Richard Spurr

Richard Spurr (1800–1855) was an English cabinet maker and lay preacher who was imprisoned for his part in leading the political movement Chartism.

Richard Spurr was born son of Christopher Spurr and Christian Richards in 1800 in Truro, Cornwall, where he became a cabinet maker and carpenter. He was married on his 21st birthday in Saint Helier, Jersey to Ann Mary Babot who was born there in 1803.

In 1840, now living in London, he was one of eleven signatories to Henry Vincent's address on teetotalism who described themselves as political victims.

He became interested in promoting peoples’ rights whilst operating from premises in Pyder Street, Truro, and was a leader of the Chartist Movement in Cornwall. Possibly he may have been influenced by William Lovett who, like Richard, was a Cornish cabinet maker.

Richard was arrested by police with drawn cutlasses on Thursday 16 January 1840 at the Trades' Hall, Bethnal Green whilst addressing an LDA meeting of about 700 people "to put their trust in God and keep their powder dry" and sent to Newgate Gaol to await trial at the Central Criminal Court.

He later represented London at the famous 1840 Manchester Conference.

Initially a member of the National Charter Association of Great Britain and Ireland, standing for election to its Executive Committee in May 1841, he became an early member of the National Association for Promoting the Political and Social Improvement of the People, founded in 1841 by William Lovett There is much written about Richard Spurr in the newspapers of the day, but also in books including full chapters in and "Crime, Protest and Popular Politics in Southern England 1740-1850".

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