Joseph Rayner Stephens 1805-1879 Trained in the Ministry Joseph Rayner Stephens came to Ashton in 1832. He became an important Chartist Leader who campaigned against the Poor Law and for factory reform. His greatness was in his instinctive reaction to human distress and social injustice. In later life he lived in Stalybridge where he established a People's School and is buried in St John's Church, Dukinfield