- DREADFUL RIOTS AT COLNE, AND LOSS OF LIFE.
We regret to have this week the duty imposed upon us of laying before our readers the particulars of some most serious and disgraceful disturbanes which have occurred at Colne, and which took place towards the close of last week, and at the commencemlent of the present. Immediately on receiving intelligence of the riots, we thought it desirable, in order to obtain an accurate and circumstantial account of the whole of the transactions, to repair at once to the spot, and thus be able to make our inquiries from the most authentic sources. We believe the following will be found a faithful detail of the events immediately leading to and characterizing the disturbance. Many of our readers are doubtless aware that the lower orders of Colne and its populous vicinity, have always evinced a great partiality for the Chartists, and have taken a prominent part in most of their public manifestations. Indeed, so prevailing was the Chartist mania among the working people of that neighbourhood, that Colne has always been regarded and spoken of as the hot-bed of Chartism in North Lancanshire. An opinion has been somewhat prevalently entertained by those who are not familiar with the slate of things in Colne, that the weavers, who constitute the great bulk of its labouring population, have been in a condition of excessive privation and distress. This, however, is not the case, and therefore the restless and lawless rabble who have taken part in these painful occurrence, have not to plead the pressure of want and destitution as an incentive to, or a palliation for, their violent and bloodthirsty proceedings. We are assured, upon the best authority, that in consequence of the extensive introduction of Mousseline de laine wearivng into the neighbourhood, the people of that district have not had, for some years, the opporunaity of better earnings, and that those who choose to work, and conduct themselves with ordinary thrift, may live plentifully and comfortably. This is an ingredient of the narrative that we deem most important to forming a just opinion with regard to the merits of the wbole transaction. In natural sympathy with the other doctrines of Chartism, the lower orders of Colne have always shown greet hostility to the magistrates and constables, as indeed to all other constituted authorities, but their vengeance and opposition have been more particularly and openly exhibited towards the rural police, since the introduction of that force into the neighbourhood.
This feeling broke out with such violence in April last, as to make it necessary to increase the force for a time, from the number of ten or twelve to about fifty, supported for several days by a military force. This had the effect of suppressing for awhile the lawless proceedings of the populace, and it was hoped by the authorities that the polics were steadily gaining ground in the estimation of those who had been violently opposed to them; but it appears, that about three weeks since, this opposition was revived with increased violence, and was shown more openly from day to day, till at last the rabble proceeded, at nights, to the breaking of windows, and making some murderous attacks upon the officers by large volleys of stones, in some cases from the house-tops. The first party attacked was Mr. Bolton, a solicitor, of Colne, whose public conduct, on several points, had rendered him especially obnoxions to the rabble. His official and private efforts against the chartists, and in the establishment of the new police, marked him out as the first object of their vengeance; and, accordingly, on Tuesday evening week, they began with demolishing about fourteen of his windows, and making a dreadful attack with stones upon the police, who were driven from the streets, and many of whom were severely hurt. Partial disturbances again took place on Wednesday evening; and on Thursday night, about ten o'clock, the town was entered by a mob of 200 men, under the command of a leader, armed with pistols, pikes, bludgeons, and stones, who for half an hour had complete and uncontrolled possession of the main street, where they broke about 200 windows, and committed some very severe personal injuries upon several of the respectable inhabitants, and some of the constables. Commands to fiee and re-charge were distinctly heard, and have been deposed to. A military force was sent for to the barracks at Burnley; but the rabble had made their attacks so rapidly, and dispersed so instantly after it, that, when the military arrived, the town was perfectly quiet, and the soldiers at once returned to their barracks. Next day, (Friday,) as will be found from the evidence given at the inquest, by W. Hewson Wood, Esq., a public meeting was advertised, to concert measures for the protection of life and properly ; but, when the hour of meeting arrived, the chartists and the rabble had taken possession of the room, and the magistrates and respectable inhabitants were obliged to assemble at the King's Head Inn, where, among other measures for preventing a repetition of the scenes of the preceding night, it was resolved that a deputation, with one of the magistrates, should proceed to Burnley for military assistance. Detachments of cavalry and infantry were instantly despatched, and, by their presence in the town till Sunday morning, secured the peace of the place, the unfortunate circumstance being, that they did not remain longer. As far as we could collect the feeling of the principal inhabitants, there seems but one opinion of marked disapprobation and regret at the premature withdrawal of the troops, and the magistrates quite partake in that regret; but they were informed by Major Lindsay, we are told, that the orders to officers in commend on such occasions were such as to require the troops to return to barracks. This seems strange, if it be so ; and probably some further inquiry will be made into it; at all events there ought to be an inquiry, and that of a strict and seatching nature. We sincerely believe, there is not a town in England so completly under the dominion of mob law, as this unfortunate town of Colne; and the general opinion of the respectable inhabitants is, that, in such at reign of terror, the remedy must at last be a permanent military force in barracks.
On the withdrawal of the troops on Sunday, the excitement appeared in some measure to subside, and Sunday night passed over quietly. On Monday night, however, there was a repetition of the lawless scenes which had previously disgraced the town, and they unhappily ended in the murder of Mr. Joseph Halstead, a gentlemen who had been just been sworn in, and was acting as a special constable. An elaborate narrative of the events of Monday will be found detailed in the evidence given at the inquest, the leading features of which will be found subjoined. It appears that at an early hour on Monday evening, it became known to the police and magistrates, that the desperadoes who had committed the outrages on Thursday intended to renew them on that night, and that assemblages were collecting for that purpose a short distance from the town, on the road towards Keighley. In consequence of this discovery the magiatrates issued summonses to a number of the respectable inhabitants, calling upon them to attend at the King's Head Inn, and be sworn in as special constables for the preservation of the peace. About seventy were, accordingly, sworn in, and, with the magistrates and the police (who had been reinforced subse- quently to Thursday night, and amounted to between thirty and forty men), went into the streets for thle purpose of dispesing the assemblages of people which they might find there. They paraded several of the streets without meeting with any serious result or opposition. Meanwhile the riot act was read several times by the magistrates, Mr. Wood and Mr. Foulds.
At length, between ten and eleven o'clock, it was announcod that a large body of people were entering the town from the Keighley road, and the magistrates, with, the police and constables, moved in that direction to meet them. As it afterwards turned out, the desperadoes had been in the new church recently erected, about half a mile to the east of Colne, where they had plentifully and most formidably provided themselves with weapons. At the time the church was railed round, there were about fifty of the iron rails to spare, and they were deposited in a kind of cellar, to be ready for use if required. The rabble had found some means of access into the church (there, was no appearance of their having forced an entry,) and there they armed themselves with the rails. They are very murderous weapons, being spear-headed, about five feet long, and we should fancy about twelve or fourteen pounds in weight each. With these weapons the rioters were entering the town, at the time just alluded to. As soon as the constables came in sight of the mob, the latter halted for a moment, and fired two pistols, whether loaded with ball, and, if so, whether directed at the constables, could not be ascertained; but, at all events, no damage was done by the shots, When these pistols were discharged, the mob set up a loud shout as if about to charge the constables; but, finding that the latter were advancing upon them, they gave way, and turned down St. John Street, (which runs towards the south side of the town, and is at right angles wiih the main street,) intending, no doubt, to pass on the right of the constables, and get into their rear.-The constables, however, guessing their object, turned down Parliament Street, which runs parallel with St. John Street, and, on arriving at a cross road which forms a commnication between the two, they encountered the mob, who immediately attacked them, and a sharp conflict ensued, the result of which was tha the mob were routed, and driven off the ground, leaving two or three prisoners in the hands of the police. After they were gone, the police and constables patrolled about the streets; and, at a short distance from the spot where the principial encounter had taken place, tbey found one of the special constables, Mr. Joseph Halstead, a respectable mnanufacturer of Colne, lying on the ground, with his skull most dreadfully fractured, having apparently been struck a terrific blow with an iron bar, or some other weapon of the same kind, by which the fore part of his skull had been completely beaten in, and his face so frightfully disfigured, that it was with great difficulty he was recog- nized. He was alive when discovered, but perfectly insensible, and breathed his last in a few minutes afterwards. Another constable, too, Mr. Temple, manager of the Colne branch of the Craven bank, was found to have received a desperate cut on the back of the head, apparently inflicted by a sword, or some other cutting instrumnent. A sergeant of the police also received a severe stab in the shoulder during the affray; but we are happy to say that neither he nor Mr. Temple are in any serious danger.
The circumstances under which Mr. Halstead and Mr. Temple received their wounds were the following: They, with three or four other constables, had gone to look out towards the south side of the town, and, without knowing what was going on, turned up one of the streets leading towards the place where the conflict was in progress, between the constables and the mob. When the latter gave way they encountered these gentlemen, whom they attaeked on all sides with the results which we have already mentioned.
As soon as the shocking murder of Mr. Halstead was made known to the magistrates, they set on foot the most active inquiries for the purpose of detecting and apprehending the murderers; and, some information having been procured, warrants were immediately issued, and several individuals were apprehended during the night; one of them, a well known Clarhist, was taken in the act of trying to conceal a musket by thrusting it through a sky-light upon the roof of his house; and on examining him, his shirt was found marked with recent splashes of blood. As soon as the disturbances commenced, a messenger was despatched to Burnley for the military, and a troop of dragoons were called out and galloped off to Colne immediately. They were, however, as before, too late to be of any service, the rioters having betaken themselves to their homes before their arrival. During the whole of Monday night the constables kept up a vigilant parade of the town, but no further outrage was attempted.- On Tuesday it seemed as if the dreadful events of Monday night had completely satisfied the appetites of the rioters, for no further movement on their part was attempted. The town was kept under a discipline almost amounting to martial law during the day, the constables being busily occupied in the detection and apprehension of offenders. As may be naturally supposed the tragical proceedings of Monday night filled the minds of the respectable inhabitants with terror and alarm; and a degree of painful excitement, which will not easily be disipated, still exists among them. Wednesday passed over without any recurrence of outrage, and on Thursday, when we attended the inquest, there appeared to be no reason for apprehending that further mischief was brooding. In the course of Thursday, the town presented a scene of great bustle and excitement, owing to the continual parading of the constables and soldiers, the arrival of strangers, the apprehension of prisoners, and the preparations for the inquest, of which latter we proceed to give the report:-
INQUEST ON THE BODY OF MR. HALSTEAD.
On Thursday morning, a jury assembled at the Angel Inn, Colne, before J. Hargreaves, Esq., coroner, on view of the body of Mr. Joseph Halstead. The following gentlemen were of the jury :_
Mr. Thomas Lonsdale, Foreman. Mr. J. Lambert. Mr. W Stowell. Mr. H Ayrton. Mr W. Elliot. Mr J. Bulcock. Mr R. Cragg, Mr. R Walton. Mr Thomas Hartley. Mr John Hartley. Mr R. Redchalgh. Mr W, Pilling. Mr Jas. Hartley, Trawden Mr John Shaw. Mr Jas. Hartley, Marsden Mr Richard Nutter.
The body of the unfortunate deceased presented a most appalling spectacle. The head was literally one livid mass of cuts and bruises, it being wholly impossible to recognize a single feature of the face. A more shocking spectacle it has never been our painful lot to behold.
Before the depositions were taken the several prisoners who stood charged with being in the riots, were brought in; they are all of the lowest class of people, and gave their names as under:- John Wilkinson, James Wilkinson, W Smith, R. Boothman, Thomas Riley, Hartley Spencer, W. Wilkinson.
Mr. James Hartley, attorney, appeared on behalf off Boothman and four of the other prisoners.
[ITAL:]William Hewson Wood[:ITAL], Esq. was the first witness examined - After bing sworn, he deposed as follows - I am a magistrate acting in this neighbourhood, During last week, for several evenings, serious disturbances occurred in this town, from the opposition given by the populace to the rural police force: a number of windows were broken and other outrages were committed: I heard occasional discharges of fire arms during the meetings of the rabble. On the Thursday evening a considerable crowd assembled at the east end of the town, when great destruction of property took place, and the police constables were driven from the streets: the mob broke the windows of several persons; the inspector of police, named Davison, was severely injured, and other inhabitants of the town were also assaulted. I and Mr. Foulds, another magistrate, thought it necessary to take measures for securing the public peace and accordingly on the following day (Friday) a meeting was convened, to be held at the grammar school, but at the hour appointed for the meeting the rabble had taken possession of the school, and the meeting had to be held elsewhere. It was deemed necessary to call in Ihe military, and I proceeded to the barracks at Burnley for that purpose: I saw Major Lindsay, who immediately sent a detachment of cavalry and infantry: on entering the town with the soldiers we found that great crowds had assembled, who hooted and hissed us; after that the town resumed its usual quiet appearance. Saturday night also passed over without any disturbance. On Saturday night it was deemed expedient to send away the military, and they accordingly left early o Sunday morning: I should have preferred detaining the military here, as I felt confident that their presence alone secured the peace of the town, but the Major in command did not seem disposed to let them remain over Monday. Sunday passed over quietly; but on Monday, in consequence of certain information, we apprehended a disturbance, and the magistrates therefore deemed it right to swear in a number of special constables, who were summoned to attend the King's Head at eight o'clock in the evening. About 70 were sworn in, to each of whom a truncheon was given. About half- past nine o'clock it was found necessary to order the constables out in consequence of large crowds having collected. There were about 26 of the rural police in the town. The magistrates, viz. myself and Mr. Foulds proceeded at the head of both forces through the town: the streets were in such a state that we found it necessary to read the riot act. I read it, and endeavoured to explain it, and told the people that their remaining in the streets after the reading of the riot act was felony. There might at this time be about 200 people in the street. There was no actual riot, but there was evidently a disposition to riot, and the riot act was again read by Mr. Foulds: in all it was read about half a dozen times, in order that the people might not be ignorant of what was going on, and on each occasion they were admonished. By this time the streets were comparatively clear, and the constables then proceeded down Windy bank. It was soon afterwards thought advisable to divide the constables into parties, in order to go into the back streets. I and one party went into Parliament Street, when an alarm being given, we proceeded into Market Street, where we heard shouting and the report of fire arms at the east end of the town. The mob challenged the constables to come on, using at the time tremendous threats, and letting off fire arms. We remained in our position some time, and then proceeded further eastward to St. John Street, where we found the lamps had been put out. Thence we went down Clayton Street, where we again heard shouts, noises, the striking of iron bars, and the report of fire arms. I heard shouts of "Come on," "Be firm," "Mash at them," and other expressions to that purport. A party of the constables who had gone in another direction, had evidently been engaged in conflict with the rioters. We went forward. when one of the police came to us in Cross Street, and said that one of the constables was killed. This was about eleven o'clock. When this occurred the police had got generally engaged with the rioters. A tremendous volley of stones drove me and my party from our position. When we got into the main street, I saw a great body of the mob marching rapidly along, many of them armed with murderous weapons. They marched in military array, four abreast, each man carrying a bludgeon. I returned to the King's Arms, where I despatched messengers to Burnley for the military. The cavalry arrived here with great expedition about half-past twelve o'clock; but the crowd had then completely dispersed,
Mr. Bannister, attorney, examined: I have heard the evidence of Mr. Wood as to the state of the town, and am able to confirm it. I was one of the special constables on Monday evening. The deceased Joseph Halstead was one of the special constables. On the party of which I was one, going past a place called Carry-lane-head, we saw a mob, who were told to disperse, and they ran away. At Colne Field, Mr. Foulds read the riot act. I proceeded with a party on the Rope-walk up to St. John Street, where we saw a mob, who hooted at us, and immediately afterwards I heard the report of fire arms. We were attacked by the mob, and received a volley of stones. Shortly after, we found a gentleman lying in Clayton Street, who afterwards turned out to be Mr. Temple. He was much bruised and injured, and I assisted in taking him home. During the progress of our march, I perceived the mob to be generally armed with stones, bludgeons, and other weapons. I considered the appearance of the town alarming before the riot act was read.
[At this period of the inquest, another prisoner, naned John Foulds, was taken into custody, and brought into the room. His face was much cut and bruised.]
Mr. James Wylde, grocer, of Colne, On Monday night last, I was one of the special constables. Mr. Halstead, the deceased, was one of my companions. We carried truncheons with us. After parading about, for some time, we went into Back Clayton-street, and Mr. Halstead and I made a stand there for a few moments. We then saw a mob, and on discovering us, they advanced; one of the mob ran up to me, and attempted to strike at me with a large piece of iron; I however escaped harm and ran away. Mr. Halstead, was a short distance from me, and did not escape. He must at that time have been murdered. There might be from one hundred to one hundred and fifty of the mob, many of whomn were armed. On approaching us, they fired two pistols. The person who struck at me with the iron, aimed with all his force, a most deadly blow. I left Mr. Halstead standing at the bottom of some steps, and when I left him he was two or three yards from me.
The above is the extent to which the inquest had proceeded, when we left Colne on Thursday evening, and, as will be seen, comprises a tolerably complete account of the riot from beginning to end. At half-past eleven o'clock on Thursday night, the inquest was adjourned until ten o'clock yesterday morning. When our account left at noon yesterday, there were several witnesses to examine, and it is doubtful whether the inquiry would be completed last evening. It is not expected that any of the prisoners, at present in custody, will be inculpated by the verdict of the jury, but we believe the police have great hopes of being able to fix the parties implicated in the murder.
All the persons in custody appeared to have received more or less of punishment, from which it was evident there had been some sharp skirmishing. In the course of Thursday, Major General Napier arrived in Colne, to make inquiries on the part of Government as to the origin of the riot, the conduct of the military, and the measures of protection requisite for adoption hereafter. Soon after his arrival a placard was issued, offering a reward of £200 for the apprehension of the murderer of Mr. Halatetad, £100 to be paid by Government, and the other by the inhabitants of the town. The advertisment further promises the Secretary of State's incessions for any one who may give information, as to the commission of the murder, except the actual murderer.
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1796 - 1840 (43 years)
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