W. Hamish Fraser

Dumfries and Galloway was caught up in the struggle for political reform that became focused on the ‘People’s Charter’ in the 1830s and 1840s. The most significant mobilisation of working people in the nineteenth century attracted skilled craftsmen whose earnings and status were being diminished by industrial change. They saw it not simply as a campaign for political rights, but as a means of transforming social as well as economic relationships largely through their own combined efforts. Although none of the Dumfries leaders came to national prominence, the town was a regular venue for Chartist lecturers. Almost all commented that they found a stable and committed group of activists there, who established a very successful reading room and co-operative society and who continued the struggle for the cause despite internal divisions and external hostility.