John Bedford Leno (29 June 1826 – 31 October 1894) was a Chartist, radical, poet, and printer who acted as a "bridge" between Chartism and early Labour movements, as well as between the working and ruling classes. He campaigned to give the vote to all common men and women, driven by a strong desire for "justice and freedom for all mankind". He was a leading figure in the Reform League, which campaigned for the Reform Act 1867. He was called the "Burns of Labour" and "the poet of the poor" for his political songs and poems, which were sold widely in penny publications, and recited and sung by workers in Britain, Europe and America. He was an entertaining and persuasive orator and his speeches were in great demand around London. He owned, edited and contributed to Radical and Liberal newspapers and journals, and printed and distributed bills advertising London Reform meetings and demonstrations. He wrote the international hit 'The Song of the Spade'.George Howell. Howell Collection Biographies. London: Bishopsgate Institute
Roots John Bedford Leno was born on 29 June 1826 at 14 Bell Yard, Uxbridge, Middlesex, England. He was the eldest child of John Leno (1800–1885) (Gentleman's footman, baker and publican) and Phoebe Bedford (1801–1875) (lady's maid, needlewoman & teacher in a Dame's school) who met whilst working for Mr. Chippendale, a well known Uxbridge philanthropist.
Early years Although not well educated, John Bedford Leno's mother taught him to read and it is to her he attributed his love of learning. He was sent to preparatory school at the age of eight but was quickly expelled on the grounds of telling a falsehood. He maintained that this was untrue. He suspected that the lie had been fabricated by a few of the better off scholars who found out that he hailed from Bell Yard, and thought it degrading to have to associate with someone of such poor standing.
He was then sent to live with his aunt at Stanwell Moor. She was in charge of the parish poor house, along with her husband, in which they had apartments. He found the workhouse a "queer" place. In a strange twist of fate he next worked as a cleaner and errand boy at the very same school he had been expelled from. At the age of twelve he worked for a firework maker whom he disliked for making false marketing claims and building sub-standard squibs.
He became a rural postboy under the Uxbridge post master, who was also a printer and stationer. John Bedford Leno delivered to the Uxbridge Common, Ickenham, Ruislip and Eastcote areas, walking twenty miles every day, from 6am to dinner time before returning to finish off the day with some print work. It is during his time as postboy that his theatrical interest was aroused; he was often called upon to read out the contents of letters to the villagers, many of whom were illiterate. He found that he had the power to "create smiles and draw forth tears" and found this very satisfying.
This lasted for twelve months before he became so useful in the print office that he was enrolled as a printer's apprentice. Due to his incomplete education he struggled for three years and made little progress. Despite this, he persevered and was given extra instruction after work by the most able, and benevolent, printer in the office called Mr. Kingsbury, who he felt indebted to for the rest of his life.
Theatre, singing, poetry & gambling During this time, Uxbridge was regularly visited by theatre groups and John Bedford Leno watched numerous actors perform with admiration. When one of the visiting theatre companies hit some bad luck, and was on the verge of bankruptcy, John Bedford Leno was spurred into action. Despite never having acted before, he and three friends decided to put on an amateur performance of Roundheads and Cavaliers, with the proceeds going to the manager of the impoverished theatre company. John Bedford Leno played the lead character and also arranged for billings to be distributed around the town. The identities of the actors were not revealed and rumours were circulated that they were persons of "the highest social position". The performance was a sell out and was followed by one of the bankrupt theatre company's own plays. This proved so successful that it then played in Uxbridge for the next nine months and saved the company from ruin. The manager of the company later became wealthy and attributed much of his success to John Bedford Leno and his three enterprising friends.
John Bedford Leno's father bought a malthouse with an inheritance gained from his recently deceased brother, Mathew Leno, who had won the grand prize in a government lottery a few years earlier. John Bedford Leno had bad memories of this place and some of the rogues that filled it. He was often called upon to sing to customers, having a good voice, and to take part in singing competitions which he usually won. However, his interest in poetry was sparked here by a customer leaving a copy of Lives of The Poets by Samuel Johnson. John Bedford Leno read and re-read it and decided to become a poet.
Introduction to politics John Bedford Leno was also introduced to politics at his father's malthouse. He became friends with a Chartist, Fred Farrell, who used to argue about various theories with Mr. Kingsbury, from the print office, who was a conventional Liberal. He was introduced to The Examiner newspaper, Star, New Moral World and other various publications and could soon hold his own in arguments about one tenet or another.
He became converted to Chartism and joined at the first opportunity. He formed a branch in his home town and became its branch secretary, buying and selling Chartist publications to the residents of Uxbridge.
Printing Towards the end of his apprenticeship John Bedford Leno grew to be more competent than some of his more qualified colleagues and became office foreman. After seven years he finished his apprenticeship but parted ways with his employer due largely to the financial difficulties of the business and ensuing tensions between the two of them. He found work in another printing works in Eton, Berkshire for a while before again being released due to tensions with his foreman (JBL was quick-witted and had a strong sense of justice which, when combined with an exploitative or dishonest employer, landed him in trouble). Printing was suffering a slump and so John Bedford Leno decided his best chance of employment was to be found in the country. He travelled far and wide, surviving by singing and reciting poetry in exchange for food or money and travelled over a thousand miles around the country before deciding to head back to Uxbridge. Upon his return he was persuaded to hold a Benefit Concert for himself at the town hall, which he did and raised £40. He bought himself his own printing press and set up shop in Windsor St, Uxbridge.
Chartism As well as founding the Uxbridge Chartist branch John Bedford Leno also daringly established the Eton branch in Windsor which was the home of Queen Victoria. He also served as a Delegate of the Chartist movement.
His first publication was the Manuscript Newspaper, of which he was co-editor. This was then succeeded by the Uxbridge Pioneer which was edited by Gerald Massey, Kimber, Hudson, Gurney and a few others who had all been elected by the Uxbridge Young Men's Improvement Society. Political differences soon caused a split in this group and John Bedford Leno and Gerald Massey went on to produce their own paper: Spirit of Freedom, and Working Man's Vindicator. This was printed for the next year until Massey left Uxbridge to work as the secretary for the Tailor's Association in London. Here Gerald met the "Promoters", a body of gentleman who were known as Christian Socialists (now known as the Christian Socialist Movement) and included many eminent men. They decided to set up a Working Printers' Association which they invited John Bedford Leno to take charge of. He declined however, on the grounds that they would be setting up in opposition to some of his old friends who had just set up their own "Co-operative Printers' Association" in London, which he joined as a rank and file printer. When their existence became known to the heads of the Christian Socialists, they received considerable financial support, from the likes of Frederick Maurice and Thomas Hughes, the author of Tom Brown's Schooldays. The "Co-operative Printers' Association" disbanded after three years and John Bedford Leno set up his own printing shop in Drury Lane, London in which he lived with his family for most of the rest of his life.
One of John Bedford Leno's first London experiences was attending the Chartist rally at Clerkenwell Green in 1848. This was disbanded by an army of police constables who swept the green. When asked to disperse by a plain clothes policeman John Bedford Leno at first refused, whereupon he was battered in the face with a truncheon.
International Socialism In 1848 John Bedford Leno joined the First International [this is not correct First International formed Sep. 28, 1864], which had been started by his friend, George Julian Harney [??? needs a source]. He attended International Meetings (the first international) at Jacques, a café kept by a French exile in Chapel St. just off of Oxford Street, London.
After one such meeting he was approached by the Russian revolutionary, Alexander Herzen, who inquired whether he would mind running an underground printing office for him. It would be used to print leaflets which were to be used to flood Russia with revolutionary literature. John Bedford Leno eagerly agreed and they arranged to meet again. Herzen never showed up and it seems he had been forced to flee, later being caught and thrown into prison in Siberia.
John Bedford Leno met Karl Marx several times while he was in London. After a public meeting of the Reform League in 1855 an impromptu committee meeting was held in the parlour of a tavern in Chancery Lane. Here John Bedford Leno reminisced about conversing with the Russian who he found to "be deeply interested, a firm believer in the doctrines and who never ceased to advocate".
When Napoleon III visited England in 1858 Leno arranged for an "appropriate welcome" to be made. Leno had a hatred of Napoleon because of his "betrayal of the French Republic" (Napoleon became Emperor of the French after a coup in 1851), and believed he was no friend of England. This view was shared by other Chartists, Lord John Russell, Gladstone and John Bright. Leno printed 10,000 leaflets advertising Napoleon's visit and called for demonstrations at Cheapside and Long Acre. The French refugees in London responded in great numbers, wanting revenge for their expatriation. Napoleon was the main subject of debate in London debating halls at this time and it was in one of these that Leno gave a speech arguing for regicide in certain circumstances i.e., when a monarch used a nation's troops for their own or unconstitutional ends, as Napoleon had done.
John Bedford Leno was also a Delegate of the International and a member of the committee appointed to meet Lajos Kossuth in 1851 and Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1864, the Hungarian and Italian revolutionaries.
Post-Chartism He spent much time attending meetings, making speeches, giving council or writing political articles or songs during this period. He was a regular contributor to the weekly journal the Christian Socialist and served as a representative to the Christian Socialists.
Jones offered to pay Leno to join him in his battle against Harney for leadership of the Chartist movement. However, Leno declined, having just started his own group (known as the Propagandists who pledged to speak on behalf of the working class, free of pay). They met weekly to hold discussions at the "Windsor Castle", Holborn and leading members included George Odger, William Randal Cremer, George Howell, Robert Applegarth, William Davis & John Henriette.