The Massacre of St George's Fields occurred on 10 May 1768 when government soldiers opened fire on demonstrators that had gathered at

St George's Fields St George's Fields was an area of Southwark in south London, England. History Originally the area was an undifferentiated part of the south side of the Thames, which was low-lying marshland unsuitable even for agricultural purposes. There ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, in

south London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

. The protest was against the imprisonment of the radical

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fo ...

for writing an article that severely criticised King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. After the reading of the

Riot Act The Riot Act (1 Geo.1 St.2 c.5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and o ...

telling the crowds to disperse within the hour, six or seven people were killed when fired on by troops. The incident in Britain entrenched the enduring idiom of "reading the Riot Act to someone", meaning "to reprimand severely", with the added sense of a stern warning. The phrase remains in common use in the English language.

Background

In June 1762 John Wilkes started the newspaper ''

The North Briton ''The North Briton'' was a radical newspaper published in 18th-century London. The North Briton also served as the pseudonym of the newspaper's author, used in advertisements, letters to other publications, and handbills. Although written anon ...

''. After one article was published on 23 April 1763 severely attacking George III, the king and his ministers tried to prosecute Wilkes for

seditious libel Sedition and seditious libel were criminal offences under English common law, and are still criminal offences in Canada. Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection a ...

. However

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, PC, SL (2 March 170520 March 1793) was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland, before moving to Lond ...

ruled at his trial that as an MP, Wilkes was protected by

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...

so he was released without conviction. Wilkes then proceeded to publish more material that was deemed offensive and libellous to

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

. It was only after the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

declared one of his poems to be obscene and blasphemous, that moves were made to expel Wilkes from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, but he fled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

before any expulsion or trial. In absentia, he was found guilty of

obscene libel The publication of an obscene libel was an offence under the common law of England. Prior to the abolition bsection 1of the Criminal Law Act 1967 of the distinction between felony and misdemeanour, it was regarded as a misdemeanour. It has been abol ...

and seditious libel and was declared an

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

on 19 January 1764. Wilkes hoped for a change in power to remove the charges, but this did not come to pass. As his French creditors began to pressure him in 1768, he had little choice but to return to England. Wilkes returned intending to stand as an MP on an anti-government ticket; the government did not issue warrants for his immediate arrest as it did not want to inflame popular support. Wilkes stood in the City of London parliamentary constituency. He came bottom of the poll of seven candidates, possibly due to his late entry into the race for the position, but he was quickly elected MP for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

where most of his support was located. In April he surrendered himself to the

King's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of commo ...

after waiving his parliamentary privilege to immunity. He was sentenced by Judge Joseph Yates to a year's imprisonment and fined £500; reduced to 10 months for his time already spent in prison. The Lords' sentence of outlawry was overturned. Wilkes was taken to

King's Bench Prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from medieval times until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were hea ...

in Southwark, south London.

Riot

With news of his conviction and imprisonment, crowds began assembling just south of the

on a large open space between Southwark and

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

called

. Over the next two weeks numbers increased daily. On 10 May as many as 15,000 people had gathered at St George's Fields. They began chanting "Wilkes and Liberty", "No Liberty, No King", and "Damn the King! Damn the Government! Damn the Justices!" outside the prison. Concerned about the intent of the crowd, four

Justices of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

from Surrey asked for military protection. A detachment of the

Horse Grenadier Guards The Horse Grenadier Guards, usually referred to ''Horse Grenadiers'' were a series of cavalry troops in the British Household Cavalry between 1687 and 1788, who used grenades and other explosives in battle. Originally attached to the Horse Guar ...

was sent to stand between the protestors and the prison. When the troops arrived, people shouted insults at the soldiers. A particularly obnoxious man wearing a red coat repeatedly goaded the troops. After some soldiers were sent to apprehend him, he was chased to a barn where one of the pursuing troops shot a person inside wearing a red coat. However the victim turned out to be an innocent young man named William Allen who worked at the farm. He was buried in St Mary's churchyard at Newington where a monument was erected to his memory. 2nd Horse Grenadier

The news of the death only inflamed the crowd, made worse when the JPs addressed the restless mob ordering it to disperse. Fearing that the situation was rapidly deteriorating and an attempt would be made to free Wilkes, the

was read while a call was made for more soldiers (from The Third Regiment of Foot Guards). The crowd grew restless; the soldiers were pelted with stones and they then opened fire. Some fired into the crowd but others fired over the heads. Several people were killed (as many as 11 in contemporary sources) including a passer-by who was struck by bullets that were fired over the crowd. At least fifteen people were wounded. After the shots the crowd rapidly broke up but word of the killings swiftly spread, triggering fierce riots throughout the capital.

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, who was in London at the time, reported of "sawyers destroying saw-mills; sailors unrigging all the outward bound ships ..

Watermen A waterman is a river worker who transfers passengers across and along city centre rivers and estuaries in the United Kingdom and its colonies. Most notable are those on the River Thames and River Medway in England, but other rivers such as the ...

destroying private boats and threatening bridges." The crisis was so severe, it was rumoured that the king contemplated abdication.

Aftermath

On 8 August, two soldiers were brought before a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

at the

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

charged with the murder of William Allen. However neither was indicted because one escaped (or was freed) from the gaol attached to the courthouse. The grand jury also decided the other deaths were caused by "chance medley". The Irish playwright and government supporter Hugh Kelly made a defence of the government's right to use force against Wilkes' supporters. In 1770 Wilkes' supporters started a riot at the enactment of Kelly's new play ''

A Word to the Wise ''A Word to the Wise'' is a 1770 comedy play by the Irish writer Hugh Kelly. It was his second work after the 1767 hit ''False Delicacy''. Kelly was known as a supporter of the government, and an opponent of the radical John Wilkes. During the se ...

'' at the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

forcing the performances to cease. On his release from prison in March 1770, Wilkes was appointed a

sheriff of the City of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

. In 1774 he became

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

References

External links

Wilkes And Liberty Riots, 1768, 'a Scotch Victory', Murder Of Allen By A Grenadier, Massacre Of St. George's Fields.
{{DEFAULTSORT:St George's Fields massacre 1760s riots 1768 in England 1760s in London Riots in London Massacres committed by Great Britain Massacres in 1768 1768 murders in Europe Murder in the Kingdom of Great Britain

Background

Riot

Aftermath

See also

References

External links