RAD132

The Reform Demonstration in Aberdeen. Description of...

The 1884 Reform Demonstration, organised by the Trades' Unions, was the largest demonstration to have taken place in Aberdeen since 1832. It was held as part of a campaign to equalize the county and burgh franchises. At this time, there were different qualifications, counties and burghs did not have...

RAD133

Reform Demonstration at Montrose

This page illustrates that in 1884, meetings, speeches and demonstrations in support of Reform were held all over the north east of Scotland. In 1884, radicals were trying to obtain the same right to vote in the counties as in the burghs.

RAD134

A Word in Season to the Electors of the County and...

The Reform Bill has been passed and the first elections still have to be held. The writer asks the reader to consider the candidates for the city and county carefully, and to vote in favour of the Reformers. He gives reasons why electors should not vote for the Tory candidates - James Hadden for the...

RAD135

Address to the Working Classes by the Aberdeen Working...

In these pages, the Aberdeen Working Men's Association requests that readers should unite to demand the right to vote for all. They believed that this would be the most effective method of bring about an improvement in the conditions of the working classes.

RAD136

On Democracy

Professor John Stuart Blackie opposed the 1867 Reform Bill as he believed it to be 'purely democratic' and wished to see changes in the methods of representation of the people. A course of action (eg elections), should not be determined by the vote of the mindless majority. Blackie would have liked the...

RAD137

Electioneering

A pre-1832-Reform Act look at corruption in parliamentary elections.

RAD138

The Lamentation of the Provost

This little poem points out that the council is no longer self-selected. Through burgh reform, things have changed.

RAD139

Remarks on the Bothie System and Feeing Markets

A description of conditions for farm workers in the nineteenth century. The writer also suggests some possibilities for improvement.

RAD140

Remarks on the Principles of the Opposing Candidates...

The writer, a Tory, who wished to keep the Corn Laws, entreats the Aberdeenshire voter to vote for Captain Gordon, the Tory candidate, in the first election after the reform bill has been passed.

RAD141

Essay on the condition of the agricultural population,...

This essay on the condition of farm servants in the mid nineteenth century has been written from a farmer's point of view. The farmer sees the servants as 'mere living agricultural machines' and feels that they would benefit from moral and spiritual education. The essay provides the reader with a good...

RAD142

The Aberdeen Labour Elector

This page from the Aberdeen Labour Elector shows how the Labour Party in Aberdeen analysed the Town Council - which members could, and which could not be relied upon to support them. The second last paragraph on the right hand column refers to the Eight Hour Day question and the Ploughman's Union.

RAD143

Address to the Working Classes by the Aberdeen Working...

This Chartist pamphlet urges the working classes to unite to demand the vote for all, secret voting and annual parliaments. Chartists believed that education was the best way to fight poverty and to promote an improvement in conditions for the working classes. The proposed Working Men's Association planned...

RAD144

The People's Charter, being the outline of an Act to...

This excerpt from The People's Charter describes how the proposed Act, which would allow all men aged 21 and over to vote, would work. The Balloting Place and the Ballot Box are described in detail, as are the duties of the registration and returning officers.

RAD145

Arming of the Chartists in the North of Scotland

This article describes two, peaceable Chartist meetings in Aberdeen. At the second of these, it was decided to order a gun and bayonet for each of the five hundred plus members of the 'National Guard' of Chartists.

RAD146

Letter to the Freeholders of Aberdeenshire

The writer takes account of possible arguments against the Radical cause, and proceeds to address these. Unlike many other writers of the period, he refers to the honour of Scotland and the injustices it has suffered. He believes that the Reform bill will go some way towards redressing this. He entreats...