Absalom Watkin

Absalom Watkin (1787–1861), was an English social and political reformer, an anti corn law campaigner, and a member of Manchester's Little Circle that was key in passing the Reform Act 1832.

Born in London to an Inn keeper, after his father died when he was aged 14, Absalom was sent to live with and work for his uncle, John Watkin. John was a cotton and calico merchant, who had a small weaving and finishing business.

With Absalom aged 18, his uncle sold the business, but the new owner Thomas Smith offered to retain Absalom as the factory manager. By 1807, he had raised enough money to buy Smith out of the business, on the back of which Absalom became rich.

In 1815, Absalom joined cotton merchant John Potter's political reform group, which group member Archibald Prentice (later editor of the Manchester Times) called the "Little Circle". Strongly influenced by the ideas of Jeremy Bentham and Joseph Priestley, they objected to a political representation system that denied booming industrial cities such as Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester proportionate representation in the House of Commons. With its core membership based around the Unitarians, members included: John Potter and his three sons Thomas (later first mayor of Manchester), Richard (later MP for Wigan) and William; Joseph Brotherton (Non-conformist minister and pioneering vegetarian); John Edward Taylor (cotton merchant); John Shuttleworth (industrialist and municipal reformer); and William Cowdroy Jnr (editor of the Manchester Gazette). All members held Non-conformist religious views, and like other members of the group, Absalom was an advocate of religious toleration. Absalom himself was a Methodist, and a supporter of non-conformist Joseph Lancaster, even financially supporting the non-conformist school that Lancaster opened in Manchester in 1813.

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