Thinking of Potter's Parlour and awaiting the 26th

Dear All

While we still have this title, I thought I'd fill in a little background. John Potter was a farmer who financed his sons Thomas, Richard and William to set up a textile warehouse in Manchester. Thomas and Richard in particular were key to the political scene in the early nineteenth-century and were radicals in favour of religious freedoms, free trade and parliamentary reform. Interestingly, in terms of political lineage, Richard (or Radical Dick as he was nicknamed) married Mary Seddon in 1815 and was the grandfather of Beatrice Webb (no relation). As far as the parlour was concerned, this was a back room called Potter's Planning Parlour where radicals met to discuss politics and ways of getting parlimantary representation for Manchester. I don't know the exact location though the Potter business was Cannon Street in Manchester. So, whatever you think of Benthamism (which was the key interest of the group!), we can still appreciate that under the banner of Potter's Parlour a dynamic interchange of ideas and theories about society happened. I'm looking forward to taking up the challenge again. If people are interested, most of the information came from the following source:

A. C. Howe, ‘Potter, Thomas Bayley (1817–1898)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008

See you on the 26th.