Industrial Revolutionaries

The Industrial Revolution transformed British society, and during the early decades of the factory system this change was usually for the worse in the case of workers. This led to constant political and social upheaval throughout the 19th century, and Heywood - being in the heartland of the Industrial Revolution - was often caught up in those events:

The conditions of Heywood workers, as described by Sam Bamford, the great Middleton Radical. 

The role of Heywoodites in the great Chartist Movement of the early 19th century.

How the Industrial Revolution brought about the end of the once-thriving handloom weavers in Lancashire.

Why a Heywoodite who was a key founder of the global Co-operative movement was featured on a Venezuelan postage stamp.

How the condition of workers in Heywood played a small role in the development of the thinking of one of the fathers of Communism.