# Coronation riots > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coronation_riots > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coronation_riots.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_riots > Source revision: 1343247173 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1714 riots in England For the Dutch riots in 1980, see [Amsterdam coronation riots](/source/Amsterdam_coronation_riots). Coronation of George I King George I by Sir [Godfrey Kneller](/source/Godfrey_Kneller), *c*. 1714. The **coronation riots** of October 1714 were a series of riots in southern and western [England](/source/England) in protest against the coronation of the first [Hanoverian](/source/House_of_Hanover) king of [Great Britain](/source/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain), [George I](/source/George_I_of_Great_Britain). ## 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), George Louis, [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. ## Riots On 20 October, George was crowned at [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey), but when his loyalists celebrated the coronation, they were disrupted by rioters in over twenty towns in the south and the west of England.[1] The rioters were supporters of [High Church](/source/High_Church) and [Sacheverellite](/source/Henry_Sacheverell) notions.[1] The Tory aristocrats and gentry absented themselves from the coronation and in some towns they arrived with their supporters to disrupt the Hanoverian proceedings.[2] 1710 portrait of Sacheverell by [Thomas Gibson](/source/Thomas_Gibson_(artist)) The celebrations of the coronation (balls, bonfires and drinking in taverns) were attacked by rioters who sacked their properties and assaulted the celebrants. [Henry Sacheverell](/source/Henry_Sacheverell), who was on a 'progress' in the West Country, was mentioned by most of the rioters. At [Bristol](/source/Bristol) the crowd shouted, "Sacheverell and [Ormond](/source/James_Butler%2C_2nd_Duke_of_Ormonde), and damn all foreigners!". In [Taunton](/source/Taunton), they cried "Church and Dr. Sacheverell"; at [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham), "Kill the old Rogue [King George], Kill them all, Sacheverell for ever"; at [Tewkesbury](/source/Tewkesbury), "Sacheverell for ever, Down with the [Roundheads](/source/Roundhead)"; at [Shrewsbury](/source/Shrewsbury), "High Church and Sacheverell for ever". In [Dorchester](/source/Dorchester%2C_Dorset) and [Nuneaton](/source/Nuneaton), Sacheverell's health was drunk.[3] The High Church inspiration behind the rioters was also expressed in their attacks on [Dissenters](/source/English_Dissenters). In Bristol, a Dissenting meeting place was looted, with the murder of a [Quaker](/source/Society_of_Friends), who had tried to persuade the mob to stop. A Dissenting meeting-house in [Dorchester](/source/Dorchester%2C_Dorset) was "insulted", and there many expressions for local Tories among the rioters; in [Canterbury](/source/Canterbury) they shouted "[Hardress](/source/John_Hardres) and [Lee](/source/Henry_Lee_(Canterbury_MP))"; in [Norwich](/source/Norwich), "[Bene](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Bene&action=edit&redlink=1) and [Berney](/source/Richard_Berney_(MP))"; in Reading, "No Hanover, No [Cadogan](/source/Charles_Cadogan%2C_2nd_Baron_Cadogan), but [Calvert](/source/Felix_Calvert) and [Clarges](/source/Robert_Clarges)".[3] Along with those expressions of disaffection to the Hanoverian king were also expressions of [Jacobite](/source/Jacobitism) sentiments, despite that being a treasonable practice, according to the law. In Taunton, a Francis Sherry said on 19 October that "on the morrow he must take up Arms against the King". The Birmingham rioter John Hargrave said they must "pull down this King and Sett up a King of our own". In Dorchester, the rioters attempted to rescue an effigy of James Stuart that was to be burnt by Dissenters and asked: "Who dares disowne the Pretender?" In Tewkesbury l, the bargemen wished to drink to Sacheverell and the King but were criticised for putting Sacheverell first. The crowd replied that "it should be the King if they would have it so" but when asked which king, James or George, they attacked by them shouting, "Sacheverell for ever, Down with the Roundheads".[4][5] In [Bedford](/source/Bedford), the [maypole](/source/Maypole) was put in mourning. It was a Jacobite symbol symbolising the 'vegetation god' motif of the Stuart monarchy and was associated with the connection between [May Day](/source/May_Day) and [Restoration Day](/source/Oak_Apple_Day).[6][7] The rule of the Puritans from 1649 to 1660 had outlawed the maypole, and it was not until the Restoration of 1660 that it was brought back: "Remarkably, this aspect of the Restoration was still remembered fifty years later, and was quickly adapted to imply that Hanoverian rule was no different from that of the ‘puritans’", according to [Paul Monod](/source/Paul_Monod).[6] In [Frome](/source/Frome), [Somerset](/source/Somerset), the rioters "dressed up an Idiot, called *George*, in a Fool's Coat, saying, Here's our *George*, where's —".[6][8] The Anglican clergy mainly kept a low profile, but at [Newton Abbot](/source/Newton_Abbot), the minister removed the bell-clappers so that the bells could not be rung in celebration of the coronation.[9] ## Aftermath The government did not trust local courts to prosecute the rioters and so tried to bring the rioters to London, but the scheme failed. Five rioters were brought to London from Taunton but were later released on bail. Seven Bristol rioters were to be tried by a Special Commission but it failed by prolonging the riot and was accompanied by an attack upon the [Duke of Richmond](/source/Charles_Lennox%2C_1st_Duke_of_Richmond) at [Chichester](/source/Chichester).[10] The rioters shouted at the judges: "No [Jeffrey](/source/George_Jeffreys%2C_1st_Baron_Jeffreys), no [Western Assizes](/source/Bloody_Assizes)" and later: "A Cheverel, A Cheverel, and down with the Roundheads...up with the Cavaliers". A Tory merchant called William Hart (son of the Jacobite MP [Richard Hart](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Hart_(MP)&action=edit&redlink=1)) was accused of being a ringleader of the rioters, but he escaped indictment. Other rioters were whipped, fined or imprisoned for three months.[11] The [general election of 1715](/source/1715_British_general_election), which was also accompanied by riots, produced a Whig majority in the House of Commons. In response to the riots, the new Whig majority passed the [Riot Act](/source/Riot_Act) to put down such disturbances. Eleven days after the riots, Sacheverell published an open letter: The Dissenters & their Friends have foolishly Endeavour'd to raise a Disturbance throughout the whole Kingdom by Trying in most Great Towns, on the Coronation Day to Burn Me in Effigie, to Inodiate my Person & Cause with the Populace: But if this Silly Stratagem has produc'd a quite Contrary Effect, & turn's upon the First Authors, & aggressors, and the People have Express'd their Resentment in any Culpable way, I hope it is not to be laid to my Charge, whose Name... they make Use of as *the Shibboleth of the Party*.[12] ## See also - [1715 England riots](/source/1715_England_riots) ## Notes 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Monod-p173_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Monod-p173_1-1) Paul Kleber Monod, *Jacobitism and the English People, 1688-1788* (Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 173. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Monod, pp. 173-174. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Monod-p174_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Monod-p174_3-1) Monod, p. 174. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Monod, pp. 175-176. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** 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. 81. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Monod176_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Monod176_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Monod176_6-2) Monod, p. 176. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Rogers, p. 75. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Rogers, p. 71. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Monod, p. 177. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Monod, p. 178. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Monod, p. 179. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Monod, pp. 177-178. ## 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. ## Further reading - *An Account of the Riots, Tumults, and other Treasonable Practices; since His Majesty's Accession to the Throne* (London, 1715). 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 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Coronation riots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_riots) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_riots?action=history)). 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