Sacheverell riots
TheSacheverell riotswere a series of outbreaks of public disorder, which spread across England during the spring, summer and autumn of 1710 in which supporters of theToriesattacked the homes and meeting-houses ofDissenters,particularly those ofPresbyterians,whose congregations tended to support theWhigs.(Further violence, again targeting Presbyterian chapels, occurred in theCoronation riotsof 1714 and theRebellion riots of 1715.)[1]The Sacheverell and Rebellion riots are regarded as the most serious instances of public disorder of the eighteenth century, until, perhaps, theanti-Catholic protests of 1780.[2]
The riots reflected the dissatisfaction of manyAnglicanswith the toleration of an increasing number ofIndependent,Baptist,and Presbyterian chapels, which diminished the apparent authority of theChurch of England;and were a reaction to perceived grievances against the Whig government, in regard to high taxation resulting from theWar of the Spanish Succession,the recent sudden influx of some 10,000 Calvinist refugees from Germany,[3]and the growth of the merchant classes, the so-called "monied interest".[2]
Causes
[edit]The riots were a response to the prosecution ofHenry Sacheverell.Sacheverell was ahigh churchTory Anglican who had preachedtwo sermonsthat described what he saw as threats to theChurch of England.The threat fromCatholicswas dealt with in three minutes; but the rest of the one-and-a-half-hour sermon was an attack onNonconformistsand the "false brethren" who aided them in menacing Church andState.His target was the Whig party. His sermons brought to the fore the tensions that existed between Whig and Tory across the country at that time.[4]
Sacheverell was tried by theHouse of Lordsat Whig instigation, accused of preaching against theGlorious Revolutionof 1688. The House found that his sermons should be publicly burned and he should be banned from preaching for three years. This made him a martyr in the eyes of many Tory supporters, and triggered the riots.
Riots
[edit]Rioting broke out in London. On the evening of 1 March, protestors attacked an elegant Presbyterian meeting-house inLincoln's Inn Fields,built only five years earlier. They smashed the windows, stripped the tiles from the roof and ripped out its interior wooden fittings, which they made into a bonfire. The crowd then marauded through much of the West End of London chanting "High Church and Sacheverell".[2]
It spread across the country, notably inWrexham,[5]BarnstapleandGainsborough, Lincolnshire,where Presbyterian meeting-houses were attacked, with many being burnt to the ground. The Sacheverell riots, and further disturbances in 1714 and 1715, led to the passing of theRiot Act.[6]
References
[edit]- ^Gilmour, Ian,Riot, risings and revolution; governance and violence in eighteenth century England(London, 1988).
- ^abc"Sacheverell Riots".Politics, Literary Culture & Theatrical Media in London: 1625-1725.University of Massachusetts.Retrieved10 December2011.
- ^White-Spunner, Barney,Horse Guards(London, 2006).
- ^Holmes, Geoffrey (1976). "The Sacheverell Riots: The Crowd and the Church in Early Eighteenth-Century London".Past & Present(72): 55–85.doi:10.1093/past/72.1.55.JSTOR650328.
- ^Howard, Sharon."'Sacheverell' riots, Wrexham, 1710 ".Early Modern Resources.Retrieved10 December2011.
- ^Mullan, John (28 April 2001)."A brief history of mob rule".The Guardian.Retrieved10 December2011.
Bibliography
[edit]- Hughson, David (1805).London: being an accurate history and description of the British metropolis.Printed by W. Stratford..., for J. Stratford. pp.320–321.
Daniel Burgess's Presbyterian meeting-house in Carey Street, London.