The Spa Fields riots were incidents of public disorder arising out of the second of two mass meetings at Spa Fields, Islington, England on 15 November and 2 December 1816.
The meetings had been planned by a small group of revolutionary Spenceans, who invited the popular radical speaker Henry Hunt to address the crowd. They hoped that the meetings would be followed by rioting, during which they would seize control of the government by taking the Tower of London and the Bank of England. The first meeting ended peacefully, with Hunt being elected to deliver a petition to the Prince Regent, requesting electoral reform and relief from hardship and distress. At the second meeting some of the Spenceans harangued the crowd before Hunt arrived and led away a section of it. The rioters raided a gunsmith's shop and exchanged gunfire with troops at the Royal Exchange. Other incidents took place at Snow Hill and Minories, but after soldiers refused to hand over the Tower of London the rioters dispersed.
In the aftermath of the riots, four leading Spenceans, John Hooper, Thomas Preston, Arthur Thistlewood and James Watson, were arrested and charged with high treason. Watson was tried first and the chief prosecution witness was John Castle, a government spy who had infiltrated the Spenceans. Castle's evidence was discredited by defence counsel and Watson was acquitted, at which point the prosecution presented no evidence against the other defendants and all four were released.
bordering Finsbury and Clerkenwell. Historically it is known for the SpaFieldsriots of 1816 and an Owenite community which existed there between 1821 and...
The Riot Act 1714 was introduced during a time of civil disturbance in Great Britain, including the Sacheverell riots of 1710, the Coronation riots of...
veteran conspirator William Putnam McCabe, and were implicated in the SpaFieldriots of 1816 and the Cato Street Conspiracy of 1820. The Real Rights of...
them, particularly Arthur Thistlewood, had been involved with the SpaFieldsriots in 1816. Thistlewood came to dominate the group with George Edwards...
a group of Spenceans initiated a series of riots, later known as the SpaFieldsriots during which rioters raided gunsmith shops and attempted to overtake...
and the expensive cost of printed materials relative to wages. The SpaFieldsRiots and Peterloo Massacre raised concerns about revolution and the violent...
and Ireland in defiance of the royal establishment. During the 1816 SpaFieldsriots, a green, white and red horizontal flag appeared for the first time...
1816–1817. Discontent led to riots, first in some country districts and then in towns and cities, notably the London SpaFieldsriots of November–December 1816...
in Clerkenwell including the SpaFields Estate, which was the location of the mass meeting prior to the SpaFieldsriots of 1816. Soon after, the Estate...
Tottenham: the Broadwater Farm riots of 1985". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2021. As north London is gripped by riots, we take a look at the events...
Spencean Philanthropists, and several recent incidents, such as the SpaFieldsriots of December 1816, an attack on the Prince Regent in January 1817, and...
(island) with the loss of 208 of the 385 people on board. 2 December – SpaFieldsriots: a mass meeting of conspirators dispersed by the police. The Coinage...
Napoleonic Wars saw popular dissatisfaction in England culminating in the SpaFieldsriots of December 1816 and an abortive attempt to take control of the government...
The Newlyn riots occurred in Newlyn, Cornwall, UK in May 1896. Cornish fishermen did not believe in landing fish on a Sunday, so other fleets exploited...
unwilling pupil. A progressive in politics, Holl at the time of the SpaFieldsriots in December 1816 took the risk of concealing James Watson, son of James...
The Ely and Littleport riots of 1816, also known as the Ely riots or Littleport riots, occurred between 22 and 24 May 1816 in the Isle of Ely (now in Cambridgeshire)...
Boston Spa is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Situated 3 miles (5 km) south of Wetherby, Boston Spa is on the...
Young at the time of the Lambing Flat riots Connolly, C.N., "Miners' Rights: explaining the 'Lambing Flat' riots of 1860–61" in Curthoys, A & Markus, A...
riots on 21 July 1964 and 2 September 1964, particularly the former, during which 23 people died and 454 others suffered severe injuries. The riots are...
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