Newhall Hill. It’s a trendy part of Brum these days. A cool place to live. Apartments, coffee shops, that sort of thing. But once it was different, so very different. Brum, you see, was full of rads in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Troublemakers they were. Agitators banging on about a say in law making for all the people. And these unsavory types used to meet on Newhall Hill. Not to drink lattes but to make outrageous speeches. How they used to make the Tory sheet Mrs Aris spit blood! That George Edmunds was a particular nuisance. Radical opinions came tumbling out of that big mouth of his. No wonder they called him ‘The Frog.’
On summer’s day in 1819 George was chairing a meeting on Newhall Hill. 50,000 working people were there. They were dressed in their best. They’d brought their colourful, homemade banners. This was a good day out. Major John Cartwright was the main draw. That day Cartwright was like a veteran rock star appearing before his fans at the Symphony Hall. He was 79 years old and most of those years he had devoted to the radical cause. He was there to play all his hits. The support act was pretty good, too. His name was T.J. Wooler, editor of the famous Black Dwarf. George had certainly signed up some top-notch guests for the gig. The key event of the day was to elect an MP for Brum. But Brum didn’t have any MPs, you say. Well, no it didn’t. It was places like Old Sarum, where no one lived, that had MPs. Industrial towns like Brum weren’t represented in the House of Commons. But there was a point to be made here. And the crowd made it. They elected an MP. He was another well-known rad called Sir Charles Wolesley. He actually wasn’t there on the day, but the crowd decided to send him a deputation. He’d be delighted, they were sure.
It is surprising that no one has ever told the story of George Edmunds. He never gave up on the reform cause. Whenever there was a radical meeting in Brum, George was on the platform. Whenever a reform sheet needed an editor, George was sharpening his pencil. For sure George was one of the good guys.
The good news is that George is now getting his historical due. Sue Thomas has been studying him and on 11 March 2019 at the Birmingham and Midland Institute she will giving a public lecture about the great Newhall Hill demonstration of June 1819. It starts at 1pm so make sure you’ve finished that very good latte on Newhall Hill in time …