BC - RECORDS OF BATH CITY COUNCIL AND BATH & NORTH EAST SOMERSET COUNCIL
- BC/6 - Records relating to property owned or administered by Bath City Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council
  - BC/6/9 - Miscellaneous records relating to property owned by Bath City Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council
    - BC/6/9/1 - Bath City Council/Bath & North East Somerset Council. Collected records relating to the building and furnishing of the Guildhall
      - BC/6/9/1/1 - Collected papers relating to the building, upkeep and use of the eighteenth-century Guildhall, Bath

Petition for the use of the Banqueting Room in the Guildhall, for a meeting of ladies of Bath to hear an address from Henry Vincent, 1813-1878, chartist, on the benefits of political knowledge

Reference Number: BC/6/9/1/1/25
Level of Description: Item
Title: Petition for the use of the Banqueting Room in the Guildhall, for a meeting of ladies of Bath to hear an address from Henry Vincent, 1813-1878, chartist, on the benefits of political knowledge
Date: 25 Sep 1838
Extent: Extent: 1 item
Description: The request to use the Guildhall for the meeting was made by the Chartist Solicitor, and Bath resident, William Prowting Roberts (1806-1871) and given to the Mayor. It was signed by 114 men described as, 'burgesses, ratepayers and householders', all giving their addresses. The requisition was discussed during the council meeting on the 25 September 1838 (see Council minutes, p.297). James Crisp, an alderman and active member of the Bath Political Union, proposed that permission for the use of the room be granted and it was seconded by Mr Goldstone. The vote was 7 for and 21 against (including Mr Falkner who 'could not see what advantage the ladies could derive from an address on political knowledge.' (Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, Thursday 27 September 1838). Although the use of the Guildhall was refused, the meeting took place on Monday 1 October 1838 in Larkhall. The Examiner (7 October 1838) headlined its article, 'Ultra-radical demonstration of the Bath ladies' and gave an account of event which it claimed was attended by 4000 ladies and presided over by Mrs Bolwell, wife of Thomas Bolwell ('Balwell' is probably a misprint, as is 'Hartshall Gardens').

Henry Vincent (1813-1878) was a printer who became active in radical political circles. He was a skilled orator and travelled extensively promoting the People's Charter. He operated predominantly in the West Country and south Wales and established the Western Vindicator where he published weekly accounts of his travels and speeches in the West Country, including Bath.

The ladies continued to meet after the 1 October 1838. An account of a meeting in Bath in July 1839 describes Vincent presenting a medal from the 'radical ladies' of Bath to a policeman who had 'refused to be armed with a cutlass on Whit-Monday last, as a precaution against the Chartists and was consequently dismissed from the force.' Mention is also made of another meeting in Larkhall gardens (July 1839) attended by Vincent. Although the account states that 'not more than 300 persons' were present, 'the majority' were women. (Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, Thursday 11 July 1839).