Event    From 1871  To 1872

Match tax abandoned

I871 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Robert Lowe, proposed a tax on matches. The Bryant and May workers, mainly girls, realised this threatened their jobs and marched in protest on the House of Commons on 24 April 1871. The tax was never imposed. Bryant and May, who must have, at the very least, sanctioned the workers absence during the march, erected a fountain to celebrate.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Match tax abandoned

Commemorated ati

Bryant & May Testimonial fountain - lost

This elaborate fountain was commissioned by Bryant and May to celebrate the a...

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Bryant & May Testimonial fountain - plaque

This plaque is a rarity: a memorial to a memorial! The site of the fountain ...

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Other Subjects

Sir John Wollaston

Sir John Wollaston

Born at Perton in Staffordshire. His name varies in spelling: Wollaston or Woolaston. In London, apprenticed to the Goldsmiths' Company from 1604 to 1611. Achieved great wealth in the City of Londo...

Person, Benefactor, Lord Mayor, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Jim Connell

Jim Connell

Political activist. Born in Rathniska, near Kilskyre, County Meath. As a teenager he joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood and signed the Fenian Oath. He moved to London in 1875 and worked on Kei...

Person, Music / songs, Politics & Administration, Ireland

1 memorial
Edwin George Moore

Edwin George Moore

Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary and General Purpose Committee, St Pancras Vestry in the late 1800s.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
William Morris Hughes

William Morris Hughes

Prime Minister of Australia. Born in Pimlico. Migrated to Queensland in 1884. Entered politics in 1894, and served in several ministerial posts before becoming Prime Minister in 1915. Died at Lindf...

Person, Politics & Administration, Australia

1 memorial
Shyamji Krishna Varma

Shyamji Krishna Varma

Born Gujarat, India. Revolutionary, lawyer, journalist. In 1877 he received the title of 'pandit', a Sanskrit scholar, and came to Oxford for a few years. Returned to India, studied law and develop...

Person, Nationalism, Politics & Administration, India

2 memorials