The reception of the economic policies of Sir Robert peel on Tyneside (north-east of England) c.1841-1845

Abstract

The following thesis examines the reception of the economic policies of Sir Robert Peel in and around Tyneside between 1841 and 1846. The aim of the study is to assess local reaction in a major industrial area to the economic measures of a national government and to assess how this equates with received views and those of contemporary commentators. Selected aspects of the economy of the north-east are examined in order to establish the regional economic and political background to the study and the aims and methods of Peel's economic strategy are briefly outlined. The core of the thesis follows the reaction within the press on Tyneside to Peel's economic measures - the budgets of 1842 and 1845, the Bank Charter Act of 1844 and the repeal of the Corn Laws (1846). An attempt is also made to continue the study into 1847, a year when Peel's policies were again the subject of public debate during major financial crises and a general election. Supplementary sources – contemporary memoirs, the Times, the records of the meetings of various interest groups (coal, shipping, farmers and landowners), parliamentary and election statements – help to augment the public reaction as portrayed in the press. The basic conclusion reached is that press reaction on Tyneside was above all parochial for editors saw the measures in north-east terms and were less concerned about the national impact. This press reaction was also conditioned significantly by the political stance of the paper. North-eastern M.P's. reacted in a broadly similar fashion to the press representing the local concerns of their constituents although responding more to their political ties.