Thomas Spence - 1770s geordie land rights champion
Tony Gosling
tony at cultureshop.org.uk
Sat May 26 21:06:41 BST 2012
Thomas Spence was born in Newcastle in 1750.
Spence was the leading English revolutionary of
his day, with an unbudgeable committment to
individual and press freedom and the common ownership of the land.
Three Spence texts can be found at:
http://www.ditext.com/spence/dickinson.html
The Constitution of a Perfect Commonwealth
The Restorer of Society to its Natural State
The Important Trial of Thomas Spence
His tracts, such as The Rights of Man (Spence
was, perhaps, the first to use the phrase) and
The Rights of Infants, along with his utopian
visions of 'Crusonia' and 'Spensonia', were the
most far-reaching radical statements of the
period. Spence was born in poverty and died the
same way, after long periods of imprisonment, in 1814.
Although sometimes hailed as England's 'first
modern socialist', Spence is not easily corralled
by later ideologies. He was a mortal enemy of
tyranny and what he called 'giantism' of all kinds.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://thomas-spence-society.co.uk/
UK Government cuts ... are a direct attack on
the things Thomas Spence cared about: education,
community and the rights of ordinary people. Here
are a few links to protest groups:
http://www.coalitionofresistance.org.uk/
http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/
http://anticuts.com/
A Memorial for Spence
Unveiled on the 260th anniversary of his birth
21st June 2010
In bright sunshine a good crowd turned up to see
the unveiling of the memorial plaque, sited at
the bottom of Broad Garth, on Newcastle's
Quayside. Keith Armstrong and the Thomas Spence
Trust have been campaigning for years to get a
permanent commemoration for Spence in his home
city. They deserve the thanks of all those who
care about Spence and the English radical tradition.
Emacs!
Blogs on the Spence memorial events:
http://keithyboyarmstrong.blogspot.com/
http://zine-it-yourself.blogspot.com/2010/06/thomas-spence-on-midsummers-day.html
Spence tribute song sung by Gary Miller:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg41urGZtNs
James Murray and Thomas Spence prepared spoken
and written propaganda against the enclosing and
engrossing of land and against those who
threatened the customary rights of the small
freeholders and tenants. Together the radicals
encouraged the freemen of Newcastle to challenge
the decision taken by the town corporation. In
order to instigate legal proceedings they quite
deliberately broke part of the fence and a gate
into the enclosed section of the Town Moor.
Serjeant Glynn was then hired to defend the
customary and charter rights of the freemen
burgesses. In August 1773 the decision of the
Northumberland assizes vindicated the claims of
the freemen and demanded that the corporation of
Newcastle should join the freemen in securing an
act of parliament to confirm this decision of the
court. In June 1774 the Newcastle Town Moor Act
limited the leasing of land on the Town Moor to
one hundred acres and to a term of seven years.
The decision to lease was to be made by the freemen burgesses.
The Newcastle Town Moor affair had a profound
effect on Thomas Spence and led him to develop
his Land Plan which was to be the focus of all
the rest of his life's work. In 1775 a
Philosophical Society was established in
Newcastle and Spence became a member. The society
occasionally debated political questions. One
such topic of discussion was the question, 'Is
the resistance of the Americans to taxation
without representation, constitutional or
unconstitutional?' On 8 November 1775 Thomas
Spence created considerable dissension in the
Philosophical Society as a result of his
notorious lecture on 'The Real Rights of Man'.
This was the first public occasion on which
Spence vehemently denounced the evils of private
property and proposed that each parish should
control the land within its borders for the
benefit of every inhabitant of the parish.
Although this lecture was not well received when
it was delivered, Spence proceeded to publish it
without the permission of the Philosophical
Society and to hawk it about the streets of
Newcastle. Despite the protests of some members,
especially the Rev. James Murray, Spence was
expelled from the Philosophical Society. This did
not prevent him from reiterating his views in The
Poor Man's Advocate (Newcastle, 1779) nor from
engaging in violent disputes in other clubs.
Spence was a member of a more informal debating
society of young men who met in the evenings at
his schoolroom in the Broad Garth, Newcastle.
There he tried to convert the members to his
belief that landed property should be owned by
the local community and not by private
individuals. At one meeting, when Thomas Bewick,
who was later to gain fame as an engraver,
opposed his views, the dispute ended in a fight
with quarter staffs. Bewick gave Spence a beating.
http://www.ditext.com/spence/dickinson.html
Thomas Spence's original 1775 pamphlet found
Spence's key statement was delivered to the
Newcastle Philosophical Society in 1775. Spence
was kicked out of the Society for printing his
speech and selling it on the streets of Newcastle.
For many years the only edition that was thought
to survive of Spence's lecture was from 1793,
titled 'Rights of Man'. Dr David Gardner-Medwin
recently discovered the orginal pamphlet at the
Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society
(founded 1793). We now know it was originally
titled 'Property in Land Every One's Right'. This
is a significant discovery and will be welcomed
by everyone with an interest in British political
history. A comparison of the original and later
editions can be found at the end of the 'Debates' pages.
new publications
**REPRINT FROM THE THOMAS SPENCE TRUST
THE HIVE OF LIBERTY: THE LIFE & WORK OF THOMAS SPENCE (1750-1814)
Edited by Keith Armstrong, with an Introduction
by Professor Joan Beal and a new essay by Professor Malcolm Chase
PRICE £5 ISBN 1 871536 15 4 ORDERS (ADD £2
POSTAGE PER COPY) TO: THE THOMAS SPENCE TRUST, 93
WOODBURN SQUARE, WHITLEY LODGE, WHITLEY BAY, TYNE
& WEAR NE26 3JD, ENGLAND. TEL 0191 2529531.
**A new paperback edition Malcolm Chase's
important study of Spence's ideas and impact, The
People's Farm: English Radical Agrarianism
1775-1840 is due for publication later this year
(Breviary Stuff Publications, London)
**A brief summary, by Alastair Bonnett, of the
differences between the newly discovered edition
of 'Property in Land Every One's Right' and later
editions (published as 'The Rights of Man') can
be found in Labour History Review, 74, 1, 2009, pp.134-136.
**Ian Robson's interview with Alastair Bonnett on
Thomas Spence appeared in The Journal July 13th
2010, titled 'Shedding light on life of unsung
local hero'. It can be found at:
http://www.journallive.co.uk/lifestyle-news/newcastle-features/2010/07/13/shedding-light-on-life-of-unsung-hero-thomas-spence-61634-26838256/
**'Paine, Spence, Chartism and 'the Real Rights
of Man', by Malcolm Chase [The 2008 Eric Paine
Memorial Lecture], The Journal of Radical History
of the Thomas Paine Society, 2008, volume 9, issue 3, pp. 1-14
Links
The best links for Spence are on the Spartacus Schoolnet
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRspence.htm
Three Spence texts not included on this site can be found at:
http://www.ditext.com/spence/dickinson.html
The texts are:
The Constitution of a Perfect Commonwealth
The Restorer of Society to its Natural State
The Important Trial of Thomas Spence
See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Spence
http://online.unn.ac.uk/faculties/art/humanities/cns/m-spence2.html
http://www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/people/spence.htm
Links on The Society of Speancean Philanthropists:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRspencean.htm
http://randomsounds.tripod.com/id3.html
Link to the Thomas Paine Society:
http://www.thomaspainesocietyuk.org.uk/index.htm
Full edition of Paine's The Rights of Man :
http://www.ushistory.org/Paine/rights/singlehtml.htm
North East History Links:
http://www.litandphil.org.uk
http://www.northeastlabourhistory.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
http://157.228.32.93/web/projects/nebibliog/ahome/
---------------
Thomas Spence.co.uk has been founded to help
ensure that the name and ambitions of Thomas
Spence live on. We do not exist to venerate
Thomas Spence. We welcome debate and
contributions from readers on Spence's legacy and why it matters today.
Our e-mail address
contact at thomas-spence-society.co.uk
Our banner line 'Hear me! ye oppressors!' is
taken from the dialogue beween 'Woman' and
'Aristocracy' in Spence's 'The Rights of Infants'
(1796). The full text can be found elsewhere on
this site: see 'The Rights of Infants'.
This site has been constructed and written by Alastair Bonnett
Last modified: August 2011
----------------------------
Spence token
'T. Spence. 7 MONTHS IN IMPRISONMENT FOR HIGH TREASON. 1794
thomas spence.co.uk
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