Feargus Edward O'Connor (1794 – August 30, 1855) was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... August 30 is the 242nd day of the year (243rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1855 (MDCCCLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Chartism is also an alternative term for technical analysis Chartism was a movement for social and political reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century. ...

Born into a Protestant family, the son of Irish Nationalist Politician Roger O'Connor (1762-1834) and nephew of Arthur O'Connor (1753-1852), the agent in France for Robert Emmet's rebellion; both of whom famous for belonging to the United Irishmen. Much of his early life was spent on his family's estates in Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied law before inheriting an estate from his uncle in 1820. During the 1830s he emerged as an advocate for Irish rights and democratic political reform as a notable critic of the Whig government's policies on Ireland. 1762 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1834 (MDCCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1753 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Robert Emmet Robert Emmet (4 March 1780 - 20 September 1803) was an Irish nationalist rebel leader. ... The Society of the United Irishmen was a political organisation in eighteenth century Ireland that sought independence from Great Britain. ... In politics, the term whig for political groupings has its origins in a term of abuse used by opponents of the Presbyterian Covenanters who marched from the south west of Scotland on Edinburgh in 1648 in what became known as the Whiggamore Raid, with the terms Whiggamore and Whig subsequently...

In 1832, he was elected to the British House of Commons as Member of Parliament for County Cork, but was disqualified in 1835 because he failed to satisfy the property requirement for MPs. In 1837 he founded a radical newspaper, the Northern Star. He was the leading figure in Chartism. When the first wave of Chartism ebbed he founded the Chartist Land Company in 1845. The Land Company aimed to buy large agricultural estates in order to subdivide the land into smallholdings which could be let to individuals. Unfortunately the scheme was unsuccessful and the company was declared bankrupt in 1851. When Chartism again gained momentum he was elected MP for Nottingham and organised the Chartist meeting on Kennington Common, London, in 1848. Year 1832 (MDCCCXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... A former UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament. ... The term Radical (latin radix meaning root) was used from the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement and has since been used as a label in political science for those favouring or trying to produce thoroughgoing political reforms which can include changes to the social order to... Headline from the Northern Star 1838 The Northern Star was a chartist newspaper published in the United Kingdom between 1838 and 1852. ... Nottingham is a city, unitary authority, and county town of Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England. ... Kennington Park is in Kennington, London, England, in London SE11, and lies between Kennington Park Road and St Agnes Place. ...

O'Connor never married, but according to his biographers had a succession of affairs and fathered several illegitimate children, including Edward O'Connor Terry, the celebrated music hall artist and theatre owner. Edward OConnor Terry (1844–1912), English actor, was born in London, allegedly the illegitimate son of Feargus OConnor, Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the land plan. ...

In 1852, O'Connor visited the United States. On his return, he insulted the MP Beckett Denison. Certified a lunatic, he was committed to an asylum in Chiswick, where he died in 1855. A lunatic (colloquially: loony) is commonly used term for a person who is mentally ill, dangerous, foolish or unpredictable, a condition once called lunacy. ... Chiswick (IPA pronunciation: ) is a district of West London, covering the eastern part of the London Borough of Hounslow. ...

Most of the early historians of Chartism were quite negative about his role. In recent years, however, there has been a trend to reassess him in a more favorable light. [Dorothy Thompson: The Chartists, p96]

External links

1. Spartacus entry on O'Connor
2. Spartacus entry on the Kennington mass meeting