Bristol Riots
Encyclopedia
The Bristol riots refer to a number of significant riot
s in the city of Bristol
in England
.
, which included the proposal to demolish several houses near the bridge in order to create a new access road, and controversy about the date for removal of gates.
11 people were killed and 45 injured, making it one of the worst massacres of the 18th century.
rejected the second Reform Bill
, which aimed to get rid of some of the rotten boroughs and give Britain's fast growing industrial towns such as Bristol, Manchester
, Birmingham
, Bradford
and Leeds
greater representation in the House of Commons. Bristol had been represented in the House of Commons
since 1295, however by 1830 only 6,000 of the 104,000 population had the vote.
Local magistrate Sir Charles Wetherell
, a strong opponent of the Bill, visited Bristol to open the new Assize Courts, on 29 October. He threatened to imprison participants in a disturbance going on outside, and an angry mob chased him to the Mansion House in Queen Square
. The magistrate escaped in disguise but the mayor and officials were besieged in the Mansion-house.
The rioters numbered about 500 or 600 young men and continued for three days, during which the palace of Robert Gray
the Bishop of Bristol
, the Mansion House, and private homes and property were looted and destroyed, along with demolition of much of the gaol
. Work on the Clifton Suspension Bridge
was halted and Isambard Kingdom Brunel
was sworn in as a special constable
.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Brereton
of the Dragoons led a charge with drawn swords through the mob in Queen Square. Brereton was later court-martialled for leniency because he had refused to open fire on the crowds, but shot himself before the conclusion of his trial.
About 100 people involved were tried in January 1832 by Chief Justice Tindal
.
Four men were hanged despite a petition
of 10,000 Bristolian signatures, which was given to King William IV.
started on April 2, 1980, in the St Pauls
district, when the police carried out a raid on the Black and White Café, known as "Britain's most dangerous hard drug den", located on Grosvenor Road in the heart of St Pauls. It is unclear why the riot started either due to the police ripping a customer's trousers and refusing to pay,
or they were simply attacked as they removed alcohol from the café. The riot continued for many hours and caused large amounts of damage including a Lloyds Bank and post office. Several fire engines and twelve police cars were damaged along with the shops. 130 rioters were arrested. The next day the Daily Telegraph headlined with, "19 Police Hurt in Black Riot" and blamed lack of parental care.
estate after two men who had stolen an unmarked police motorbike
were killed in a chase with a police patrol car. The disturbance lasted for 3 days. Police were stoned and many shops in the Symes Avenue shopping centre were attacked and destroyed.
Stokes Croft Tesco
On 21st April, 2011, there was a riot in the Stokes Croft
area of Bristol, following a raid by police on a squat
named 'Telepathic Heights'. A protest ensued, and they withdrew, however at 9pm that evening, riot police blockaded the area and entered the squat. A crowd quickly gathered, with approximately 300 people defending the squat, and a further 1000 caught up in the mayhem. More than 160 officers were involved in the operation. The reason for the operation given by the police was that they held intelligence that petrol bombs were on the premises designated for the Tesco
development opposite.
The riot eventually died down following the withdrawal of the police, after which the newly opened Tesco was attacked with smashed windows and graffitti.
Local Labour
MP Kerry McCarthy
criticised the "heavy-handed" behaviour of the police and said that "[a Labour council candidate] was hit by a truncheon and I was shoved out of the way by a policeman at one stage." McCarthy described the riot as "an anti-establishment
protest: against capitalism
and corporation
s, similar to what we saw in the march against the cuts in London
where Starbucks
and banks were targeted."
A second set of riots took place a week later on 28th/29th April. Tesco continued to insist that the protests were not fuelled by anti-Tesco feeling (despite opposition from protesters) and that it was only supported by a small handful of protesters.
The Tesco express reopened on 24 May 2011, causing further peaceful protests during the day.
.
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
s in the city of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Bristol Bridge riot, 1793
The Bristol Bridge Riot of 30 September 1793 began as a protest at renewal of an act levying of tolls on Bristol BridgeBristol Bridge
Bristol Bridge is an old bridge over the floating harbour in Bristol, England, the original course of the River Avon.-History:Bristol's name is derived from the Saxon 'Brigstowe' or 'place of the bridge', but it is unclear when the first bridge over the Avon was built. The Avon has the 2nd highest...
, which included the proposal to demolish several houses near the bridge in order to create a new access road, and controversy about the date for removal of gates.
11 people were killed and 45 injured, making it one of the worst massacres of the 18th century.
Queen Square riots, 1831
The Bristol Riots of 1831 took place after the House of LordsHouse of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
rejected the second Reform Bill
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...
, which aimed to get rid of some of the rotten boroughs and give Britain's fast growing industrial towns such as Bristol, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
and Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
greater representation in the House of Commons. Bristol had been represented in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
since 1295, however by 1830 only 6,000 of the 104,000 population had the vote.
Local magistrate Sir Charles Wetherell
Charles Wetherell
Sir Charles Wetherell , was an English lawyer, politician and judge.Wetherell was born in Oxford, the third son of Reverend Nathan Wetherell, of Durham, Master of the University College and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford...
, a strong opponent of the Bill, visited Bristol to open the new Assize Courts, on 29 October. He threatened to imprison participants in a disturbance going on outside, and an angry mob chased him to the Mansion House in Queen Square
Queen Square, Bristol
Queen Square is a garden square in the centre of Bristol, England. It was originally a fashionable residential address, but now most of the buildings are in office use....
. The magistrate escaped in disguise but the mayor and officials were besieged in the Mansion-house.
The rioters numbered about 500 or 600 young men and continued for three days, during which the palace of Robert Gray
Robert Gray (bishop of Bristol)
-Life:Born 11 March 1762, he was the son of Robert Gray, a London silversmith. Having entered St. Mary Hall, Oxford, he graduated B.A. 1784, M. A, 1787, B.D. 1799, and D.D. 1802...
the Bishop of Bristol
Bishop of Bristol
The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England.The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire...
, the Mansion House, and private homes and property were looted and destroyed, along with demolition of much of the gaol
Old City Gaol, Bristol
The Old City Gaol is in Cumberland Road, close to Bristol Harbour, England.It was built in 1832 by Richard Shackleton Pope after the original, which was designed by HH Seward in 1816 was destroyed in the Bristol Riots of 1831...
. Work on the Clifton Suspension Bridge
Clifton Suspension Bridge
Brunel died in 1859, without seeing the completion of the bridge. Brunel's colleagues in the Institution of Civil Engineers felt that completion of the Bridge would be a fitting memorial, and started to raise new funds...
was halted and Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
was sworn in as a special constable
Special constable
A Special Constable is a law enforcement officer who is not a regular member of a police force. Some like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police carry the same law enforcement powers as regular members, but are employed in specific roles, such as explosive disposal technicians, court security, campus...
.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Brereton
Thomas Brereton
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Brereton was an Irish soldier who led the dragoons against the rioters during the Bristol Riots and was subsequently court-martialled for his leniency.He was the governor of Senegal by the time of the Méduse tragedy....
of the Dragoons led a charge with drawn swords through the mob in Queen Square. Brereton was later court-martialled for leniency because he had refused to open fire on the crowds, but shot himself before the conclusion of his trial.
About 100 people involved were tried in January 1832 by Chief Justice Tindal
Nicholas Conyngham Tindal
Sir Nicolas Conyngham Tindal was a celebrated English lawyer who successfully defended Queen Caroline at her trial for adultery in 1820...
.
Four men were hanged despite a petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
of 10,000 Bristolian signatures, which was given to King William IV.
Old Market riot, 1932
On February 23, 1932 some 3,000 unemployed engaged in running battles with the police as they tried to march down to the city centre, led by the National Unemployed Workers Movement. Police baton-charged protesters outside Trinity police station and along Old Market.St Pauls riot, 1980
The St Pauls riotSt Pauls riot
The St Pauls riot occurred in St Pauls, Bristol, England on 2 April 1980 when police raided the Black and White Café on Grosvenor Road in the heart of the area. After several hours of disturbance in which fire engines and police cars were damaged, 130 people were arrested...
started on April 2, 1980, in the St Pauls
St Pauls, Bristol
St Pauls is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, situated just north east of the city centre and west of the M32. It is bounded by the A38, the B4051 and the A4032 roads...
district, when the police carried out a raid on the Black and White Café, known as "Britain's most dangerous hard drug den", located on Grosvenor Road in the heart of St Pauls. It is unclear why the riot started either due to the police ripping a customer's trousers and refusing to pay,
or they were simply attacked as they removed alcohol from the café. The riot continued for many hours and caused large amounts of damage including a Lloyds Bank and post office. Several fire engines and twelve police cars were damaged along with the shops. 130 rioters were arrested. The next day the Daily Telegraph headlined with, "19 Police Hurt in Black Riot" and blamed lack of parental care.
Hartcliffe, 1992
On July 16, 1992 there was a riot in HartcliffeHartcliffe
Hartcliffe is the name of both a council ward and a district of the city of Bristol in the United Kingdom which lies within that ward. The ward contains the areas of Hartcliffe and Headley Park, as well as small portions of Withywood and Bishopsworth....
estate after two men who had stolen an unmarked police motorbike
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
were killed in a chase with a police patrol car. The disturbance lasted for 3 days. Police were stoned and many shops in the Symes Avenue shopping centre were attacked and destroyed.
Stokes Croft TescoTescoTesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
riot, April 2011
On 21st April, 2011, there was a riot in the Stokes CroftStokes Croft
Stokes Croft is the name of a road and an area in Bristol, England. The road forms part of the A38 that leads north from the city centre, before it takes the names Cheltenham Road and then Gloucester Road...
area of Bristol, following a raid by police on a squat
Squat
The word squat, squatter or squatting can refer to:* Squatting, living in an abandoned or unused building, sometimes for political purposes...
named 'Telepathic Heights'. A protest ensued, and they withdrew, however at 9pm that evening, riot police blockaded the area and entered the squat. A crowd quickly gathered, with approximately 300 people defending the squat, and a further 1000 caught up in the mayhem. More than 160 officers were involved in the operation. The reason for the operation given by the police was that they held intelligence that petrol bombs were on the premises designated for the Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
development opposite.
The riot eventually died down following the withdrawal of the police, after which the newly opened Tesco was attacked with smashed windows and graffitti.
Local Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP Kerry McCarthy
Kerry McCarthy
Kerry Gillian McCarthy is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Bristol East since 2005.-Early life:...
criticised the "heavy-handed" behaviour of the police and said that "[a Labour council candidate] was hit by a truncheon and I was shoved out of the way by a policeman at one stage." McCarthy described the riot as "an anti-establishment
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
protest: against capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
and corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s, similar to what we saw in the march against the cuts in London
2011 anti-cuts protest in London
The 2011 anti-cuts protest in London, also known as the March for the Alternative, was a demonstration held in central London on 26 March 2011...
where Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
and banks were targeted."
A second set of riots took place a week later on 28th/29th April. Tesco continued to insist that the protests were not fuelled by anti-Tesco feeling (despite opposition from protesters) and that it was only supported by a small handful of protesters.
The Tesco express reopened on 24 May 2011, causing further peaceful protests during the day.
National riots, August 2011
In the early hours of the morning on Tuesday 9th August, it was reported that vandalism and looting occurred in Bristol in response to similar occurring elsewhere in the country, predominantly the 2011 England riots2011 England riots
Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting and arson....
.