REMINISCENCES OF OLD SHEFFIELD

CHAPTER XL
FORTY YEARS AGO.

Present-Messrs. TWISS,	LEIGHTON, EVERARD, WRAGG, LEONARD and JOHNSON.

Period-A.D. 1874.

JOHNSON: I cannot, like most of you, speak of sixty years since and
upwards; I only profess to speak of forty years ago, from my own
knowledge. Forty-three years ago the population of Sheffield was a
little short of 92,000, as compared with 240,000 in 1871. In 1832,
England, practically, was without railroads, there being only three
lines opened in all England; and Sheffield had none, except her coal
railways, for some years after this time. We had four coaches daily to
London, four to Birmingham, four to Manchester, and five to Leeds. We
had about four-and-twenty coaches in all, from and to Sheffield daily,
and, supposing these averaged ten passengers per journey, there would be
the astounding number of 240 persons leaving our old town every day!
Hansoms and cabs were, of course, unknown ; but we had hackney coaches
at the one " stand" at the head of High street. To Rotherham we had a
vehicle, unknown to the present generation, a kind of car, called a "
Waterloo ;" the race is quite extinct. I believe we wrote a good many
letters in those days, but letter-writing was an expensive luxury, only
to be indulged in upon the following rates :-For a place not exceeding
15 miles distance, 4d. ; 30, 6d.; 50, 7d.; 80, 8d.; 120, 9d.; 170, 10d.;
230, 11d.; 300, 12d.; 400, 13d.; 500, 14d. A letter containing an
enclosure was charged double, and one exceeding an ounce, but not
exceeding 11/4 oz., was charged four single rates! Thus a letter to
London, weighing a fraction over an ounce would be three shillings and
fourpence. Without railways and penny postage, the business of to-day
could not be carried on. In addition to the hackney coaches, the head of
the High street was favoured by the presence of a row of second-hand
shoe dealers' stalls. The shoes they sold were called Lord Mayor's. The
shopkeepers naturally enough objected to these shoe
stalls being fixed opposite their shops, but they were allowed to remain
there for some years after this time.

Forty years ago there were no daily papers in Sheffield, but there were
four weekly. News, then, if not scarce, was dear; and people after
buying the small sheet of news, price sevenpence, passed it from one to
another, and it was a customary thing for three or four tradesmen to
join at a newspaper. As might be expected, at this high price the number
of readers was comparatively few. Hence arose another institution that
has entirely died out-what we used to call "crying-papers in the
streets." These formed a means of livelihood to a good many persons,
both men and women. These small slips of paper were generally extracts
from the newspapers of the town. Very often they were " full, true, and
particular accounts" of executions and last dying speeches; some times
the calendar of York Assizes; and often, especially during a dearth of
news, mere catch-pennies made to sell. I remember hearing a fellow
crying one of these about some wonderful appearances in the heavens,
when a whole army had been seen-fully accoutred-in the sky. Even a
cricket match on the ice at Little London, when Tom Marsden stood
umpire, or some doggrel on the winner of the St. Leger, would sometimes
serve the purpose of these wandering newsmen; they were not over nice,
and it was always " all for the low charge of one halfpenny." I
remember, at* the time of what was called the " Resurrection Riot" in
Eyre street, in 1835, one of these gentry allowed his imagination to run
wild, and informed his townsmen that during the riot " the landlord (the
late Samuel Roberts, Esq.) was present, and cried, with a loud voice,
'Burn and destroy.` But for this the man was committed to the sessions :
he had gone a little too far.

WRAGG: These flying stationers generally made their appearance after
some murder, or soon after the conclusion of some remarkable trial.
Their " Last Dying Speeches" were long narrow slips of paper, containing
about half the matter of a modern newspaper column, and the price one
halfpenny. If I mistake not, they were mostly printed in York street, by
a person named Ford; then a rival named Burgin started, up one of the
Market place passages --- Watson's walk, I think. Sometimes they
contained woodcuts, as was the case at " Honest John's" trial. Those who
knew him said it was a fair likeness, and it was certainly the best
half-pennyworth I ever saw.

JOHNSON : Talking of riots, these are happily gone out of fashion.
Formerly, they were too plentiful. I can just remember the riot at our
first borough election. Fortunately I was kept at home on that night,
but I well recollect going down the next day and seeing the devastation
that had taken place. Three men and two boys were shot dead on the
occasion, and another young fellow died of his wounds 'shortly
afterwards. Then, as I have already mentioned, we had the riot in Eyre
street, which took place in January, 1835. At this time, a second
medical school which had been established in Eyre street, corner of
Charles lane, was completely gutted, and the building set on fire. The
mob got an impression that it was a place where "resurrection men" sold
the bodies they stole. I recollect that a small case containing the body
or skeleton of a child found on the premises, was nailed up by the mob
on a house opposite, to serve as an incentive to the work of
destruction. The origin of the riot was a quarrel that took place on the
previous day (Sunday), between the keeper of the school and his wife.
This caused a disturbance, and the place bore such an evil name that the
quarrel of these two persons ended in the destruction of the building,
excepting the walls, on the following day. I recollect on the Monday
night a great part of the mob, crying "All in a mind for Overend's, "
passed my father's shop, and went along Orchard street to Mr. Wilson
Overend's house and surgery, causing much alarm, but doing little
mischief.

For the next ten years or so, Chartist riots, more or less serious, were
quite common. On the 12th September, 1839, the Chartists held a "
silent" meeting in Paradise square, which was dispersed by the soldiers
and police. The Chartists reassembled in "Doctor's field," at the bottom
of Duke street, Sheffield moor, where they were followed by the soldiers
*and police, and 36 prisoners taken. At the Town Hall, next day, which
was guarded by the dragoons, and the doors kept by policemen armed with
cutlasses, I saw several anxious mothers inquiring for their missing
ones. Amongst the rest was the mother of a young man who has since been
an influential citizen in St. George's ward. He was tried at the assizes
and acquitted. A night or two after the Doctor's field meeting, hearing
there was to be a Chartist meeting at Skye edge in the Park, my brother
and I tried to find Skye edge, but not succeeding, met the Chartists
coming away.

They marched down Duke street, singing lustily a Chartist melody 
Pressforward, press forward, 
There's nothing to fear, 
We will have the Charter, be it ever so dear.--

But, alas! on turning the corner at the bottom of Duke street, they
caught sight of the helmets of the 1st Dragoons, who were coming to meet
them. Instead of " pressing forward" we all " pressed" every way but
that, and in two minutes not a Chartist was to be seen. The dragoons on
that occasion were under no less a person than Sir Charles Napier, at
that time Commander of the Northern District; and I believe the incident
is referred to in his life.

LEIGHTON: Going further back than you do, I recollect that 1809 or 1810
were troublous times. Flour and other necessaries were very dear, and we
used to have many riots. Jacky Blacker was a leading man. I have seen a
considerable mob of people following him up High street. He had a penny
loaf dipped in blood, and he carried it on a spike about the streets. I
remember one riot in particular. Flour was about 7s. or 79. 6d. per
stone, and the mob broke into the flour shops and distributed the flour
to the people. The constables were out and the soldiers were fetched
from the Barracks, and there was martial law in the town. Tradesmen were
called out of their shops at night to form part of the patrol through
the streets and the districts outside the town. I recollect my father
being out in this way many a time. I once saw the soldiers come from the
Barracks. There was a terrible riot going on in the Market place, the
mob throwing things about, when the Hussars came up with their spears,
rode right up into the Market place and dispersed the people. Folks
could scarcely carry on business in those days. They had to shut up the
moment the rabble were coming, if they* did not wish to have their
windows broken. People have no idea now what sort of times those were to
live in.

TWISS: I remember being fetched home from school in 1816, when there was
a riot. The rioters had made a procession and marched up Angel street.
Afterwards I saw the soldiers go by, with Mr. Hugh Parker at their head.

LEONARD: My old friend, to whom I have had to acknowledge my
indebtedness for so much information, said to me the other day : " I
have seen several riots in Sheffield, and one particularly I remember.
At the bottom of Spital hill was an old building that had been occupied
by Jonathan Hobson as a warehouse, and when he gave it up it was used as
a store for the Volunteers. At the time I speak of there was a riot
about dear bread, or something of the kind. I was in 'the Pickle,' when
down came the mob to the Volunteer store. The doors were soon smashed
in, and the fellows pitched out guns and all sorts of things. Most of
the muskets were smashed by striking them across a low wall on the
opposite side of the road, but a few were shouldered by the rioters, and
they tried to march. As they were going up the Wicker, a troop of
cavalry from the Barracks met them, and didn't they run! It was fine to
see drums, trumpets, clothing, and all sorts of military odds and ends
tumbling out of the chamber windows at the store, and the mob kicking
them about, and shouting and yelling like mad things; but the soldiers
brought them to their senses very soon."

EVERARD : I, too, recollect that riot, and was also an eyewitness of it.
Being in the Wicker at the time, I saw the troop of Hussars sweep down
to the scene of action. It was in 1812, a dreadfully distressing time of
bad trade and high prices, of which mention was made when we were
speaking of the large number of able-bodied men who were employed on the
new burial ground .

LEONARD: The account of the affair given in the Iris is that it
originated with those men. They came down in a body, it says, and
paraded the Market place " for no imaginable purpose than to expose a
spectacle of wretchedness which should work upon the passions of the
indigent manufacturers" [we do not use the word in that sense of
artizans now] " and excite indignation against the provision sellers."
Having marched up the Market these men set up a great shout and then
returned to their occupation, leaving the crowd ready to commit any
mischief. Accordingly they fell upon the stores of the potato dealers,
scattering, destroying, or carrying off those vegetables, breaking
windows and doing other mischief. The riot act had been read, and the
mob seemed pausing as if not knowing what else when a voice shouted, and
there been  All in a mind for the store-room in  the Wicker;" they went
with the result that has described.

EVERARD : A little later than that period another " flour riot" took
place ; when I saw the rioters, armed with thick sticks and bludgeons,
march up Broad lane, headed by John Blackwell, alias Jackey Blacker,
with a drawn sword in his hand, a penny loaf dipped in blood stuck on
its point, and with a large placard borne beside him, with the
inscription " Bread or Blood!" This man was a tailor of very dissolute
habits, and the acknowledged " king" of the " gallery" at the Theatre.
For this exploit he was tried and incarcerated in York Castle;
eventually he ended his days in the Sheffield Workhouse.

LEONARD: This talk about the riots, and Mr. Johnson's reference to the
Chartists, remind me of a very interesting account that was prepared
nine years ago by Mr. John Taylor. It was reprinted from the newspaper
in the form of a little pamphlet ; but as possibly none of you have
copies, except our friend TWISS, and as conversation is not very brisk
this evening, suppose I read it ?

EVERARD : By all means.

LEONARD (reads): "The Chartist conspiracy, which culminated in the
audacious attempt, in January, 1840, to give the town over to pillage,
anarchy, and fire, is an event of which most of us have some
recollection. The number of the conspirators and their, dupes has never
been accurately ascertained, but probably amounted to several hundreds,
exclusive of the much larger body of the moral-force Chartists, who
shrank from the wild extremes of their hot-headed leaders, and also
exclusive of the armed contingents expected from Rotherham, Eckington,
and other places. The programme of the Chartists, and the arrangements
made for carrying it out, are matters of history. Taking a hint from the
Wesleyans, the Chartists met in ' classes' at the houses of their
respective ' leaders,' scattered over the town. They had a general
assembly-room in Figtree lane, and a secret councilroom at a
public-house at the top of Lambert street. Guns, cartridges, daggers,
pikes, hand grenades, and 'cats' were provided in considerable
quantities by the leaders and members of the council ; and the equipment
of the conspirators was to be completed by pillaging the gun shops of
the town, when the proper time came. The 'cats' were small spiked
implements to scatter in the streets for the purpose of laming the
cavalry horses, being so made that however thrown on the ground one
spike pointed upwards. The conspirators were to meet in their class
rooms on the night of the rising, proceed thence under the command of
their leaders to a few general meeting places in the outskirts of the
town, and then move in bodies to execute their atrocious designs. Some
of the more daring classes were deputed to take possession of the Town
Hall and the Tontine, which were to be the headquarters; others were
detailed to fire the Barracks as soon as the military had been called
out, and to burn other obnoxious places in the town. The rest were to
fire the houses of the magistrates, their clerk, and other gentlemen of
position living in the outskirts, the notion being that this would draw
the authorities from the town to look after their own affairs. It was
supposed that, thus deserted, the general body of the population would
concede all that was asked, and that a decided success in the outset
would so swell the ranks of the Chartists as to give them complete
control over the town and district. The poor policemen were special
objects of vengeance, all the conspirators having instructions to murder
evey policeman  met with.

Though the information published at the time on all these points is full
and complete, the  circumstances attending the discovery and frustration
of the plot, constitute an unpublished chapter  in the annals of
Sheffield; and the men to whom the town owes its rescue from a terrible
danger are not only unrewarded, but to this day unknown to the general
public as the detectors of the  conspiracy. The object of my paper is
not to recapitulate the facts published at the time, but to  recount the
yet unpublished details of this, for Sheffield, most fortunate
detection.

"The instrument in the great discovery was James Allen, then the keeper
of the Station inn beerhouse in Westgate, Rotherham, [and not to be
confounded with James Allan, who at a later period was landlord of the
Station inn in that town]. He was shrewd and intelligent, a superior
workman as a stove-grate fitter, and was employed by Messrs. Yates,
Haywood and Co. The man who used that instrument was not the respected
chief of the Sheffield police, nor any of his subordinates, but My. John
Bland, then, and for many years afterwards, the active and intelligent
chief-constable of Rotherham. For some time before the plot was fully
hatched, wild rumours, spread of the intention of the Chartists to
possess themselves by force of the entire neighbourhood, drive out the
rich, and divide the spoil. By many the rumours were regarded as the
ravings of maniacs, and utterly disbelieved. But the reports that
reached Mr. Bland as to the intentions of the Chartists at Rotherham,
assumed such consistency and pointed so persistently to one end, that
he, happily for Sheffield and the entire neighbourhood, determined to
investigate them. Unsuccessful in his first efforts, he went at length
to Allen. Partly, no doubt, from fear on his own account, but mainly
because, though an ardent Chartist ' he shrank from the horrible
measures in contemplation, Allen admitted that a Chartist organisation
was being established at Rotherham, in conjunction with the more
extensive organisation having its head-quarters at Sheffield ; and that
the directors of the whole movement, in order to avoid the suspicion
that would be likely to arise from too frequent meetings at Sheffield,
occasionally came down to Rotherham and held their secret councils at
his house. He added that they had begun to despair of peaceable
measures; and that though he and others strenuously opposed all resort
to violence, the whole tendency of their deliberations was towards a
determined physical force movement. As yet the conspiracy was a mere
unshaped design. It gradually ripened, however, into a definite plot
against life and property, as well as against law and order. The results
of the repeated conferences were regularly reported to Mr. Bland by
Allen, and the conspiracy no sooner assumed a distinct shape than Mr.
Bland took Allen's report of it in writing. With Allen's consent he
communicated it personally to the present Earl of Effingham, then Lord
Howard, resident at the time at Barbot Hall ' near Rotherham, and a West
Riding magistrate. On the advice of his Lordship, Mr. Bland, and Mr.
Oxley, the magistrates' clerk, privately visited Mr. Hugh Parker, then
the leading. Sheffield magistrate, and read the statement to him. The
statement was to the effect that delegates from Huddersfield and other
places had met those of Sheffield and Rotherham at Allen's house ; that
they had finally resolved to carry the charter by violence ; that the
delegates from a distance had guaranteed the assistance of their
respective districts to Sheffield ; that the Tontine and Town Hall at
Sheffield were first to be seized as head quarters ; and that the town
itself was to be taken possession of as a step to ulterior measures. The
houses and places of business of obnoxious persons were to be sacked and
burnt, no atrocity being thought too great that could pave the way for
the charter. The story was laughed at and pooh-poohed by Mr. Parker and
the Sheffield authorities, who refused to believe that any scheme so
wild and atrocious could possibly be entertained. Still the Chartists
held their sworn councils day by day, chiefly in Figtree lane and
Lambert street, Sheffield. Allen's moderation having excited their
suspicion of him, they met less frequently at. his house, and took him
less into their secrets. He was, however, sufficiently acquainted with
their designs to know that a force was to be mustered at Rotherham as
well as at Sheffield, and that that force was to strike their first blow
by seizing the Court House, and then sacking the residence of Mr. Henry
Walker, at Clifton, and Lord Howard, at Barbot Hall. When things had
reached this pass, Mr. Bland urged Allen again and again to ascertain
where the  ammunition and arms were collected for the final uprising.
All Allen's efforts to do this, however,  were vain; he only knew that
there were to be a number of such depots, and that the Chartists, when 
they rose, were to be plentifully armed with 'cats,' to protect them
from the cavalry.	The time for the  execution of the plot was
evidently drawing near, but Allen was still kept ignorant of those
details  upon which alone the police could act in anticipation of the
rising.	It became clear that Allen must  either go the whole hog as a
Chartist or break down as an informant; and Mr. Bland, whose duty was 
plain-to fathom and frustrate the conspiracy at any cost-urged that a
man could not possibly play the  traitor in a better cause than in the
frustration of so hopeless and atrocious a design. Allen at length 
strung himself up to the emergency, and it was arranged that he should
go to the next council,  declare himself a convert to the absolute
necessity of the physical force movement, and offer to be  ready at any
time with 150 men upon a day or two days' notice.	This bold course
reestablished Allen  in the confidence of the council.	It was about
the beginning of January, 1840.	On the Wednesday,  Thursday, and
Friday evenings of the same week Allen attended sworn councils.	On
the Friday  evening, January the 10th, he reported that the crisis was
to come on the following night, but that the  Council of delegates were
to meet at Sheffield at three o'clock on the Saturday to determine the 
precise hour of the rising, and the several rendezvous from which the
various bands of insurgents were to start on their errands of death and
destruction.	The information most desired by Mr. Bland all this time
was the names of the leading conspirators, their meeting places, and
their arms and ammunition stores.	Allen left Rotherham at one o'clock
on Saturday to attend the final council  meeting,-the understanding with
Mr. Bland being that he was to return as quickly as practicable to 
Rotherham. after the meeting, with the details which were so much longed
for and by the possession of which alone the rising could be stopped
before mischief was done. Lord Howard reached  Rotherham at three
o'clock, remaining with Mr. Bland in readiness to act upon a moment's
notice.	Anxiously they waited hour after hour until past seven
o'clock, and began to be  terribly afraid that Allen's pluck had failed
him at the last push. Between seven and eight o'clock, however, he
arrived almost breathless with haste and trembling with fear. No wonder
Allen was terrified; the ferocious character of the plot gave him little
reason to hope for  mercy at the hands of his old friends if it were
discovered that he was the betrayer. He must never again show his head
in this part of the country, for his life would not have been worth an
hour's purchase. Faithless to his wretched comrades, Allen was true to
the active and energetic officer who had so cleverly turned him into an
instrument for the frustration of the conspiracy. He had brought all the
required information. The 'classes' were to meet at their leaders houses
at ten O'clock on Saturday night.; were to carefully arm themselves .
were to repair to three or four specified points, and march thence to
their appointed work, each class detailing a few of its number to empty
the gun shops, in order to arm their comrades. For a few moments the
recipients of this information anxiously debated the question, 'What is
to be done ?' Evidently the great rising was to be at Sheffield. Its
authorities had been aroused from their dream of incredulity by the
further information which had been communicated to them from Rotherham,
after their rejection of the first statement, and by the evident stir
and excitement among the Chartists. But they were still in a great
measure ignorant when and how the rising was to be effected; and it was
of the most vital consequence that the intended rising should be
frustrated before it had been made, not because there was the least
chance of its ultimately succeeding, but because a temporary and partial
success must necessarily be attended with the most dreadful results. The
Rotherham police were not charged with the safety of Sheffield, but the
conspirators were one body, and their success in the greater must have
been dangerous to the lesser town. The plot was discovered, and for
humanity's sake, if for no other reason, Sheffield must be made aware of
the extent and nearness of its danger and the means of preventing it. So
reasoned Lord Howard, and manfully determined to be himself the
messenger of mercy. Provided with a copy of the particulars of Allen's
information' he mounted his horse and galloped at full speed to
Sheffield, leaving Mr. Bland to take all necessary precautions to
frustrate the Rotherham contingents, which were to arm at the gun shops
and assemble near Brightside at twelve o'clock, under the command of
Allen, or, in his absence, of such other leader as they might choose.
His Lordship reached Sheffield towards ten o'clock, and found the police
authorities on the qui vive, though quite unprovided with definite
information. The intelligence was alarming but welcome. There was no
time to waste in idle fears, a few hours only remaining before the
mischief would begin. A detachment of soldiers was called out
immediately, and, with the aid of the civil power and the remarkably
accurate information supplied from Rotherham of the full details of the
conspiracy, happily succeeded in frustrating it. Holberry, the principal
leader, was apprehended at his own house, No. 19, Eyre lane, before he
left home to head the conspirators, considerable quantities of arms and
ammunition being found in the garret of his house. Booker, Peter Foden,
Thompson, and other leaders, were taken in the streets or at their own
homes. The general meeting places of the conspirators were visited, and
the 'classes' chased and dispersed as they arrived. All was confusion
and dismay in the ranks of the baffled plotters ; they fled in all
directions, throwing away or hiding their arms, quantities of which were
found in the neighbourhood of the dams and Crookes moor. Thus ended,
with the wounding of a few policemen and two or three innocent citizens,
whom necessity had forced into the streets, a conspiracy which, but for
its timely discovery, would probably have resulted in enormous mischief.

" Allen, who was at once suspected by his comrades, was kept under the
care of an armed guard at Rotherham for several days, until Earl
Fitzwilliam had communicated with the Home Secretary, and procured his
removal from this part of the country. Government, as was their duty,
offered to provide Allen with the means of emigrating and setting up in
life in the colonies, but he declined to leave England. Employment was
found for him at his own trade in the South of England, where he
remained for some time under an assumed name. At length he was
recognised by a man who had known him at Rotherham, and his removal
became necessary. Government provided for him elsewhere, but he never,
after leaving the southern fender manufactory, communicated with Mr.
Bland, or his friends here, and his fate is unknown.

"Praises and rewards were bestowed on the Sheffield police and other
officials, for their ability and zeal in the discovery and frustration
of the plot. They monopolised the credit due of right to Mr. Bland in
the main, and to his officers in a minor degree. Mr. Bland and his
associates were tonguet ied. Though the conspiracy was defeated,
Chartism was still a dangerous element in society. Lady Howard was so
alarmed, that Lord Howard, yielding to her natural fears, bound Mr.
Bland and his officers beforehand in a solemn promise to conceal the
part he and they might take in the matter, in order to avoid the
vengeance of the Chartists. Galling as must have been the knowledge that
others were reaping the honours and rewards due to them, Mr. Bland and
his subordinates religiously kept their promise until Lord Howard had
left the neighbourhood and Chartism had died out. Sheffield officials in
positions of the highest trust knew that there was  some secret about
the discovery, but could never fathom it. It was not until the
resignation of Mr. Raynor that the least hint was publicly given that it
was to Mr Bland ' Sheffield was so much indebted in 1840. "

JOHNSON : There is one little inaccuracy there-the reference to Peter
Foden being captured with the rest. He had been apprehended in the early
part of August for taking part in riotous meetings and processions, and
he did not obtain bail until the 3rd September, when Ebenezer. Elliott,
the corn-law rhymer, and Mr. Wostenholm, file manufacturer, Dunfields,
were his sureties. For a while he kept aloof from the meetings, but he
was at last prevailed upon to attend, and although he took no active
part in speaking, yet he was believed to be in the secrets of the
physical force party. Peter Foden was not seen in the proceedings
connected with the collapse of the conspiracy, but he was suspected of
being connected in them, and a warrant was issued for his apprehension.
He concealed himself in the town for some time, and at last went into
Wales and stayed as long as possible i n various towns. He did not
surrender at the Spring Assizes, at which he was indicted for
conspiracy, sedition, and riot, and the recognisances of his sureties
were forfeited. At last, tired of dwelling in fear of arrest, and
encouraged by the collapse of the Chartist movement, he ventured to come
to Sheffield, and in order to see if the authorities would notice him,
he took some commodities of his own making and hawked them in various
public-houses. A good living he would have earned had he not been
arrested in December, 1840, at Paul Ashley's, in Watson's walk. He was
tried at York, and having been advised to plead guilty by his counsel,
he was committed to Wakefield for two years. He had already been in
prison three months, which was taken into consideration. He served one
year and nine months after his conviction. He affected an odd demeanour
in prison, but ultimately being made schoolmaster, he attained more
liberty and bad books to read. At one time 'be wanted to write a
detailed account of his proceedings to his family, and he secreted bits
of paper and a pen, but how to obtain ink to write was a matter of
difficulty. So at last he 'hit upon the singular plan of writing with
his own blood, and concealed the document in the neck-handkerchief of a
discharged prisoner. One of his children, of the name of Feargus
O'Connor, died while his father was in gaol. Foden, released from
prison, went to Staleybridge, where he commenced business, and got on
well; but he could not settle, and removed to Doncaster. Then he sold
all off and went to St. Louis, in America, and died a few years ago. The
citizens made a public funeral, and presented his wife with a framed
document, setting forth the respect they had for him and his family.

JOHNSON: The sentences those men received seem to me to have been light,
when the magnitude of their crime is considered-Holberry, four years'
imprisonment;, Thos. Booker, three years'; Wm. Booker and others, two
years'; others again, one year; and a large part of these sentences was
remitted.

WRAGG : Holberry's was practically imprisonment for life, since he died
in York Castle, in 1842, before his sentence had expired. His body was
brought to Sheffield for interment, and the funeral, on the 27th of June
in that year, was the excuse for a great demonstration. Another of these
men, John Clayton, also died in gaol, in 1841, but he was buried at
Northallerton.

TWISS: We might have mentioned two of these people when we were speaking
of the Hartshead, for Peter Foden and Julian Harney were residents of
that classic neighbourhood. Harney, after he had, along with Richard
Otley, escaped punishment on a charge of conspiracy, went to America.

EVERARD: We have been talking of riots, and no mention can be made of
such disturbances in Sheffield without recalling that famous Norfolk
street outbreak which was lamentable through two of the crowd being
killed, but most memorable through its being the cause of Montgomery's
second incarceration in York Castle. It occurred on the 4th of August,
1795, and the events of that day are matter of local history.

LEONARD: The mildness and indirectness of Montgomery's references to
Col. Athorpe's doings on that day, show that his persecution was a piece
of political hostility. How Mather scathed the colonel, nick-naming him
" Beef-headed Bob," while he satirised the volunteers  who took part in
the affair as " Ruddle-neck'd tups 11

LEIGHTON : Those first volunteers were unpopular before that, because
they were necessarily obnoxious to the prevalent Jacobinical opinions of
the masses; but the affair of that day greatly increased their
unpopularity.

LEONARD: My nonogenarian friend says he remembers these " Blues." He saw
them going as fur as Bolehill to meet their guns, and they had a sort of
field-day at Norton. They were fine fellows, with their blue coats, red
facings, white waistcoats, and black leggings. Mr. Athorpe was colonel,
and Mr. Fenton, lieutenant-colonel or major. Mr. Carver, a woollen
draper in High street, a tall handsome man, was one of the captains, and
Dr. Frith, in Norfolk row, was the surgeon.

TWISS: Here is an account of the old Sheffield Volunteers, drawn up 'by
an officer in the corps:

"In the year 1794, the Sheffield Volunteer corps was instituted, under
the title of the Loyal Independent Sheffield Volunteers. When first
begun upwards of 150 individuals offered to furnish themselves with
arms, accoutrements, and clothing. The furnishing of arms was objected
to, and Government agreed to find arms and accoutrements, and a certain
number of days' pay, with ammunition for the service of the regiment. A
subscription was entered into by some of -.,he town's gentlemen to
furnish clothing for those to whom it was inconvenient to find the whole
of their own. By this means the number was increased to about 500. In
1795, the lady of Thomas Walker, Esq., of Rotherham, made an offer of
two iron guns to the Volunteers, but they were too unwieldly for field
service. She then proposed presenting the corps with the amount equal to
their value, and two brass six-pounder field pieces were ordered from
Woolwich, and the extra expense was paid out of the regimental stock
purse. This corps, under the management of Adjutant Ratcliffe, Captain
Goodison, Drum-Major Potts (strict disciplinarians), and a few town's
gentlemen who had served as volunteers in the American war, acquired a
character for 'discipline, good conduct, and soldier-like appearance
which did credit to the town they belonged to, and it was generally
allowed they were equal to any of this description of military.

" This corps was originally instituted in the month of April, 1794, for
the defence of the town and neighbourhood of Sheffield during a time of
the greatest difficulty and danger. It consisted of upwards of 490
effective men, and was disbanded on the 21st May, 1802. In 1803, on the
recommencement of hostilities, the loyal inhabitants of Sheffield were
again called upon to offer their services to their country. A new corps.
was raised, under the title of the Sheffield Volunteer Infantry. This
regiment was raised upon a different principle from the former. It was
supplied with arms, accoutrements, clothing, &c., by the Government. The
men and officers were obliged to attend duty a certain number of days in
the year, for which they were paid after the rate of the regular
militia. They were several times called up on permanent duty, and while
on that duty were subject to martial law. On the 15th of August, 1805,
one of the attendants at the beacon at Grenoside came between five and
six o'clock in the morning to Mr. Thomas Smith, constable, to inform him
the beacons were lighted, the signal that the French were landed. The
drummers were immediately ordered to beat to arms, and in a very short
time the whole regiment was assembled under arms. In consequence of the
difficulty in preparing waggons and horses requisite for the service, a
considerable time elapsed before they could march, and it was nine
o'clock in the evening before they arrived at Doncaster, the first stage
on their route. There they halted for refreshment and further orders, an
officer having been dispatched to Beverley to General Fergusson, under
whose command the regiment was to be placed. On the messenger's return,
the whole turned out to be a false alarm. On the 16th, the regiment,
along with several others, infantry and yeomanry, were inspected by
General Hodgson, and on the 17th returned to Sheffield without loss of
life or limb, every man receiving two guineas besides regular pay for
his services. They were greeted by a great part of the population of the
town, many of whom had been left in painful anxiety.

" It is but just to the regiment to add that so great was their alacrity
and zeal on this notable event that out of near 700 men not more than 14
or 16 were absent. Of these, several were on the moors grouse shooting,
and on hearing of the departure of the regiment they immediately
followed to Doncaster. One officer, being in Dublin, on hearing the
first report, left his business unsettled and came home to join his
regiment. One had a broken leg, two others were lame, others sick. To
the whole the greatest commendation was due; indeed it is correctly
ascertained there was only one man absent who could possibly attend, and
that was a noncommissioned officer who knew, as he says, this affair was
all a hoax, and, regardless of the orders of his commanding officer,
took the opportunity of a walk to Baslow afishing.

The conduct of the regiment on this occasion needs no comment. On the
26th they again marched to Doncaster for fifteen days' permanent -duty.
On the 15th of October, being the day fixed, nearly the whole of the
regiment transferred their services to local Militia under nearly the
same regulations as the Regular Militia. The last permanent duty
performed by this regiment was at Wakefield, in August, 1813. In April,
1816, the whole of the local Militia was suspended, the officers
retaining their commissions, that, in the event of their being again
wanted, they might hold their rank and seniority accordingly. The
following is a list of the officers of that period. Those marked *
belonged to the Volunteers of 1794 :

¥ Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant F. Fenton. 
¥ Second Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Leader. 
Major John Shore. 
Adjutant W. W. Darling.
 * Quarter-Master Saml. Tompkin. 
 * Surgeon John Sterndale.
Captain T.Newbould. 
Captain T. A. Ward. 
Captain C. Pickslay. 
Captain J. Brown.
Captain J. Wheat. 
Captain B. Clarke. 
Captain J. Blake. 
Lieutenant J. Hall. 
Lieutenant T. Bradbury. 
Lieutenant J. Drabble. 
Lieutenant J.Yeomans. 
Lieutenant T. B. Jackson. 
Ensign S. Young. 
Ensign J. Binney."

The following inscription is engraved on one of the field pieces:-:

" This piece of artillery, with another of equal calibre, was purchased
in 1795 for the use of the regiment of Sheffield Loyal Independent
Volunteers in defence of their country, then disturbed by internal
commotions and threatened with foreign invasion, and through a long and
perilous period passed under the successive command of Lieutenant-
Colonel R. A. Athorpe, Colonel Richard Earl of Effingham, and
Lieutenant- Colonel Francis Fenton, by the latter of whom, and the
surviving officers and privates, in a time of profound peace, after
firing a royal salute in honour of the coronation of King George the
Fourth, on the 19th day of July, 1821, they were transferred to the
Trustees of the estates of the town of Sheffield and to their successors
for ever.

" God save the King.

Trustees of the town at the time being Robert Turner, collector; John
Shore, Peter Brownell, John Greaves, Rowland Hodgson, Francis Fenton,
Benjamin Withers, Jun., Samuel Staniforth, Thos. Asline Ward, Vincent
Hy. Eyre, Samuel Mitchell."

LEIGHTON: When the Volunteers marched northwards, on the false alarm in
1805, the wellknown Dr. Browne accompanied them as far as Atterclifle
Common, where he took leave of them in a speech in which he made the
somewhat left-handed promise to be a husband to their wives and a father
to their children during their absence. One of the Volunteers, whose
name was Carnelly, used to tell how splendidly the men were regaled on
the road, being called " brave fellows," and " the pillars of the
nation." When they returned they expected to be treated in a similar
manner; but with the alarm had vanished the enthusiasm, and they met
with but a cool reception. On remonstrance being made, and a reminder
given that they had been called " pillars of the nation," the rejoinder
was, " Yes, cater-pillars."

LEONARD : I recently had in my hands the original parchment documents
relating to the enrolment of the Volunteers of 1803. It is an
interesting collection of the autographs of our grandfathers-of such of
them as could write, at least, for there are not wanting instances where
a cross had to take the place of a signature.