# 1715 England riots

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1715 series of riots in England

King George I by Sir [Godfrey Kneller](/source/Godfrey_Kneller), *c*. 1714.

In the spring and summer of 1715 a series of riots occurred in [England](/source/England) in which [High Church](/source/High_Church) mobs attacked over forty [Dissenting](/source/English_Dissenters) meeting-houses.[1][2] The rioters also protested against the first [Hanoverian](/source/House_of_Hanover) king of [Britain](/source/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain), [George I](/source/George_I_of_Great_Britain) and his new [Whig](/source/Whigs_(British_political_party)) government (the Whigs were associated with the Dissenters).[3] The riots occurred on symbolic days: 28 May was George I's birthday, 29 May was the anniversary of [Charles II](/source/Charles_II_of_England)'s [Restoration](/source/Restoration_(England)) and 10 June was the birthday of the [Jacobite](/source/Jacobitism) Pretender, [James Francis Edward Stuart](/source/James_Francis_Edward_Stuart).

## Background

Upon the death in August 1714 of the last [Stuart](/source/House_of_Stuart) monarch, [Queen Anne](/source/Anne%2C_Queen_of_Great_Britain), Georg Ludwig, [Elector of Hanover](/source/Elector_of_Hanover), ascended the throne in accordance with the terms of the [Act of Settlement 1701](/source/Act_of_Settlement_1701) that excluded Anne's half-brother [James Francis Edward Stuart](/source/James_Francis_Edward_Stuart). After his arrival in Britain in September, George promptly dismissed the [Tories](/source/Tories_(British_political_party)) from office and appointed a [Whig](/source/Whigs_(British_political_party))-dominated government. His coronation in October led to [rioting](/source/Coronation_riots) in over twenty towns in England.[4] The [1715 general election](/source/1715_British_general_election) was also accompanied by riots and resulted in a Whig majority in the House of Commons and the proscription of the Tories from office, with some former Tory ministers being impeached by the new government.

According to Nicholas Rogers, the High Church clergy of the [Church of England](/source/Church_of_England) played a role in fomenting discontent: they were "by reputation the progenitors of mob violence" and after George's accession the "high-flying clergy strove desperately to revive the flagging fortunes of their party, mobilising their congregations in defence of the Anglican inheritance and warning them of the dangers of Whig rule".[5] The Whig writer [Daniel Defoe](/source/Daniel_Defoe) complained that the pulpit had become "a Trumpet of Sedition".[6]

## Riots

The anniversary of Queen Anne's accession day and [William III](/source/William_III_of_England)'s death, 8 March, was met in London with bell-ringing, flag-waving and closed shops. On 23 April, the anniversary of Anne's coronation, a mob met at [Snow Hill](/source/Smithfield%2C_London) and made a bonfire under a banner depicting Anne and emblazoned with the words: “Imitate her who was so Just and Good, / Both in her Actions and her Royal Word” (the latter may have hinted at her supposed promise to restore James Stuart to the throne). Near St Andrew's, [Holborn](/source/Holborn), the mob burned a picture of William III and broke windows which were not illuminated in celebration. Referring to the 1710 [Sacheverell riots](/source/Sacheverell_riots), they also proposed "to sing the Second Part of the *Sacheverell-Tune* by pulling down [Dissenting] Meeting Houses" but they were persuaded not to do so.[7]

James Francis Edward Stuart by [Alexis Simon Belle](/source/Alexis_Simon_Belle).

The first riots happened in London during the impeachment trials of Tory politicians. On 29 April the birthday of the Tory peer the [Duke of Ormonde](/source/James_Butler%2C_2nd_Duke_of_Ormonde) was riotously celebrated in [Drury Lane](/source/Drury_Lane) and west London.[8]

On George I's birthday, 28 May, there occurred large demonstrations in [Smithfield](/source/Smithfield%2C_London), [Cheapside](/source/Cheapside) and [Highgate](/source/Highgate), where the Dissenting chapel was attacked.[8] In Smithfield, according to [Abel Boyer](/source/Abel_Boyer), "a large mob burnt [Cromwell](/source/Oliver_Cromwell) (some say [Hoadly](/source/Benjamin_Hoadly)) in effigy".[9] In Cheapside the rioters shouted “No Hanoverian, No Presbiterian government”.[9] The next day was [Restoration](/source/Oak_Apple_Day) Day and the mob shouted: “A Restoration, a Stewart, High Church and Ormonde”, “A Stewart, a second Restoration” and “No King George, King James the third”. When a coachman called for King James he "was hollowed through the Mob" and supporters of the Whigs had their windows broken.[9] In Queen Street a battle occurred between the rioters and the [trained bands](/source/Trained_bands). At the [London Stock Exchange](/source/London_Stock_Exchange) the crowd shouted “High Church and the Duke of Ormonde”. [Stock jobbing](/source/Stockjobber) was seen as the parasitical and immoral growth from Whig principles.[9] When one passer-by shouted “Long live King George” he was beaten up by the mob.[9]

In [Oxford](/source/Oxford) on 28 May a rumour spread that Queen Anne, [Lord Bolingbroke](/source/Henry_St_John%2C_1st_Viscount_Bolingbroke), Ormonde and [Henry Sacheverell](/source/Henry_Sacheverell) were to be burned in effigy. In response, undergraduates and townsfolk attacked those celebrating George's birthday and broke into the Presbyterian meeting-house and made a bonfire of its pulpit, pews and window, with an effigy of its minister. The mob chanted “An Ormond, an Ormond, a Bolingbroke, *down with the Roundheads, no Constitutioners* [members of the Whig Constitutional Club], no Hanover; *a new Restoration*”. The next day a [Quaker](/source/Quakers) and Baptist meeting place was also attacked.[10][11]

On 10 June Anglican churches in [Clerkenwell](/source/Clerkenwell) and [St Dunstan-in-the-West](/source/St_Dunstan-in-the-West) rang their bells to celebrate James Stuart's birthday, a Dissenting meeting place in [Blackfriars](/source/Blackfriars%2C_London) was gutted by the mob, and James's declaration was nailed to the door of the former Dissenting chapel in [Lincoln's Inn Fields](/source/Lincoln's_Inn_Fields) (which had been destroyed five years previously during the Sacheverell riots).[8] Similar disturbances on James's birthday occurred at [Cambridge](/source/Cambridge), [Leeds](/source/Leeds) and several [Somersetshire](/source/Somersetshire) villages; in [Norton St Philip](/source/Norton_St_Philip) near [Bath](/source/Bath%2C_Somerset) James was proclaimed king.[11] At [Frome](/source/Frome) the mob was reluctantly persuaded not to destroy the local Dissenting chapel.[12] At [Marlborough, Wiltshire](/source/Marlborough%2C_Wiltshire) the mob broke into the church and rang the bells, despite objections from the parson.[12]

In the [Midlands](/source/The_Midlands%2C_England) in late June and early August, similar riots against Dissenters took place, starting in [Wolverhampton](/source/Wolverhampton) during St. Peter's fair and ending at [Kingswinford](/source/Kingswinford) in [Worcestershire](/source/Worcestershire) on 1 August.[13] In Wolverhampton a buckle maker was heard shouting “God damn King George, and the Duke of Marlborough” and a suspected spy was forced by the mob to get on his knees and bless King James III.[14] Robert Holland of [Bilston](/source/Bilston) urged the mob: “Now boys goe on we will have no King but James the third & he will be here in a month and wee will drive the old Rogue into his Country again to sow Turnipps”.[15] Similar expressions of loyalty to James were heard in [Walsall](/source/Walsall) and [Leek](/source/Leek%2C_Staffordshire).[16]

In July, two meeting-houses were attacked in [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham). On Sunday 17 July 1715, a mob attacked a [Presbyterian](/source/English_Presbyterianism) meeting-house in Dark lane, [Hollywood](/source/Hollywood%2C_Worcestershire) in [Wythall Parish](/source/Wythall), setting fire to the building. Three men were arrested and tried at [Worcester](/source/Worcester%2C_England). Two were convicted of damage to property and sentenced to public whipping. The third, Francis Daulkes, was found guilty of arson, and hanged at [Red Hill, Worcester](/source/Red_Hill%2C_Worcester); his tar-painted body was hung in a cage opposite the chapel he had torched.[17] When the Presbyterian chapel was rebuilt, it became known locally as Daulkes’s chapel.[18]

In [Warrington](/source/Warrington) on 10 June bells were rung and the mob shouted “Down with the [Rump](/source/Rump_Parliament)”. However they were prevented from attacking a Dissenting meeting house.[19] In [Leeds](/source/Leeds) a bonfire was made and a man was later indicted for threatening a Dissenting meeting place.[20]

In [Manchester](/source/Manchester) in early May James Stuart had been proclaimed James III.[12] Between 28 May and 23 June there was a spate of rioting, with the [Dissenting chapel in Cross Street](/source/Cross_Street_Chapel) ransacked and destroyed between 1 June and 30 July. The historian [Paul Monod](/source/Paul_Monod) said "[t]his methodical destruction must have passed on to Dissenters the chilling message that the Manchester Jacobite crowd wanted their presence totally extinguished. ... It was a violent call for a return to the [religious] uniformity of Charles II's reign".[20] [Lord Cobham](/source/Richard_Temple%2C_1st_Viscount_Cobham)'s dragoons eventually restored order but the rioting had by then spread to [Monton](/source/Monton) and [Houghton](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Houghton,_Lancashire&action=edit&redlink=1), where Dissenting chapels were attacked on 13 June. A week later the Dissenting chapels in [Blackley](/source/Blackley), [Greenacres](/source/Greenacres%2C_Greater_Manchester), [Failsworth](/source/Failsworth) and [Standing](/source/Standing) were attacked and by 25 June the Dissenting chapels in [Pilkington](/source/Pilkington_(ancient_township)) and [Wigan](/source/Wigan) had been attacked.[13]

In the West Midlands and Lancashire over thirty Dissenting chapels were attacked.[20] In Shrewsbury during the riots a paper was posted:

We Gentlemen of the Loyal Mob of *Shrewsbury*, do issue out this Proclamation to all Dissenters from the Church of *England*, of what Kind or Denomination soever, whether Independent, Baptists or Quakers: If you, or any of you, do encourage or suffer any of that damnable Faction called Presbyterians, to assemble themselves amongst you, in any of your Conventicles, at the time of Divine Worship, you may expect to meet with the same that they have been treated with. Given under our Hands and Seals the 11th Day of July 1715. *God save the King*.[14]

Paul Monod has said that the hostility shown towards the Dissenters, especially Presbyterians, was astonishing and that "[p]opular Tory rage...centred on religious rather than secular objects – in particular, on the hated meeting-houses".[21] He argues that plebeian English people were attached to the Church of England because it embodied a myth of unity and they feared Hanoverian–Whig rule would return England to the rule of Puritans between 1649–1660, when the Church of England had been abolished.[22]

## Aftermath

Around 500 people were arrested for rioting in [Shropshire](/source/Shropshire), [Staffordshire](/source/Staffordshire) and [Worcestershire](/source/Worcestershire) with around 2,000 people taking part in the riots in these counties with several hundred more in Birmingham.[23]

In response to these riots, the new Whig majority passed the [Riot Act](/source/Riot_Act) to put down disturbances. This law strengthened magistrates powers and allowed Justices of the Peace to disperse demonstrations without fear of prosecution.[24]

In September and early October the government arrested the leading Tories in fear of a Jacobite rising.[16] The [Jacobite rising of 1715](/source/Jacobite_rising_of_1715) resulted in failure.

## See also

- [Coronation riots](/source/Coronation_riots)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Nicholas Rogers, ‘Riot and Popular Jacobitism in Early Hanoverian England’, in Eveline Cruickshanks (ed.), *Ideology and Conspiracy: Aspects of Jacobitism, 1689-1759* (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1982), p. 70.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Paul Kleber Monod, *Jacobitism and the English People, 1688–1788* (Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 191.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Rogers, p. 78, p. 81.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Monod, pp. 173-78.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Rogers, pp. 72–73.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Rogers, p. 72.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Monod, pp. 180-81.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Rogers-p76_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Rogers-p76_8-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Rogers-p76_8-2) Rogers, p. 76.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Monod-p181_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Monod-p181_9-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Monod-p181_9-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Monod-p181_9-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Monod-p181_9-4) Monod, p. 181.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Monod, p. 182.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Rogers-p76-77_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Rogers-p76-77_11-1) Rogers, pp. 76-77.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Monod-p183_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Monod-p183_12-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Monod-p183_12-2) Monod, p. 183.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Rogers-p77_13-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Rogers-p77_13-1) Rogers, p. 77.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Monod-p191_14-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Monod-p191_14-1) Monod, p. 191.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Monod, pp. 191-192.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Monod-p192_16-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Monod-p192_16-1) Monod, p. 192.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** A narrative account of the riot at Hollywood is given in Rail, Tony. Sentenced to Hang; Memoirs of Billy Hands, 1768-1853, Sudbury, William Tabb (2026), pp.20-26. Rail speculates that Billy Hands's grandfather would have been present at the riot.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** The Birmingham Historian [William Hutton](/source/William_Hutton_(historian)) spelt the chapel’s familiar name phonetically as ‘Dollax’.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Monod, pp. 183-185.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Monod-p185_20-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Monod-p185_20-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Monod-p185_20-2) Monod, p. 185.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Monod, p. 191, p. 194.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Monod, p. 194, p. 176.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Monod, pp. 187-88.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Rogers, p. 80.

## References

- Paul Kleber Monod, *Jacobitism and the English People, 1688-1788* (Cambridge University Press, 1993).

- Nicholas Rogers, ‘Riot and Popular Jacobitism in Early Hanoverian England’, in Eveline Cruickshanks (ed.), *Ideology and Conspiracy: Aspects of Jacobitism, 1689-1759* (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1982), pp. 70–88.

v t e Jacobitism Scottish clans Clan chief Independent Highland Companies The Highlands Union of the Crowns Wars of the Three Kingdoms Restoration Covenanters The Killing Time James II & VII Glorious Revolution William III & II and Mary II Jacobite succession "James III & VIII", The Old Pretender "Charles III", The Young Pretender Queen Anne Act of Settlement 1701 Sophie, Electress of Hanover George I George II Toryism Neo-Jacobite Revival (Royal Stuart Society) Jacobite consorts Jacobite risings First rising (1689) Williamite War in Ireland Nine Years' War King William's War Viscount Dundee Sir Ewen Cameron Patrick Sarsfield General Hugh Mackay Battle of Killiecrankie Battle of Dunkeld Massacre of Glencoe Battle of the Boyne Declaration of Finglas Battle of Aughrim Siege of Limerick Treaty of Limerick The Fifteen (1715) …in Cornwall …in England 1715 general election Earl of Mar Rob Roy Lord Lovat Baronet Munro Battle of Preston Siege of Inverness Battle of Sheriffmuir The Nineteen (1719) War of the Quadruple Alliance Earl Marischal Marquess of Tullibardine General Joseph Wightman Anglo-French Alliance Capture of Eilean Donan Castle Battle of Glen Shiel Battle of Coille Bhan The Forty-Five (1745) War of the Austrian Succession Lord George Murray Lochiel Duke of Cumberland Battle of Prestonpans Siege of Carlisle Battle of Falkirk Muir Siege of Inverness Battle of Culloden Raids on Lochaber and Shiramore Abortive 1708 1744 1759 Jacobite banner Consequences and later events Early Riot Act 1714 Clan Act 1715 Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1715 Disarming Act 1715 and 1725 Indemnity Act 1717 The Forty-Five Jurors Act 1745 Act of Proscription 1746 Dress Act 1746 Heritable Jurisdictions Act 1746 Sheriffs Act 1747 Treason Outlawries Act 1748 Traitors Transported Act 1746 Old military roads of Scotland Jacobite succession "James III and VIII" "Charles III" "Henry IX and I" "Charles IV" Victor "Mary II" "Francis I" "Mary III" "Robert I and IV" Albert "Francis II" Max Sophie Joseph

v t e Riots in England 12th–17th centuries 1189–1190 Massacres of the Jews The revolt of 1196 1355 St Scholastica Day riot 1381 Peasants' Revolt Treason Act 1381 1517 Evil May Day 1668 Bawdy House riots 18th century 1710 Sacheverell riots 1714 Coronation riots 1715 England riots Riot Act 1766 food riots 1766 Nottingham cheese riot 1768 Massacre of St George's Fields 1769 Spitalfield riots 1780 Gordon riots 1791 Priestley riots 1793 Bristol Bridge riot 1795 Revolt of the housewives 19th century 1809 Old Price riots 1816 Spa Fields riots 1816 Ely and Littleport riots 1819 Peterloo Massacre 1821 Cinderloo Uprising 1830 Swing riots Captain Swing 1831 reform riots 1831 Bristol riots 1832 Days of May 1838 Battle of Bossenden Wood 1842 Pottery Riots 1865 Leeds dripping riot 1866 Hyde Park demonstration 1887 Bloody Sunday 1896 Newlyn riots 20th century 1900s–1940s 1907 Brown Dog riots 1919 Epsom riot 1919 Battle of Bow Street 1919 Luton Peace Day riots 1932 Old Market riot (Bristol) 1932 National Hunger March 1936 Battle of Cable Street 1943 Battle of Bamber Bridge 1944 Park Street riot 1945 Aldershot riot 1950s–1970s 1958 Notting Hill race riots 1968 student riots 1970 Garden House riot 1974 Red Lion Square disorders 1975 Chapeltown riot 1977 Battle of Lewisham 1979 Death of Blair Peach 1980s 1980 St Pauls riot 1981 England riots 1981 Brixton riot 1981 Chapeltown riots 1981 Toxteth riots 1981 Moss Side riot 1981 Handsworth riots 1985 Handsworth riots 1985 Brixton riot 1985 Broadwater Farm riot Murder of Keith Blakelock 1987 Chapeltown riot 1989 Dewsbury riot 1990s 1990 Poll Tax riots 1990 Strangeways Prison riot 1991 Meadow Well riots 1991 Handsworth riots 1992 Hartcliffe riot (Bristol) 1993 Welling riots 1994 Criminal Justice Bill riot 1995 Manningham riot 1995 Marsh Farm riot 1995 Brixton riot 1996 Trafalgar Square riots 1999 Carnival Against Capital riot 21st century 2000s 2001 Bradford riots 2001 Oldham riots 2001 Harehills riot 2005 Birmingham riots 2009 G20 London summit protests Death of Ian Tomlinson 2009 Upton Park riot 2010s 2010 UK student protests 2011 Stokes Croft riot (Bristol) 2011 UK anti-austerity protests 2011 London anti-cuts protest 2011 England riots Killing of Mark Duggan House of Reeves fire Timeline 2020s George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom Actions against memorials in the United Kingdom during the George Floyd protests 2022 Leicester unrest 2024 Harehills riot 2024 United Kingdom riots Reports 1981 Scarman report Related Riots in Leeds Riots in London Riot Act Public Order Act 1986 Territorial Support Group

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [1715 England riots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1715_England_riots) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1715_England_riots?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.