Coldbath Fields Riot (2 results)

London: Smeeton, Printer, [1833]. 14-3/4" x 10" (illustrator). London: Smeeton, Printer, [1833]. 14-3/4" x 10" A Rare Broadside Documenting a Clash Between Police and Protesters [Broadside]. [Coldbath Fields Riot]. An Authentic Account of the Riotous Meeting Near Gray's Inn Road; With Full Particulars of the Sad Murder of Robert Culley, A Policeman, And the Stabbing of Serj. Brookes. London: Smeeton, Printer, [1833]. 14-3/4" x 10" (37.5 x 25.4 cm) broadside, double-column text below headline. Light toning, moderate edgewear, a few creases to corners, left-hand margin backed with strip of paper, possibly part of a hinge from an album. A well-preserved copy. $2,000. * Second edition. This broadside records an early clash between the London Metropolitan Police, founded in 1829, and a group of organized protesters. Held on May 16, 1833, the Coldbath Fields Riot began as a public meeting of the National Union of the Working Classes at Coldbath Fields in Clerkenwell, an area of central London. Batons drawn, the police marched on the 1,000 attendees at the meeting. In the violence that followed three policemen were stabbed. One of them, Robert Culley (or Cully), died from his wounds. The subsequent inquest showed that the protestors were overwhelmed in number by the police. More important, no officer issued a call to disperse. Based on those facts, the jury returned a verdict of lawful homicide. George Smeeton [1780-1847] was one of the best-known London publishers of trial pamphlets and broadsides in the early nineteenth century. This is a rare broadside. OCLC and Library Hub locate 1 copy of all editions (British Library).

"The Very Important Verdict of the Honest Jury" [Broadside]. [Coldbath Fields Riot]. An Authentic Account of the Proceedings of the Coroner's Inquest on the Body of Robert Culley, A Policeman, With the Very Important Verdict of the Honest Jury. London: Smeeton, Printer, Tuesday, May 21, 1833. 14-3/4" x 10" broadside, double-column text below headline. Light toning, moderate edgewear, folds to corners, left-hand margin backed with strip of paper, possibly part of a hinge from an album. A well-preserved copy. $2,000. * Fourth edition. Held on May 16, 1833, the Coldbath Fields Riot began as a public meeting of the National Union of the Working Classes at Coldbath Fields in Clerkenwell, an area of central London. Batons drawn, the police marched on the 1,000 attendees at the meeting. In the violence that followed three policemen were stabbed. One of them, Robert Culley (or Cully), died from his wounds. The subsequent inquest showed that the protestors were overwhelmed in number by the police. More important, no officer issued a call to disperse. Based on those facts, the jury returned a verdict of lawful homicide. George Smeeton [1780-1847] was one of the best-known London publishers of trial pamphlets and broadsides in the early nineteenth century. This is a rare broadside. OCLC locates 1 copy (at Harvard Law School); no copies listed on Library Hub. Not at the British Library.