THE last surviving protest banner from the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 is on display in Rochdale tomorrow.

Rochdale is one of the towns from which textile workers and their families marched to Manchester for a public meeting 200 years ago, where speakers called for democracy in Britain.

The peaceful gathering of 60,000 people was attacked by sabre-wielding cavalry and drunken mounted militia, leaving 15 people dead and 700 injured.

The historic banner was carried from the town of Middleton by a group led by radical reformer Sam Bamford.

They marched into Manchester with thousands of others from surrounding towns and villages including Heywood, Rochdale, Middleton, Oldham, Lees, Saddleworth, Stalybridge, Ashton-under-Lyne, Stockport, Bolton and Bury.

Events after the massacre included uprisings in Burnley in Lancashire and Huddersfield in Yorkshire.

The massacre also led to the founding of the Manchester Guardian newspaper, the launch of the Chartist movement and the co-operative movement in Rochdale, as well as the growth of trade unions.

Dozens of events are being staged to mark the 200th anniversary of the massacre, which took place on August 16 1819.

The banner is one of two carried by the Middleton contingent to Manchester. The second was inscribed with the words “Parliaments Annual” and “Suffrage Universal.”

It was lost after being cut from marcher Thomas Redford’s hand by a soldier when the meeting was attacked.

The surviving banner was smuggled out of Manchester and returned to the Middleton group.

They carried it home and it was hung in the Suffield Arms pub. Sam Bamford wrote an account of the Peterloo meeting and the violence unleashed by the state.

It now resides in Rochdale’s Touchstones Museum and was in storage due to its delicate condition but is now on display there as part of a Peterloo exhibition.

A permanent public memorial to Peterloo, designed by the Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller, was unveiled in Manchester this week.

Tomorrow campaigners will replicate the marches from communities around Manchester to a rally in Albert Square — close to the site of the massacre — at 1pm.

The Peterloo Massacre is the theme of a new banner for the Greater Manchester Morning Star Readers’ and Supporters’ group.

It was unveiled on Wednesday by actress Maxine Peake who had a leading role in the film Peterloo by Mike Leigh.

Further details of Greater Manchester events can be found at peterloo1819.co.uk.