On the other side of the 19th century class and industry divide, a number of figures stand out. William Charlton (1804-89) was a weavers leader in the great strike of 1828, which lasted for five months and which left a long and deep legacy of bitterness.  He became a leader of the Kidderminster Chartists, but emigrated to America in 1845.

​

During the strike a Staffordshire parson came to the fore on the weavers’ side. The Rev Humphrey Price, who was born in Kidderminster in 1775, bitterly attacked the intransigence of the employers. For his pains he was tried for sedition at Hereford Assizes. A body of weavers marched 45 miles to support him, but to no avail. He was sentenced to a year in Stafford jail. Price's parting address to the town is attached to the left)

​

George Holloway (1818-1904 - right) was at first a carpet weaver, then a publican, briefly a carpet manufacturer, and finally after 1858 and the advent of power looms he became an auctioneer. After Charlton’s emigration he had become the leader of the town’s Chartist movement. For many decades he continued to be involved in town politics as a Liberal councillor fighting for improved public services and political representation