Member of Parliament. Feargus O'Connor received notoriety as a 19th century colorful politician, starting in Ireland first, then to England. He wanted a better life for the common man. In 1833 as a member of the Radial Irish Party, he was elected MP representing County Cork in the General Election after advocating the repeal of the Act of Union, the abolishment of mandatory 10% of one's income for Tithes to the Roman Catholic Church, universal suffrage and the secret ballot. In 1835 O'Connor was unseated for failing to meet the property qualifications. Even after being unseated, he toured Ireland, as an excellent charismatic orator, fighting for his radial political beliefs for the common man, thus splitting the Radial Irish political party causing the Tories to take the MP seat. Born Feargus Edward O'Connor , he was one of three sons of a family, which was known world-wide for being outstanding political writers and military men. As a Protestant, he had inherited his family's Irish estate and was formally educated, attending Trinity College in Dublin and becoming a lawyer in 1820. At this point, he moved to Leeds in England where he established the "Northern Star" newspaper, which became a great success by the spring of 1839, selling over 48,000 copies a week. He supported the right to vote for the working class. He supported physical violent if necessary while many of his followers did not, thus alienating them. After being dismissed from a formal gathering of his top colleagues, O'Connor responded by forming a new Chartist organization, the East London Democratic Association. He demanded a six-point Charter: All men able to vote, secret ballot, MP elected every year instead of every five years, equal number of constituencies for each MP, MP to be paid, abolish the law that the MP must own property. With this, he is credited with the first organized political party in Britain representing the working class. Four months later, he was arrested and charged with publishing "seditious libels" in his newspaper and after being found guilty, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, where he continue to write his newspaper. He was released in August of 1841 and eventually, split his own movement over the subject of violent protesting. Following the August of 1842 "Plug Riot" with 350,000 textile workers, 120,000 coal miners, and 400,000 metal workers striking in Manchester, he was arrested. Military forces had to be sent to the area to control the mob of strikers. He was tried for his part in the riot, but acquitted on a technicality. Other leaders were sent to jail and eight strikers killed. With many strikers earning about £5 per month, Queen Victoria had placed a £50 bounty for each striker's head with many serving many years in prison after being caught. In 1845 he developed a plan to divide land to make "England a paradise for all." In 1847, O'Connor was elected MP for Nottingham, becoming the first and only Chartist MP in British history. By May of 1847, he had persuaded 70,000 people to pay him £100,000 to purchase Heronsgate, which was renamed O'Connorville, in Gloucestershire. In April of 1848, he presided over the last great Chartist demonstration on Kennington Common in south London. "O'Connor's Land Scheme" was becoming a disaster and by 1850 the company was virtually bankrupt with the settlers evicted, loosing both their money and land. This was a stressful time for him with mental changes, which may have been related to the diagnosis of latent syphilis in his brain, which there was no treatment in this era. He claimed to have a petition supporting him with 5,706,000 signatures, but under close examination, he had less than 2,000,000 as the signatures were mainly forgeries. Being revealed as a "con man," he had destroyed his own Chartist movement. After being exposed and the decline of followers, his mental health suffered. In 1852 he was committed to the mental asylum at Chiswick, and remained an inpatient until he died. He had 40,000 loyal followers attending his funeral. By 1919 five of his six points were passed; MP are still being elected every five years. Besides him, his two brothers supported the freedom for Ireland and to leave in exile: His half-brother was Roderic O'Connor, who had become a large land owner and public servant after emigrating to Tasmania, Australia. Another brother Francisco O'Connor, traveled to South Africa fighting for the independence with Simon Bolivia and dying there as an old man.