Background
Francis Place was born in London on November 3, 1771, and after attending schools there until he was nearly 14, was apprenticed to a tailor.
Francis Place was born in London on November 3, 1771, and after attending schools there until he was nearly 14, was apprenticed to a tailor.
When the Reform Bill was introduced in 1831, Francis Place was active among the extreme parliamentary reformers.
His campaign against the Duke of Wellington, who had opposed the Reform Bill, in 1832 was thought to have contributed to the duke's failure to form a government. After passage of the Reform Act, Place's influence declined even in the constituency of Westminster, but he helped to draft the "People's Charter" of 1838.
Toward the end of his life he wrote a history of the Reform Bill, the manuscript of which (still largely unpublished) is in the British Museum. Place's integrity won him general respect, but he often offended the aristocratic politicians with whom he worked.
London Corresponding Society
In February 1830 Francis Place married a London actress.
