Joshua Hobson (1810–1876) was a British Chartist and Tory RadicalS. Chadwick (1976), ''A Bold and Faithful Journalist'' (1810-1876), Huddersfield: Kirklees Libraries and Museums Service, esp. pp13 & 78 who was the first publisher of the ''

Book of Murder The ''Book of Murder'', also known as the Marcus Affair, was a piece of propaganda written in the 1830s in opposition to the English Poor Laws. It was presented as the work of one pseudonymous "Marcus", and was published by Joshua Hobson. It aim ...

'', a pamphlet attacking the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act.Bloy, Marjie (16 November 2002)
"The Book of Murder".The Victorian Web.
Retrieved 4 October 2010. From 1838 to 1844 he was the publisher of the Chartist newspaper '' Northern Star''.

Early life

Hobson was born in 1810 in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

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 ...

, there he was apprenticed as a joiner before working as a

handloom weaver A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

in nearby

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, Lancashire. During this time he wrote for radical papers as "the whistler at the loom".

Political activity

Hobson was associated with the Tory radical

Richard Oastler Richard Oastler (20 December 1789 – 22 August 1861) was a "Tory radical", an active opponent of Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary Reform and a lifelong admirer of the Duke of Wellington; but also an abolitionist and prominent in t ...

. He was elected to the first Central Committee of the

National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labour The National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labour was an early trade union federation in the United Kingdom, established in 1845. No attempt had been made to co-ordinate the activities of trade unions in various industries a ...

in 1845. In Leeds he established himself as a Radical publisher and printer, in Market Street,

Briggate Briggate is a pedestrianised principal shopping street in Leeds city centre, England. Historically it was the main street, leading north from Leeds Bridge, and housed markets, merchant's houses and other business premises. It contains many h ...

and this is described as "important in the history of radical, especially Owenite and Chartist publishing".

Publishing activity

After publishing the

Hobson was imprisoned for publishing further pamphlets. He was publisher and business manager of the '' Northern Star'', the campaigning newspaper at the head of

Chartism Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of ...

. This advocated the abolition of the Poor Law Amendment Act and a renewal of the Ten Hours Movement and trade union movement, as well as the six points of the ''People's Charter''. In January 1836 Hobson, alongside publisher Alice Mann, was fined (£100 for Mann and £80 for Hobson). In default of payment they were imprisoned in

York Castle York Castle is a fortified complex in the city of York, England. It consists of a sequence of castles, prisons, court, law courts and other buildings, which were built over the last nine centuries on the north-west side of the River Foss.Coop ...

for six months. From 1855 to 1871 he was the editor of the Conservative-supporting newspaper the ''Huddersfield Chronicle''.

References

External links

Victorianweb.org article on Hobson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobson, Joshua 1810 births 1876 deaths English prisoners and detainees 19th-century British publishers (people) English socialists Chartists People from Huddersfield Poor Law in Britain and Ireland English trade unionists 19th-century British businesspeople

Early life

Political activity

Publishing activity

References

Further reading

External links