Skip to main content
The people’s revenge on the man behind Peterloo
KEITH FLETT relates what happened to William Hulton, the man who sent the Yeomanry on horseback to cut down the suffrage marches on St Peter's Field
The charge of the Yeomanry left 15 marchers dead

WILLIAM HULTON (1787-1864) is not a name that features significantly in British history, he deserves more recognition, as does what eventually happened to the vast estate he owned on the edge of what is now Greater Manchester.

It’s thought that the Hulton family may have held the land since as early as 989AD, which made it until very recently the longest period in which a piece of land had been held by a single family in British history.

Hulton came into his inheritance in 1808 aged 21 and married Maria who bore him 13 children.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Andrew Fisher and King O'Malley (bearded), minister for home affairs, at the naming of Canberra in 1913 / Pic: Public domain
History / 28 February 2026
28 February 2026

KENNY MacASKILL reminds us of the unprecedented political career of a Scottish miner’s militant son who stayed the course and true to his roots

PROTEST PIONEERS: The assault of the Chartists on the Westgate Hotel, where some of their comrades were held prisoner, Newport, 1839
Features / 24 October 2025
24 October 2025

It’s not just the Starmer regime: the workers of Britain have always faced legal affronts on their right to assemble and dissent, and the Labour Party especially has meddled with our freedoms from its earliest days, writes KEITH FLETT

Police officers watch as people take part in a national march for Palestine on Whitehall in central London, January 18, 2025
Features / 10 July 2025
10 July 2025

The government cracking down on something it can’t comprehend and doesn’t want to engage with is a repeating pattern of history, says KEITH FLETT

Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomes American President George W Bush to the first meeting of the G8 Summit at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, July 7, 2005
Features / 26 June 2025
26 June 2025

While Hardie, MacDonald and Wilson faced down war pressure from their own Establishment, today’s leadership appears to have forgotten that opposing imperial adventures has historically defined Labour’s moral authority, writes KEITH FLETT