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,

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 Greater 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, Lon ...

. The protest was against the imprisonment of the radical Member of Parliament

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

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 King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. 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 ...

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''. 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. However Lord Chief Justice

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, (2 March 1705 – 20 March 1793), was a British judge, politician, lawyer, and peer best known for his reforms to English law. Born in Scone Palace, Perthshire, to a family of Peerage of Scotland, Scott ...

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 a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

. It was only after the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

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 Bicameralism, 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 ...

, but he fled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

before any expulsion or trial. In absentia, he was found guilty of obscene libel 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 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, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

where most of his support was located. In April he surrendered himself to the King's Bench 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 the Middle Ages 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 he ...

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, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

called St George's Fields. 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 from Surrey asked for military protection. A detachment of the Horse Grenadier Guards 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: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

, who was in London at the time, reported of "sawyers destroying saw-mills; sailors unrigging all the outward bound ships .. Watermen 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 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 person to testify. A grand ju ...

at the

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Assizes The assizes (), or courts of assize, 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 ex ...

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'' at the Drury Lane Theatre forcing the performances to cease. On his release from prison in March 1770, Wilkes was appointed a sheriff of the City of London. In 1774 he became

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

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 18th-century riots in London Massacres committed by Great Britain Massacres in the 1760s 1768 murders in Europe Murder in the Kingdom of Great Britain Massacres of protesters in Europe Massacres in England History of the London Borough of Southwark Mass murder in London Political riots in the United Kingdom Radicalism (historical) George III Freedom of expression in the United Kingdom Mass shootings in London 1768 in military history 18th-century history of the British Army

Background

Riot

Aftermath

See also

References

External links