HC Deb 08 February 1822 vol 6 cc159-63

The Sheriffs of London presented the following Petition:

"To the hon. the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in parliament assembled." The humble Petition of the lord mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London, in Common-council assembled,

"Sheweth—That it is with feelings of serious pain and regret that your petitioners should have occasion again to approach the bar of your hon. House in the language of complaint, and to be compelled, as well on their own behalf as on that of the civil authorities throughout the country, to call upon your hon. House for protection against that lawless and unconstitutional spirit recently manifested in the frequent attacks made by the military against his majesty's unarmed and peaceable subjects, and which your petitioners lament to state, has even extended itself to an outrage, and an attempt at assassination of the head of the civil power of the metropolitan county:

"That upon the melancholy occasion of' the funeral of her late majesty queen Caroline, two persons of the names of Francis and Honey unfortunately lost their lives, in consequence, as it would appear from the inquests of the coroner, of the illegal and unjustifiable violence of some of the life-guardsmen, against one or more of whom a verdict in the one case has been returned of 'Wilful Murder,' and in the other of Manslaughter:

"That notice having been extensively circulated of the intention of interring the bodies of those unfortunate individuals at Hammersmith, on Sunday the 26th day of August last, and of having a public funeral, Mr. Alderman Waithman, one of the then sheriffs, and a conservator of the public peace of the county of Middlesex, felt it his duty to direct the attendance of the constables and officers of the divisions nearest to and through which the funeral procession was expected to pass, and also to attend in person to prevent or quell any tumult or disorder:

"That the sheriff, being necessarily apprehensive, under the existing irritation of the people, and the melancholy occasion for which they were assembled, that some insult might be offered to the life-guards in their barracks, disposed of the constables chiefly in that vicinity, and actually ranged a body of them in front of the barracks, with instructions to apprehend every individual who should attempt to commit any act of outrage or disorder:

"That the funeral in consequence of these precautions, passed the barracks in an orderly and quiet manner, marked by no other peculiar circumstance than that of a brick being thrown from the barracks. The sheriff's admonitions, and the presence of the constables, succeeded in repressing the provocation which such a wanton act was but too well calculated to excite:

"That when the procession had passed and while the road continued to be crowded with people, the gates of the barracks were thrown open, and the avenue filled with soldiers; that the people gathered round the spot and expressed their displeasure; that a tumult appearing inevitable, the sheriff requested to speak with the officer on duty, but without effect; and it was only by repeated expostulation with the soldiers that he prevailed upon them to retire within the barracks, and to close the exterior gates:

"That shortly after the gates were unexpectedly thrown open, and the soldiers rushed out armed with swords, carbines, and sticks, and attacked the people most furiously, without distinction of age or sex. That the sheriff, finding matters in this serious state, rode directly upon the cause-way, and interposed between the parties, and succeeded in separating them. While thus engaged, a soldier, with whom he had been before expostulating, and who was therefore acquainted with his official situation, started forward at a man, and knocked him down. At the same time, while the sheriff was using his utmost endeavours to prevail upon the soldiers to retire within their barracks, and the people to desist and keep the peace, the bridle of his horse was violently seized on the one side by an officer in undress, and on the other side by a soldier, whose violence he had just noticed, and who endeavoured to throw his horse over the causeway. That the sheriff only preserved himself by striking the soldier with his stick, and making his horse plunge. That immediately several of the soldiers rushed at the sheriff with their swords drawn, and one actually loaded his carbine, and directed it towards the sheriff; but this ruffian was prevented by the brave interposition of one of the constables, who knocked the carbine from his shoulder. That during the affray the sheriff could not obtain an interview with any of the officers of the life-guards, and when he desired some of the constables to represent to them in the most respectful terms his desire that the soldiers should be kept within the barracks, the message returned was in language most unwarrantable and gross, and stating, that they would not make their men prisoners for him:

"That your petitioners observe with surprise and regret, that although his majesty's government apprehended a breach of the peace between the life-guardsmen and the people, from the state of irritation in which the minds of both parties were known to be from the unhappy catastrophe on the day of her majesty's remains leaving Hammersmith, a verdict of Wilful Murder having been given against a life-guardsman in respect of one of the individuals, and the jury remaining then impanelled in the other, yet that no efficient measures were taken by his majesty's government or the officer commanding the troops at Knightsbridge to prevent the same by guarding against a collision of the irritated parties, and that the sheriff of the county was left not only to preserve the public peace, but to defend the people against the merciless outrages of an infuriated and armed soldiery, unaided by any means but the constitutional ones, and without any assistance or support from the police and county magistrates:

"That your petitioners, from a careful, minute, and full examination of the affair, through the medium of a report of a committee of your petitioners, together with the evidence taken by such committee, all which they beg permission to lay before your hon. House, do find, that not only a furious attack was made by the life-guardsmen on the people, thus placing the lives of his majesty's subjects in imminent danger, but that a violent and personal outrage was likewise committed by the soldiers on the sheriff, while in the exemplary execution of his duties by laudably exerting himself, at the great hazard of his life, to preserve the public peace, and in his person in the high and important station which he filled, thus contemning and defying the civil authority with which he was invested, and planting a military power above the law:

"That the day following the sheriff addressed a letter to the right hon. earl Bathurst, one of his majesty's principal secretaries of state, detailing the events that had taken place, and although his majesty's government, as represented by the noble earl in his reply to the sheriffs letter, deemed an inquiry necessary, yet your petitioners, with astonishment, take leave to inform your hon. House, that, as far as they can learn, no proceedings or inquiry have hitherto taken place, or the sheriff been required to produce any evidence, or in anywise called upon to substantiate the circumstances and representations contained in his said letter to earl Bathurst; and, notwithstanding the doubts which the noble earl has thought proper to entertain with respect to the correctness of the sheriff's statement, your petitioners cannot forbear impressing upon your hon. House their decided conviction (founded upon the concurrent testimony of the evidence) of the full truth of the sheriffs letter to lord Bathurst, and that it was wholly to the exertions of the sheriff that much mischief and bloodshed were prevented:

"Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray your hon. House to institute an immediate and effectual inquiry into the origin, progress, and termination of the transactions and outrage above alluded to and adopt such measures as in your wisdom shall seem meet, to prevent a recurrence of the like violation of the laws; and that your hon. House will take such steps as will protect the rights and privileges of the City of London, in the persons of its officers, the sheriffs, from military force and insubordination, uphold the liberties of the subject, and preserve to the civil authorities throughout the nation their personal security, rights and immunities."

On the motion of alderman Wood, the petition was ordered to lie on the table, and to be printed.