Recently, I was preparing a presentation for an Australian audience on Birmingham history and included mention of the Priestley Riots of 1791. The commonly held wisdom is that four Priestley Rioters were sentenced to death, but only two were executed, one was pardoned and one ‘transported to Botany Bay’. There was no indication of who was sent to Australia, so I decided to find out. It’s amazing how often someone in the room is related to someone mentioned in a talk. Could I identify them? Did this person have an Aussie descendant in the room?
What were the Priestley Riots?
In 1791, a group of non-conformists (Protestant dissenters who did not belong to the Church of England) gathered for a banquet to celebrate the second anniversary of the French Revolution. Non-conformists made up a large part of the Birmingham community and were generally well accepted. However, for a small group of townsfolk this action was unacceptable. They stormed the banquet hall and tore down several religious meeting houses and private homes of non-conformists. The riots continued for several days.
Who was Joseph Priestley?
Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), was famous as the discoverer of oxygen and a key part of the Industrial Enlightenment. He was not just a chemist but a philosopher and a Unitarian minister too. Although he was originally a Yorkshire man, he moved to Birmingham, the heart of the Enlightenment. He was a prominent member of the Lunar Society, a group of men who would gather regularly to discuss science and the arts. Some of his fellow members included Josiah Wedgewood, Matthew Boulton, James Watt and Erasmus Darwin.
Although the Birmingham Riots became popularly known as the Priestley Riots, he wasn’t even at the banquet that sparked them off. He was at home with his wife at the time. However, he was the Minister of the New Meeting House, which was destroyed (along with many of his papers and irreplaceable documents), and such a prominent member of the non-conformist community that his name was attached to the riots.
Of all the Priestley Rioters, who numbered several hundred, only fifty were subsequently arrested. Of those 17 were acquitted, some received very light punishment and just four were condemned to be executed.
So who were the Priestley Rioters condemned to death?
The four condemned were Francis Field (alias Rodney), John Green, Bartholomew Fisher, and William Hands (alias Hammond). The Hereford Journal of 31st August 1791 reports the judge’s speech on condemning these men:
Which of the Priestley Rioters was actually executed?
On the 8th of September, sentence was passed on two of the Priestley Rioters, Francis Field and John Green, as reported in the Oxford Journal two days later:
…and the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette on the 15th September 1791:
Bartholomew Fisher was pardoned…
Both articles claim that Bartholomew Fisher had obtained a free pardon. Therefore he could not have been the transported Priestley Rioter. The pardon was located, along with the correspondence that took place in making the decision. It backs up the newspaper reports. For anyone seeking similar information on one of their own research subjects, the documents are to be found on FindMyPast digitised from the HO8 and HO47 series at The National Archives.
…so that leaves William Hands. Right?
By a process of elimination, William Hands, alias Hammonds was the only one left who could have been transported. He had reportedly received a respite. This does not mean he was pardoned, just that his death sentence did not take place. Often a death sentence was commuted to transportation. So he’s our guy, yes?
Not so fast. I scoured the convict lists for New South Wales, the only place in Australia at the time where convicts were sent. After all, the common wisdom was that he’d been sent to Botany Bay. Nothing. Just in case he’d been kept on a hulk for a very long time and then sent to Van Diemen’s Land when that became a penal colony I checked there too. Still nothing. He doesn’t appear to have been transported.
So I went back to the Home Office records to see if I could find the correspondence regarding his respite. Sure enough, he had initially only received a week’s respite from being executed, then a further week while they investigated some further information received. It turned out that the witness statement against him was false. Someone who had a grudge against him had taken the opportunity to testify against him.
William Hands, the hero!
So what had really happened? According to the correspondence, he HAD been tearing up floorboards in the house but was trying to help people trapped in the cellar of the burning house to escape. He was not a Priestley Rioter at all!
There were several frantic letters written, and finally, on 23rd September, William Hands received a free pardon and was ordered to be immediately released from custody.
So which of the Priestley Rioters was transported?
No one. It was a myth. Of the four men convicted of being Priestley Rioters, two were executed and two were pardoned. Nobody in my audience got the opportunity to jump up and shout, “Wait, he’s on my family tree!” I didn’t even include the names of those convicted in the end. But that’s okay, I’m very glad William was set free!