05 - Three Accounts of Peterloo by Francis Archibald Bruton

Dive into the tumultuous events of August 16, 1819, with Three Accounts of Peterloo, a compelling companion to F.A. Brutons The Story of Peterloo. This short collection features firsthand accounts from Bishop Stanley, Lord Hylton, and John Benjamin Smith, each accompanied by insightful introductions from the editor. These contemporary narratives offer diverse perspectives on the tragic day when a peaceful reform rally at St. Peters Fields, Manchester, was violently disrupted by a troop of Hussars and local Yeomanry, resulting in 18 deaths and over 700 injuries. (Summary by Phil Benson)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Section four of three Accounts of Peterloo by Fa Bruton.
This liberyvox recording is in the public domain. John Benjamin
Smith and an extract from the Reminiscences of John Benjamin Smith.
John Benjamin Smith, first chairman of the Anti Cornlaw League.

(00:22):
John Benjamin Smith seventeen ninety four to eighteen seventy nine,
whose account of Peterloo follows, was better known as a
strenuous advocate of free trade. Even in this capacity, however,
a breakdown of health some years before the repeal of
the corn Laws robbed him of much of the credit
which was due to him for the important spade work

(00:44):
that he had done. He was the first treasurer of
the Anti corn Law Association, and when that developed into
the Anti Cornlaw League, he became its first chairman. He
contested several elections on free trade principles, and used himself
well to tell how he had converted Cobden to total repeal.

(01:04):
He sat as member, first for the Sterling Boroughs and
afterwards during more than twenty years for Stockport. His correspondence
with John Bright has recently been placed in the Manchester
Reference Library. During the American War, he strongly espoused the
cause of the North, and he was one of those
who urged the government to encourage the growth of cotton

(01:27):
in India. Mister Smith was a trustee of Owen's College
under the founder's will, and he subscribed liberally towards its extension.
His name is perpetuated in the Smith Professorship of English Literature,
which was endowed in memory of him by his two
daughters and his son in law. A short memoir of him,

(01:47):
which appeared in Alderman Thompson's History of Owen's College, has
been reprinted and published separately. Manchester, J. E. Cornish eighteen
eighty seven. At the date of Peterloo, he was only
twenty five years of age, but he had already shown
great promise as a business man. Entering the office of

(02:07):
his uncle, a Manchester merchant, at the early age of fourteen,
he was made responsible for the whole correspondence of the firm.
Five years later, and before he was twenty he had
negotiated some very profitable purchases of cotton at the sales
of the East India Company. The account of Peterloo which
follows is an extract from his reminiscences, which were written

(02:30):
towards the close of his life, at the earnest request
of his family. The manuscript of these is now at
the Manchester Reference Library, as is also a typed and
bound copy presented by his daughter, Lady Derning Lawrence. Among
his other manuscripts, also at the Manchester Reference Library is
a shorter account of Peterloo, apparently written immediately after the event.

(02:55):
The statement made recently that mister J. B. Smith was
the author of the well known impartial narrative of the
melancholy occurrences at Manchester seems to be due to an error. Apparently,
the impartial narrative, which seems to have been written by
another hand, has been confused with mister Smith's shorter and
earlier accounts. We have already pointed out that mister Smith's narrative,

(03:20):
which is not so detailed as those of Stanley and
Joliffe in its description of the charge of the troops,
is specially valuable for the account it gives of the
circumstances immediately proceeding and following the catastrophe, and its estimate
of the character of the crowd. In these details, it
is strikingly corroborative of Bamford's story as told in his

(03:42):
passages in the Life of a Radical, and of the
information given by mister John Edward Taylor, who under the
pseudonym of an observer, edited the contemporary tracts entitled the
Peterloo Massacre. The portrait of mister Smith which appears here
is from a photograph kindly lent by his daughter, Lady

(04:02):
Derning Lawrence, an extract from the Reminiscences of John Benjamin Smith,
copied from the original manuscript then in the possession of
his daughter, Lady Derning Lawrence, August nineteen thirteen. The people,
disappointed in their expectations that prosperity and plenty would follow

(04:23):
the return of peace, and having no faith in a
legislature which, as soon as the war terminated, inflicted upon
them a corn law to deprive them of cheap corn,
demanded a better representation in Parliament. Stimulated by the writings
of Cobbitt, associations were formed in all the manufacturing districts

(04:43):
to obtain a reform in Parliament. Lancashire took the lead
in this movement. Clubs were established in eighteen sixteen in
all the manufacturing towns and villages. At the small town
of Middleton, near Manchester, a club formed, in which Bamford,
the weaver poet, took a leading part. They were joined

(05:06):
by many honest and intelligent men from all parts of
the district, among whom was John Knight, a small manufacturer.
A meeting of delegates was held on the first of
January eighteen seventeen, at which it was decided that the
reforms required could only be accomplished by the establishment of
annual parliaments and universal suffrage. The establishment of these clubs

(05:30):
alarmed the government, who saw in them nothing but an
intention to overturn the institutions of the country and to
revive in this country the enormities of the French Revolution.
Spies and informers were employed by the government, and John
Knight and thirty seven others, who had legally assembled to
discuss the reforms which they deemed necessary to obtain a

(05:52):
repeal of the corn Laws and good government, were arrested
on the information of spies and sent for trial to Lancaster,
But on their trial before mister baron Wood were all
found not guilty by the jury. The Sidmouth government suspended
the Habbeas Corpus Act so that they could arrest and
imprison any person as long as they pleased. The Tories,

(06:16):
following the example of the radicals, established Associations for the
Protection of the Constitution. In January eighteen eighteen, however, it
was announced that the Act for the Suspension of the
Habbeas Corpus Act would be repealed. No sooner were the
people relieved from the danger of being sent to prison
for being present at a meeting to petition Parliament for reform.

(06:39):
As great numbers had been in Lancashire imprisoned from March
eighteen seventeen until January eighteen eighteen and then discharged without
being informed what charges were made against them. Than the
reform associations were revived, a fresh campaign was rigorously commenced
early in eighteen nineteen. Hunt, commonly called Orator Hunt, had

(07:02):
come forward as the champion of the people's rights. On
the twenty fifth of January, he made a public entry
into Manchester from Stockport, accompanied by large crowds with flags
and banners. The meeting was enthusiastic but very peaceable. Meetings
were held in all the surrounding towns and villages to

(07:23):
appoint district delegates to make arrangements for a great Meeting
to be held in Manchester. This memorable meeting was held
on the sixteenth of August eighteen nineteen, on a large
vacant plot of land called Saint Peter's Field, adjoining Saint
Peter's Street and in sight of Saint Peter's Church. The

(07:44):
actors in the bloody tragedy of that day were called
the Heroes of Peterloo, in contrast with the brave Heroes
of Waterloo. The meeting was called to petition Parliament for
a reform of Parliament and the repeal of the Corn Laws.
And it is a curious coincidence that on the very
spot where the largest public meeting was ever held to

(08:05):
petition Parliament for the repeal of the corn Laws, in
the dispersion of which by military force six hundred persons
were killed and wounded, there now stands the Free Trade Hall,
erected twenty years afterwards on Peterloo for the peaceful and
noble object of obtaining bread for the people by the
repeal of the wicked laws by which it was prohibited.

(08:29):
I had no intention of going to this meeting, but
my aunt called at the counting House and asked me
to accompany her to missus Orton's Mount Street, Saint Peter's
Field to see the Great Meeting, a house overlooking the
whole space, and next but one to where the magistrates
were assembled. We reached there about half past eleven o'clock,

(08:50):
and on our way saw large bodies of men and
women with bands playing in flags and banners bearing devices
no corn laws reform. There were crowds of people in
all directions, full of good humor, laughing and shouting and
making fun I always wore a white hat in summer,

(09:10):
and I found that mister Hunt also wore a white hat,
and it became the symbol of radicalism, and may have
been the cause of the politeness shown to us by
the crowd. It seemed to be a gala day with
the country people, who were mostly dressed in their best
and brought with them their wives. And when I saw
boys and girls taking their father's hand in the procession,

(09:33):
I observed to my aunt, these are the guarantees of
their peaceable intentions. We need have no fears, and so
we passed on to missus Orton's. When we arrived there
we saw great crowds, which were constantly increased by the
arrival of successive country processions, until it was estimated that
the meeting amounted to sixty thousand people. There was a

(09:57):
double row of constables formed from mister bu Exton's, where
the magistrates had taken their station, to the hustings. My
father joined us soon after our arrival at missus Orton's.
At length, Hunt made his appearance in an open barouche
drawn by two horses and a woman dressed in white
sitting in the box. On their reaching the hustings, which

(10:21):
were prepared for the orator, he was received with enthusiastic applause,
the waving of hats and flags, the blowing of trumpets,
and the playing of music. Haunt stepped on to the
hustings and was again cheered by the vast assemblage. He
began to address them, and I could distinctly see his
motions through the glass I held in my hand, and

(10:43):
I could hear his voice, but could not understand what
he said. He paused, and the people cheered him. About
this time there was an alarm among the women and
children near the place where I stood, and I could
also see a part of the crowd in motion towards
the Dean's going side. But I thought it a false alarm,

(11:03):
as many returned again and joined in the Hussahs of
the crowd. A second alarm arose and I heard the
sound of a horn, and immediately the Manchester yeoman reappeared,
coming from Peter Street, headed by Hugh Burley, the same
man who in eighteen fifteen as Borough Eve of Manchester
presided at the public meeting assembled to petition Parliament for

(11:26):
the repeal of the corn Laws. They galloped up to
the house where the magistrates were assembled, halted and drew
up in line. After some hesitation, from what cause I
do not know, I heard the order to form three deep,
and then the order to march. The trumpeter led the
way and galloped towards the hustings, followed by the Yeomanry.

(11:50):
Whilst this was passing, my attention was called to another
movement coming from the opposite side of the meeting. A
troop of soldiers, the fifteenth Hussars, turned round the corner
of the house where we stood, and galloped forwards towards
the crowd. They were succeeded by the Cheshire Yeomanry, and
lastly by two pieces of artillery. On the arrival of

(12:12):
the soldiers, the special Constables, the magistrates and the soldiers
set up loud shouts. This was responded to by the
crowd with waving of hats. After this, the soldiers galloped
amongst the people, creating frightful alarm and disorder. The people
ran helter skelter in every direction. It was a hot,

(12:35):
dusty day. Clouds of dust arose which obscured the view.
When it had subsided, a startling scene was presented. Numbers
of men, women and children were lying on the ground
who had been knocked down and run over by the soldiers.
I noticed one woman lying face downwards, apparently lifeless. A

(12:58):
man went up to her and lifted one of her legs.
It fell as if she were lifeless. Another man lifted
both her legs and let them fall. I saw her
some time after, carried off by the legs and arms,
as if she were dead. My attention was then directed
to a number of constables bringing from the Hustings the

(13:18):
famous hunt wearing a white hat, and with him another man,
also wearing a white hat, who was said to be Johnson.
The prisoners were treated in a scandalous manner. Many of
the constables hissed and beat them as they passed. When
they reached the magistrate's house. He was surrounded by constables,

(13:39):
some pulling him by the collar, others by the coat.
A dastardly attack was made upon him by General Clay, who,
with a large stick, struck him over the head with
both hands. As he was ascending the steps to the
magistrate's house. The blow knocked in his hat and packed
it over his face. The men turned round, as if

(14:01):
ashamed of himself, and became a quiet spectator. The ground
by this time was cleared, and nothing was to be
seen but soldiers and constables. The Reverend mister Hay, the
chairman to the magistrates, then stood on the steps of
mister Buxton's house and addressed the constables. I could not

(14:21):
hear what he said, but he was cheered when he concluded.
He then returned into the house, but came out again
soon afterwards with mister Marriot the magistrate, and Hunt in
the custody of Nadine, chief Constable, and with Johnson in
the custody of another constable. When Hunt made his appearance,
he was assailed with groans and hisses by the soldiers

(14:42):
and constables. Hunt took off his hat and bowed to them,
which appeared to calm them while they marched towards Deansgate
on their way to the New Bailey Prison, escorted by
the cavalry. On quitting the windows from whence we had
witnessed so many painful scenes, we descended and found two
special constables who had been brought into the house. One

(15:05):
presented a shocking sight. The face was all over blood
from a sword cut on his head, and his shoulder
was put out. The other was bloody from being rode
over and kicked on the back of his head. When
the particulars of this bloody tragedy became known, strong feelings
of indignation were expressed all over the country. The Manchester Magistrates,

(15:29):
alarmed at the tone of public opinion in London, had
a meeting hastily convened on the nineteenth of August at
the Police Office, which was adjourned to the Star Inn,
where resolutions were passed thanking the magistrates and the soldiers.
I happened by accident to be present at the meeting.
A young man with whom I was acquainted, a clerk

(15:51):
in the office of the Clerk to the Magistrates, happening
to meet me in the street on his way to
the meeting, took me by the arm and said come
with me. I asked where he was going, and when
I learned declined to go. He replied, nonsense, you will
hear what's going on, and so I somewhat reluctantly went
with him to the Star Inn. On our arrival, we

(16:13):
found the room pretty full, and I took a seat.
The chairman, mister Francis Phillips, rose and said, if there
be any persons present who do not approve of the
objects of this meeting, they are requested to withdraw. I thought.
He looked at me and felt a little uncomfortable. He
sat down again and rose to repeat his request. I

(16:37):
thought that, as I should know better what the object
of the meeting was, after I had heard it explained,
I would sit still, and so I remained to the end.
After the meeting, I told some of my reform friends
how I came to be present at the meeting, and
they wished me to write out an account of the proceedings.
I did so, and with a few alterations and the

(16:59):
omission of names, it was inserted in Cowdroy's gazette. This
statement created great alarm among those who got up the
meeting to thank the magistrates, and they denounced it as
a false statement, But another letter to Cowdroy's Gazette affirmed
the truth of the account of the meeting to thank
the magistrates, and threatened to make public the names of

(17:22):
the speakers if its correctness was again called into question.
The dispersion of a legally convened meeting by military force
aroused a general indignation, and the smuggled passing of thanks
to the magistrates so dishonestly sent forth occasioned an expression
of public feeling and opinion such as had never been

(17:42):
manifested in Manchester before. A declaration and protest against the
Star in resolutions was immediately issued, stating that we are
fully satisfied by personal observation on undoubted information, that the
meeting was perfectly peaceable, that no seditious or intemperate harangues

(18:02):
were made there, that the riot Act, if read at all,
was read privately or without the knowledge of a great
body of the meeting, And we feel it our bound
and duty to protest against and to express our utter
disapprobation of the unexpected and unnecessary violence by which the
assembly was dispersed. We further declare that the meeting convened

(18:26):
at the Police Office on the nineteenth of August for
the purpose of thanking the magistrates, municipal officers, soldiers, et cetera.
Were strictly and exclusively private, and in order that the
privacy might be more completely ensured, was adjourned to the
star In It is a matter of notoriety that no
expression of dissent from the main object of the meeting

(18:49):
was there permitted. We therefore deny that it had any
claim to the title of a numerous and highly respectable
meeting of the inhabitants of Manchester and Salford and their neighbourhood.
In the course of three or four days, this protest
received four thousand, eight hundred signatures. By way of counteracting

(19:10):
this energetic protest, on the twenty seventh of August, Lord
Sidmouth communicated to the Manchester Magistrates and to Major Trafford
and the military serving under him, the thanks of the
Prince Regent for their prompt, decisive and efficient measures for
preservation of the public peace on August the sixteen. Meanwhile,

(19:32):
hundreds of persons wounded on that fatal day were enduring
dreadful suffering. They were disabled from work, not daring to
apply for parish relief, not even daring to apply for
surgical aid, lest in the arbitrary spirit of the time,
their acknowledgment that they had received their wounds on Saint
Peter's field might send them to prison, perhaps to the scaffold.

(19:56):
A committee was formed for the purpose of making a
rigid enquiry in to the cases of those who had
been killed and wounded, and subscriptions were raised for their relief.
After an inquiry of many successive weeks, the committee published
the cases of eleven killed and five hundred and sixty wounded,
of whom about one hundred and twenty were females. The

(20:18):
Reverend W. R. Hay, chairman of the Bench of Magistrates,
was rewarded by being presented to the living of Rochdale,
worth two thousand pounds a year. Hunt and his companions
were committed to Lancaster and subsequently tried at York, where
he was found guilty and sentenced to be imprisoned for
two years and a half, and Johnson, Healy and Bamford

(20:41):
to one year's imprisonment. The bloody proceedings that Peterloo startled
the whole nation. Meetings were held everywhere, denouncing them in
the strongest terms. Sir Francis Burdett addressed a letter to
the electors of Westminster expressing his ship aim, grief and
indignation at the proceedings, and was prosecuted by the Attorney

(21:04):
General for libel and was fined two thousand pounds and
imprisoned for three months. Lord Fitzwilliam, for attending a public
meeting to express disapprobation at the means by which the
meeting at Peterloo was dispersed, was dismissed from his office
as Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire. These proceedings produced a deep

(21:26):
impression on the minds of thoughtful men, who began to
think we were on the brink of despotism, and that
the time had arrived when the country should be no
longer ruled by land lowners and boroughmongers, but by representatives
chosen by the people. End of Section four