Adam Smith, School of English. During the early decades of the nineteenth century James Montgomery cemented his reputation as one of Sheffield’s most enduring legends. A poet, bookseller, humanitarian and abolitionist Montgomery dedicated his later life to ensuring freedom and fairness for all. But this talk will trace Montgomery’s turbulent time as editor of one of Sheffield’s very first newspapers, The Sheffield Iris, when he was tried for sedition for his poetry, interpreted by some as a treasonous condemnation of the country’s monarchy and government.