The Battle of Bossenden Wood took place on 31 May 1838 near

Hernhill Hernhill is a village and civil parish between Faversham and Canterbury in southeast England. The parish includes the hamlets of Crockham, Dargate, The Fostall, Lamberhurst, Oakwell, Staple Street, Thread, Waterham and Wey Street. Churches Duri ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

; it has been called the last battle on

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

soil. The battle was fought between a small group of labourers from the

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Boughton area and a detachment of soldiers sent from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

to arrest the marchers' leader, the self-styled Sir William Courtenay, who was actually John Nichols Tom, a

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

maltster Malting is the process of steeping, germinating and drying grain to convert it into malt. The malt is mainly used for brewing or whisky making, but can also be used to make malt vinegar or malt extract. Various grains are used for malting, most ...

who had spent four years in

Kent County Lunatic Asylum Oakwood Hospital in Barming Heath near Maidstone, England was a psychiatric hospital founded in 1833 as the Kent County Lunatic Asylum. Following transfer of services to Maidstone Hospital, Oakwood closed in 1994 and was then developed as a resid ...

. Eleven men died in the brief confrontation: Courtenay, eight of his followers and two of those sent to apprehend them. The background context of the battle was the impact of new

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

and it has been linked with the Swing riots.

Background

Courtenay had appeared in

in 1832, standing unsuccessfully in the December 1832 general election and, although suspected of being an imposter, becoming a popular local figure. He had been convicted of perjury in 1833 after giving evidence in defence of some smugglers. Originally sentenced to transportation, he had been transferred to Barming Heath Asylum after a woman from Cornwall, Catherine Tom, identified him as her missing husband and said he had previously been treated for insanity. On his release from the asylum in October 1837, instead of returning to his family in Cornwall, he stayed in Kent and built up a following in the area of Boughton under Blean, Hernhill and the Ville of Dunkirk. The area had already experienced agrarian discontent and protest against the

New Poor Law The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relief ...

of 1834 and the farm labourers, and a few of the

smallholder A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

s and trades people, were receptive to Courtenay’s millenarian preaching and promises of a better life. On 29 May,

Oak Apple Day Restoration Day, more commonly known as Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day, was an English, Welsh and Irish public holiday, observed annually on 29 May, to commemorate the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in May 1660. In some parts of England the ...

, Courtenay and a band of followers began to march around the nearby countryside with a flag and a loaf of bread on a pole (a traditional symbol of protest). Courtenay rode a grey horse; his followers were on foot. Although at this stage the protesters were acting peacefully some wealthier landowners were becoming alarmed, and on 31 May 1838, a local

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

, Dr Poore, issued a warrant for Tom's arrest. It is not clear exactly what the warrant was for – to arrest Courtenay or to arrest workers who were in breach of contract with their employers. A

parish constable A parish constable, also known as a petty constable, was a law enforcement officer, usually unpaid and part-time, serving a parish. The position evolved from the ancient '' chief pledge'' of a ''tithing'', and takes its name from the office of ''con ...

, John Mears, together with his brother, Nicholas Mears, and an assistant, Daniel Edwards, went to find Courtenay at Bossenden Farm, where he was staying with his followers. Courtenay shot and killed Nicholas Mears, the constable's brother.

Battle

When news of the killing reached the magistrates, they sent to Canterbury for soldiers and a detachment of the

45th Foot The 45th (Nottinghamshire) (Sherwood Foresters) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1741. The regiment saw action during Father Le Loutre's War, the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War as we ...

was despatched from the barracks. It was led by Major Armstrong, with three junior officers and about a hundred soldiers. The regiment had recently returned from India, and the following year they would kill twenty

Chartists Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, w ...

at Newport. While they were waiting for the soldiers, a group of armed gentry and farmers took shots at Courtenay and his band as they moved around the Hernhill area. By this time some of Courtenay’s followers had escaped. There were about 35 or 40 left, armed only with sticks, except for Courtenay who had pistols and a sword and one follower who had a pistol. The soldiers split into two groups to execute a pincer movement. One of the groups, led by Captain Reid and magistrates Knatchbull and Baldock, divided again, with Lieutenant

Henry Boswell Bennett Lieutenant Henry Boswell Bennett (1809–1838) of the 45th Regiment of Foot (Sherwood Foresters) became on 31 May 1838 the first officer to die in the service of Queen Victoria when he was shot by John Nichols Thom in Bossenden Wood in Kent. Ben ...

at the head of one of the small groups. It was this group that approached Courtenay’s band in the clearing, while the other group, under Major Armstrong and magistrate Poore, circled round to the far side of the clearing. There was a brief fight, lasting only a few minutes. Courtenay shot Bennett dead and then was himself shot and killed as Armstrong’s men opened fire and charged with bayonets. Eight of Courtenay’s followers were killed or mortally wounded. A young man from Faversham, George Catt, who had been helping the magistrates was caught in the soldiers’ fire and killed.

Aftermath

On Saturday 2 June Lieutenant Bennett was buried in

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

precincts with full military honours. On the same day an inquest at the White Horse, Boughton, returned a verdict of "justifiable homicide" on the deaths of Courtenay and his followers. Those who were following Courtenay and were killed were: Stephen Baker (22), William Foster (33), William Rye (46), Edward Wraight (62), Phineas Harvey (27), William Burford (33), George Griggs (23), and George Branchett (49). Griggs and Branchett were buried in Boughton churchyard; all the rest, including Courtenay, were buried in Hernhill churchyard. Over the following days about thirty of Courtenay’s followers were arrested and appeared either at the inquest or at the petty sessions in Faversham. Sixteen were committed for trial on a charge of murder. Ten men would eventually stand trial at Maidstone Assizes in early August, the rest having been discharged by the assize grand jury. Two (Thomas Mears and William Price) were charged with the murder of the brother of the constable and nine (Thomas Mears, Edward Curling, Alexander Foad, William Foad, Richard Foreman, Thomas Griggs, Charles Hills, Edward Wraight, and William Wills) with the murder of Lieutenant Bennett, with one, Thomas Mears, charged with both murders. Thomas Mears and William Price stood trial first. The jury returned a guilty verdict, with a recommendation for mercy. The judge,

Lord Denman Baron Denman, of Dovedale in the County of Derby, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1834 for the prominent lawyer, judge and Whig politician Thomas Denman. He served as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench fro ...

, duly pronounced sentence of death but immediately told the men that the sentence would not be carried out. Seeing this result, the nine charged with the murder of Lieutenant Bennett pleaded guilty; they too were sentenced to death but immediately reprieved. Thomas Mears and William Wills were sentenced to be transported to Australia for life, William Price for ten years, and the rest were sentenced to a prison term of one year.Reay 1990: 159-164

References

Bibliography

* B Reay 1990 ''The last rising of the agricultural labourers: rural life and protest in nineteenth-century England''. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1 October 1990),
Breviary Stuff Publications
31 July 2010). * PG Rogers 1961 ''Battle in Bossenden Wood: the strange story of Sir William Courtenay''. London: Oxford University Press

External links