Ironside

The odd title of this article is prompted by a short, five line letter sent by Elliott in 1847 to Samuel Ironside; the letter containing the brief poem by Elliott called “Doggrel For Dupes.”

The poem first appeared in print in 1850 in volume two of “More Verse and Prose of the Corn Law Rhymer,” so we can conclude that Elliott had composed the poem in 1847 when he wrote the letter. The 1847 poem had four extra lines which did not appear in the published version. The poem does not stand well by itself but becomes more interesting when background information is supplied. The text of the poem appears later in this article.

Now let’s take a look at these Ironsides and explain a thing or two. There were two Ironsides in Elliott’s life, father and son. Naming the son after the father was commonplace. For example, the Corn Law Rhymer’s father was Ebenezer Elliott and the Rhymer’s first born son was also called Ebenezer Elliott. I’ll call the two Ironsides Samuel senior and Samuel junior.

Samuel senior was born in Masbrough, Rotherham, in 1777 and was therefore a neighbour of Elliott who was born there four years later. Thus they would have grown up knowing each other for twenty eight years until Samuel senior moved his family to Sheffield in 1809. This relationship was to continue for many years.
For instance, in his 1847 letter to Samuel senior, Elliott wrote: “Thank God, I am still a brother to you.”

As a young man, Samuel senior was religious and was very active in his church becoming a lay preacher at an early age in Sheffield’s Queen Street Congregational Church. Earlier, in 1804, he had married Mary Bradbury who was likewise very active in church. The couple were to have seven children including Samuel junior, Isaac and interestingly Ebenezer who was born in Masbrough in 1806 and who died in 1813. One wonders if this sad child was actually named after Elliott who was 25 years old when the child was born? Given the close friendship between Elliott and the child’s father, this would seem very likely.

Samuel senior had a varied career working at an ironworks as a clerk, then becoming a debt collector and after that he was an estate agent. In 1832, aged 55, he set up as an accountant at Bank Buildings in Sheffield. This proved to be a good business, and he was soon joined by his son Isaac. In 1813 the family were living in Green Lane, Sheffield, while the 1841 Census recorded Samuel senior living at 29 Workhouse Croft, as was Isaac.

Samuel senior died in Sheffield in 1846 aged 68. There is a problem here though. He died in 1846 but Elliott’s letter to him was posted in 1847! It seems that news of the death of Samuel senior had not yet reached Elliott in the wilds of Great Houghton. Another oddity is that Elliott’s letter was addressed to Samuel senior and not to Isaac who had been running the family firm for a few years. So a long business relationship between Samuel senior and Elliott had naturally followed their long friendship .

Samuel junior was born in Sheffield and did not have any apparent connection with Elliott, but he led an interesting life. Religion was so important to him that he went to New Zealand as a missionary. He became a noted figure there after learning to speak Maori and becoming friends with some Maori leaders. Thus gaining the respect of the Maori community and also of the New Zealand government who always consulted with him on Maori affairs.

Samuel junior was also busy with literary works translating sermons by John Wesley into Maori and serving as joint editor of the “New Zealand Evangelist.” He also wrote a history of missions in New Zealand, having founded three missions himself.

In 1857 Samuel junior moved to Australia and undertook missionary work there. He was closely involved in local politics, did a spot of lecturing and in 1865 founded a Wesleyan journal. He lived until he was 83 and died in Hobart.

Isaac was brother to Samuel junior and was born at Masbrough in 1808 but moved to Sheffield when he was twelve months old. So there would have been no contact at that time with the Corn Law Rhymer.

Isaac started work in 1820, aged twelve, learning the trade of a stove-grate fitter and later he worked at a foundry. (Note the similarity with Elliott’s early career). In his spare time, Isaac educated himself by making good use of the Mechanics’ Institute Library. Elliott too was a member of the Library. Isaac was proving to be clever, too, winning a prize for mathematics from Tate’s Edinburgh Review, a journal which published many works of the Corn Law Rhymer. Was that coincidence or did Elliott steer Isaac towards the journal?

After a short spell abroad at Robert Owen’s socialist community in Indiana, Isaac, aged 25, joined his father’s accountancy firm and ten years later in the early 1840s, he had taken over the running of his father’s business.

Both Elliott and Isaac were deeply interested in politics and both were early enthusiasts for Chartism. In 1833 Isaac joined the Sheffield Political Union where the Corn Law Rhymer was one of the committee members. The following year, both men were involved in establishing the Sheffield Mechanics’ Institute.

When Elliott launched the People’s Charter in Sheffield, Isaac was one of the platform speakers. Clearly the two men were close friends through their political interests, through their similar background and through Elliott’s long-standing relationship with Isaac’s father.

However, Isaac’s views became more and more radical and he was once described as Sheffield’s first communist – he was even to contact Karl Marx in 1856! The writer, R. E. Leader, described Isaac as "an able but eccentric politician." Despite Isaac's views, he and Elliott remained great friends: see the remarks Elliott made about Isaac in Friends and Acquaintances of the Corn Law Rhymer.

In 1846 Isaac became a councillor and after Elliott had passed away, Isaac founded the Sheffield Free Press.

Worth a skinn’d cat’s clothing?

Who will buy a dead canal,

Dog cheap, and worth nothing?

Rig off-hand your dead canal,

Worth a skinn’d cat’s clothing;

Rig off-hand, and lump the lot,

Dog cheap, and worth nothing.

At five hundred thousand pounds,

Where pluck’d geese, are cry it;

Wink at Railway Shareholders!

And the dolts will buy it.*

Then, reward with fete and plate

Railway Secretary;

Don’t forget to print your Do,

Just to make folk wary.

This derisive and repetitive poem was written late in the poet’s life when he was in poor health. It was intended to direct attention to the high-risk business of issuing shares to fund schemes for railway and canal construction. He mocked and belittled such schemes. It makes one wonder what made Elliott take this position. He sent the poem to Samuel senior in an attempt to influence the Ironside business which was now handling shares as well as accounts.

*It is a fact, that on the third of December 1845, the good-faith shareholders in a job-of-jobs which will cost eight millions – and which I will call The Gorse, Ling, Rabbit-Skin, and Shrimp Railway – were induced by their directors to guarantee forever the interest of about six hundred thousand pounds, to the proprietors of sundry dead canals, not worth sixpence! the vendors of one of which publicly feted the secretary of the purchasers!

Need we wonder, if, some three years later, the shareholders of this Railway were urged by their directors to oppose government surveillance? If the history of the concern were truly written, I believe, such a plica polonica of folly and wickedness would be laid bare, as never yet met public exposure.

NB While plica polonica is a hair condition, it appears here to mean a horrible mess.

Elliott set up his Sheffield business soon after the canal was extended from Tinsley to the town centre. This played a major part in the success of Elliott’s business. Since he was viewed in Sheffield as a shrewd operator, he would have appreciated the potential benefits that a new canal or railway could bring to a forward-looking businessman. It is very likely that the bard would have been attracted to put some money into such schemes.

In a footnote to ‘Doggrel For Dupes,” Elliott drew attention to the plight of ‘The Gorse, Ling, Rabbit-Skin, and Shrimp Railway “ – his contemptuous name for the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne, and Manchester Railway which was built 1841-5.

Further, Elliott made a speech strongly opposing a motion at a meeting of the shareholders of the Sheffield, Ashton -under-Lyne, and Manchester Railway. To be allowed to speak at the shareholders' meeting, Elliott must have been a shareholder himself. (The meeting took place at the Cutler’s Hall on Sheffield on 3^rd December 1845). The text of Elliott’s speech was included in vol 2 of “More Verse and Prose of the Corn Law Rhymer,” which showed how important the subject was to Elliott.

Writing “Doggrel For Dupes “ and making his speech at the shareholders ' meeting indicated how much Elliott was against speculative ventures. The fact that the Rhymer was so bitter about canal and railway schemes suggests that not only was Elliott was a shareholder but also that he had had his fingers badly burned by one of these risky schemes.