Peterloo Massacre

Peterloo Massacre
First appearance:	The Peterloo Massacre
Appearances:	COMIC: Mancopolis [+]Loading...["Mancopolis (comic story)"]
Dates:	16 August 1819
Location:	St Peter's Field
Combatants
Working class protesters
The Manchester yeomanry
Leaders
Unknown
Unknown
Strength
About 80,000 unarmed civilians
A legion of soldiers on horseback
Result
to be added

The Peterloo Massacre was an event which occurred on 16 August 1819. The Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, and Tegan Jovanka materialised in Manchester two days before the massacre and were caught up in the conflict. It marked the beginning of the campaign of universal suffrage.

It was a fixed point in time. (AUDIO: The Peterloo Massacre ^[+]Loading...["The Peterloo Massacre (audio story)"])

History

Mr Hurley, a participant in the conflict, on horseback. (AUDIO: The Peterloo Massacre ^[+]Loading...["The Peterloo Massacre (audio story)"])

Preparations

to be added

The protest

On the morning of Sunday 16 August 1819, the protesters gathered and began marching towards St Peter's Field. Many of them were dressed in their Sunday best. They carried several banners saying things like “Equal Representation”, “Vote by Ballot”, “Annual Parliaments”, and "Love". There were about eighty thousand protesters, much more than the city fathers expected.

to be added

Legacy

The Peterloo Massacre was a major turning point in the history of the working class. It inspired many to speak out and push for reform.

Percy Shelley wrote a poem about the massacre. The Fifth Doctor recited an excerpt of it to his companions:

"Rise, like lions after slumber

In unvanquishable number!

Shake your chains to earth like dew

Which in sleep had fallen on you:

Ye are many — they are few!"

Historians debated the exact number of causalities for many years. They eventually reached the conclusion that there were six hundred and fifty four. (AUDIO: The Peterloo Massacre ^[+]Loading...["The Peterloo Massacre (audio story)"])

Behind the scenes

Percy Shelley wrote a poem about the Massacre in real life. It was called The Masque of Anarchy, although this was never stated in The Peterloo Massacre ^[+]Loading...["The Peterloo Massacre (audio story)"]. The Doctor quoted its final stanza.

Christopher Eccleston had an ancestor who was at the event in an encounter with the military. Eccleston had also written an introduction for a graphic novel based around the event.