Editing Samuel Bamford (section)

===Arrests for treason===
In 1817 he was remanded in jail to the New Bailey Prison in [[Salford]] on suspicion of high treason, on account of his political activities. From there he was taken to London and examined before the Privy Council, presided over by [[Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth|Lord Sidmouth]] as Home Secretary. After promising future good behaviour, Bamford was released and allowed to return to his cottage at Middleton with his wife Jemima.<ref>T. A. Lockett (1968): ''Three Lives: Samuel Bamford, Alfred Darbyshire, Ellen Wilkinson'', London: University of London Press; pp. 9–10.</ref>

In August 1819, he led a group from Middleton to St Peter's Fields for a meeting that pressed for parliamentary reform and repeal of the [[Corn Laws]]. There they witnessed the [[Peterloo Massacre]], and Bamford was arrested and charged with treason. Although there was no evidence shown that either he or any of his group had been involved in the violence, he was found guilty of inciting a riot and sentenced to a year in [[Lincoln (HM Prison)|Lincoln prison]].

The massacre had a deep impact on Bamford, convincing him that state power always succeeded against radical militancy. He came to be seen as a voice for radical reform, but opposed to activism involving physical force.<ref name="ODNB" /> Bamford responded to the claim that his political group had used violence to pursue their reforming ends, in ''Passages in the Life of a Radical and Early Days'' (1840–1844), "It was not until we became infested by spies, incendiaries, and their dupes – distracting, misleading, and betraying – that physical force was mentioned amongst us. After that our moral power waned, and what we gained by the accession of demagogues, we lost by their criminal violence, and the estrangement of real friends."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bamford |first=Samuel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ycTUAAAAMAAJ |title=Passages in the Life of a Radical and Early Days |date=1893 |publisher=Unwin |language=en}}</ref>