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SOLON Law, Crime and History (previously SOLON Crimes and Misdemeanours: Deviance and the Law in Historical Perspective)

David Cox

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This article is an examination of the circumstances surrounding a series of disturbances which took place in Wolverhampton on 26-29 May 1835 as the result of a hotly contested Parliamentary by-election. It offers a local case study of the ways in which the political and social élite attempted to control and suppress popular unease and discontent amongst the disenfranchised by use of both the Riot Act 1715 and military force. The article relates this disorder to the wider political context of a period of considerable turmoil, most notably the ways in which political election campaigns were conducted and controlled. The role of the county magistracy and its relationship with the military is also discussed, as are the problems of controlling crowds at a time before the advent of a professionally trained provincial police force. The article builds on previous research carried out into the events of the 'riots', and offers a reevaluation of the disturbances in Wolverhampton in late-May 1835.

Publication Date

2017-04-11

Publication Title

SOLON Law, Crime and History

Volume

1

Issue

2

First Page

1

Last Page

31

ISSN

2045-9238

Deposit Date

March 2017

Embargo Period

2024-09-27

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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