John Bedford Leno facts for kids

Quick facts for kids John Bedford Leno
Born	29 June 1826 Uxbridge, Middlesex, England
Died	31 Oct 1894 Uxbridge, Middlesex, England
Nationality	English
Occupation	Printer, Poet, Songwriter, Author, Publisher & Radical
Known for	Reform League, Reform Act 1867
Notable work	"The Song of the Spade", "King Labour"

John Bedford Leno (born June 29, 1826 – died October 31, 1894) was an English poet, printer, and activist. He was known for being a "Chartist," a member of a movement that wanted to give more people the right to vote. He worked hard to connect different groups, like workers and leaders. John Bedford Leno strongly believed in "justice and freedom for all." He played a big part in the Reform League, which helped pass the Reform Act 1867. This law gave more men the right to vote. People called him the "Burns of Labour" because of his popular political songs and poems. Workers in Britain, Europe, and America sang and read his works. He was also a great speaker and owned and wrote for newspapers that supported change. One of his most famous works was the song 'The Song of the Spade'.

John Bedford Leno's Early Life

John Bedford Leno was born on June 29, 1826, in Uxbridge, England. His father, John Leno, worked as a footman, baker, and publican. His mother, Phoebe Bedford, was a lady's maid, seamstress, and teacher. They met while working for a kind man in Uxbridge.

Learning and School Days

Even though John Bedford Leno didn't get much formal schooling, his mother taught him to read. He always said she gave him his love for learning. He went to a school at age eight but was quickly sent home. He believed richer students made up a lie about him because he came from a poor area.

After that, he lived with his aunt and uncle, who ran the local poor house. He found this place "queer" or strange. Later, he worked as a cleaner at the same school that had expelled him. At age twelve, he worked for a firework maker, but he didn't like how the man cheated customers.

Becoming a Postboy and Printer

John Bedford Leno then became a postboy in Uxbridge. He delivered mail to several villages, walking twenty miles every day. This job helped him discover his love for performing. Many villagers couldn't read, so he often read their letters aloud. He found joy in making people "smile and draw forth tears" with his reading.

After a year, he became an apprentice at the print office where his postmaster worked. He struggled at first because he hadn't finished school. But a kind printer named Mr. Kingsbury helped him learn after work. John Bedford Leno was always thankful for this help.

Theatre, Music, and Poetry

During his youth, John Bedford Leno enjoyed watching theatre groups visit Uxbridge. When one theatre company faced money troubles, he decided to help. He and three friends put on a play called Roundheads and Cavaliers. They kept their identities secret, and people thought they were important figures. The show sold out, and the money helped save the theatre company.

John Bedford Leno's father later bought a malthouse. John often sang for customers there, as he had a good voice. He usually won singing contests. His interest in poetry began when a customer left a book called Lives of The Poets. He read it many times and decided he wanted to become a poet.

Getting Involved in Politics

John Bedford Leno also learned about politics at his father's malthouse. He became friends with a "Chartist" named Fred Farrell. Chartists were people who wanted to change the voting system to be fairer for everyone. He read newspapers like The Examiner and soon could discuss different political ideas.

He became a strong supporter of Chartism and joined the movement. He even started a Chartist group in his hometown of Uxbridge and sold Chartist books and papers.

Working as a Printer

After finishing his apprenticeship, John Bedford Leno became a skilled printer. He worked in Eton, Berkshire for a while. When printing work was hard to find, he traveled over a thousand miles across the country. He earned money by singing and reciting poetry. He eventually returned to Uxbridge and, with money raised from a concert, bought his own printing press. He opened his shop in Windsor St, Uxbridge.

John Bedford Leno and Chartism

John Bedford Leno not only started the Chartist group in Uxbridge but also bravely set up a branch in Windsor, where Queen Victoria lived. He also served as a leader for the Chartist movement.

He helped create several newspapers, including the Manuscript Newspaper and the Uxbridge Pioneer. Later, he and his friend Gerald Massey started their own paper, Spirit of Freedom, and Working Man's Vindicator. When Massey moved to London, he invited John Bedford Leno to lead a new printing group. John declined because his friends had just started their own "Co-operative Printers' Association." He joined them instead. This group received money from important people like Frederick Maurice. After three years, the group closed, and John Bedford Leno opened his own printing shop in Drury Lane, London. He lived there with his family for most of his life.

One of his first experiences in London was attending a Chartist meeting in 1848. Police broke up the meeting, and John Bedford Leno was hit by a police stick when he refused to leave.

International Connections

John Bedford Leno met Karl Marx several times in London. He also met Alexander Herzen, a Russian revolutionary. Herzen asked John Bedford Leno to run a secret printing office to print revolutionary papers for Russia. John Bedford Leno agreed, but Herzen never showed up for their next meeting, as he was forced to flee.

In 1858, when Napoleon III visited England, John Bedford Leno organized a "welcome" that showed his dislike for Napoleon. He printed 10,000 leaflets asking people to protest. He believed Napoleon had betrayed the French people. Many French refugees in London joined the protests.

John Bedford Leno was also part of a group that met with important revolutionaries from other countries, like Lajos Kossuth from Hungary in 1851 and Giuseppe Garibaldi from Italy in 1864.

After Chartism

During this time, John Bedford Leno spent a lot of time at meetings, giving speeches, and writing political articles and songs. He wrote regularly for a journal called the Christian Socialist.

He was offered money to join a fight for leadership of the Chartist movement, but he refused. Instead, he started his own group called the Propagandists. They promised to speak for the working class without pay. Many of these Propagandists later joined the Universal League for the Material Elevation of the Industrious Classes in 1863, where John Bedford Leno became chairman. This group eventually led to the creation of the Reform League in 1865.

The Reform League and the Reform Act of 1867

When the Reform League was formed to push for voting rights for all men, John Bedford Leno was chosen to be on its council. Unlike the earlier Chartist movement, the Reform League had a lot of success.

John Bedford Leno aged 40

Hyde Park Demonstration

The Reform League planned a big meeting in Hyde Park. The government said the meeting was illegal, but the League decided to go ahead.

The march started from the League's office. At Marble Arch, John Bedford Leno and others faced a line of police. They tried to push through, and soon, the park railings fell down. People rushed into Hyde Park. Other groups also broke into the park from different directions.

The meeting happened as planned at Reformer's Tree. Afterward, they decided to hold another meeting in Trafalgar Square. John Bedford Leno and other leaders heard the government might stop it with force. They met with the Home Secretary, Walpole, and warned him that violence would happen if the police interfered. Walpole agreed to let the meeting go on peacefully. John Bedford Leno announced the Trafalgar Square meeting, and the crowds left calmly. The next evening's meeting in Trafalgar Square, chaired by John Bedford Leno, was also peaceful.

Working for Liberal Causes

In 1868, John Bedford Leno helped Gladstone and the Liberal party find areas where working-class Liberal candidates would have strong support. He visited many towns, and the Liberal Party thanked him for his accurate predictions.

John Bedford Leno also worked hard for other causes. He wanted to end the rule that poor tenants' goods could be taken for rent. He supported more education for everyone and tried to reduce drunkenness, even though he drank himself. He also helped Joseph Arch support farm workers in 1872.

He believed that "Socialism" (a political idea about fairness and equality) had good points, but he felt its supporters were sometimes too eager.

He was often chosen to meet with important leaders like Palmerston, Disraeli, and Gladstone to discuss issues affecting working people. He was friends with many working-class leaders and was considered someone who might become a member of Parliament, though he never did.

Publishing Work

Throughout his life, John Bedford Leno published many different kinds of writings. Besides political articles, he published trade journals, newspapers, and non-fiction books like The History of Temple Bar.

However, he was most proud of his poems and songs. His song "The Song of the Spade" became very popular. It was published in many languages across Europe and America. The Athenaeum magazine called it "one of the best songs we possess" and gave him the title "Burns of Labour."

Important people like Gladstone and William Morris admired his work.

Later Years and Passing

In his sixties, John Bedford Leno's health began to decline. He suffered from gout, which made it hard for him to move. He also lost his eldest son in 1882, his wife Sarah in 1886, and then his eldest daughter.

He wrote his life story, called The Aftermath with Autobiography of the Author, which was published in 1892.

In late 1892, he became unable to work due to paralysis. He received financial help from members of Parliament. In 1893, Prime Minister Gladstone gave him a special payment of £50.

He spent his last two years in Uxbridge and passed away on October 31, 1894, at age 68. He was buried at Hillingdon parish church and was survived by one son and three daughters.

John Bedford Leno's Songs

People praised John Bedford Leno's songs for their spirit and connection to working people.

"Mr. Leno is a working man to the backbone. He believes in the honour and dignity of labour, and sings while he toils in a right royal spirit. He is a Radical, but a poetic Radical, which is being a Radical with a difference." – Birmingham Daily Gazette, January 9, 1868

"Drury Lane Lyrics show keen relish for eternal beauty and deep sympathy with human nature under various circumstances." – Athenaeum, March 28, 1868

"Mr. Leno's 'Lyrics' are on the side of labour and struggling humanity, and will serve in no small degree to cheer the working man" – Falmouth and Penryn Weekly Times, January 11, 1868

The Song of the Spade

This was his most popular song. It was well-known in both Britain and America. A French translator even translated it, making it famous in France.

Give me the spade, and the man who can use it,
A fig for your Lord and his soft silken hand;
Let the man who has strength never stop to abuse it,
Give it back to the giver – the land, boys, the land!
There's no bank like the earth to deposit your labour,
The more you deposit, the more you shall have;
If there's more than you can give to your neighbour,
And your name shall be dear to the true and the brave.

Give me the spade! England's hope, England's glory!
That fashioned the field from the bleak barren moor.
Let us blazon its rare deeds in ballad and story,
While 'tis brightened with labour – not tarnished with gore.
It was not the sword that won our last battle,
Created our commerce – extended our trade, –
Gave food to our loving wives children, and cattle,
But the queen of all weapons – the spade, boys, the spade.

Give me the spade! There's a magic about it
That turns the black soil into bright shining gold,
What would our fathers have done, boys, without it, –
When the land lay all bare, and the night winds blew cold?
Where the tall forest stood, and the wild beasts were yelling,
And our stout-hearted ancestors shrank back afraid, –
The rich corn-stack is raised, and man claims a dwelling,
Then hurrah! for our true friend – the spade, boys, the spade!

Judge not a Man

This song was praised for its pleasant music and clear, sensible words.

Judge not a man by the cost of his clothing,
Unheeding the life-path that he may pursue,
Or oft you'll admire a heart that needs loathing,
And fail to give honour where honour is due.
The palm may be hard, the fingers stiff jointed, –
The coat may be tattered, the cheek worn with tears;
But greater than kings are labour's anointed!
You can't judge a man by the coat that he wears.

Give me the man as a friend and a neighbour
Who toils at the loom – with the spade – or the plough;
Who wins his diploma of manhood by labour,
And purchases wealth by the sweat of his brow.
Why should the broad cloth alone be respected –
The man be despised who in fustian appears?
The angels in heaven have their limbs unprotected!
Then why judge a man by the coat that he wears.

Judge a man by the work he is doing,
Speak of a man as his actions demand;
Watch well the life that each is pursuing,
And let the most worthy be chief of the land,
That man shall be found midst the close ranks of labour,
Be known by the work that his industry rears;
His chiefdom when worn shall be dear to his neighbour,
We'll honour the man whatever he wears!

John Bedford Leno's Poems

John Bedford Leno was known as "the poet of the poor." His poems used simple, strong language and expressed the everyday thoughts of common people.

King Labour

This poem celebrates the power and importance of hard work.

The Wizard, King Labour, walked over the land,
And the spade for a sceptre he bore;
And each step he took left an Eden behind,
While the desert untamed frowned before.
He levelled huge mountains, and blasted the rocks,
Where for ages vast treasures lay hid;
And shewed Heaven the coffer where Earth stored her wealth,
And laughed loud as he shattered the lid.

I marked every step the magic king took,
Till he bounded the wide spreading plain,
And I marked how the eye of God followed his path
While the heavens sang a gladsome refrain,
And this was its burthen – "There's plenty for all,
Look abroad in the light of the day,
And view the corn challenge the sickel and scythe,
With its lances well poised for the fray."

The harvest well-garnered-Toils heralds went forth,
Their speed by Good-Humour increased,
And they said to each child of the universe, "Come!
And let none be shut out from the feast!"
"Come, come" said King Labour, "Earth's treasures are mine,
Bid the tyrants of earth to beware;
Their bride may be Death, if they court Famine's hand,
For still there's the Sword of Despair."

Other Poems by John Bedford Leno

• England's Glory
• Liberty
• My Father's Sword
• Up, Brothers, Up
• Freedom's Day
• There's Plenty For All
• Toil On, Toil On
• Song of the Slopworker
• What Is Labour
• A Harvest Song
• The Weaver's Song
• The Shoemaker's Linnet
• The Injured Peasant
• Ben The Miner
• Give Me A Thousand Warriors
• The Ostler's Song
• Gather Ye, Gather Ye
• The Last Idler
• A Modern Inferno
• The World Is Moving