Editing Chartism (section)

==Mid-1840s==
Despite this second set of arrests, Chartist activity continued. Beginning in 1843, O'Connor suggested that the land contained the solution to workers' problems. This idea evolved into the [[Chartist Co-operative Land Company]], later called the [[National Land Company]]. Workers would buy shares in the company, and the company would use those funds to purchase estates that would be subdivided into 2, 3, and 4 acres (0.8, 1.2, and 1.6&nbsp; hectare) lots. Between 1844 and 1848, five estates were purchased, subdivided, and built on, and then settled by lucky shareholders, who were chosen by lot.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.chartists.net/Chartist-Land-Plan-1845-50.htm|title=Welcome to Chartist Ancestors |website=chartist ancestors|access-date=27 April 2018}}</ref>

In 1848 a Select Committee was appointed by Parliament to investigate the financial viability of the scheme, and it was ordered that it be shut down. Cottages built by the Chartist Land Company are still standing and inhabited today in [[Oxfordshire]], [[Worcestershire]], [[Gloucestershire]]<ref name="auto"/> and on the outskirts of London. [[Rosedene, Chartist cottage|Rosedene]], a Chartist cottage in [[Dodford, Worcestershire]], is owned and maintained by the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]], and is open to visitors by appointment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/rosedene|title=Rosedene|website=National Trust|access-date=27 April 2018}}</ref>

Candidates embracing Chartism also stood on numerous occasions in [[general election]]s. There were concerted campaigns in the [[1841 United Kingdom general election|election of 1841]] and [[1847 United Kingdom general election|election of 1847]], when O'Connor was elected for Nottingham. O'Connor became the only Chartist to be elected an MP; it was a remarkable victory for the movement. More commonly, Chartist candidates participated in the open meetings, called hustings, that were the first stage of an election. They frequently won the show of hands at the hustings, but then withdrew from the poll to expose the deeply undemocratic nature of the electoral system. This is what Harney did in a widely reported challenge against Lord [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Palmerston]] in [[Tiverton, Devon|Tiverton]], [[Devon]], in 1847. The last Chartist challenge at a parliamentary poll took place at [[Ripon]] in 1859.<ref name=Chase2007/>{{rp|178–183, 279–286, 339–340}}