Richard Oastler

Richard Oastler
Engraving given away with the Northern Star by James Posselwhite, after a painting by Benjamin Garside.
Born	(1789-12-20)December 20, 1789 Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	August 22, 1861(1861-08-22) (aged 71) Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Burial place	St Stephen's Church, Kirkstall, Leeds
Known for	Ten Hours Factory Bill
Spouse	Mary Tatham
Children	2 (died by 1819)
Notes
"Mr Oastler is a large heavy-looking man, between 50 and 60 years of age. His complexion is ghastly pale: his eyes, grey and staring, have little expression in them; and, with very common features, he has the appearance of a mechanic in his Sunday clothes."[1]

Richard Oastler (20 December 1789 – 22 August 1861) was a "Tory radical",^[2] an active opponent of Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary Reform and a lifelong admirer of the Duke of Wellington; but also an abolitionist and prominent in the "anti-Poor Law" resistance to the implementation of the "New Poor Law" of 1834. Most notably, as his sobriquet of the "Factory King" indicates, he was at the heart of the campaign for a ten-hour working day in its early years: although less so by the time of its successful culmination in the Factories Act 1847, he retained the sobriquet.

"Moved by pity and indignation at the long hours worked by young children in factories, he devoted his life to their emancipation, and was a tireless champion of the Ten Hours Factory Bill" noted a commemorative plaque erected in Leeds parish church in 1925.^[3] "He cannot altogether claim prominence as a political thinker...but history acclaims him not as a politician, but as an agitator" commented the Yorkshire Post on that occasion.^[4]