Edward Rushton was undoubtedly a heroic figure who should be given a place in Liverpool’s history of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He was an uncompromising opponent of slavery, who at the age of nineteen became blind.

He wrote poetry, and became a tireless campaigner against slavery and against the press gangs. He was a revolutionary republican, supporter of the American war for Independence, the French Revolution, and the struggles of the Polish and Irish people. He founded the worlds first school for the blind which, in the middle of the nineteenth century, moved to a building now occupied by the Merseyside Trade Union, Community and Unemployed Resource Centre.

Bill Hunter says: “I wrote this book on Edward Rushton in an attempt to rescue from obscurity, this uncompromising fighter for the common people, and to pay tribute to his indomitable spirit.”

Living History Library
Book ISBN: 0-9542077-0-X
Talking Book ISBN: 0-9542077-1-8

click on this icon to hear Rushton's 'Ode to a Robin'

Rushton's letter to Washington about the president's 'owning' of slaves

Chapter 12 - The Liverpool Seamen’s Revolt of 1775

Nerve review of the book

Peter Fryer said of the talking book in March 2004:

"Everyone concerned in its production can be proud of this achievement. Bill’s book has been intelligently abridged and beautifully recorded; the attention to detail, including the attractive packaging, shows a splendid level of professionalism."