Dennis Williams
Gone but not forgotten
My hero Vivian Bird once wrote “To say that Thomas Attwood “was once the most popular man in all England” is to make such a claim that the source must be revealed. It is the guide book to the village of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, where Attwood was buried in the churchyard, after his death at Malvern on 6th March 1856. His obituary in the Birmingham Journal is even more extravagant; ”Twenty five years ago there was no more popular man in the British Empire”
The British empire is now long dead and in 1924 Thomas Attwood was sent to his pleasant resting place in the oblivion of Highgate Park, whither they moved his statue from Stephenson Place, where he faced up Corporation Street since it’s erection in 1859. How many citizens of Birmingham today could say who Attwood was/ Yet he was largely responsible for some of the most stirring scenes in the history of Birmingham in a peaceful agitation which culminated in becoming the Town’s first ever MP. Again to quote his obituary “He was the leader of the most formidable confederacy that the kingdom ever saw; with no weapons but the will of the people. He used that power with wisdom, temperance and firmness, and brought the Nation safely through a crisis as perilous as that which was consummated at Runnymede or Edgehill.”
Thomas Attwood was undoubtedly a remarkably gifted and intelligent man, who deserves greater recognition than he has been generally given, so this is a feeble attempt to redress that omission.
Dubbed in his own time as 'the very first economist of the age', he was arguing for twentieth century economic policies, such as the abolition of the gold standard and the expansion of the money supply to counter recessions, while the nineteenth century was still young. Though apparently an indifferent public speaker, he was very good at arguing a case, a talent he put to good use during the Birmingham Political Union's (BPU's) campaign for Parliamentary reform, and in the process made himself 'the most influential man in England'. Many of his contemporaries thought the Reform Act of 1832, which began the process of modernising British democracy, owed more to Thomas Attwood than it did to Earl Grey - and that was not the only change of government policy that he was instrumental in bringing about.
Born at Halesowen in 1783 and educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School, in 1800 he started work in his father's bank - ‘Attwoods, Spooner, Goddington & Co’, which was in Lower New Street, Birmingham, next to the Hen & Chickens pub (roughly where the Odeon is now).
In 1811 Attwood was appointed high bailiff of Birmingham. This was not of itself a very important post, but in a town that had no elected representatives in Parliament it fell by default to Attwood to represent the town on two issues of vital importance to it, both concerning impediments to trade that were damaging the town's economy. The first concerned the Orders in Council, enacted in 1806, which banned trade with French territories in response to Napoleon's Berlin Decree, which had ushered in the Continental System. Disastrously for Brum the Orders in Council led to retaliatory action by the Americans, which destroyed the town's hitherto lucrative American trade.
The second issue concerned the East India Company, which had a monopoly of trade with the far east. This was an example of a still common practice, of a powerful London interest, which was quite content to damage business in the provinces in pursuit of its own gain! Plus ca changes….
As leader of a delegation from Birmingham which gave evidence to a House of Commons committee, Attwood proved an impressive witness and was prominent in persuading the government to change tack. To the relief of Birmingham's manufacturers the Orders in Council were revoked in 1812 and the East India Company's monopoly was restricted. Attwood became an overnight hero in Birmingham.
It was after this that he developed his economic theories. The country was then in the throes of recession and he attributed this to ill-advised economic policies. He argued, as Keynes was still needing to argue over a century later, that Britain should have a paper currency not linked in value to gold. He further argued that the government should boost the economy in times of recession by increasing the money supply, a policy that US President Roosevelt most successfully applied, again over a century later, as part of his New Deal. Attwood's argument was that the supply of money should be based, not on the quantity of gold held at the Bank of England, but on the productive capacity of the economy. In other words, the money supply should be so regulated as to be just sufficient to maintain full employment. In 1816 he campaigned for the Bank of England to increase the money supply by issuing more notes. There was a revival of trade, which William Cobbett attributed to Attwood's influence.
In 1825, Thomas Attwood's theories were put into action again, and to strikingly good effect. It was a time of fevered speculation and on 22nd November of that year Attwood wrote to the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, advocating the urgent preparation of a supply of £1 notes. On 16th December, the panic which Attwood had foreseen set in. Banks failed in all directions and there was a run on the Bank of England. It was only by the issue of the notes that had been produced with the benefit of Thomas Attwood's foresight that the Bank of England itself was saved from collapse.
Continued below..
The British empire is now long dead and in 1924 Thomas Attwood was sent to his pleasant resting place in the oblivion of Highgate Park, whither they moved his statue from Stephenson Place, where he faced up Corporation Street since it’s erection in 1859. How many citizens of Birmingham today could say who Attwood was/ Yet he was largely responsible for some of the most stirring scenes in the history of Birmingham in a peaceful agitation which culminated in becoming the Town’s first ever MP. Again to quote his obituary “He was the leader of the most formidable confederacy that the kingdom ever saw; with no weapons but the will of the people. He used that power with wisdom, temperance and firmness, and brought the Nation safely through a crisis as perilous as that which was consummated at Runnymede or Edgehill.”
Thomas Attwood was undoubtedly a remarkably gifted and intelligent man, who deserves greater recognition than he has been generally given, so this is a feeble attempt to redress that omission.
Dubbed in his own time as 'the very first economist of the age', he was arguing for twentieth century economic policies, such as the abolition of the gold standard and the expansion of the money supply to counter recessions, while the nineteenth century was still young. Though apparently an indifferent public speaker, he was very good at arguing a case, a talent he put to good use during the Birmingham Political Union's (BPU's) campaign for Parliamentary reform, and in the process made himself 'the most influential man in England'. Many of his contemporaries thought the Reform Act of 1832, which began the process of modernising British democracy, owed more to Thomas Attwood than it did to Earl Grey - and that was not the only change of government policy that he was instrumental in bringing about.
Born at Halesowen in 1783 and educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School, in 1800 he started work in his father's bank - ‘Attwoods, Spooner, Goddington & Co’, which was in Lower New Street, Birmingham, next to the Hen & Chickens pub (roughly where the Odeon is now).
In 1811 Attwood was appointed high bailiff of Birmingham. This was not of itself a very important post, but in a town that had no elected representatives in Parliament it fell by default to Attwood to represent the town on two issues of vital importance to it, both concerning impediments to trade that were damaging the town's economy. The first concerned the Orders in Council, enacted in 1806, which banned trade with French territories in response to Napoleon's Berlin Decree, which had ushered in the Continental System. Disastrously for Brum the Orders in Council led to retaliatory action by the Americans, which destroyed the town's hitherto lucrative American trade.
The second issue concerned the East India Company, which had a monopoly of trade with the far east. This was an example of a still common practice, of a powerful London interest, which was quite content to damage business in the provinces in pursuit of its own gain! Plus ca changes….
As leader of a delegation from Birmingham which gave evidence to a House of Commons committee, Attwood proved an impressive witness and was prominent in persuading the government to change tack. To the relief of Birmingham's manufacturers the Orders in Council were revoked in 1812 and the East India Company's monopoly was restricted. Attwood became an overnight hero in Birmingham.
It was after this that he developed his economic theories. The country was then in the throes of recession and he attributed this to ill-advised economic policies. He argued, as Keynes was still needing to argue over a century later, that Britain should have a paper currency not linked in value to gold. He further argued that the government should boost the economy in times of recession by increasing the money supply, a policy that US President Roosevelt most successfully applied, again over a century later, as part of his New Deal. Attwood's argument was that the supply of money should be based, not on the quantity of gold held at the Bank of England, but on the productive capacity of the economy. In other words, the money supply should be so regulated as to be just sufficient to maintain full employment. In 1816 he campaigned for the Bank of England to increase the money supply by issuing more notes. There was a revival of trade, which William Cobbett attributed to Attwood's influence.
In 1825, Thomas Attwood's theories were put into action again, and to strikingly good effect. It was a time of fevered speculation and on 22nd November of that year Attwood wrote to the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, advocating the urgent preparation of a supply of £1 notes. On 16th December, the panic which Attwood had foreseen set in. Banks failed in all directions and there was a run on the Bank of England. It was only by the issue of the notes that had been produced with the benefit of Thomas Attwood's foresight that the Bank of England itself was saved from collapse.
Continued below..
Last edited:
