Amidst the bottle kilns of the Staffordshire potteries, it’s not just the machinery that’s revolutionary! With no break since leaving the 19th-century equivalent of the motorway services – the coaching-inn the team now have kilns to keep alight, clay to prep and pots to make. It’s hard work for very little pay, and dissent is in the air. Will our apprentice potters, like their forebears, take up the call to arms for better working conditions and pay?
What?
The Pottery Riots in 1842 were part of the General Strike which happened in many places across the country including but not limited to, Hanley and Burslem in what is now Stoke on Trent. As the strike gained momentum, Chartists lent their support, soldiers were called in to fire on the protestors who then, rightfully, stoned them back. In the end, people were wounded and killed and property was destroyed. By the end, it would have looked like a setting in a war movie!
Where?
Staffordshire, The Black Country and North Wales were three areas where strikes have been recorded.
When?
In the middle of 1842, riots became more common than ever and the movement of Chartism received a lot of support. We will find out more about Chartism in another session.
Who?
There were people known as flywheel turners, turning large wheels used to spin pots. They worked in a team with the potter. There was a one-legged dancer who had to pump with their right leg to power a pot makers machine. Over time due to what they had to do, their body became deformed and they had one very strong leg and one normal leg. There were also clay ballers which is pretty self-explanatory!
The people were working class.
The people who were middle class would work as overseers, over the working class. They would have better pay.
The customers were intended to be middle class, but the upper class also bought from the potteries too.
Why?
It was done to make wages and fuel the industrial boom of Victorian Britain. The strike began to happen as more people were promised payment but did not get it when the pottery broke in the kiln. The pots can sometimes explode in the kiln if the clay has not been balled properly. If one person messed up in the process, then everyone lost out. This made people feel pretty terrible, angry and rebellious.
How did the Strike change Victorian Britain?
It ended up changing workers’ rights for the better. Also, the County Police was formed.
Things to find out more about
The General Strike.
The rise of British Armed History on the Beeb
The British Police Force