English lawyers