Historic Hexham Riot letter to be sold at auction
The letter, which bears witness to tragedy in which over 50 protestors were killed in the Northumberland town is to be sold. Tony Henderson reports
An 18th-century letter which sheds more light on an outrage in which more than 50 protestors were shot and killed and 300 injured by militia in a Northumberland town is to be auctioned.
The Hexham Riot of March 9, 1761, resulted in the Yorkshire Militia opening fire on a crowd in the town’s Market Place who had gathered to protest at plans for a ballot to select men for military service.
Craftsmen, miners, agricultural labourers and farmers were among the protestors, with other demonstrations taking place in Morpeth and Gateshead.
The dead and injured came from Hexham, Corbridge, Slaley, Stamfordham and other villages.
The letter, dated April 24, 1761, will be sold by Newcastle auctioneers Anderson & Garland on November 11 with an estimate of £300–£500.
“The letter offers a direct historical link to one of Northumberland’s most tragic episodes,” said a spokesman for the auction house.
It is addressed to John Grimston from J. Bagnall - and mentions the “brutal violence” of the day.
Passages read: “What a dreadful account you have sent from the North of what has past [sic] at Hexham.
“I trembled when I heard the name Yorkshire Militia being employed in so shocking a service. I hope if my worthy friends Robinson and Duncombe constituted any part of the corps there that they received no injury.”
The writer speculates that the militia - called in by local magistrates - may have had “no other conduct for their choice” for the “brutal violence offered.”
“I should not offend our friends by believing of them that they would think of any honour arising to them from the display of the cruel necessity of shedding the blood of their countrymen.”
The writer finishes with reference to the “shocking tragedy.”
The Yorks Militia earned the label “the Hexham Butchers” after the event.
In 2004, a day of commemoration was held for the event, with a specially written song being performed in Hexham by a local choir as part of a programme of activities, including a re-enactment and the unveiling of a plaque.
The sale will also include manuscripts and plans relating to a 1753 Act of Parliament on the enclosing and dividing of “waste lands” and commons of Hexham. Estimate £200–£500.
A shawl believed to have belonged to Northumberland heroine Grace Darling has been sold for £820 in an Anderson & Garland auction.
I’m glad you were on the right side in your reenactment! The context of these events was the Seven Years War. I have a German ancestor who ordered soldiers to fire on striking dyke workers in German Friesland during that same period. They were not being paid due to the financial stresses of the same war. The details of the German encounter are not entirely clear. But in a recent play based on the event, my relative’s daughter falls in love with the leader of the strike!
At any rate, it supports your thesis of overlapping experience in the North Sea region.