17th April 1812: Colonel Fletcher's Manchester spy, John Bent, meets an Irish Rebel, Patrick Cannovan

On Friday 17th April, Colonel Ralph Fletcher's spy in Manchester, the cotton dealer John Bent or 'B' submitted another report.

Two days earlier, he had met with a man called Smith from Northenden. Smith was an activist who had been travelling as far as Congleton to further 'the business', and his group was receiving help from Stockport and were familiar with the use of arms.

Bent remarked that he felt the country was in a bad state: people openly damned the government, and that discontent was widespread, so much so that no one is surprised when such sentiments are expressed.

On the 16th, he had met a man called Eastwood from Burnley. Eastwood had observed that 'jacks' (i.e. Jacobins) were beginning to take an interest in affairs given the atmosphere. He and Bent discussed the situation at Accrington, noting that many of the 'bad set' of shawl printers in that town had left because business was so bad. They had gone to Scotland, where the trade was less mechanised.

At 7.00 p.m., Bent was passed a note, informing him that the Irish delegate, Patrick Cannovan, had arrived in Stockport, and he made his way there to meet him. They met with some others at an un-named public house on Edward Street, and Cannovan proceeded to relate to them his travels in Scotland and Ireland and dealings with underground Committees in Belfast and Glasgow. He related the numbers enrolled in 'the business' in each town that he learned about and spoke about the Belfast Committee in details and at length. The committee gave Cannovan £6 towards his expenses and pledged their support for anything that might occur in England.

Bent stayed at his sister's overnight, and went to meet Cannovan again the next day, this time alone. They met at the Brown Bull on Hillgate, and talked in detail about Cannovan's dealing with a secret Committee in Dublin, who pledged their support for fellow Committees in England and Scotland. They talked of how the authorities in Ireland had seized arms and how they were hard to come by, which meant that Dublin castle would have to be seized to gain control. The Dublin Committee were so impressed with Cannovan that they gave him a silver medal with the word 'integrity' emblazoned on it. They met in a 'genteel house' on St Stephen's Green in the city where 'no one would suspect' them.

Cannovan told Bent he was due to leave for London on Monday 20th and planned to travel via Birmingham and return via Derby to take in as many towns as he cold before returning to Stockport.

In his report, Bent described Cannovan as "one of the dengerst men I heaver was with in all the that I have Been Concerned with", and revealed he had been an officer under General Holt in the 1798 rebellion in Ireland. He gave a physical description too: he stood 5 feet 10 inches high, with a wound on his left arm above the elbow, which he had shown to Bent. He was aged about 40, had a dark complexion, dark eyes and was slender, with a genteel appearance and a sharp nose, well-dressed in Black with Hessian boots. Bent said he spoke good English and was "free from the Irish Twang as maney of the Irish Make use of in their discors".

27th December 1811: The spy 'B' reports about a planned strike in Stockport and of travelling delegates

Colonel Fletcher's agent, 'B', compiled another report for his employer, commencing the 23rd December.

He reported that on the 24th December he had met a committee delegate from Mottram, who said their local committee had heard from the delegate they had sent into Yorkshire, specifically Doncaster, Rotherham & Sheffield. The report from there stated they were in need of leadership, and their shortcomings in that department had led them to turn down requests for help from Nottingham.

'B' had himself been to Stockport the same day, and reported that there was pressure for a strike from the weavers, to gain an increase in wages - "Even the single man Cannot Live on his Earnings Let alone men with famileys". 'B' noted that their poverty was so dire that they could not afford to make contributions towards the committee.

On Friday 27th December, 'B' had run into his Irish contact Cannovan. He had been as far South as Bristol where the "business" was "flat", but reported that the underground in Birmingham wanted to procure arms. He also remarked that although he wanted to visit Nottingham, it was "dangerous to do so", commenting that he thought the Luddites there "had taken a rong step should have waited a proper time".

Once again, Cannovan was disappointed with what Bent told him about progress in Manchester.

Cannovan was headed for Dublin, via Liverpool, although he said he may have to go to Scotland soon, but did not know when he would be in Manchester again. He rebuffed 'Bs' offer to send him news to his address in Dublin, saying "danger might atend such Corryspondance".

'B' completed his report with the news that the Manchester committee had not met in the last week, and was unaware when they would again, noting the disquiet that the more radical countryside delegates felt about this inactivity.

11th December 1811: The spy 'B' reports on a Sheffield contact and delegates heading to Yorkshire

Colonel Fletcher's spy 'B' sent another report headed the 9th December about his activities in the political underground of Lancashire and Cheshire's secret committees. On that day, he was called upon by a contact from Sheffield, Wilkinson. Wilkinson told 'B' about the secret committee there, who were very cautious about who they admitted to their meetings but had a large fund for expenses. Wilkinson's estimate of the men available for any kind of uprising was 'twelve to fourteen thousand'. Wilkinson told 'B' that Nottinghamshire folk resented people in Sheffield for not acting in concert with them over the past month since disturbances commenced.

'B' went on to relate Wilkinson's words about the strong levels of discontent in the Northern counties, saying that even "their Children not forteen years of eage Reals against this present Government".

Wilkinson wished to know the state of the Manchester committees but, like one of 'B's Irish contacts Cannovan, was frustrated at their failure to 'exert them selves'. He left 'B' the following day, Tuesday 10th December, promising to relate information about goings on in the Manchester area.

On the 10th, 'B' had been to attend a committee at Mottram in Cheshire. The meeting agreed to send a delegate into Yorkshire, to ascertain how things were there, but also to make clear that Manchester was not as 'ready' as they may think. The delegate would leave on Monday 16th December, would report back every 4 days, and have 10 shillings per day for expenses, payable upon his return.

On 11.00 a.m. Wednesday 11th December, 'B' attended a 'very respectable' meeting at the Exchange Buildings in Manchester. attended by 270 gentlemen and clergy, with 'B' being particularly complementary about a clergyman, Ethelston. Though 'B' is vague about the purpose of the meeting, it clearly was not secret and indicates the differing social circles he moved in.

Lastly, 'B' reported he had visited the Stockport committee, who still met despite the theft of their funds, but no longer collected contributions. He related that Cannovan had been in touch with them to find out what he could, but gave little information in return, saying he was headed for London.

3rd December 1811: The Manchester spy 'B' writes of Irish contacts and 'Jacks'

Colonel Fletcher's undercover agent 'B' was again writing his regular reports again about his contacts in underground politics.

At 1 p.m on Tuesday the 3rd December, he had met up with another Irish contact, Cannovan, who spoke at length about the apparent simmering discontent in Ireland and Scotland but also amongst sailors in the Navy. Cannovan seemed to have recently spent a lot of time at ports on the South Coast of England, gauging the discontent and painted a very vivid picture that included 200,000 Irishmen 'willing and able to come forward' as well as promises of men and arms from France.

Cannovan told 'B' that he had recently spent 5 days in Liverpool, some of the them with a small secret committee that nevertheless could be 'depended on'. 'B' related to him the incident of the funds of a Stockport committee being stolen that he had related to Fletcher in a previous letter - Cannovan agreed it could ruin 'the business' there and threatened to shoot the men if he ever came across them.

'B' said that Cannovan declined an invitation to visit the Manchester secret committee that night, expressing disappointment that the committee were concerning themselves merely with petitioning the Prince Regent and if this was to be worthwhile, it needed to be done 'with arms in (their) hands'. Cannovan promised to call on 'B' again soon, but he would be away for 3 weeks.

'B' reported that only 5 delegates had attended the Secret Committee meeting on the evening of the 3rd and had therefore decided to postpone meeting again until 11 a.m. on Wednesday the 11th December at the Exchange Building.

Lastly, 'B' remarked that many 'Jacks' (i.e. Jacobins) had been enquiring of the progress of the Committees, being as disappointed as Cannovan was that not much was happening around Manchester to 'move the Business forward'.