Index |Plotting|The Riot in Littleport|Ely is given a Warning|The Riot Reaches Ely|Agreement is Reached|Troops Arrive in Ely|Troops go to Littleport|The Trial|List Of 24 Rioters|The Executions|Later Events|

Background

The riots that occurred in Littleport and Ely took place in the year 1816. At that time the population of Littleport was approximately 2000 and there were few families who were not affected by the riots. England had been at war with France for many years and had finally ended with Napoleon being beaten at Waterloo on the 18^th June 1815. The battle weary men of England returned home to find the country in recession, jobs were scarce and low paid. Those lucky enough to find work as farm labourers were paid 8 or 9 shillings a week (40 - 45 pence in today's money) and some war veterans found work building roads for 2 shillings and sixpence a week (12p approx.) however this was barely enough to survive on. At the start of 1816 wheat, a basic food commodity, was 52 shillings a quarter (£2.60). This rose during the year to 103 shillings a quarter (£5.15) by December. The general dissatisfaction throughout the country led to many minor disturbances and by far the biggest and most notorious occurrence started in Littleport.

Plotting

In many parts of the country labourers belonged to a benefit club to help support the poor and needy, Littleport was no different in this respect with the local club meetings being held in the Globe public house on Main St. The landlord at the time was Robert Johnson.

The club met at the Globe on the evening of Wednesday 22^nd May 1816, around 50 or 60 members were present, each had paid a shilling for a quart of beer. The meeting was to decide who was in need of assistance this year and it soon became clear that almost everyone was. Bad feelings ran high, one local farmer and magistrate had just sacked three of his labourers and yet he was known to spend more on buying one shirt than on the weekly wages of the three men combined.

The Globe as it was, just before it was demolished in 1962

The Co-op shop is on the site of The Globe today.
Two plaques on the wall remind us of the riot.

The Riot in Littleport

Armed with whatever weapons they could find, clubs, pitchforks, cleavers and a few guns, the mob took to the streets. They went to Mingey's shop first and stoned the windows. They then moved on to Mr Clarke's shop where they broke in and threw his wares into the street. From here they went to the home of a retired farmer, Josiah Dewey, and demanded money. He refused to give them £1 and the mob forced their way into his house and took or smashed everything in it. The local vicar, Rev Vachell, and his wife arrived on the scene and attempted to read the riot act to the mob. They would not listen to him and told him to go home and they would get to him presently. They left Mr Dewey's house with over 100 guineas in gold. The mob then moved on to Mr Sindall, a 90 year old bedridden gentleman, where they smashed all his furniture and threatened his housekeeper, Mrs Hutt, with a meat cleaver. The home of old Mr Little was next, he got off by giving the mob £2. At Mr Speechley's house, however, a refusal to hand money over resulted in all his furniture being smashed. Mr Shrewsbury gave them money and from there they went on to the shop, and home, of Mrs Waddelow.

Mrs Waddelow was an old lady of about 70 who lived with her grandson, Henry Martin, a leading landowner. Henry saw the mob approaching and fled out the back of the house leaving his grandmother and a visitor, Mrs Cutlack, to fend for themselves. The mob soon broke the door and windows in and stormed into the house. Mrs Cutlack was robbed of £3, all the furniture was smashed and all the goods in the shop were taken. The mob left after making death threats against Henry Martin and went on to the local vicarage.

The vicar, Rev Vachell, was also the magistrate of the town. He was waiting for the mob at the door of the vicarage with a pistol, where he threatened to "blow the brains out" of the first man to step across his threshold. Three men rushed him and knocked the pistol out of his hand before he could fire at them. The mob surged into the vicarage and proceeded to take or smash all of the contents, including his valuable papers. They were so busy they didn't see Rev Vachell and his family flee out the back of the vicarage. The vicar and his family made their way on foot towards Ely to get help. At Portly Hill, on the outskirts of Littleport, they met a horse and carriage, the driver was persuaded to take them to Ely.

A Fowling or Punt gun being used in the correct way.
Date approximately 1860

Ely is given a Warning

Upon his arrival in Ely, at around midnight, the Rev Vachell woke up two other magistrates, namely the Rev William Metcalfe and the Rev Sir Henry Bate Dudley, and explained what was happening in Littleport. A messenger, Mr Thomas Archer, was sent to Bury St Edmunds to seek the assistance of the First Royal Dragoon Guards who were stationed there. Many of the tradesmen of Ely were called up and sworn in as special constables and Rev Metcalfe and a few others went to meet the rioters, who were by now on their way to Ely.

The Riot Reaches Ely

The two parties met at Oakery (about 1/2 mile outside of Ely) at between 5 and 6am on the Thursday morning. Rev Metcalfe read the riot act to the mob and asked them what they wanted. The mob replied "the price of a stone of flour per day" and " our children are starving, give us a living wage" . Rev Metcalfe told them they would have it. He would consult the other magistrates and they should return to Littleport. The rioters replied they would "have a randy at Ely" and continued towards the city. The Rev Metcalfe asked them to go to the market place and many of them did assemble there. Many inhabitants of Ely joined the mob in the market place.

Agreement is Reached

The magistrates were meeting in the White Hart Inn just off the market place in Ely and Rev Metcalfe addressed the crowd from one of the upstairs windows, where he issued the following statement:

"The magistrates agree, and do order, that the over-seers shall pay to each family two shillings per head per week, when flour is half-a-crown a stone; such allowance to be raised in proportion when the price of flour is higher, and that the price of labour shall be two shilling a day, whether married or single and that the labourer shall be paid his full wages by the farmer who hires him,"

The White Hart Inn 1950

Troops Arrive in Ely

A corporal's guard of 16 men from the First Royal Dragoon Guards arrived from Bury St Edmunds (Suffolk) and teamed up with a number of local men at Angel Hill (near the site of today's railway station). Together they rode from Caudle Fen Bank, up Back Hill and along the Gallery towards the Lamb Hotel in the centre of Ely. They met with the rioters, who were mostly from Ely itself at this stage, and the mere presence of the Cavalry parading through the streets of Ely intimidated the rioters enough to restore order. The Dragoons stayed in Ely overnight and prepared to advance to Littleport the next day.

Troops go to Littleport

The next day the Dragoons teamed up with the Royston Troop of Volunteer Cavalry and the Militia Staff stationed in Ely set out for Littleport led by Rev Sir Henry Bate Dudley and Mr John Bacon a constable from Bow Street in London. They stopped at Mill End in Littleport (now part of Ely Road, near Upton Lane) and a group of men on horseback were sent across the Hemp Field to enter the town from the east in case of barricades. The main part of the group then went down Mill Street (now called Millpit Furlong) towards the centre of town. They found the main body of the rioters in the George and Dragon public house where they had barricaded themselves in.

The George and Dragon Public house 1999

The Rev Sir Henry Bate Dudley called upon the men to come out and give themselves up, they replied with a volley from the upper windows! The Militia returned fire. Rioter James Cammell took an iron bar from the fireplace and stood by the entrance with another man to prevent entry to the pub. Another rioter Thomas South shot at the troopers from a window, injuring Dragoon Wallace Williams in the forearm or wrist. This injury was so severe that the soldier was disabled and relied upon the parish of Littleport to pay him a pension of 12 shillings a week for the rest of his life. The soldier regretted that having survived unharmed the battle of Waterloo he would be wounded by one of his own countrymen. The battle however was soon over and most of the rioters were captured that afternoon. While they were under guard on the road Thomas Sindall tried to take trooper William Porter's Rifle, he failed and ran off. Porter called out for him to stop but was ignored, Porter raised his rifle and shot Sindall through the head, killing him instantly. Another rioter John Badger resisted arrest and received a sabre cut which took part of his chin off. Some rioters managed to evade capture for several weeks by hiding in the marshes. Some even managed to avoid capture altogether and did not return to Littleport for several years. Altogether 80 people were arrested and took to Ely gaol to await trial. Items to the value of £400 were recovered.

The Trial

The trial (Assizes) started on Monday 17^th June 1816 in the courthouse, which at that time was on the Market Place in Ely. It was presided over by three judges namely Mr Justice Abbot, Mr Justice Burrough and Mr Edward Christian Esq., Chief Justice to the Isle of Ely. It is worth a mention that Mr Edward Christian is the brother of Fletcher Christian from Mutiny on the Bounty fame, but where Fletcher was known for his kindness and compassion his brother Edward was known as a hard and harsh judge who often gave out the death penalty. The trial lasted for six days and ended with the death sentence being passed upon 24 people. The public outcry at the harsh sentences caused the Judges to reconsider their verdicts for fear of their lives. The revised sentences were 5 executions, 9 deportations to Botany Bay, Australia, and the rest to a year in Ely goal.

NAME

AGE

OFFENCE

FINAL SENTENCE

The executions took place on Friday 28^th June 1816. At 10 o'clock in the morning the five condemned men wearing white caps, were placed on a cart that was covered in a black cloth. Escorted by the most respected of Ely's inhabitants on horseback carrying white wands, they were taken to the place of execution, an area of swampy ground between Witchford Road and St John's Road on the outskirts of Ely where a new drop had been constructed for the purpose. They arrived at the scaffold shortly before 11 o'clock and the five men fell to their knees in prayer. Prisoner John Dennis then addressed the crowd of several hundred and declared that they had all confessed to the crimes for which they were about to hang. He then said in a loud voice "All you who are witness to this my disgraceful end, I exhort you in the name of God - that God before whom I must shortly appear - to avoid drunkenness, Sabbath-breaking, whoremongery, and bad company. Oh beware of these sins! I pray you also to avoid rioting; and in every respect refrain from breaking the laws of your country. Remember the words of the Judge who tried us for the crimes which we are now going to suffer, who said 'the law of the land will always be too strong for its assailants, and those who defy the law will in the end be subdued by the law, and be compelled to submit to its justice or its mercy.' We stand here a melancholy example of the power and justice of the law. I freely forgive those who gave their evidence against me; and may the God of mercy forgive me, and have mercy on my soul." They then all prayed again. Upon a signal the drop fell and all five men left this earth without a struggle.

After hanging for the required amount of time the bodies were taken down, placed in coffins and given to their relatives for interment. They were taken to a cottage in Goal Street where the bodies were laid out. A great many people viewed the bodies before they were buried the next day in a single grave in the churchyard of St Mary's Church in Ely. Legend has it they were buried upright, either to save space or a more popular reason, so that they could never 'lay at rest'. There is a stone plaque on the side of the tower of the church inscribed:

The original plaque, now in the 'Old Barn' at Littleport Main St.

The Plaque on St Mary's Church today

The men sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay, Australia were taken to Newgate prison on the following Monday, 1^st July 1816. Where they took the first transportation ship available. Those that were sentenced to a year in Ely goal were left in prison where it was expected they would serve their whole sentence, however after a few days the sentences were changed to transportation for 7 years to Botany Bay. They were transported without having any further contact with either family or friends. The public when they were informed of the change of sentence were understandably outraged. Public meetings were held and a petition was sent to the home secretary for the change to be reversed. They were unsuccessful and the transportation went ahead.

Ely Gaol 1990

Later Events

At the next Assizes held in Cambridge the Rev J Vachell was awarded £708 9shillings in compensation for the damages he suffered in the riots.

Shortly after the riots parliament passed the Vagrancy Act of 1824 to try and stop the unrest. Due to the difficulties in enforcing the law and partly for fear of another riot similar in nature to the Littleport one the Metropolitan Police Act was passed in 1829, establishing the first true modern police force.

To commemorate the Queens Silver Jubilee in 1977 the Womens Institute in Littleport paid for a village sign, on the back of this sign is a scene depicting the start of the riot outside the Globe Inn.