JOHN CARTWRIGHT: THE FATHER OF REFORM

"The all-wise Creator hath likewise made men equal, as well as free; they are all of one flesh, and cast in one mould. There are given to them the same senses, passions, feelings, and affections, to inform and to influence; the same passions to actuate, the same reason to guide, the same moral principle to restrain, and the same free will to determine all alike. There are, therefore, no distinctions to be made among men, as just causes for elevation of some above the rest, prior to mutual agreement. How much soever any individual may be qualified for, or deserve any elevation, he hath no right to it until it be conferred on him by his fellows. There is, perhaps, more occasion to advert to this distinction between desert and authority, obvious as it is, than may be commonly imagined, as all elevation depends upon common consent; so it may, consequently, whenever found inconsistent with the common good, be by common consent abolished. Hence we find that it is liberty, and not dominion, which is held by divine right.” Major John Cartwright, “Take your choice!” (1776).
 
 
 John Cartwright came into this world on September 28th 1740. Although rooted in traditional England – he was awed by the romanticism of Anglo Saxon mythology – he was to become known as “The Father of reform”. Indeed, his biographer John W. Osborne (John Cartwright, Cambridge University Press, 1972) stated that “John Cartwright never grasped the nature of the intimate relationship between the early industrial revolution, which took place within his lifetime, and politics. Even as a radical reformer Cartwright retained roots in that childhood England of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Pallidian style, of smallpox and Squire Western”. Osborne’s first point is ironic, given that Cartwright’s brother, Edmund, was to invent the power loom, a device that was to change the face of English industry, and form the catalyst for the wrath and ire of the Luddites.
 He was born in Marnham, in Nottinghamshire, into a family that had benefited socially and economically through its connections with Thomas Cranmer, leader of the English reformation, Archbishop of Canterbury (1532-34) and advisor to King Henry VIII. The family suffered, however, for its loyalty to the Royalist cause during the Civil War, and as Osborne points out, at the time of John Cartwright’s birth in the 18th century the landed gentry were in decline. He was the third born son in a family of five boys and five girls. His education was lacklustre – he studied at Heath Academy in Yorkshire – and in later life he often lamented his lack of academic fulfilment. As a young man he was affected by wanderlust, and rejecting his family’s plans to enter farming, he joined the Royal Navy.
  He is generally considered to have had an undistinguished naval career, but he certainly was present at some interesting events. He served on the Essex and the Magnamine, under Lord Howe, and as a teenager took part in the British victory over the French at Quiberon Bay, off the coast of St Nazaire, in November 1759. In this action, which thwarted French plans to invade England and Scotland, half of the men under his command were killed, and he himself wounded. He was subsequently promoted, and in the following year was given his own command. Following subsequent exploits in Canada, he suffered ill health, which confined him to shore duties.
Leaving the navy, he became involved in politics, publishing his first work American Independence. The glory and interest of Great Britain (1774). As well as addressing the issue of American independence, the work also revealed his concern for the state of domestic politics. He referred to the House of Commons as “the sink of corruption”, and “the putrid grave of the constitution”. At this stage, his religious beliefs were clearly seen to be a major influence on his political beliefs, but this would change, although he would remain firmly attached to his own non-denominational beliefs until his dying die.
 In 1775, he was commissioned into the Nottinghamshire militia. Thus he obtained the rank of Major, the title by which he was to be known for the rest of his life and beyond. From this point hence I shall refer to him by that title which was given both out of respect and affection.
 The Major worked hard to improve the lot of the common soldier, although it should be understood that he was a political, and not social, reformer. He was strongly opposed to the maintenance of a standing army, favouring local militias, possibly along the lines of the Anglo Saxon Fyrd, and he returned to this subject often in his later writing. In 1776, his former commander Lord Howe, who was, like the Major, known to be sympathetic to the colonist’s cause, offered him a commission aboard his own ship. Despite his loyalty to the 1st Earl he declined, as his beliefs would not allow him to fight against the revolutionaries. Interestingly, he was also offered a commission in the American navy, which he declined, as it would never have been possible for him to bear arms against his beloved England. In any event, at this point his political career was just beginning, and it would have been a tragedy if he had been lost to his country at this point.
 About his politics, I shall write no more at this point, as it is far more rewarding for the reader to see the story unfold through the Major’s own words.
 As he approached the end of his life, his modesty would not permit him to write an autobiography. However, his niece, Frances Dorothy Cartwright, the daughter of his brother Edmund, who he adopted after the early death of Edmund’s wife, would not allow him to be forgotten. She painstakingly transcribed the Major’s correspondence, although in deference to his modesty she omitted one or two items in which, we are told, the Major was most lauded by his contemporaries. She did however state, that whilst the Major insisted that only his political work should be presented after his death, that insights into his personality were important in understanding his work, and could not be considered as “frivolous”. One particularly special letter that does remain was written to the Major by his friend Thomas Jefferson, the 2nd President of the United States, in July 1824, just weeks before his death. It concluded “Your age of eighty-four, and mine of eighty-one years, ensure us a speedy meeting. We may then commune at leisure, and more fully, on the good and evil, which in the course of our long lives, we have both witnessed; and in the meantime, I pray you to accept assurances of my high veneration and esteem for your person and character”.

 The transcripts of the Major's letters that follow are the work of my daughter, Odette. The narrative is mine.
 
 Gary Cartwright, Brussels, August 2009.