The Peterloo photograph - search for Peterloo descendants event, 8 June

Peterloo 2019 is hosting an event about the search for Peterloo descendants on 8 June 2019 at Manchester Central Library.

Join historian and broadcaster Michael Wood and Michala Hulme, a professional genealogist and social historian and Manchester Metropolitan University for this special event, part of the Peterloo 2019 commemorations this summer, to mark the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo massacre.

The story behind the photo

Clearning out his parents' house after his mother's death two years ago, Michael Wood found a box of memorabilia.

There were photos, letters, postcards and books that had belonged to his father, whose family had lived in Failsworth, Manchester since the 1720s. Among them was a photo from 1884 (shown here) showing a group of Peterloo veterans from Failsworth. They are:

David Hilton (79)

next row: Thomas Chadderton (81), John Davies (78), Thomas Ogden (81), Jonathan Dawson (82)

next row: Susannah Whittaker (81), Mary Collins (83), Catherine McMurdo (88), Richard Waters

Front: Thomas Schofield (81) father of the author, Alice Schofield (79)

Event details

Join Michael as he discusses the search for Peterloo descendants, drawing on Michala Hulme's research into the photograph followed by a Q&A.

Venue: Manchester Central Library, 8 June, 2pm. Pay what you can £3, £5, £8.

Manchester Histories is leading Peterloo 2019, a programme of activity that will mark the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre with public events, learning opportunities and creative exploration developed in partnership with cultural organisations and communities across Greater Manchester. See the brochure here.

image copyright Manchester Central Library, CCBYNC2