Benjamin Parsons
Benjamin Parsons, the son of Thomas Parsons and his wife, Anna Stratford Parsons, was born on 16th February 1797 at Nibley in Gloucestershire. He was the youngest child in a family of eight. After attending the parsonage school at Dursley and the grammar school at Wotton under Edge, he was apprenticed for seven years to a tailor at Frampton-on-Severn. (1)
Both his parents were dead by the time he reached the age of fifteen. Three years later he became a Sunday School teacher. He joined the church at Rodborough Tabernacle in 1821. It had originally been established by Selina Shirley, Countess of Huntington. It had "retained its philosophy, which, by promoting a more practical Christianity through good works and deeds, became increasingly relevant to the demands of an industrialising society." (2)
Parsons studied at Cheshunt College before preaching in Swansea for nine months in 1825, and a short stay at Rochdale, in 1826 Parsons was ordained to the Congregational church at Ebley, near Stroud. On 3rd November 1830 he married Amelia Fry. There was no school in the village and Parsons devoted himself to the education of the inhabitants. (3)
Benjamin Parsons: Radical Preacher
Benjamin Parsons was able to reach out to working-class families living in the area. The chapel was extensively refurbished and the congregation was built up from about twenty to well over one thousand worshippers within the space of a few years. Sunday schools were established to cater for over four hundred children. (4)
Paul Hawkins Fisher was someone who watched Benjamin Parsons giving sermons at his chapel. "His complexion was dark, his features irregular but very flexible, his voice powerful; and when excited in speaking his eyes, flashing from beneath his large, black scowling eyebrows, gave fearful effect to his fierce denunciations... In opposing persons or things obnoxious to him." (5)
It has been pointed out: "In many ways he was a natural leader. Gifted intellectually and with considerable oratorical skills, Parsons was able to help the weaker members of society precisely because he had been plunged into and experienced poverty himself. It left an indelible mark on his mind and he never forgot his humble roots. The opportunity of renewed social mobility - moving from lowly artisan to esteemed clergyman - only served to reinforce a personal belief in the power of the Bible as a radical book and that his life's mission was to bring about, on earth, the brotherhood of man." (6)
Moral Force Chartism
Many working people were disappointed when they realised that the 1832 Reform Act did not give them the vote. This disappointment turned to anger when the reformed House of Commons passed the 1834 Poor Law. In June 1836 William Lovett, Henry Hetherington, John Cleave and James Watson formed the London Working Men's Association (LMWA). Although it only ever had a few hundred members, the LMWA became a very influential organisation. At one meeting in 1838 the leaders of the LMWA drew up a Charter of political demands. (7)
(i) A vote for every man twenty-one years of age, of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for a crime.
(ii) The secret ballot to protect the elector in the exercise of his vote. (iii) No property qualification for Members of Parliament in order to allow the constituencies to return the man of their choice. (iv) Payment of Members, enabling tradesmen, working men, or other persons of modest means to leave or interrupt their livelihood to attend to the interests of the nation. (v) Equal constituencies, securing the same amount of representation for the same number of electors, instead of allowing less populous constituencies to have as much or more weight than larger ones. (vi) "Annual Parliamentary elections, thus presenting the most effectual check to bribery and intimidation, since no purse could buy a constituency under a system of universal manhood suffrage in each twelve-month period." (8)
When supporters of parliamentary reform held a convention the following year, Lovett was chosen as the leader of the group that were now known as the Chartists. Parsons was very active in the group. The four main leaders of the Chartist movement had been involved in political campaigns for many years and had all experienced periods of imprisonment. Parsons was especially close to Henry Vincent who published a teetotal manifesto that attempted to link chartism with the refusual to drink alcohol. He regarded Vincent as "the most eloquent advocate of the people's rights". He also supported Joseph Sturge, when he established the Complete Suffrage Union, an organisation that promoted class conciliation. He described Sturge as a "real friend of the people". (9)
Educationalist
Benjamin Parsons lectured to the men in the evening, established a night school in the chapel. To support himself and his family he also ran a fee-paying school that was opened in 1840. A militant teetotaller and an active member of the Temperance Society. Parsons also supported the abolition of slavery and the repeal of the Corn Laws. He was also a keen advocate of voluntarism in education. (10)
Benjamin Parsons developed a reputation for holding "extreme opinions" who was so supremely confident in his own ability that he was sometimes considered to be arrogant: "In opposing persons or things obnoxious to him... His manner was bold, undaunted, scornful and decisive... and he employed unsparingly his terrrible powers of sarcasm". (11)
Paul M. Walmsley claims that Parsons was a born teacher who lectured to the people on virtually everything that he read. (12) This included talks on an impressive range of topics from mechanics, chemistry, physiology, history and geography. He also taught controversial topics, such as the French Revolution, the British Constitution. One of his most popular lectures was the Bible as a radical book. (13)
The authors of Friends of the People (2002) have pointed out: "Banjamin Parsons... unquestionably became something of a cult figure in the community. A man possessed of great national ability and strength of character, he was fearless in displaying and defending his own particular convictions. In his sermons, orations and addresses his individuality was often expressed in a charismatic style and with a distinct body language which could have an electrifying effect on audiences." (14)
Benjamin Parsons believed strongly that the minds of girls were equal to those of boys and therefore both sexes should be offered the same educational opportunities at school. In 1842 he published the Mental and Moral Dignity of Women. An advertisement for the book claimed that "in this work the author argues that the mental powers of women are equal and her moral feelings superior, to those of men." (15)
Christianity and Universal Suffrage
In 1848 Parsons published The Bible and the Six Points of the Charter (1848) where he argued that the Bible provided information that suggested that people should be given the vote. Parsons believed that Chartism was sanctioned by God: "From Genesis to Revelations we have denunciations against the ungodliness of the rich and at the same time the most tender sympathy towards the poor... yet good men are excluded from the polls and parliament because they do not possess certain amount of riches." (16)
Parsons was one of the leaders of the Moral Force Chartists. He argued: "Do it by moral means alone. Not a pike, a blunderbuss, a brick-bat, or a match, must be found in your hands. In physical force your opponents are mightier than you but in moral force you are ten thousand times stronger than they. The best way to prove that you deserve your rights, is to show that you respect the rights of others, and that you will not redress even a wrong by revenge, but by reason and justice alone. Your manner ought to demonstratethat... you have no connection with rudeness or vulgarity." (17)
Feargus O'Connor, the leader of Physical Force group, made speeches where he spoke of being willing "to die for the cause" and promising to "lead people to death or glory". O'Connor argued that the concessions the chartists demanded would not be conceded without a fight, so there had to be a fight. (18) Edwin Paxton Hood claims that Parson's pointed out "the wickedness and vice of Fergus O'Connor and his miserable band of simple dupes and ambitious knaves". (19)
Church leaders became concerned by Parsons' attack on the ruling class: "There is scarcely a law on our statue book which is more iniquitous than the law respecting enclosures. It is brimful of the old aristocratic injustice which framed the Corn Laws and which seems always to proceed on the principle that the poor must be robbed to enrich the rich." (20)
In 1854 Parsons became very ill and was forced into retirement. On 1st August nearly 1,400 people assembled at a tea party given in his honour and in addition to a "purse of three hundred sovereigns" Parsons received £100 that was raised on the day. (21)
Benjamin Parsons died aged 58 on 10th January 1855 and was buried in his own chapel graveyard. On 23rd September 1857 a granite obelisk was erected by public subscription over his grave.
Primary Sources
(1) Owen R. Ashton and Paul A. Pickering, Friends of the People (2002)
Banjamin Parsons... unquestionably became something of a cult figure in the community. A man possessed of great national ability and strength of character, he was fearless in displaying and defending his own particular convictions. In his sermons, orations and addresses his individuality was often expressed in a charismatic style and with a distinct body language which could have an electrifying effect on audiences...
In many ways he was a natural leader. Gifted intellectually and with considerable oratorical skills, Parsons was able to help the weaker members of society precisely because he had been plunged into and experienced poverty himself. It left an indelible mark on his mind and he never forgot his humble roots. The opportunity of renewed social mobility - moving from lowly artisan to esteemed clergyman - only served to reinforce a personal belief in the power of the Bible as a radical book and that his life's mission was to bring about, on earth, the brotherhood of man.
(2) Paul Hawkins Fisher, Notes and Recollections of Stroud (1871) page 53
Benjamin Parsons'... complexion was dark, his features irregular but very flexible, his voice powerful; and when excited in speaking his eyes, flashing from beneath his large, black scowling eyebrows, gave fearful effect to his fierce denunciations... In opposing persons or things obnoxious to him... His manner was bold, undaunted, scornful and decisive... and he employed unsparingly his terrrible powers of sarcasm.
(3) Benjamin Parsons, The Bible and the Six Points of the Charter (1848)
From Genesis to Revelations we have denunciations against the ungodliness of the rich and at the same time the most tender sympathy towards the poor... yet good men are excluded from the polls and parliament because they do not possess certain amount of riches... We only demand that the lords shall not rob us of our property, destroy the majesty of the laws or the monarch, nor impoverish and ruin the land of our fathers... To say that a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven, is too ignorant or too wicked to be entrusted with the franchise, is a libel on the Clergy, on the Church, and on Christianity.
(4) Benjamin Parsons, Tract for Fustian Jackets (1849)
Do it by moral means alone. Not a pike, a blunderbuss, a brick-bat, or a match, must be found in your hands. In physical force your opponents are mightier than you but in moral force you are ten thousand times stronger than they. The best way to prove that you deserve your rights, is to show that you respect the rights of others, and that you will not redress even a wrong by revenge, but by reason and justice alone. Your manner ought to demonstrate that... you have no connection with rudeness or vulgarity.
Student Activities
Child Labour Simulation (Teacher Notes)
Road Transport and the Industrial Revolution (Answer Commentary)
Richard Arkwright and the Factory System (Answer Commentary)
Robert Owen and New Lanark (Answer Commentary)
James Watt and Steam Power (Answer Commentary)
The Domestic System (Answer Commentary)