Lajos (or Louis) Kossuth (1802-1894), journalist, politician, freedom fighter and a man described both as the ‘Father of Hungarian Democracy’ and the ‘Liberator of Hungary’, arrived in Southampton aboard the steamer Madrid in October 1851. He had been involved in the struggle for Hungarian independence against the Austrians and Russians during the revolutions of 1848 and had become that country’s president for a short time in 1849, before being forced to abdicate in 1850. He then travelled to Southampton en route to the United States. He was met at the docks by a mayoral party and large enthusiastic crowds and was then taken by carriage to Andrews’ coach factory in Above Bar Street where he gave a speech from the balcony overlooking the street. He stayed at Richard Andrews’s house in Winchester. After a brief visit to London he returned to Southampton for a civic reception in the town hall (the hall above the Bargate, not the Audit House). After visiting other English towns he resumed his journey to America.
Lajos Kossuth
Lithograph by August Prinzhofer, 1848
Lajos Kossuth Arrives at Southampton Docks
Drawing from the Illustrated London News, 1st November 1851
Lajos Kossuth addresses the crowd from the balcony of Andrew’s coach factory.
Drawing from the Illustrated London News, 1st November 1851
Lajos Kossuth at the civic reception in the Guildhall above the Bargate.
Drawing from the Illustrated London News, 1st November 1851
Further reading:
Illustrated London News, 1 November 1851 p548-549
Authentic Life of Louis Kossuth. (HS/v)
'The Winchester connections of Richard Andrews, 1843-59', by Richard Preston in Southampton Local History Forum Journal, no. 13, Spring 2008, p 3-12. (HS/h)
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