John Bellingham
Encyclopedia
John Bellingham was the assassin
of British Prime Minister
Spencer Perceval
. This murder was the only successful attempt on the life of a British
Prime Minister. It is believed after this the family changed its name to Bellingall, as he brought shame to the family.
, Huntingdonshire
, and later brought up in London
, where he was apprenticed to a jeweller, James Love, at the age of fourteen. Two years later, he was sent as a midshipman
on the maiden voyage of the Hartwell
from Gravesend
to China
. There was a mutiny
on board on 22 May 1787, which led to the ship running aground and sinking.
In 1794, a John Bellingham opened a tin factory on London's Oxford Street
, but the business failed and he was declared bankrupt that March. It has not been definitely established that this is the same person. Bellingham certainly worked as a clerk in a counting house
in the late 1790s, and around 1800 he went to Archangel
in Russia
as an agent for importers and exporters. He returned to England in 1802, and worked in Liverpool
as a merchant broker. He married Mary Neville in 1803. In the summer of 1804, Bellingham again went to Archangel to work for a short time as an export representative.
was lost in the White Sea
. The owners (the house of R. Van Brienen) attempted to claim on their insurance but an anonymous letter informed Lloyd's that the ship had been sabotaged. Soloman Van Brienen suspected Bellingham was the author, and decided to retaliate by accusing him of a debt of 4,890 roubles to a bankrupt for which he was an assignee. Bellingham, on the verge of leaving for Britain on 16 November 1804, had his travelling pass withdrawn because of the debt.
Van Brienen also persuaded the Governor-General of the area to imprison Bellingham. A year later, Bellingham secured his release and managed to get to Saint Petersburg
, where he attempted to impeach the Governor-General. This provoked the Russian authorities and he was charged with leaving Archangel in a clandestine manner, and again imprisoned. He was in prison until October 1808 when he was put out onto the streets, but without permission to leave. In his desperation, he personally petitioned the Tsar. He was permitted to leave in 1809 and arrived back in England in December.
Back in England, Bellingham began to petition the United Kingdom Government for compensation for his imprisonment, but was refused (the United Kingdom had broken off diplomatic relations with Russia in November 1808). His wife tried to persuade him to drop the issue and Bellingham went back into work.
In 1812, Bellingham again went to work in London, where he renewed his attempts to win compensation. On 18 April, he went in person to the offices of the Foreign Office where a civil servant called Hill told him he was at liberty to take whatever measures he thought proper. Bellingham had already started preparations for resolving the matter in another way, and, on 20 April, he bought two half-inch calibre (12.7 mm) pistol
s from W. Beckwith, gunsmith
of 58 Skinner Street. He also arranged with a tailor
to have a secret inside pocket put on his coat. Around this time, he was often seen in the lobby
of the House of Commons
.
After taking the family of a friend to see a water-colour painting exhibition on 11 May 1812, Bellingham casually remarked that he had some business to attend to, and made his way to Parliament
. He waited in the lobby until the Prime Minister
, Spencer Perceval
, appeared, then stepped forward and shot him through the heart
. Bellingham then calmly sat on a bench. He was immediately detained by those present and identified by Isaac Gascoyne
, MP for Liverpool
.
Bellingham was tried on Friday, 15 May at the Old Bailey
where he argued that he would have preferred to kill the British Ambassador
to Russia, but that he was entitled as a wronged man to kill the representative of those he saw as his oppressors.
He gave a formal statement to the court, saying:
Evidence that Bellingham was insane was put forward by witnesses, but not by Bellingham himself, and was discounted by the trial judge, Sir James Mansfield
. Bellingham was found guilty and his sentence was handed down:
The hanging was carried out in public on Monday, 18 May. According to René Martin Pillet, a Frenchman who wrote an account of his ten years in England, the sentiment of the very large crowd that gathered at Bellingham's execution was:
A subscription was raised for the widow and children of Bellingham, and "their fortune was ten times greater than they could ever have expected in any other circumstances".
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...
. This murder was the only successful attempt on the life of a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Prime Minister. It is believed after this the family changed its name to Bellingall, as he brought shame to the family.
Early life
The details of Bellingham's early life are unclear, as few sources survive, and most post-assassination biographies of him included speculation as fact. Recollections of family and friends allow some details to be stated with confidence. Bellingham was certainly born in St NeotsSt Neots
St Neots is a town and civil parish with a population of 26,356 people. It lies on the River Great Ouse in Huntingdonshire District, approximately north of central London, and is the largest town in Cambridgeshire . The town is named after the Cornish monk St...
, Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
, and later brought up in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he was apprenticed to a jeweller, James Love, at the age of fourteen. Two years later, he was sent as a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
on the maiden voyage of the Hartwell
Hartwell (ship)
The Hartwell was a British ship which in 1787 set out on a maiden voyage from Gravesend to China.There was a mutiny on board on May 22, 1787, which led to the ship running aground and sinking on the reef of the isand, Boa Vista in the Cape Verde islands off West Africa.John Bellingham, many years...
from Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. There was a mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
on board on 22 May 1787, which led to the ship running aground and sinking.
In 1794, a John Bellingham opened a tin factory on London's Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
, but the business failed and he was declared bankrupt that March. It has not been definitely established that this is the same person. Bellingham certainly worked as a clerk in a counting house
Counting house
A counting house, or compting house, literally is the building, room, office or suite in which a business firm carries on operations, particularly accounting. By a synecdoche, it has come to mean the accounting operations of a firm, however housed...
in the late 1790s, and around 1800 he went to Archangel
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
as an agent for importers and exporters. He returned to England in 1802, and worked in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
as a merchant broker. He married Mary Neville in 1803. In the summer of 1804, Bellingham again went to Archangel to work for a short time as an export representative.
Russian imprisonment
In autumn 1803, a Russian ship Soleure insured at Lloyd's of LondonLloyd's of London
Lloyd's, also known as Lloyd's of London, is a British insurance and reinsurance market. It serves as a partially mutualised marketplace where multiple financial backers, underwriters, or members, whether individuals or corporations, come together to pool and spread risk...
was lost in the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
. The owners (the house of R. Van Brienen) attempted to claim on their insurance but an anonymous letter informed Lloyd's that the ship had been sabotaged. Soloman Van Brienen suspected Bellingham was the author, and decided to retaliate by accusing him of a debt of 4,890 roubles to a bankrupt for which he was an assignee. Bellingham, on the verge of leaving for Britain on 16 November 1804, had his travelling pass withdrawn because of the debt.
Van Brienen also persuaded the Governor-General of the area to imprison Bellingham. A year later, Bellingham secured his release and managed to get to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, where he attempted to impeach the Governor-General. This provoked the Russian authorities and he was charged with leaving Archangel in a clandestine manner, and again imprisoned. He was in prison until October 1808 when he was put out onto the streets, but without permission to leave. In his desperation, he personally petitioned the Tsar. He was permitted to leave in 1809 and arrived back in England in December.
Assassination of the Prime Minister
In 1812, Bellingham again went to work in London, where he renewed his attempts to win compensation. On 18 April, he went in person to the offices of the Foreign Office where a civil servant called Hill told him he was at liberty to take whatever measures he thought proper. Bellingham had already started preparations for resolving the matter in another way, and, on 20 April, he bought two half-inch calibre (12.7 mm) pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
s from W. Beckwith, gunsmith
Gunsmith
A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...
of 58 Skinner Street. He also arranged with a tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
to have a secret inside pocket put on his coat. Around this time, he was often seen in the lobby
Lobby
Lobby may refer to:* Lobby , an entranceway or foyer in a building* Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians* Lobby , a thick stew made in North Staffordshire, not unlike Lancashire Hotpot...
of 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...
.
After taking the family of a friend to see a water-colour painting exhibition on 11 May 1812, Bellingham casually remarked that he had some business to attend to, and made his way to Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
. He waited in the lobby until the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...
, appeared, then stepped forward and shot him through the heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
. Bellingham then calmly sat on a bench. He was immediately detained by those present and identified by Isaac Gascoyne
Isaac Gascoyne
Isaac Gascoyne was a British Army officer and Tory politician. He was the son of Bamber Gascoyne and Mary Green and was educated at Felsted School....
, MP for Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
.
Bellingham was tried on Friday, 15 May at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
where he argued that he would have preferred to kill the British Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Russia, but that he was entitled as a wronged man to kill the representative of those he saw as his oppressors.
He gave a formal statement to the court, saying:
"Recollect, Gentlemen, what was my situation.
Recollect that my family was ruined and myself destroyed, merely because it was Mr Perceval's pleasure that justice should not be granted; sheltering himself behind the imagined security of his station, and trampling upon law and right in the belief that no retribution could reach him.
I demand only my right, and not a favour; I demand what is the birthright and privilege of every Englishman.
Gentlemen, when a minister sets himself above the laws, as Mr Perceval did, he does it as his own personal risk. If this were not so, the mere will of the minister would become the law, and what would then become of your liberties?
I trust that this serious lesson will operate as a warning to all future ministers, and that they will henceforth do the thing that is right, for if the upper ranks of society are permitted to act wrong with impunity, the inferior ramifications will soon become wholly corrupted.
Gentlemen, my life is in your hands, I rely confidently in your justice."
Evidence that Bellingham was insane was put forward by witnesses, but not by Bellingham himself, and was discounted by the trial judge, Sir James Mansfield
James Mansfield
Sir James Mansfield , SL, KC was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Solicitor General and served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1799 to 1814.-Early life and career:...
. Bellingham was found guilty and his sentence was handed down:
"That you be taken from hence to the place from whence you came, and from thence to a place of execution, where you shall be hanged by the neck until you be dead; your body to be dissected and anatomized."
The hanging was carried out in public on Monday, 18 May. According to René Martin Pillet, a Frenchman who wrote an account of his ten years in England, the sentiment of the very large crowd that gathered at Bellingham's execution was:
"Farewell poor man, you owe satisfaction to the offended laws of your country, but God bless you! you have rendered an important service to your country, you have taught ministers that they should do justice, and grant audience when it is asked of them."
A subscription was raised for the widow and children of Bellingham, and "their fortune was ten times greater than they could ever have expected in any other circumstances".