View of the Great Chartist Meeting on Kennington Common

Daguerreotype of a large crowd of supporters of the Chartist movement who stand together on Kennington Common. Some hold banners and flags. A platform stands in the middle ground. In the centre foreground stands a man standing in a horse drawn cart. Large house, left background. This daguerreotype, purchased by Prince Albert, records the immense crowds at one of the Chartist rallies held in South London in 1848. Calling for political reform, and spurred on by the recent February Revolution in France, the Chartist movement was seen by many as a terrifying threat to the established order. Fears were so great that on the eve of the meeting pictured, the Duke of Wellington stationed troops across London and the royal family were removed to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.