Jeremiah Yates
| Jeremiah Yates | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1810 Fenton, Staffordshire Potteries, England |
| Died | 1852 (aged 42) Crown Bank, Hanley, Staffordshire Potteries |
| Cause of death | Epilepsy |
| Burial place | St. Mark's, Shelton Parish Church, Staffordshire |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Potter, Assistant Surveyor of Highways for Shelton |
| Known for | Chartism |
| Criminal charge | Riot and Intimidation |
| Criminal penalty | 1 year imprisonment, served at Millbank prison, London. |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Smith |
Jeremiah Yates was an active Chartist who served a one-year prison sentence for bringing workers out on strike during the 1842 Pottery Riots in England.
Jeremiah Yates, was born in 1810 at Fenton, Staffordshire in the Staffordshire Potteries in England. On his marriage to Ann Smith in 1837, he moved from Stoke to Stafford Row, Miles Bank, Hanley, Staffordshire. He was a potter by trade and owned a coffee house and temperance hotel which he ran with his wife from their house in Miles Bank.
During the late 1830s, Jeremiah Yates became an active follower of Chartism, a movement established in 1836, which aimed to gain political rights and influence for the working classes. At that time, due to the failures of the 1832 Reform Act, only 18% of the adult population of Britain were allowed to vote. There was also widespread poverty and unemployment and the 1834 Poor Law Amendment had deprived working people of outdoor relief, i.e., the right to receive assistance to alleviate poverty without the requirement that the recipient enter an institution. As a result, the poor had to live in workhouses, where families were separated. These injustices helped the Chartist movement to gain massive support, particularly in the north of England.
Jeremiah Yates became a keen advocate of the Chartist cause attending meetings and selling a range of Chartist literature from his coffee house, including 'Commonwealthsman' which he obtained from his friend and leading Chartist Thomas Cooper (poet). In 1843, Jeremiah named his first born son 'Jeremiah Hampden Fitzgerald Emmet Yates' after John Hampden (1594-1643), Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1763–1798) and Richard Emmet (1778-1803) who were prominent Chartist and working class heroes at that time.
In 1839, the Chartists presented the British House of Commons with a formal petition, or People’s Charter which had six main demands: a vote for all men (over 21), a secret ballot, no property qualification to become an MP, payment for MPs, electoral districts of equal size and annual elections for Parliament. Although one and a quarter million people had signed the petition, it was rejected by a vote of 235 to 46. A second petition, which also contained demands for freedom from legislation on religion and repeal of the Irish Act of Union 1800, was debated on 5 May 1842. This petition, which had just over 3.3 million signatures, was also rejected by 287 to 49 votes.
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