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John Fielden
John Fielden (1784-1849) was born at Todmorden into a Quaker family. His father
owned a business, Joshua Fielden & Sons, and at 10 years old, John began work as an apprentice in their cotton
factory. In time the five brothers of the family came to be partners
in Fielden Brothers, based at Waterside Mill, Todmorden, and
one of the largest textile companies in Britain.
From childhood, and his experience in his
father's mill, John developed a keen concern for improving the
welfare of workers, especially children, and his sympathies were
broadly shared by his brothers. The fluctuating economic fortunes
of the turn of the 19th century, which had a severe effect on
the poor around Todmorden and contributed to the movements of
Luddism and Chartism, confirmed his radicalism and over the years
he earned himself the local nickname of 'Honest John' and his
statue today stands in Centre Vale Park, Todmorden.
The Fielden Brothers petitioned Parliament
to legislate for the protection of child workers in 1816, and
began advocating a minimum wage when declining incomes took their
toll on poorer livelihoods in the early 19th century. Active
in the Manchester Political Union, agitating for adult male suffrage,
by 1831 he had co-founded the Todmorden Political Union. In 1832
he and William Cobbett were elected Radical MPs for the Oldham
constituency. These two had been key figures in the campaign
leading to the 1832 Reform Act and became leaders of the parliamentary
reform movement.
Fielden bitterly opposed the 1834 Poor Law
Act and compensation payments to former slave-owners, and supported
national public education (voting against measures giving financial
aid to church schools) and reduced working hours for factory
children and other workers. This last campaign finally led to
the Ten Hours Act of 1847, which limited women's work to ten
hours a day and inevitably, due to the division of labour, also
reduced men's and children's working day. Fielden's own preference
from the start had been an 8- hour day for all, but he was aware
that such an aim could only be realised incrementally.
John Fielden was a practising Unitarian and
in 1824 funded the construction of the first Unitarian Chapel
in Todmorden, where he was buried following his death at Skeynes
in Kent. The present Grade 1 Listed Unitarian Church, built in
1865-69, was financed in their father's memory by his three sons.
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