On the 11th October the same year, I again led the Skelmnthorpe Reformers to Huddersfield to a great franchise demonstration. The first meeting was held in St. George’s Square. About 40,000 people were present. The speakers were W H Leatham, M.P., E A Leatham, M.P. and Charles Bradlaugh, M.P. They had put some large letters on my head which said I was a relic of the past. I was looked at with great interest as we marched through the crowded streets. My vanity was satisfied and I came home well pleased. 

The year is 1884 and the story is being told by none other than the Flag itself.

The Skelmanthorpe Flag is now at the Tolson Museum (image courtesy of Kirklees Museums and Galleries)

My dear old master wishes me to write the story of my life, he thinks no one can do it so well as I can, and, as I lay neatly folded in my cosy drawer I let my mind go back to the day of my birth, a day in October, 1819. So I am 107 years old. 

These quotes come from an article written by Fred Lawton, weaver and historian, for the 1926 edition of Hirst Buckley’s Annual. The Flag was made in Skelmanthorpe in 1819 in the wake of the Peterloo Massacre and Fred’s article is written entirely from the Flag’s perspective.

Fred’s article was reproduced in Huddersfield Local History Society’s Journal (Vol. 2, Spring 1991)

And there is more information about the Flag on Skelmanthorpe Historical Society‘s website