Extract from a printed paper called ‘Evidence disproving some of the charges’: an attempt to explain away the death of a child called William Fildes at ‘Peterloo’.

This was a move by the authorities to justify their actions, and provide a summary of the various inquests carried out by the Manchester authorities. They were happy to admit that a child was trampled to death in the Yeomanry charge, and blame the mother for letting go of her child when startled by the charge. Catalogue ref: HO 42/199 f217. 

A scrap of paper giving account of events at St. Peter’s Fields in Manchester shows that few expected the Yeoman Cavalry to be used to break up the crowd. This brief, vivid, immediate account is said to be our earliest report of ‘Peterloo’, 16 August 1819. This information was received in London the following day and sent to the office of Lord Sidmouth. Catalogue ref: HO 42/192 f207 

The Liberty cap has been a symbol of freedom since at least Roman times. It was worn during the American Revolution and was adopted during the French Revolution. In Britain in 1819, the ‘Cap of Liberty’ was also the name of a radical weekly newsletter.

Engraving showing events at St Peter’s Fields on 16 August 1819 in Manchester. Catalogue ref: MPI 1/134 

The engraving shows how events at ‘Peterloo’ soon became used as radical propaganda. This picture was purchased by John Jenkins, an ex-weaver and ex-Royal Marine, who ‘by the aid of a magnifying glass [made the figures] appear as large as life’ while he described what happened. In November 1819 Jenkins had been exhibiting the picture at Chudleigh, in Devon, when his activities came to the attention of Gilbert Burrington, vicar of Chudleigh and magistrate. Burrington sent Jenkins to the Exeter House of Correction as a vagrant and passed information of his seditious conduct to the Home Secretary. 

House of Correction: a place where those who had committed minor offences and considered capable of reformation were confined. 

A letter sent to authorities in Manchester on behalf of Lord Sidmouth, Home Secretary, 4 August 1819. Catalogue ref: HO 41/4 f.434

This letter advised on steps to be taken before the meeting happened in St Peter’s Fields in August, 1819.

Between 1815 and 1819, there were a series of disturbances in Britain. Political meetings were held to protest against the government and demand reform. The climax came in 1819, when 60,000 people gathered at St. Peter’s Fields in Manchester. The main speaker at the meeting was Henry Hunt, a leading political reformer. The crowd gathered to hear Hunt speak about parliamentary reform.

However, the Manchester magistrates chose to arrest Hunt. They used the local yeomanry (amateur cavalry) to seize him. In the chaos that followed, 11 people died and many were injured. This event soon became known as ‘Peterloo’, after the recent Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

After these events some people blamed the magistrates; others cited the violence of the crowd. Many attacked the behaviour of the yeomanry, saying they were guilty of overreacting because the meeting was peaceful. However, the government chose to defend the magistrates and the yeomanry and promptly introduced new laws to restrict political rights.

Using the original documents in this lesson, find out about events at ‘Peterloo’ and the response of the authorities.

‘Popular radicalism’ was based on democratic ideals and was critical of government corruption.  After the French Wars, there was a return to public political meetings and riots. The Spa Fields riots were incidents of public disorder resulting from the second of two mass meetings held at Spa Fields, Islington in London, 1816. There was a rising at Pentrich in Derbyshire in 1817. A few months before these events, a demonstration was held in Manchester by radical weavers known as the ‘Blanketeers’. They planned to march to London and present a petition to the Prince Regent about the depression in the textile industry in Lancashire and the suspension of Habeas Corpus (making it possible for people be imprisoned unlawfully). This so-called ‘March of the Blanketeers’ was broken up violently and the leaders imprisoned. 

Perhaps the best-known demonstration for political rights at this time is known as the ‘Peterloo Massacre.’ The reform meeting at St Peter’s Field in Manchester in August 1819 followed two years of revived interest in the radical press, mass petitioning and trade unionism, still illegal at this time.  

It has been estimated that perhaps 60,000 men, women and children met at St Peter’s Field to hear Henry Hunt and others speak in favour of political reforms and rights for the poor. For several weeks beforehand, the reformers practised military drills with those planning to attend to ensure order on the day. However, local magistrates believed the reformers were preparing for armed rebellion; they declared the meeting illegal and warned people to stay at home. The meeting went ahead and started peacefully. However, when Hunt arrived, the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry (the amateur cavalry) were sent by the magistrates to arrest him. They slashed their way through the crowd, killing 11 people and resulting in 400 people being injured. The 15th Hussars on standby, who had previously fought at Waterloo, came in to support the yeomanry and cleared the field. Out of contempt for what happened, the disaster soon became referred to as the ‘Peterloo’. 

Mr W. R. Hay, a Lancashire magistrate, justified the position of the local authorities when he wrote to Lord Sidmouth, 16 August 1819 to say: ‘the whole bore the appearance of insurrection; that the array was such as to terrify all the king’s subjects, and was such as the magistrates had felt a decided conviction that no legitimate purpose could justify’. He goes on to describe the flags at the hustings which can be seen in the engraving showing the event: ‘The flag on which was “Equal Representation or Death,” was a black one; and in addition, on the same side, had “No borough mongering – Unite, and be Free;” at the bottom, “Saddleworth, Lees, and Morley Union;” on the reverse, “No Corn Laws; – Taxation, without Representation, is unjust and tyrannical.” On the Middleton flag was, “Let us die like men, and not be sold like slaves;” reverse, “Liberty is the birth right of man.”’ 

However, others reported events differently. The radical ‘Manchester Observer’ and ‘The Times’ of London commented on the deaths and hundreds of casualties caused by the cavalry, which the authorities tried to discredit by referring to individual cases, as shown by one of the sources in this lesson. 

There were further protest meetings resulting in arrests as news of events spread. The government, which had supported the actions of magistrates after ‘Peterloo’, introduced new laws to prevent any future disturbances. The ‘Six Acts’ were aimed at suppressing any meetings for the purpose of radical reform. They meant that drilling for military exercises was forbidden and warrants were issued to search for arms. Far more repressive was the extension of stamp duty to more newspapers, increased powers for magistrates to seize seditious literature, and powers to prevent meetings designed to present petitions.

Treaty of peace and friendship, commerce, indemnity (Treaty of Nanking), 1842. (FO 93/23/1b (5))

Letter to British representatives in China from Chen Huacheng, Commander-in-Chief of the naval forces in Fukien [province on the southeast coast of China] and of the troops of Formosa [former name for the island of Taiwan], and Dou Zhenbiao, Commander in Kinmen and surrounding areas. 1 September 1837. (FO 682/2462/41)

Chinese translations on opium, 1836 (FO 228/4)

This passage is introduced with the text: ‘Heu Naetse, vice-president of the Sacrificial Court, presents the following memorial [statement] to show, in regard to opium, that the more severe the interdicts [prohibitions] against it are made, the more widely do the evils arising therefrom spread…’

This was presented to the Emperor of China as part of a debate on whether to ease the prohibitions on opium or enforce them even more harshly. Both sides wanted to improve the situation that China was in. The Emperor heard arguments presenting the pros and cons of each side and eventually decided to make the prohibitions even stronger.

Printed Accounts, etc. of the East India Company’s China trade, 1830. (PRO 30/9/4/38)

Phillips and Co.’s Teas, Coffees and Cocoas, 1886. Catalogue ref: COPY 1/74/28