16th August 1816: The trial of the Feltwell & Downham Market rioters, at Norfolk Assizes

The Norfolk Chronicle of 24th August 1816, carried an extensive report about the trials of those charged with rioting in Feltwell and Downham Market during the 'Bread and Blood' disturbances of the previous May. The trials covered two days, Friday 16th & Saturday 17th August 1816:

TRIALS of the RIOTERS at DOWNHAM and FELTWELL.

Before Lord Justice Lord Chief Justice Gibbs.

Wm. Bell, Amelia Lightharness, and Hannah Jarvis were indicted for having, on the 20th of last May, together with various other persons, riotously into and tumultuously assembled at the parish of Southery, in Norfolk, from whence they proceeded to acts of theft and violence in the town of Downham Market, which were specified by the evidence.

Francis Wiseman stated that she kept a pork and sausage shop in Downham Market; that in the afternoon of the 20th of May, a mob was assembled in the front of her house; that she observed the prisoner, Amelia Lightharness, looking in at the shop window, and that immediately afterwards the same prisoner opened the latch of the door, and brought in several of the mob, telling them, "this was the shop for good pork." The witness further stated, that her shop formed a part of her dwelling-house; that the prisoner Lightharness was the first that entered, and that at her instigation the mob ransacked the shop of the witness, taking away forcibly a quantity of pork sausages. The shop window was broken by the violence of the people.

Maria Palmer, Wm. Buxton, and Zachariah Stebbing severally corroborated the first witness, and the latter proved that all the above named prisoners entered the shop of Mrs. Wiseman, and concurred in the acts of violence there committed.—Bell and Jarvis severally produced evidence of good character. Verdict—all Guilty.

Thomas Thody, Charles Nelson, Daniel Harwood, the same Hannah Jarvis, Elizabeth King, Margaret Jerry, and Elizabeth Watson.

These prisoners were indicted as forming part of the same unlawful riotous assembly at Southery, as before mentioned, and for proceeding to assault Wm. Spinks, at Downham aforesaid, and stealing from his person certain quantity of meal and flour.

Williams Spinks stated that he was apprentice to Mr. Baldwin, a miller, at Downham, and at the time of this riot had the charge of his mill. That on the said 20th of May last, at about two in the afternoon, he saw a large number of persons approach the mill, whilst he was on the road about a furlong off; that upon is coming up to them he they demanded of him the key of the mill, which he delivered to them through the impulse of fear; that the persons so assembled had sticks and cudgels; that upon his delivering them the key the mill, they proceeded to lay violent hands upon the meal, flour, and sacks found therein, some part of which they threw about and destroyed, and other part they carried away with them.

This witness, together with George Gillingham, Susan Stebbing, Pleasance Laws, and Wm. Baldwin, or some of them, identified the persons of all the prisoners, and proved that Charles Nelson was the first to enter the mill. Verdict—All Guilty.

The same Thomas Thody, the same Daniel Harwood, Lucy Rumbelow, the said Amelia Lightharness, Wm. Youngs, Edward Mellon, and William Galley were indicted as parties to the same unlawful and riotous assembly at Southery aforesaid, and having proceeded to Downham, for breaking open the dwelling-house and shop of Samuel Bolton, a butcher there, and stealing therein and carrying away a certain quantity of pork, the property of the said Samuel Bolton, the said Samuel Bolton and another being in the house and being put in fear.

Samuel Bolton stated, that he had on the said 20th of May given to the mob some meat, in the hope of pacifying them; that about five o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, they came in a large body to his house and demanded more, which he said he was unable to give them. Upon this occasion, the prisoners, Thody, Harwood, and a man named Fendyke, who is still at large, appeared to be the ringleaders. Harwood said, if witness did not give them more they would have all there was in the shop.—The shop was shut and witness was standing at the door of his house. To this menace, uttered by Harwood, the witness replied, "he would be damned if they should," and immediately close and bolted the door, and went towards the kitchen, for the purpose of loading two guns, with which he meant to defend his property. Before he had reached his guns, however, the mob forced open the door, and stripped the shop of meat to the value of 5l. or 6l.

These prisoners were all identified as taking an active part on this occasion, by the concurrent testimony of the last-named witness, and Thomas Bolton, Zachariah Stebbing, and Ann Springfield.—Verdict—All Guilty.

The same Thomas Thody, the same Daniel Harwood, Frances Porter, John Bell and John Blogg were indicted as parties to the same unlawful and riotous assembly, and for breaking open the dwelling-house of John Parkinson, in Downham aforesaid, no person being therein, and feloniously stealing and carrying away a quantity of flour, and various articles of wearing apparel, found therein.

Hannah, wife of the said John Parkinson, who is a tailor and baker, and keeps a general shop at Downham, stated, that being terrified at the appearance of the mob, they had, on the said 20th of May last, shut their shop, and retreated to the house of a neighbour. The mob did proceed to Mr. Parkinson’s house and shop, as was expected, and after they were gone away the witness, with her family, returned, upon which they found the house had been broken open, and they missed from the shop hats, waistcoats, shawls, shoes, flour, and other articles.

The evidence of the last witness, corroborated by her daughter Charlotte Parkinson, Richard Gamble, Thomas Mallet Bailey, Wm. Gamble, Charles Smith, and James Weston, was sufficiently clear to establish the charge against all the prisoners except John Bell, who had not been seen in the house, but had been afterwards met with hats under his arm.

The latter prisoner was therefore acquitted, and the others found—all Guilty.

John Sterne was indicted for larceny only, he having on the said 20th of May demanded cheese of Wm. Oakes, at Downham.

Wm. Oakes stated that the prisoner came with a mob and demanded cheese, which he delivered to him through fear, observing at the same time that he himself wanted it as much as they did. Samuel Johnson, the landlord of the Crown Inn, at Downham, stated, that on the same day the prisoner Sterne brought a cheese to his house, and divided it among the mob, who were there assembled. Verdict—Guilty.

The same John Sterne, the said Thomas Thody, and John Pearson were indicted for breaking open the Crown Inn, at Downham, together with other persons, for assaulting the said Samuel Johnson, the landlord, and stealing from his person meat, beer, and other provisions. Mr. Johnson identified the persons of the prisoners Thody and Pearson as having been foremost of the party who first broke in by force, but the prisoner Sterne was not observed by him until he (Sterne) produced a cheese, which was sometime after the forcible entry. Sterne was therefore acquitted upon this indictment. The other prisoners were found both found Guilty.

In addressing the Jury upon the several indictments for riot, the Chief Justice very clearly explained the law to them, that in tumultuous assemblies of this nature, not only the parties which commit any acts of violence are answerable to the law, but likewise all persons who, by joining a mob, give a sanction to their unlawful proceedings, were in the eye of the law equally guilty of any outrage which was committed by any of such mob, with the party by whose hand the fact is actually done. In directing the verdict of the Jury respecting the attack made upon the dwelling-house and shop of Mr. Bolton, his Lordship observed, that if, by any act of the mob, murder had been committed upon the person of Mr. Bolton, or of any of his family, all the persons composing that mob would have been equally guilty; but on the other hand, if Mr. Bolton, in defending his property, had killed any of the persons who made this attack, he would have been justified in doing so. In allusion to the good characters which most prisoners adduced in their own favour, with respect to the honesty and peaceable habits of their former lives, the Judge emphatically observed, that nothing could more clearly shew the necessity of suppressing such disorderly and mischievous proceedings as were subjects of these trials. Persons who had heretofore acted honestly, and had been good members of society, had now, by deluding one another in the vain hope of addressing those grievances which their proceedings only tended to aggravate, evinced their peaceable dispositions by unlawfully assembling to the terror of well disposed persons, and their honesty by forcibly seizing the property of others.

His Lordship further stated, there where facts were so clearly proved as they had been in most of the above cases, the character of the parties ought to have no weight in the verdict of a Jury, although in measuring the punishment of the offenders, their respective characters would not be forgotten. It was in cases of doubt only in which the former characters of prisoners should weigh in the minds of Juries.

John Cracknell, Jeremiah Lawrence, and Thos. Pleasance, were indicted for having, on the 18th of last May, feloniously assaulted Thomas Willett, a shopkeeper, and Feltwell, and having at the same time stolen from his person two Bank notes, of the value of one pound each.—Mr Willett stated, that on the morning of the said 18th of May, he saw a body of people, to the number of from 50 to 100, including boys, collected together in Feltwell; that they stated their intention of proceeding to destroy the Dam, which the witness stated he himself, and, he believed, the whole parish deemed a very desirable measure, as the Dam was considered injurious to the inhabitants. That on the return from the Dam, at about five in the afternoon, they assembled in the front of his house, and on his coming out, he saw the prisoner Cracknell amongst them, who pulled off his hat, and said, "I hope, Sir, you’ll please to give us something." The witness then asked what his neighbour, Mr. Fuller, had given them, and was answered, that he had given twenty shillings. The witness, therefore, gave them a one pound bill; upon which some persons from the back of the mob cried out that they must have two pounds. Mr. Willett then gave another.—In answer to some very pertinent questions from the Chief Justice, Mr. Willett said, he considered the first one pound as an encouragement to the people for their day's work in destroying the Dam; but he admitted that he gave the second through a fear that his windows might be broken if he did not.

John Place stated, that he saw the prisoner Pleasance amongst the mob before Mr. Willett’s house, which he described as a company of people.

John Thorpe saw Cracknell and Pleasance amongst the company of people before Mr. Willett’s house, and saw the notes given by Mr. W. to Cracknell.—On his cross-examination he said, some of the people called at Mr. Willet’s house to know if he thought it right that the Dam should be destroyed; to which Mr. Willett had replied, that "it was a thing that was necessary." That the company of people then said, they should call to be paid for their job on their return.

The Judge then stated to the Jury, that as the counsel for the prosecution did not press this case, they might acquit the prisoners, which was done accordingly.

He then desired that Mr. Willett might not go out of Court, and enquired whether or not the Grand Jury were discharged, and appeared disappointed at being answered in the affirmative.

Upon Mr. Willett being again called before his Lordship, the latter stated, that he should refrain from mentioning names, but there had been few persons in the bar before him, on the several charges for rioting, who had incurred more, in so much blame, as the persons who had been concerned in encouraging the measures of those who had destroyed the Dam at Feltwell. Those were the persons who had given rise to the mischievous consequences that had followed two days after at Downham.

Mr Serjeant Blossett, as the leading Counsel on the part of the Crown, then stated to the Jury, that it was now that he first learned the real complexion of the late disturbances at Feltwell. If such persons as Mr. Willett gave encouragement to the mob, as has been shewn by the evidence, that which followed amongst the lower orders could excite no surprise.—Having convicted the ringleaders at Downham, sufficient had been done to answer the purposes of the prosecution on the part of the Crown, which could only be to shew persons who were disposed to join in such tumultuous proceedings, that those transactions cannot take place with impunity, for that a day of reckoning must come sooner or later.

The SENTENCES.

The Chief Justice now proceeded to pass sentence of transportation for seven years on John Sterne, who had been indicted and convicted of larceny only, in stealing a cheese from Mr. William Oakes, of Downham, the charges against him not having been laid capitally.

This being done, the following prisoners, who had been capitally convicted of rioting, 16 in number, (viz. William Bell, Amelia Lightharness, Hannah Jarvis, Thomas Thody, Charles Nelson, Daniel Harwood, Elizabeth King, Margaret Jerry, Elizabeth Watson, Lucy Rumbelow, William Youngs, Edward Mellon, William Galley, Frances Porter, John Blogg, and John Pearson), were called before his Lordship to shew cause why Sentence of Death should not pass against them to die according to law. The Chief Justice, then, in a very impressive manner, passed that solemn sentence upon them. His Lordship stated, that on account of the good characters which some of them had borne, it would afford him high satisfaction if circumstances should appear to justify him in recommending their cases for a relaxation in the severity of their punishment. Nevertheless, he wished them not to be deluded into any ill founded security. There were amongst them some who had excelled their fellows, and had stood foremost in the execution of their misguided and wicked actions. To these he could hold out no hope. His Lordship concluded by exhorting them all to use well the short time which might remain to them in this world, and to make their peace with Him before whom they must soon appear in the next.

Of the above 16 prisoners who received sentence of death, two only are left for execution, viz. Harwood and Thody. All the others were reprieved.

After the ringleaders had been tried and convicted, the following minor offenders were discharged on giving security for their good behaviour, viz. John Jerry, Harrison Bone, and John Bowers.

30th May 1816: Robert Plumptre sends an update on arrests & prisoners at Norwich to the Home Office

Norwich 30th May 1816

Sir,

Having been absent from home, when your letter arrived yesterday, I could not answer it by the return of the post. The Commitments to the Castle of the Rioters from the neighbourhood of Downham are eleven, seven men & four women. The women are all committed for stealing articles of provision &c under favour of the riots; the men are all committed for riotously assembling contrary to the Statute; Of the several cases, I have no means of judging the examinations, remaining with the committee Magistrates, till returned to the tribunal, appointed for Trial of the offenders. Four persons have been also committed to the next Quarter Sessions for destroyed Threshing machines, of whom two are admitted to bail by the committing magistrates. In attending to the security of the Gaol, I shall not fail to keep in mind the directions contained in Lord Sidmouth’s letter to the Mayor of Norwich, of not calling in a military force, till the civil power has been found inadequate. Permit me to say, that I shall be happy it be useful in any respect, that can contribute to the maintenance of the public tranquillity.

I am, Sir,
Your very obedient
Humble Servant,
R. Plumptre

25th May 1816: The Duke of Grafton is concerned that East Anglian labourers may be encouraged by the events at Downham Market

Clarges Street May 25th

My dear Lord,

I received a letter this Morning from a very sensible Magistrate in Suffolk, who resides on the border of Cambridgeshire giving many particulars of the riot at Downham in Norfolk, which I had not heard before.—The point insisted on by the Mob, was that flour should be sold at 2/6 per Stone, and that labour should be at 2d per day; but finding themselves in force, there seemed to be no outrage for which they were not ripe, and excesses of various kinds were committed without bounds.

Should these rioters have succeeded in their object of fixing the price of food and labour, my correspondent observes (not knowing precisely termination of affairs in Norfolk & at Ely) that it is not likely that the population of the vicinity should be quiet; and that he has heard it currently reported that Cambridge will be in a state of Commotion this day, as well as the Villages of Soham, & other populous places in Cambridgeshire, on the borders of Suffolk. Such a report however may have no other foundation that the wishes of those who circulated it; nevertheless it is a very probable course for the current of disturbance to take; and with a view to such a state of things, or any which can arise in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, or Essex, I beg to submit to your Lordship whether the Town of Newmarket is not better calculated, in a military, as well as in every other point of view, to be a principal station for Cavalry particularly than Ely, or any place so deep in the Fens, and out of reach of communication with other points, at which disturbances may be apprehended of a description to require the prompt assistance of a Military force.

The first Suffolk Magistrate I expect to meet with on my way to Bury, will be at Newmarket, where I propose to sleep this night, to which place I will beg the favour of your Lordship to direct any communication or instructions you may have occasion to send to me. Afterwards my station will be at Bury, until I inform your Lordship of my having changed it.

I have [etc]

Grafton

[to] Viscount Sidmouth

24th May 1816: Thomas Jessop writes a worried letter to the Home Secretary about Norfolk

Wednesy. Evg. 10 o'clock. [24th May 1816]

My Lord,

I arrived about an hour & a half I arrived about an hour and a half ago from Downham Market in Norfolk, which Town & its neighbourhood had been since Monday last the Scene of very serious Tumult & Violence; & when I left Norfolk this morning, there was a large & increasing mob of Rioters who were assembled at South Dereham, & who had last night "pressed" (their own term) several Labourers into their Gang.

I am the more desirous of being permitted to state what has passed to your Lordship, as I fear the pusillanimity & want of Energy which have been exercised by the magistrates in that District, as likely to be productive of very serious consequences, if prompt & decisive measures be not immediately adopted.

If your Lordship will condescend to favor me with a few minutes audience, at any time to-morrow most convenient to yourself, I would have the honor of waiting on you and receiving your commands addressed to me.

at Richards Coffee House
near Temple Bar.

With great respect, I have the Honor to subscribe myself,

Your Lordship’s most obedient
& very humble Servant

[Thos Jessop]

24th May 1816: Further disturbances at Downham Market - arrests follow

Peacock (196, p.92) gave a brief description of further disturbances at Downham Market on Friday 24th May 1816:

On the Friday (after the Littleport riots had been forcibly put down) there was a scare in Downham Market. Another visit was expected from the Southerey labourers because the concessions the magistrates had agreed to on Monday had not been kept. It is said that the labourers demanded an allowance of 2s. a day for the two days they had spent rioting. By this time it must have been perfectly clear from what had happened at Ely and Littleport that the concessions would not be kept, and that the full force of the law would descend upon those responsible for the riots. Nevertheless, there was some violence and the Yeomanry were sent for again. Four troops arrived and during the early evening guns were seized and the rioters released on Tuesday were again taken into custody. Seven were committed for trial on the Saturday and more were brought in over the weekend.

23rd May 1816: Littleport labourers march on Ely, where rioting commences

Peacock (1965, pp.100-106) continued to give a good account of the proceedings in Cambridgeshire on Thursday 23rd May 1816: 

Dennis and the labourers reassembled at The Globe Inn, where their plans for the following day (which incidentally was Ely Fair day) were laid. It is more than likely that someone was sent to Downham, a few miles away, to tell the inhabitants there to make their way to Ely the next morning, and probably a reckoning of who had and who had not been forced to part with cash was made with a view to rectifying any oversights. Certainly Richard Burridge and Richard Nicholas went along in the very early hours of Thursday morning and robbed Mary Morley, Ann Cutlack, a farmer's wife, and Isaac Taylor, who was told that "the mob which were then collected together at Littleport were going to Ely to take the Town up to Government". It was also decided to obtain arms, and Littleport was searched for ammunition and firearms of any kind. John Green and Beamiss went again to Wiles' shop (it is interesting to note that, until Dennis appeared on the scene, the powder and shot were untouched) and took 7 lbs. of gunpowder and a barrel containing 56 lbs. of shot back to The Globe, where Francis Torrington contributed another 5 lbs. of gunpowder he had taken from one of the Cheesewrights. William Murat and John Warner knocked up John Rust, a labourer who shot wildfowl, and relieved him of two guns worth £10, while Burridge and Henry Mainer, wearing handkerchiefs and scarves taken from Vachell, took another, worth £5, from Elizabeth Stimson. Robert Salmon took a gun from Cutlack and relieved Thomas Waddelow of another. Somewhat later, an armed William Gotobed held up Robert Whitworth (or Whitmore) and robbed him of a gun and two pitchforks, saying he was off to join the crowd. Dennis was seen by numerous people distributing shot at The Globe from about one o'clock onwards, and Mary How said the labourers had some target practice in the early hours. In all, the Treasury Solicitors; were told, seventy-three offences were committed in Littleport during Wednesday and the early hours of Thursday, 23rd May. 

Having armed themselves, the labourers looked around for a means of transporting themselves and their firearms into Ely. They went along to the farm belonging to Henry Tansley and took a waggon and three horses from his stable. According to George Stevens, the mob was ready to start the march at three o'clock in the morning but the waggon had not then been got ready. Eventually it was loaded up so that it looked like a primitive tank, and was driven by George Crow. "They had armed themselves", a description said, 

with the most dangerous and offensive weapons, such as Bludgeons, Pitchforks, Muck Cromes, Fork Shafts headed with short iron spikes, Fowling pieces and Fowler's guns, the tubes of which latter are from 7 to Io feet in length, carry about 2 lbs. of shot, and will kill at a distance of 150 yards. 

The procession, headed by the armed waggon and John Walker, "carrying a pole in his Hand by way of a Signal", set out for Ely during the early hours of Thursday morning. One last piece of violence was committed in Littleport when Isaac Harley and Thomas South caught sight of William Martin in the street. They demanded that the farmer should accompany them to Ely but he refused. Harley threatened to kill him and South knocked him down, but they left him behind. Another farmer, an old man named William Poole, was not so fortunate. He was working in a field near the turnpike road that led from Littleport to Ely when he saw an armed party on the road. In spite of protests that he could hardly walk, Burridge and Thomas Armiger forced him to join them. Quite a large number of others were similarly pressed into going. 

The authorities had been warned of the approach of the crowd from Littleport, and a magistrate, the Rev. William Metcalfe, met them, on the outskirts of Ely, sometime between five and six o'clock. He asked the crowd to stop but Crow, driving the waggon, said, "Go on, go on, we will go into the market place." 

A crowd, estimated by one observer at 500, collected in the market square outside The White Hart Inn, where a number of the magistrates (all clergymen) had gathered. Metcalfe and the Rev. Peploe Ward asked them what they wanted and received the usual replies. Richard Rutter added a demand for beer at 2d. a pint to the now familiar cry for flour at 2s. 6d. and an allowance or wage of 2s. The magistrates, who were by this time scared out of their wits, invited a deputation, led by John Lee, into the inn to discuss their claims and the following paper was eventually drawn up. 

The Magistrates agree, and do order that the overseers—shall pay to each family Two Shillings per Head per week, when Flour is Half a. Crown a Stone; such allowance be raised in proportion when the price of Flour is higher, and that the price of Labor shall be Two Shillings per day, whether Married or Single and that the Laborer shall be paid his full wages by the Farmer, who hires him. 

During the deliberations in The White Hart the Rev. Henry Law, another magistrate who had been asked by Ward to hurry to Ely, entered the room. He wrote a number of letters, now in the Cambridge University Library, justifying his part in the proceedings and they help determine what went on on that day. Law approved of the concessions. He told Sidmouth that increased relief from is. 6d. to 2s. "to the poor families receiving parochial relief was justified ... My Lord, because the price of grain had become much higher (in May 1816) than when the foresaid allowance was made (November 1815)". 

The concessions were welcomed by the delegates, but they asked for one thing more—"forgiveness for what had passed". This was not acceptable to all the magistrates and an argument developed. Law told the Home Secretary that he warned the magistrates, as did Lieutenant Goodenough at Brandon, that they were acting ultra vires. "I resisted the compromise about to be made to the rioters," he wrote, "and I stated, that I would not agree to such terms which were contrary to law, reason and common sense, and I told the Mob, that he [Peploe Ward] had no power to hold out such a promise of pardon to them for that if they had offended against the Law, so their offences they must be accountable." The delegates' reply to Law's prevaricating was "then we have done nothing we will agree to nothing we will have Blood before Dinner". This was enough for the majority of the J.P.s and they agreed that "No person to be prosecuted for anything that has been done to the present time; provided that every Man immediately returns peaceably to his own Home". A statement of the magistrates' concessions was printed in an extraordinarily quick time and copies are still in existence. Vachell, writing to Law, said that he hoped that Sidmouth would be told of the way the magistrates were coerced. "... you know," he said, "that they were the absolute prisoners ... at the mercy of a most ferocious armed rabble without any means of defence. Every allowance, I trust, will be made for their complying with terms, to which in fact they were compelled to agree." 

The result of the meeting with the magistrates was announced to the crowd who responded with great cheers and many, including those who had been forced along, returned to Littleport with the armed waggon. Rayner Brassett, who had hidden and so avoided being taken to Ely, had followed the crowd there sometime afterwards with one of the Cutlack family and had returned to Littleport by nine o'clock. Shortly afterwards a group, including South, Jefferson and Little Easey, called on him and demanded food and beer. He accompanied them to The Globe and told Robert Johnson, the publican, to let the crowd have whatever beer they wanted. Brassett returned home but was soon called on by John Sparrow (who turned Crown witness) who said that more of the labourers had gathered at The Crown and that they, too, wanted food. The treasurer went along there and found Sparrow, Chevell, Beamiss and others drinking a barrel. Realising that the whole of Littleport was given over to carousing, he then called at The George, where John Lee and Burridge gave him more money, and at The Turk's Head, where he ordered another barrel—"the Mob", he told the magistrates, "said that all the Public Houses should be treated alike". He paid for what had been consumed so far out of his own pocket because, he said, Chevell knew what was in the handkerchief and he dare not touch it except in that firebrand's presence. 

At noon Chevell and six or seven others called on Brassett. Adding two pounds more, Chevell counted out the hoard which amounted to £43 4s. 0d. He then turned to his colleagues and "proposed ... that all the Publicans should fare alike and that the whole of the money should be spent on victuals and drink". They then departed and Brassett dutifully went his rounds settling with the landlords. At the end of the day a balance of £6 7s. 1d. remained which "was spent by the Mob in Victuals and Drink on the Friday morning". Brassett said that he acted his part simply through fear, a contention which rings true in his case. 

Not all the labourers had returned to Littleport. While those that had were drinking, many of their colleagues were rioting in Ely. 

After hearing of the magistrates' concessions, a section of the Littleport crowd—which had been, joined by some of Ely's "refractory inhabitants"—began demanding beer from the local publicans. By about 8.30 they were joined by labourers from Downham and they made their way to the house of Henry Rickwood. "Rickwood," a prosecution brief said, "is a Miller, and resides at Ely and he seems to have been considered by the Rioters as peculiarly deserving of their marked attention." Henry Chapman summed up the general belief about millers when he said, "the corn is got into the great People's hands—Damn them—if they [we?] are all of one mind we will take it away from them". 

Mr. Rickwood was not at home when John Dennis, who described himself as cashier, demanded "£50 as a douceur for saving [the] house and premises from destruction". Gotobed fired a gun into the place and Mrs. Rickwood sent her son, William, to see Robert Edwards, the Chief Constable of the Hundred of Ely and the agent for Mortlock's bank, to obtain the sum demanded. 

William Rickwood saw Edwards and told him of the crowd's demands. The constable began walking back to the miller's house but en route met the labourers with Mrs. Rickwood. At first he refused to give them money and made the mistake of brandishing his constable's staff, whereupon he was set upon and beaten by James Gammen into changing his mind. He asked whom he was to pay the money to and Dennis—who had tried to restrain, the crowd—said that he would "go in for Littleport" ; Flanders Hopkin went in representing the Downham labourers, and Stephen Saunderson those from Ely. Edwards handed the three £16 each and had one shilling left. Asked who should have it, Dennis replied that it had to be "divided equally". Edwards placed the amount to Rickwood's debt. 

A great number of women were in the crowd milling about the streets of Ely and Sarah Hobbes, a soldier's wife and the only woman actually tried at the Special Assizes, was particularly active. According to John Bacon, a constable, she led the crowd through the churchyard and away from Edwards' house saying "come along, come along . . . we will go to Cooper's, he is a bigger rogue than Rickwood". 

William Cooper kept a flour and grocery shop, and was regarded as a profiteer as bad as the unfortunate Willets elsewhere. The crowd of about 200 angry men and women began to call for "a crow or a mattock" to pull the shop down when Law and Metcalfe, the two magistrates, pushed their way forward. They managed to dissuade the mob from destroying the building but a cry of "five pounds, five pounds" was set up. The terrified Cooper handed over a note to Metcalfe who dutifully passed it on to Dennis. At this stage, the Ely labourers pushed William Atkin and Aaron Layton, a tenant of Cooper's and a master bricklayer, forward, saying that they wanted to be treated the same as the Littleport people. Cooper handed Layton, who later claimed he was acting under duress (a witness said he was "taken from the door of his Mother's by one of the Mob"), another note and the crowd gave him (Layton or Cooper?) "three huzzas and went away". 

From Cooper's shop the crowd went to visit George Stevens, another miller. Dennis demanded £50, but, after haggling for some time, agreed to accept ten. For some reason, Dennis objected to Atkin, who was a carpenter "possessed of some property", acting on behalf of the Ely crowd, and the money was divided between him and Layton. 

The rest of Thursday was given over to rioting and drinking in Ely, the publicans being forced to supply food and drink, as they had at Littleport. Most of the Downham and Littleport people, however, left by the early afternoon, and, after this, the authorities made some show of resistance. Some prisoners were obviously taken for, at three o'clock in the afternoon, Aaron Layton, Walton and Hunt were seen in Littleport asking for help to get them released. This was refused, the locals saying that none of their colleagues was missing and that the waggon had been put away. Later on, Henry Chapman, described as a "yeoman" on one of the briefs, also went to Littleport to ask for help. At five o'clock he was back in Ely, saying this had been agreed to and that "they had got four waggons loaded". This was an exaggeration, but some armed men may have returned. Robert Salmon certainly went and relieved Cutlack of the gun he had returned during the afternoon, announcing that they were off to release prisoners at Ely. Certainly, too, about a dozen were released; this is confirmed by letters from Law and others." 

The Littleport labourers were well satisfied with their day's work and the late arrivals joined in the festivities in the town. Dennis, who had purchased ribands, for the crowd, said exultingly, "we have done everything well they give us credit for it", and there were a few more incidents to record. Henry Mainer went to the unfortunate Tansley, who ranked second only to the Martins as an object of hate, and held him up with a gun. James Wortley and Thomas Smith took a pound from Matthew Waddelow. Apologetically, they told him that he had been overlooked the previous night. 

Downham had not been as quiet as Littleport, and there there were some minor incidents perpetrated on their return from Ely by a crowd led by Flanders Hopkin, John and William Wilson, and Matthew, Thomas and Samuel Seakins. Alice Cornwall was robbed of 4s. and another inhabitant was threatened but was left alone when he gave bread away. The Downham crowd, however, were a spineless lot compared with that at Littleport. A description of an attack they made on the house of Francis Tingey deserves quoting in full. 

The prisoners with many others assembled at the prosecutor's House on the 23rd ult. and demanded Money—The prosecutor having refused to obey the call an attack was immediately made upon his window by the prisoners and their party—The prosecutor's wife then took the Alarm and sent her son Francis Tingey with a Flag of Truce to the Besiegers and he succeeded in saving the Citadel from further destruction by payment of a three shilling piece.

21st May 1816: Labourers from Southery march to Downham Market to demand, and obtain, the release of prisoners

On Tuesday 21st May 1816, and a a day after prisoners were taken during the riots at Downham Market, their comrades set out from Southery again to obtain their release. Peacock (1965, pp.91-92) gave a good description of the events:

The following day a crowd in Southerey, led by Stern, John Neal and Hardy, waited upon Robert Martin. They told the farmer that they wanted the release of their colleagues who had been arrested the day before, and sent him off to confer with the magistrates in Downham Market, while they set out to do the journey on foot. More labourers joined them at Hilgay and on this occasion they were a much more orderly and formidable force than before. William Hardy seems to have been in charge and he had drilled them in how to meet a cavalry charge.'' Added to the pitchforks and fork irons were now thirty to forty guns, some of which had been stolen. James Goat and John Bell for instance took powder and shot from Isaac Ashley and Robert Bond, shopkeepers at Hilgay, during a break there. Bell told Ashley that what they took would be paid for—"after they had met the soldiers".  

In Downham Market, Martin saw Dering and Pratt, the magistrates, and told them what demands had been made. They arranged for the Southerey labourers to be released and then went out to meet the crowd. En route from Southerey, the mob grew to about 500 in number, some of whom were pressed into joining. (Joseph Gallaway, for instance, who had been working at Modney Bridge was forced by Gamaliel Porter to march at the point of a gun.)  

Martin and Dering told the crowd that the Southerey labourers had been released and the Southerey men seemed satisfied. "The Hilgay men however forced them forward and said they should not return unless their men were liberated also." Dering and Pratt conferred and agreed to release all the prisoners (it is not clear whether this included the poachers). 

They told this to the crowd, who expressed their satisfaction and dispersed to their villages. The Star expressed a general opinion of the magistrates' behaviour in a report on the 25th May.

The inhabitants were armed under the directions of the Magistrates;—[and] marched out, with the cavalry, to meet the rioters, who were also armed;—and then ensued, what?—an agreement, that the latter should have an advance of wages, and that the persons already taken should be allowed to return to their homes!—We hope there is an error in the statement; but, as something of that sort has occurred elsewhere, we cannot let the report of such a compromise pass, without saying, that this mode of suppressing tumults is that, which of all others is sure to multiply them.... Any concession, if it be but the gift of a turnip, made to a body of men unlawfully in arms, is a matter of danger to society, and it is not unreasonable to impute this outrage against Downham to the success of a similar one at Brandon." 

20th May 1816: Serious rioting in Downham Market

Early on Monday 20th May 1816, serious rioting broke out in Downham Market, lasting all of the day. Norfolk. Peacock (1965, pp.87-92) gave a good account of the insurrection using various sources:

On Monday, 20th May ... really serious rioting broke out in Downham Market and the day ended with that town in a state of chaos. It was general throughout the whole area for magistrates and overseers to hold weekly meetings, usually on a Monday, and on that day the representatives of the Hundred and Half of Clacklose were meeting in Downham. The labourers set out to confront them. 

At some time between seven and eight o’clock, a crowd of about sixty began to gather in the little village of Southery, a few miles from Feltwell. Among them, some who “displayed some military knowledge” began to press the fainter hearts in the village into joining them. James Galley, a labourer, was spokesman and he led them to Robert Martin's farm, where labourers were forced to unyoke their horses and join the crowd. A little later they called at the unpopular John Benton's farm and compelled another three men to leave their work. John Stern, a labourer, threatened to break open the barn, but Benton was armed, and the crowd went off towards Downham Market, led by John Bowers blowing a horn. They arrived at Denver at about ten o'clock and pressed more men into their ranks. Stern threatened they would hang anyone who persisted in refusing to join them, and the crowd was in an ugly mood. Sarah More, a labouring woman from Hilgay, was heard to say they wanted "Bread or Blood". Robert Martin, the Southerey farmer, had ridden ahead of the crowd and called on Mr. Dering, a local magistrate, warning him that several hundreds of angry labourers were approaching Downham Market. Dering first of all asked what their demands were, then, sent to Captain Lee, who was about nine miles, away, asking him to assemble the Upwell Yeomanry Cavalry. He then went into town, and tried to enrol the populace as special constables, but "To his great disappointment he found his neighbours little disposed to exert themselves at that period"." John Balding, an overseer of the poor, went out to meet the crowd. 

Balding met the crowd on the outskirts of the town and asked them what they were about. He was told that they intended to see the magistrates and heard some complaints from certain labourers that they were being forced to demonstrate against their will. When the labourers began breaking into Simpson's bread shop and distributing the loaves, he went back to report to the magistrates meeting at The Crown Inn. He stayed there until the crowd assembled outside, in the market place, at twelve o'clock. En route they had broken, into a shop belonging to John Parkinson, whose wife had locked the place and fled in panic. Scores of labourers from Downham had joined them and one report put their numbers as high as 1,500. Women were prominent amongst them, Frances Porter in particular. They broke down Parkinson's door and stole and distributed loaves of bread and 140 lbs. of flour. They also practically denuded the shop of sheeting, shoes, hats, umbrellas and so on. Only 6s. in cash was taken, but the whole of the loot was valued at over 8. Much of it was taken back later in the day, although some of it was sold. Another crowd, led by William Bell, Charles Nelson, Spencer Rayner and Hannah Jarvis, robbed George Thomas of four to five gallons of beer. As yet, however, things had not got completely out of hand and a courageous drover named Richard Gamble forced his way into Thomas's house, locked the cellar doors and turned the mob away. 

A constable on duty outside The Crown took a message to the magistrates and overseers saying that the Southerey people wanted to talk to them. By this time the magistrates had determined to make some concessions and a deputation of eight labourers was invited in. They stated terms exactly like those agreed to at Brandon and Bury and said they wanted work and 2s. a day. They were then asked to go into another room while their demands were considered. When they returned, they were told that "the circumstances of produce being so much lowered in value the Farmers and others could not afford to grant what they wished", but that they agreed to allow 2s. a day and to supply flour at 2s. 6d. per stone "for those that had large families". This led to a tremendous argument, during which the magistrates and overseers displayed considerable courage, refusing to move from their original offer to make their concessions applicable to everyone, as at Brandon. John Bowers, the labourer, was particularly violent towards Robert Scale, an overseer, who told him, "You seem to be very forward with that large stick in your hand, but I am not to be intimidated by that". Bowers replied, "Yes, here's my stick, it never did anybody any harm yet—whatever it might do". 

The magistrates followed the deputation outside into the square and addressed the crowd, asking them to go away. They were in no mood to disperse when they heard of the magistrates' stand, however, and began demanding the release of a gang of poachers who had recently been imprisoned in the town. Stones were thrown and the J.P.s were forced back into The Crown, followed by the crowd. Hare and Pratt escaped, but Dering was chased and eventually found refuge by hiding in the garden of Mr. Wales, the apothecary—whose house (according to one report) was broken up by labourers who were seeking the unfortunate magistrate. Another part of the crowd stayed inside The Crown, which they tore apart. They took flour and other eatables and made Samuel Johnson, the publican, supply them with fifteen gallons, of beer, all of which they consumed during the afternoon. Among those active here was Sindall, the rioter eventually shot at Littleport, and the only person known to have been involved at more than one place in the May riots. 

The afternoon of Monday, 20th May, was given over to plunder and rioting in Downham—albeit here, as elsewhere, little violence was done to individuals (although Dering would have been in trouble had he been found). By this time Daniel Harwood, thirty-two, a native of Gooderstone, who was self-employed doing contract work with his waggon and team for farmers "as is the custom in that part of the country where he resided, near Downham", and Thomas Thody, twenty-two, born, at St. Neots, a married man with two children and then living at Nacton, had become prominent as leaders of the crowd. Thody was one of those who had imbibed at the landlord's expense at The Crown. 

One of the first objects of attack during the afternoon was William Baldwin's flour mill. Thody and Harwood led a crowd to the mill where they relieved William Spinks, a millhand, of the key. Charles Nelson opened the door and the crowd rushed in and helped themselves, distributing, according to Baldwin, flour and seventy bushels of meal to the value of £35 10s. 0d. Elizabeth King and Nelson then robbed Mary Wyer of twenty loaves of bread and John Stern procured 12 lbs. of cheese which he took to The Crown and distributed among his friends. Hannah Jarvis led an attack on Stimson's shop where she cut up some loin of beef and distributed it amongst the rioters. From there she and Amelia Lightharness took a crowd to the shop of Francis Wiseman, a pork butcher. Amelia was heard to say "Here my boys, this is the place for good pork" and the crowd denuded the place, taking 250 lbs. of meat, valued at £9. Zachariah Stebbing, a gardener, said that he noticed William Bell, the yeoman, particularly active. "I noticed Bell," he said, "and thought that a man like him who kept a team of horses of his own should rob his neighbour." From Wiseman's, the crowd went to Samuel Bolton's shop. Bolton had already been forced earlier to give up all his cooked meats and was surprised when the mob called on him again late in the afternoon. He slammed the door and ran to get his guns, but William Fendyke, Harwood and Thody smashed the door in and the crowd helped themselves. Bolton said that Lightharness, Lucy Rumbelow and Anne Fuller were very prominent. Another section of the crowd went off to try to liberate the poachers. 

At about five o'clock Captain Lee arrived with some men of the Clacklose Yeomanry Cavalry. Dering, still hiding in the chemist's garden, heard the troops and climbed over a wall to join, them. He led them on horseback to the market place and there read the Riot Act. As he finished, the part of the crowd which had tried to release the poachers returned and the market place was once again turned into a battleground. Stones, were thrown at the hated yeomanry, who retaliated by hitting out with the flats of their swords. Eventually the crowd dispersed although, according to John Lister, one of the cavalrymen, there were still troubles as late as seven o'clock. The troops and the special constables (seventy had enrolled after the cavalry arrived!) searched the public houses and imprisoned six or seven labourers. Lord Suffield told Sidmouth that, but for the arrival of Captain Lee, Dering's house would have been in flames.