Petitions and the Material Culture of Political Organisation*

Abstract This article examines surviving manuscript petitions to reveal the material culture of political organisation. Conceptually, the article frames the material culture of petitions and the practices associated with petitioning as a technology that enabled political activity. As studies of the USA have shown, the signatory list served as a mechanism for political recruitment and organisation. Offering a granular study of material petitions demonstrates the importance of the sequencing and spatial patterning of signatory lists to understanding the organisational qualities of petitions. Signatory lists were often headed by local notables, a strategy designed to encourage potential signers to subscribe. A more random distribution of names and addresses indicated that the organisers had left the petition to ‘lie’ at strategically selected sites, while the structuring of names by street implied the use of door‐to‐door canvassing, which became increasingly common. Finally, the article considers the importance of the material form of petitions to their reception and presentation to authority, particularly the materialisation of the claim to represent a given social or geographic community. Examining materiality and practice therefore provides new perspectives at a time when there is an appetite to move beyond the linguistic approaches associated with the ‘new political history’.