Letter from the Home Office on the conduct of the Manchester magistrates, 23 August 1819, Catalogue ref: HO 41/4 f.496
Transcript
Whitehall 23rd August 1819,
William Hulton Esq,
Manchester
Sir
I am directed by Lord Sidmouth to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant in which, as chairman of the Select Committee of Magistrates of the two Counties of Lancaster and Chester, you by their direction request permission to publish Lord Sidmouth’s letter of the 18th instant in which his Lordship expressed his approbation [approval] of the conduct of the magistrates at Manchester on the 16th.
As Lord Sidmouth’s letters of Saturday last to the Earls of Derby and Stamford conveyed the most gracious appreciation of H.R.H. the Prince Regent, of the conduct of the magistrates at Manchester, and expressed the great satisfaction which His Royal Highness had derived from their prompt, decisive and efficient measures to preserve the public tranquillity, which must be of far greater value than anything only proceeding from Lord Sidmouth himself,
His Lordship presumes that it can no longer appear to the magistrates to be of any consequence to give publicity to his letter of the 18th instant, and His Lordship would accordingly prefer that it should not be published. But His Lordship sees no objection to a publication of his letter of the 21st.
I have the honour to be etc.
H. Hobhouse
- What was the opinion of Lord Sidmouth, Home Secretary, on the actions of the magistrates?
- How did the Prince Regent react to the events in Manchester?
- Why do you think both government and monarch praised the magistrates?
- How do their views compare with those of the artist who made the engraving, Source 2?
- How does this source relate to the content of Source 3?
- The events at St. Peter’s Fields in Manchester quickly became known as the ‘Peterloo Massacre’. Is this a helpful description? Explain your answer.