The above chart is from David Goodway’s book on London Chartism (CUP). It shows that the peaks of Chartist organisation by branch (mainly based in reports in the weekly Chartist paper the Northern Star) were in 1839, 1842 and 1848. All three years saw significant Chartist challenges to the authorities. The Newport rising in South Wales in November 1839 was a nearly successful armed revolt. 1842 saw a General Strike dismissed by conventional histories as the ‘plug plot’.
However as Goodway notes it was only in 1848 that the State saw Chartism in London as a serious threat. 1848 was a year of revolutions in Europe and beyond. The Chartists organised a 100,000 strong demonstration for the vote on 10th April at Kennington. In June and July 1848 there were a series of increasingly militant meetings and night time marches often in conjunction with Irish Repealers. Lastly there was an attempt at a revolutionary armed outbreak at Seven Dials on 16th August 1848.
Underlying all this was the organisation of branches of the Chartist Party the National Charter Association which provided the framework for the activities of summer 1848 in London, albeit far from all the organising of events was done through the branches.
Branches met weekly in pubs(or temperance venues) or coffee houses, but when activity was planned they met more frequently- up to daily. There was of course no telephone, social media or e-mail, to meeting in person was essential
David Goodway’s book does take an extended look at what trades were active in London in 1848 but understanding what the members of the, say, 25 branches in Tower Hamlets did for a living is so far less easy to ascertain. A detailed reading of the Northern Star for summer 1848 focused on that particular issue might give some clues
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