18 Oxford Street, Preston | Thursday evening
My dear Father
I should have written to you since I received your last1 ere this – better late than never. You ask me what the Englishmen were seeking when they turned out. The thing was confined to those working in the factories who were puffed into insurrection by the harangues of some Chartist delegates.2 The number of such persons in this part of the country is enormous. Five or six hundred men and women might be seen at a time issuing from a single factory. And you could scarcely find a spot in Lancashire from which you could not see multitudes of chimneys; they are not confined to the towns. Between this and Liverpool the country, which is very beautiful, is thickly studded with shafts. You ask me am I in any danger – not the least indeed – I could pass very quietly thro’ ten thousand Chartists and be taken for a brother. The country however is quite peaceable at present. The thing was checked in its bud, the people saw that decisive measures were about to be taken – this quelled the insurrectionary spirit.3 You ask me how I like England. I was never more comfortably situated in my life. Market rates much the same, perhaps a little dearer than in Cork, so that I can manage to do pretty well.4 As for my pay being increased,5 there is no talk of it. I was completely humbugged with respect to pay. Before I left Youghal I was promised an increase; being drafted to Kinsale the officer there knew nothing about me, and so I had to remain six months without any hope of an increase. Shortly before I went home I was recommended. My recommendation was with Col Colby while I was at home, tho’ I believe I never told you so. The thing however was smothered, I never heard a word about it since. I am now cast on the tender mercies of another stranger – Capt Tucker – a man always famous for his aversion to increasing the men’s pay, he has the Superintendence of the Survey of England6 and indeed it could not fall into worse hands – worse I mean for those employed on it. He imagines no doubt that he is working in an economical manner, but dearer work was never done than his will be. No man will exert himself under such a man, and the consequence is that he is not getting half enough of work done. The expense attendant on the correction of wrong work – work done by inferior hands – would remunerate men of ability. We are not allowed however to question the policy of our rulers. I spoke of being humbugged7 with respect to pay on account of my being shifted so often. I hope however this will ultimately be of service to me. As I often told you my improvement overbalances my pecuniary loss, and tho’ this may be of no service to me at present, it may at some future period. Seldom do I feel discontented, and when I do the hope of better times cheers my gloom. True there are some men very far above me in pay, and – I hope I may say it without being considered egoistic – I do say it without vanity – not a whit above me in other respects. That however does not make me repine. I have several of the men who were stationed in
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LT Transcript Only
your last: letter missing.
puffed into insurrection … some Chartist delegates: On 12 August 1842 a mass meeting of c. 3,000 workers called a strike in Preston’s cotton factories. The Preston Chronicle reported that ‘their objects were stated to be the attainment of “the people’s charter”, and of “a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work”’ (‘Serious Disturbances by Turn-outs and Chartists’, 13 August 1842, p. [2]). The People’s Charter of 1838, whose proponents became known as Chartists, demanded democratic reform of the political system, but had been rejected by Parliament.
The thing was checked in its bud … quelled the insurrectionary spirit: On 13 August 1842 the strikers marched on the centre of Preston in order to confront workers who were breaking the strike. They were met by police and soldiers at Lune Street outside the Corn Exchange. The Preston Chronicle reported that ‘an attempt was made to reason with the parties, and they were informed that if they did not disperse, and cease their riotous conduct, orders would be given to fire upon them. The Riot Act was read, and the police having been beaten back, the order to “Fire” was given, and several were wounded’ (‘Preston Riots’, 13 August 1842, p. [3]). Four of the strikers were killed.
Market rates much the same … manage to do pretty well: Tyndall had earlier worried, as he told his father in October 1841, that the ‘English Survey is I believe a bad speculation … Provisions are much dearer there than they are in Ireland so that the Surveyors are very tightly pinched to live in it at all’; see letter 0100.
my pay being increased: Tyndall’s pay had been increased to 2s. 10d. in either March or April 1841, but he had received no increases since then.
he has the Superintendence of the Survey of England: Captain Henry Tucker was in fact only formally in charge of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the English Ordnance Survey, which he commanded from the Divisional Office in Wakefield, although he does seem to have overseen much of the work in the other three Divisions. It was Colonel Thomas Colby who, until 1847, remained Superintendent of the Surveys for both Ireland and England.
humbugged: imposed upon, hoaxed, deluded (OED).
Please cite as “Tyndall0164,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 23 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0164