The 1838 Anti Poor Law petition

The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 required all townships to join together and form a Union. Todmorden and Walsden were to join with Stansfield, Langfield, Heptonstall, Wadsworth and Erringden to form the Todmorden Union run by a Board of Guardians. The Board were to build a workhouse and stop the system of 'out relief' currently in operation.

In 1837 representatives from Todmorden and Walsden refused to comply with the law and refused to elect members to the Board. They said they would have nothing to do with the Union, raise their own taxes as before, and look after their own poor. Local people objected to Government interference and saw workhouses as prisons and degrading to the poor. They wanted the Act repealed and held public meetings and demonstrations.

The Overseers of Todmorden and Walsden were determined not to comply with the orders of the new Poor Law Commissioners and refused to pay their demand for money.

In November 1838 a petition was signed by over 1000 inhabitants of Todmorden and Walsden in support of the Overseers' refusal to implement the new Poor Laws.

There were 7 Highleys who signed the petition. The table shows the information provided on the document and some additional details about each person.

Highleys who signed the petition

James, John (Ramsden Wood), Samuel and William were all children of John and Grace Highley. John (Horsepasture) and Reuben were children of Thomas and Sally Highley. All 6 men were grandchildren or great grandchildren of James and Martha Highley.

Late in November 1838 riots broke out and mobs attacked houses in Mankinholes (a small hamlet high on the moors above Todmorden), breaking windows, doors and furniture. Special constables were sworn in, and soldiers, both on horse and foot, were quartered in Todmorden. Opposition in this neighbourhood was more persistent than in any other part of England and in 1844 the Union was given leave to abandon the requirement to build a workhouse, and allowed to continue with the old system of poor relief.

Todmorden and Walsden still refused to join the Union and only after 40 years did this opposition cease. A workhouse was built at Beggarington near Mankinholes and opened in 1879. The blogpost of 26th March 2019 includes a photo of the old workhouse.

(with thanks to Linda Briggs for the transcription of the petition and for her notes on the poor law opposition in Todmorden)