Edward SCADDING was the fifth child of Benjamin Follett SCADDING (1785-1857) who variously describled himself as a clerk, builder, artist or surveyor, and his wife, Hannah, nee ROLPH (1795-1857). Edward was born in 1821[1] in Clerkenwell, London. We do not know anything about his childhood but on the night of the census on 6 June 1841, when Edward was about 20 years old, he was living in Bartholomew Close, St Bartholomew the Great, London and he described himself as an instrument maker.[2] He was still living at home with his parents, six brothers and sisters, two other men - probably lodgers - and a ten year old servant.

Nowadays Bartholomew Close is within the boundary of Barts Hospital but a painting by John Wykeham Archer of 1850 shows part of St Bartholomew Close as an assortment of rickety three storey houses around a public house, possibly the Coach and Horses, and a wooden stable. The 1851 census indicates many crowded houses in the close with an above average number of book binders living there.

By 1845 Edward had met a young lady from Ireland, Elizabeth BENSON. They were married on 21 November 1845 in St Leonards, Shoreditch, when she was 25 years old and he was only 23.[3] Their first child George Ralph SCADDING was born in London a year later, on 21 October 1846, he was baptised on 20 March 1848 in St Andrews Holborn. By August of the same year Elizabeth was in the later stages of pregnancy with her son, Edward Daniel SCADDING.

Meanwhile, Edward, now a brass turner, had become a supporter of the Chartist Movement.[4] A group of men who wanted Parliamentary reform and an improvement in life for the working classes. Their objectives, which were laid out in the Charter of 1838, were:

They were not taken seriously and mass rallies often became violent. The authorities felt that the uprising, or fear of uprising, needed to be quelled and they cracked down hard on any groups or meetings. On the 16th August Edward met with fellow Chartists, William Gurney, a shoemaker; Alfred Able, a porter; James Snowball, a joiner and Philip Martin, a newsman and some others in the Orange Tree, a public house in Orange-street off Holborn. They were planning to overthrow the Government by setting fire to London but were betrayed by a governement spy, Thomas Powell. At 4 o'clock the police arrived and arrested the men and found a quantity of arms. The landlord was also arrested, and the prisoners were handcuffed and taken to the police station in Bow Street. Having been committed for trial at Bow Street they were sent to Newgate Prison to await the trial. The fear of violence was such that nearly an hour before the accused men were moved about 200 police constables prevented all except the most "respectably attired" people from travelling down Bow Street. Edward and the other prisoners were eventually put into three police vans and with each being followed by two mounted police were quickly moved to Newgate prison.

Central Criminal Court, London

When arrested Edward Scadding was carrying an order for a musket. He was questioned two days later and subsequently charged on the 31st August. At his first court appearance on 23rd September his case was postponed, possibly as his wife, Eliza, gave birth to their second son, Edward Daniel, on that day. Edward's home at 31, Cock Lane, Smithfield was searched by a police constable who found two 'cards' (receipts) in a back room on the ground floor. One was for a musket for Edward Scadding from the Life and Protection Society. He then appeared on Monday October 2nd, 1848 at the Central Criminal Court, in front of Mr Baron Platt, where he was indicted for 'unlawfully conspiring to incite insurrection and riot and to obstruct by force the execution of the laws and the preservation of the public peace, and to procure arms and ammunition for that purpose'. He and 7 others pleaded guilty. Edward Scadding (aged 28), William Gurney (aged 42), Alfred Able (aged 23), James Snowball (aged 32), Thomas Jones (aged 39), Henry Argue (aged 23), Charles Young (aged 38) and Philip Martin (aged 45) were sentenced to be imprisoned in the Bridewell of Westminster for two years and fined £10. They also had to find two sureties for £20 each to keep the peace for 5 years and they had to further remain in prison until all paid. Five others pleaded not guilty and were to be called for trial at a later date.

As the prisoners were removed from the court a piercing shriek burst forth from the wife of one of the prisoners. It may have been from Elizabeth, Edwards wife, who would now be alone for the next two years, looking after herself, her two year old son and the baby she was carrying.

Without her husband's wages Elizabeth faced a grim future but money was collected for the families of the imprisoned men and one record shows Edward's wife receiving £2 19s. The National Victim Committee accepted donations of money from supporters of the Chartist cause and gave it to "the wives and families of the Victims of the villianous spy system". The aim was to give a weekly sum of three shillings to each wife and six pence for each child under twelve years of age. There was not always enough money to achieve this but the records show Mrs Scadding being given £3 between April 5 and July 27 1849. Mrs Scadding also received ten shillings from the Shoemakers' Exhibition for the Chartist Prisoners, a fund-raising exhibition of prize boots and shoes, which was held in September 1849.

Edward was released on Saturday 18 May 1850 from the House of Correction, Tothill Fields (also known as Westminster Bridewell) where he and some of his fellow Chartists had been imprisoned.

Edward's wife gave birth to their third child, a baby girl whom they called Susanna, in February 1851 and on the 30th March 1851 Edward was at home with his family in Clerkenwell for the census night.[5]

In the week before Edward's trial, the trials of leading Chartists William Cuffey, Thomas Fay, William Lacey and Joseph Ritchie took place in front of the same court. They were indicted for more serious crimes against the Queen and Country and were subsequently found guilty and sentenced to be transported for life.

	St Andrew, Holborn

Edward died in June 1855 in St. Bartholomew's Hospital in West London about the time that Elizabeth gave birth to their son, James. He was buried in St Andrew Holborn on 3 June 1855, one of ten burials that the Rev Toogood officiated at that day.[6]

By 1861 Elizabeth was living with the young William Johnson, 28, a shoemaker from Frome in Somerset, as his wife and they had a young daughter, Eliza born the previous year. They were living at 17 Bell Alley, Whitecross Street, Finsbury in London [7] but had moved to Nags Head Court in Finsbury by the 1871 census[8]. The children were all still living at home in 1871; George and James were pedlars, Edward was a shoemaker and Susanna was a tailoress. George was married and had four children.