2
June 1780 A.D. Anti-Romanist Riots Break out in London.
Graves, Dan.
“Anti-Catholic Gordon Riots.” Christianity.com. May 2007.
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/the-anti-catholic-gordon-riots-11630293.html. Accessed Apr 25, 2014
“No Popes!
Down with the Catholic Relief Bill." Shouting and shaking their fists,
50,000 people, all wearing blue badges on their hats and carrying blue flags,
marched toward the House of Commons in London. It happened on this day, June 2,
1780.
For two hundred years, since the
time of Queen Elizabeth I, Catholics in Protestant England had lived under
restrictions. But after the Revolutionary War broke out in America, King George
III's ministers thought it would be wise to pass a law freeing Catholics.
Otherwise they feared that Ireland might grab the chance to revolt while
Britain was busy fighting in America. Some officials thought it was a shame,
too, that Catholics had fewer rights than England's other citizens.
But Lord George Gordon, a retired
navy Lieutenant, hated the Roman Church. He collected thousands of signatures
on a petition to overturn the Catholic Relief Act that passed in 1778. With
50,000 people at his back, he marched to Parliament to present the petition.
The mob turned ugly. Smashing
windows and breaking down doors, they looted Catholic homes and set them on
fire. For over a week the rampage continued. Unpopular Protestant leaders
suffered, too.
Writing a letter to a friend,
Ignatius Sancho said, "Gracious God! what's the matter now? I was obliged
to leave off--the shouts of the mob--the horrid clashing of swords--and the
clutter of a multitude in swiftest motion--drew me to the door..."
He had already described at least
a hundred thousand "poor, miserable, ragged rabble, from twelve to sixty
years of age, with blue cockades in their hats, besides half as many women and
children, all parading the streets, the bridge, the park, ready for any and
every mischief." These rioters robbed anyone unfortunate enough to fall in
their path.
The rioters broke into Catholic
chapels and attacked London prisons: King's Bench Fleet and Newgate. Newgate,
in fact, was set on fire, and all its prisoners freed. When the mob attacked
the Bank of England, John Wilkes ordered his men to shoot. Several rioters fell
dead. More people died in a brewery that caught fire. On the evening of June 6,
Prime Minister Lord North barely escaped the mob by forcing his coach horses
into a gallop. He lost his hat, which the crowd tore up. The pieces were passed
around like trophies.
On June 7th, the government
finally called the army in. By then, fires burned everywhere, and there was no
way to fight them, because the mobs had destroyed the fire-fighters' equipment.
Soldiers and horsemen began shooting into the crowds or charging into them with
swords and bayonets. Close to 500 people were killed or wounded before the riot
was stopped. Later, 52 of the ringleaders were convicted and about 25 executed
for their part in the shameful episode. The act stood.
Bibliography:
1. Castro, J Paul de. The Gordon
Riots. Oxford, 1926.
2. Pollen, J. H. "Gordon
Riots." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
3. Various internet and encyclopedia
articles.
No comments:
Post a Comment