"The 5th now is considered a holiday by the lower classes"

A few notes from the archives about events on the Fifth of November in the early nineteenth century in Lewes.

Where it sounds like they had a right good time.

 Deposition of James Burridge, constable:

“I also was upon duty as police officer in the Town of Lewes upon the night of the fifth day of November instant and saw a great mob of persons unlawfully assembled together and making a great noise & disturbance, letting off fireworks and having lighted tar barrels through the high street. About ten o’clock I was violently assaulted by the mob who hustled me and threw stones at me and gravel and dirt into my eyes whereby my eyes were much hurt and painful.” 

Deposition of Stephen Clarke, constable:

“I saw a great riot and disturbance in the town with persons letting off fireworks, rolling lighted tar barrels and throwing lighted fire balls….Many of the persons in the disturbance were in disguise having masks and some having their faces black red and white and many of them had very large sticks.” 

Henry Powler Mackay deposed that he saw the tar-barrels fireworks and riotous mob:

“I have not joined in such occasions, there was more than ever I have before. I have not let off fireworks since I left school…The 5th now is considered a holiday by the lower classes. I do not think the town would have been quiet if the police had not been there.” 

Deposition of William Bennett:

“…I have seen bonfire nights in Lewes and it was similar to the one last time, I saw tar barrels last year and windows broken.” 

 According to reports, many of the police were violently assaulted with sticks and clubs.

 Feeling nostalgic for the good old days yet?

(Source: The National Archive, ASSI 36/4 Sussex assizes 1841. These were among the sources I used in my first book, Violence and Crime in Nineteenth-Century England: The Shadow of Our Refinement, which is soon to be available as a paperback.)

Old school rioting. Very old.

Interestingly enough, a few weeks ago, a BBC radio series based on records from the Old Bailey Sessions Papers considered riots in the eighteenth century.

Among the commentators is my friend and former colleague at the Open University, Prof. Peter King, now at Leicester, along with another historian I've shared more than a few drinks with, Tim Hitchcock.

Worth a listen if you're interested in 'tumults and riotous assemblies'.

And I know you are.

Not to be forgotten...

Very much liked Shuggy's comment on the (so far solely) English riots:

Why do people go on the rampage? Really have to insist that the right doesn't get a monopoly on having a pessimistic view of the human condition. People do this sort of thing because they are arseholes and because they can. As Chris says, you need structures where the the costs of rioting outweigh the benefits. The difference between left and right is the former traditionally does not see the costs solely in terms of putative criminal justice. But the left has traditionally seen a role for criminal justice and it's a tradition worth maintaining. Or alternatively you could pretend a bunch of feral scumbags stealing DVD players are at the vanguard of the English revolution - if you want to go on looking like a complete tit, that it.

(And speaking of looking like (or rather sounding like) a complete tit.)

Norm, too, had a (rather more cautiously worded) comment worth reading.

Career opportunity

For any of our British friends who are looking for a new and highly challenging job with (I imagine) a decent salary and good benefits, I noted this announcement at the BBC newsticker:

So, dust off those CVs, people!

And for anyone looking for something a bit more light-hearted about something which is thoroughly depressing, you could do much worse than Photoshoplooter.

These people, after all, deserve to be mocked.