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Conclusion
Chartism was diverted into other ideas, like village settlements (O'Connorville) which ultimately failed. The third and final peak was in 1848 when the government met mass demonstrations with a show of force and, effectively, the movement was over. There was little impact in the Potteries.
An interesting sidelight on the movement is revealed by a case reported in the Staffordshire Advertiser in 1848:
THE POTTERY LAND SCHEME – ACTION FOR TRESPASS: Sampson Goodhein v. Jeremiah Yates & Thomas Mountford.
The plaintiff, who is a hat manufacturer, residing at Hanley, and of the Hebrew persuasion, sought to recover £7.10s from the defendants under the following circumstances: - in the course of last year, some of the Chartists in Hanley and Shelton originated a land scheme, and entered on the occupation of six acres situate on the Bucknall New Road, Hanley, at a yearly rent of £30. This was done with a view of sub-letting the land to the working classes in small pieces for gardens... (the details of the case are complicated and involved repossession of a plot) Mr Williams for the defendants, admitted that the defendants had acted improperly in putting the lock on the door, and so obtaining possession, but thought there were extenuating circumstances in the case. Out of purely benevolent feeling, they had taken a plot of land, and made themselves responsible for an annual payment of £30, that they might let it out to working people for gardens. This they did without receiving the slightest profit or remuneration for their trouble... (Judgment was given for the plaintiff) Staffordshire Advertiser Newspaper 28.10.48
(Jeremiah Yates was a local coffee house owner and potter and distributor of radical publications. He served a year at Stafford Gaol after the 1842 riots, but returned to the movement after his release, standing for election as Highway Surveyor in 1845, holding the post until his death in 1852, aged 42.)
By the 1850s, more developed socialist thinking and advanced radicals now termed themselves "socialists". The last Chartist conference was held in 1858.
updated: 04 Jan 2003
on the life of Jeremiah Yates