Manchester is looking at ways to mark the anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre

On August 16, 1819 cavalry charged into a crowd which had assembled at a public meeting in St Peter’s Fields resulting in the death of 11 people with more than 500 injured, including many children.

The site of St Peter's Fields is now marked with a blue plaque on the former Free Trade Hall, now the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, but Manchester Council Leader, Sir Richard Leese agrees with campaigners that the plaque should be replaced with a new one that more accurately describes events that day.

Manchester City Council is intending to honour those who lost their lives at what is also known as the Manchester Massacre and the Battle of Peterloo.

Sir Richard Leese, said: "In addition we are intending to mark the Peterloo Massacre as a key point in the city's and indeed the country's history and a tragedy befitting a memorial. The issue was first raised with me by school children from Salford who understand the need for those who lost their lives and the reason they had come together to be remembered.

"The City is also looking at marking the Suffragette movement and the Abolition of Slavery and we will work towards creating public monuments to remember such important moments in our history."

The public meeting was organised by the Manchester Patriotic Union Society, a political group campaigning for radical parliamentary reform and a repeal of the Corn Laws.

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