On the Sixteenth of August, 1819, a crowd of some 80,000 gathered on St. Peter’s field in Manchester. Their main purpose — besides enjoying the uncommonly good weather — was to demand reform of the rigid parliamentary rules that disenfranchised most citizens of northern England. The crowd, which included not only workers in Manchester’s textile industry but also a large contingent of middle class citizens, was about to hear famed orator Henry Hunt’s address, when a regiment of sabre-wielding drunken cavalry charged onto the field, cutting down people at random. By the time the crowd has dispersed at least 15 people lay dead. Many more were wounded, some of whom may have died later.

The British victory at Waterloo, which had put an end to Napoleon’s career, having occurred just four years before, the St. Peter’s square incident soon became known as The Battle of Peterloo or  the Peterloo Massacre…