Place , Francis , 1771-1854 , radical reformer

The illegitimate son of the keeper of a debtors' prison, Francis Place was apprenticed aged 14 to a breeches-maker and practised the trade for many years, eventually becoming successful. From 1794 to 1797 he was a member of the radical London Corresponding Society, which had a strong influence on his political and philosophical views. In the first two decades of the 19th century he was instrumental in the successes of radical candidates for the borough of Westminster. Place wrote extensively and his papers comprise one of the largest 19th century collections in the British Library.