James Harmer the French. Harmer was their choice of solicitor. In 1819 Harmer represented Samuel Bamford after the Peterloo massacre. In the Peterloo aftermath Harmer, and Henry Dennison of Liverpool, represented the family of John Lees of Oldham, fatally wounded, at an extended inquest starting 8 September 1819. Dennison, Harmer and Charles Pearson were thanked by the "Report on the Metropolitan and Central Committee, Appointed for the Relief of the Manchester Sufferers" for their investigations. William Hone's book "The Whole Proceedings before the Coroner's Court at Oldham", which exposed the use of force at Peterloo, relied heavily on Harmer's work with witness
The Peterloo Group of the University, led to meetings between the group and interested parties from the City of Manchester and cleared the way for the formation of the Manchester Institute of Contemporary Arts (‘MICA’), and, with several members moving away from the City, the dissolution of the group in 1960. The Peterloo Group The Peterloo Group was a group of poets, artists and writers in Manchester during the latter part of the 1950s. It had three founder members; Robin Skelton, poet and professor of English at Manchester University, Tony Connor, poet and Michael Neville Seward Snow, painter. Their objective was to bring