The Manhood Suffrage League was a nineteenth century ultra-radical

Radicalism (historical)

The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later became a general pejorative term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order...

 and, later, socialist club.

The organisation was founded in 1874 as the Democratic and Trades Alliance Association. Most of its initial members were tailor

Tailor

A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...

s or shoemakers based in Soho

Soho

Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...

, many had been active Chartist

Chartism

Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...

s and, later, supporters of James Bronterre O'Brien

James Bronterre O'Brien

James Bronterre O'Brien was an Irish Chartist leader, reformer and journalist.- Irish Birth & Formative Years :James O'Brien, was born near Granard, County Longford, Ireland in 1804 or 1805...

, and almost all were active in the First International. They included Maltman Barry

Maltman Barry

Michael Maltman Barry , often known as Maltman Barry, was a Scottish political activist who described himself as a Marxist but stood in elections for the Conservative Party....

, Johann Eccarius

Johann Eccarius

Johann Georg Eccarius was a Thuringian tailor and labour activist. He was a member of the League of the Just and later of the League of Communists and the International Workingmen's Association. Here he served jointly with Marx on General Council for a number of years...

, Robert Gammage, J. Bedford Leno, Charles Murray, James Murray, John Rogers, William Townshend and Henry Travis.

In 1875, the club renamed itself as the "Manhood Suffrage League", taking its name from the northern section of the Reform League

Reform League

The Reform League was established in 1865 to press for manhood suffrage and the ballot in Great Britain. It collaborated with the more moderate and middle class Reform Union and gave strong support to the abortive Reform Bill 1866 and the successful Reform Act 1867...

. Around this time, William Morris

William Morris

William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...

 and Frank Kitz came into contact with the group.

In 1877, Maltman Barry, by then the club's secretary, became an outspoken supporter of the Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

 campaign to intervene in the Russo-Turkish War. Much of the group objected to this, and the organisation ceased to function by the end of the year. However, it subsequently revived, and by the early 1880s, it had become more interested in socialism. The group became influential in the Marylebone Central Democratic Association and the Social and Political Education League. League members Murray, J. D. Butler and James MacDonald

James MacDonald (trade unionist)

-Life:Born in Edinburgh, MacDonald trained as a tailor and moved to London in 1881. He joined the Central Marylebone Democratic Association and the Manhood Suffrage League, but it was reading Friedrich Engels' articles in the Labour Standard that convinced him of socialism. As a result, he joined...

 all subsequently became leading figures in the Social Democratic Federation

Social Democratic Federation

The Social Democratic Federation was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on June 7, 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury and Eleanor Marx. However, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx's long-term...

.