Stephen Bardsley – Peterloo Artefact

My name is Stephen Bardsley and I live in Melbourne, Australia now but my family was originally from Bradford and Beswick in Manchester.

I have a sabre which has been handed down the family since the Peterloo, the sabre was supposedly taken from a Manchester Yeoman cavalry horse rider after it was used to chop Ann Bardsley who supposedly was not killed and survived to tell the story and pass on the sabre. Unfortunately I have no verification this is true, other than the sabre and the family tradition of passing it on since 1819. I have the sabre on display at my home and there is also an 1819 half crown that for some reason accompanies it.  As previously advised the Sabre was handed down to relatives over the years and was given to me when my Father Raymond Bardsley died in 1988.

The family story has it that the Sabre was kept a secret for many years, due to the belief the person who pulled the Manchester Yeoman off his horse after he had slashed Ann Bardsley would get into serious trouble.