It was Keir Hardie who called Alex Park “the people’s park” in 1893 and I rather think that remains a pretty good alternative name for the place.*
On any day of the week at any time of the year there will loads of people doing something in the park, from walking the dog, to watching the sun glint on the lake or kicking a ball and of course once the weather gets just a little like summer out will come the picnic baskets, the old rugs and a heap of interesting sandwiches.
All of which fulfils Keir Hardie’s reference to the people’s park.
But Mr Hardie’s description was less about the park’s recreational opportunities and more about its place as a forum for debate, and on that day in May 1893 he wasn’t alone in addressing the crowds.
There were according to the newspaper reports a number of platforms each with speakers but all united by the issue of demanding an eight hour working day summed up by the slogan “work for all out work for none.”
But like some many demonstrations down the centuries it was also about free speech with Mr Hardie condemning “the authorities in refusing the legitimate demand of the citizens to the free use of the people's park, and regards that refusal as an overt attempt to crush the right of free meeting and free speech.”*
And that has intrigued me. For almost a century one of the popular meeting places had been Stevenson Square, and long before that peaceful assembly gathered in St Peter’s Field the centre of much popular unrest had been New Cross at the junction of Oldham Street and Great Ancoats Street.
But now increasingly protest marches would finish with a rally in the park.
It was here that Mrs Annot Robinson spoke in 1908 spoke to a crowd of thousands on “Votes for Women” and was undeterred by a section of the crowd “of young fellows inclined to be hostile [and] frequently hostile.”
Now I have great admiration for Annot Robinson juggled the demands of being a single parent and played an important part in the politics of the labour movement here in Manchester.***
And two years later she was back, speaking from the Women Workers' platform, she argued “that women were ‘too cheap@ in the home and in the labour market. ...........The best step that could be taken to raise the position of women in society was to allow them to have some share of political power.
There were cases in Manchester, Mrs. Robinson went on, of girls who worked long hours for six, seven, or eight shillings a week. In the mackintosh trade wages sank even below that. It was this underpayment of girls that incited them to evil living. If women were given an opportunity of influencing the laws of the land matters would be mended.”****
Nor was she alone because during the period after her first meeting there were a whole series of political rallies in support of extending the vote to women.
It was a tradition of political protest which has continued.
There will be many like me who remember finishing marches in the park in the 1970s and 80s and I even came across a reference to the veteran fascist Oswald Mosley attempting to peddle his bankrupt ideas.
So there you have it ........... the people’s park more than just a place for a picnic.
At which point I just have to say that the banner of the Moss Side Constituency Labour Party often appeared in the park but not in this picture which was taken in Liverpool in 1980 on another demonstration.
So if anyone has a picture of a demonstration in the park I would love to see it.
Location; Alexandra Park
Picture; popular protest, the Moss Side CLP banner, Liverpool, 1980 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* The Alexandra Park Labour Demonstration, Manchester Guardian, May 8 1893
**Annot Robinson, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Annot%20Robinson
*** Votes for Women, Interruption in Alexandra Park, Manchester Guardian, July 13 1908
**** Women's Suffrage, The Conciliation Bill, Meeting in Alexandra Park, Manchester Guardian, October 10 1910
 |
| Expressing free speech, 1980 |
All of which fulfils Keir Hardie’s reference to the people’s park.
But Mr Hardie’s description was less about the park’s recreational opportunities and more about its place as a forum for debate, and on that day in May 1893 he wasn’t alone in addressing the crowds.
There were according to the newspaper reports a number of platforms each with speakers but all united by the issue of demanding an eight hour working day summed up by the slogan “work for all out work for none.”
But like some many demonstrations down the centuries it was also about free speech with Mr Hardie condemning “the authorities in refusing the legitimate demand of the citizens to the free use of the people's park, and regards that refusal as an overt attempt to crush the right of free meeting and free speech.”*
 |
| Mrs Annot Robinson, date unknown |
But now increasingly protest marches would finish with a rally in the park.
It was here that Mrs Annot Robinson spoke in 1908 spoke to a crowd of thousands on “Votes for Women” and was undeterred by a section of the crowd “of young fellows inclined to be hostile [and] frequently hostile.”
Now I have great admiration for Annot Robinson juggled the demands of being a single parent and played an important part in the politics of the labour movement here in Manchester.***
And two years later she was back, speaking from the Women Workers' platform, she argued “that women were ‘too cheap@ in the home and in the labour market. ...........The best step that could be taken to raise the position of women in society was to allow them to have some share of political power.
There were cases in Manchester, Mrs. Robinson went on, of girls who worked long hours for six, seven, or eight shillings a week. In the mackintosh trade wages sank even below that. It was this underpayment of girls that incited them to evil living. If women were given an opportunity of influencing the laws of the land matters would be mended.”****
Nor was she alone because during the period after her first meeting there were a whole series of political rallies in support of extending the vote to women.
 |
| Busy with the business of protest, 1960 |
There will be many like me who remember finishing marches in the park in the 1970s and 80s and I even came across a reference to the veteran fascist Oswald Mosley attempting to peddle his bankrupt ideas.
So there you have it ........... the people’s park more than just a place for a picnic.
At which point I just have to say that the banner of the Moss Side Constituency Labour Party often appeared in the park but not in this picture which was taken in Liverpool in 1980 on another demonstration.
So if anyone has a picture of a demonstration in the park I would love to see it.
Location; Alexandra Park
Picture; popular protest, the Moss Side CLP banner, Liverpool, 1980 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* The Alexandra Park Labour Demonstration, Manchester Guardian, May 8 1893
**Annot Robinson, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Annot%20Robinson
*** Votes for Women, Interruption in Alexandra Park, Manchester Guardian, July 13 1908
**** Women's Suffrage, The Conciliation Bill, Meeting in Alexandra Park, Manchester Guardian, October 10 1910
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