Monday 21st April – Wigan, Radicalism & Gerrard Winstanley – John Winstanley
It’s always great to have one of our own members speaking at the Brindle Historical Society, especially one who can almost claim kinship with the protagonist of the talk. Our speaker this month was John Winstanley who opened his talk by asking who had heard of Gerrard Winstanley of Wigan. Scarcely any hands were raised, but by the end, the audience was delighted to have heard about the exploits of one of the founders of modern-day socialism.
John explained that his interest in Gerrard Winstanley was inspired when he heard Billy Bragg sing a cover of a song called “The world turned upside down” which was written in 1975 following the publication of a book of the same title. This book, by Christopher Hill, brought to much greater prominence the work of Winstanley who died in 1676.
When Borough status was granted to Wigan in 1246, this allowed burgesses to set up merchant guilds which bestowed upon them certain rights to use materials necessary for their trades. However, the Rector / Lords of the manor abused their powers until finally in 1618 the burgesses in Wigan had had enough and collectively went to the King with their grievances. They received an acceptance that they were able to use common land to collect certain raw materials, e.g. clay for the potters. These people became known as the Wigan Diggers.
Gerrard Winstanley was born to a family of cloth merchants in 1609 and moved to London in 1630 to conduct his trade. However, as the English civil war escalated, times became very difficult for Gerrard and in 1643 he was forced to abandon his business. He made his final payment of debts in November and moved out of London, stating, “I was beaten out of both estate and trade and forced to accept of the good will of friends crediting of me’. In near destitution, he found work in Cobham, Surrey as a cattle herdsman and in 1646 he was one of six who were fined for digging peat on the common.
It was during a period of reflection between 1647/8, that he analysed the causes of society’s ills, including his own financial collapse. In his 1648 publication, ‘Truth Lifting up its Head Above Scandals’ he vented his anger at the trading practices that had ruined his business. He asserted that “the earth is a common treasury and is a storehouse for all, giving liberty and freedom to all and that none should own it” and so he set about offering a remedy. He knew of the collective actions of the Wigan burgesses in 1618 and used their success to escalate his theory to a national level. He produced pamphlets which advocated passive occupation of common land as part of the freedom for all, for which the commoners and Parliament went to war with the King.
Today, the Digger Movement of 1649 is what he is most remembered for, since this was when he and others occupied common land on St George’s Hill in Cobham where they dug the soil, planted crops and set up shelters to occupy the commons as a future settlement where they intended to live as free people.
Ultimately, his efforts were unsuccessful since they were driven off the land and forced to flee and abandon the cause. Despite this, his writings secured his future as the foremost radical thinker of the era, although it has taken many centuries for his actions to be fully acknowledged. In commemoration of these events in the 17th century, the Wigan Diggers’ Festival became established as an annual free music event, which this year will be held on 13th September. All are welcome.
