The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-02 00:00:00

THE RIOT AT STOCKPORT.

We regret to say that, notwithstanding the precautions
taken by the magistrates to preserve the peace en
Wednesday, a series of disgraceful outrages occurred
between eight and twelve o'clock in various parts of the
town. An outline of these proceedings was given yes-
These outrages appear to have been committed
yes-
terday
bodies of men, judging from ,the singular
oht Og u
ei
ohss bee.tose
trorof t
eu
eu
provocation
, rnh a
mob
of
btweyaryd:rin which they have picked out the braises of Irish-
men and Reman Catholics only. They appear to have
been quite unexpected, and the regular civil force of
IWlSquite inadequate to prevent them. The
h pensioner, named William Godier, in
L
Elillgate, was broken open, without the
s evocation or notice, about balf•pest -eight
k by
ycang men and boys. The door
and windows having been smashed in entering, the as-
sailants proceeded to destroy the whole of the furniture,
and findieg that Goodier had been too quick for them.
end bad effected his escape, they vented tneir spite upon
the man's wise, whom they left almost in a state of in-
eesibility. The mob next broke into the adjoining
house, No. 6, and committed similar devastation, but
the family had left previously,
,having antici-
pated that an attack would be made. The authors of
this mischief were armed with heavy hammers, and
axes. About half-past nine o'clock a body of men and
boys, armed in a similar manner, went into Watson's-
square, On the other side of Elillgate, and attacked the
house of an Irishman, but before they had effected an
entrance a gentleman came up and asked them the rea-
son for these proceedings. The reply was, " They are
red 'leeks" (Papists). On his attempting to re-
monstrate, they asked him if ho was a " -- red neck,"
because, if he was, they would " settle his hash for him."
Another person asking them what was their object, they
answered, " To kill the bugs;" and in reply to a ques-
tion as to who the men were who committed these out-
rages, a youth, of about 18 years of age, replied, with a
chuckle, " They are woodcutters, and are doing a bit of
science." These inquiries, however, had the effect of
stopping the proceedings here, end the mob went off,
whilst the gentleman who had put the questions had dis-
patched a messenger for the police. The mob soon
afterwards struck the front door of an Irishman named
Calloway, lower down Watson's-square, and broke out
four of the panels. Calloway and two of his lodgers
were just sitting down.to sapper, and had given no pro-
vocation. No one was at the door, which, together
with the window-shutters, had been closed. Calloway
and one of his lodgers, John Fallen, said they were RD-
man Catholics—they knew no other provocation. From
here the mob proceeded to 53, Lavender's-brow, Or-
chard-street. The occupant, an Irish hawker, had anti-
cipated the visit, and effected a timely flight. The door
was broken open, however, and the windows destroyed,
and the mob then entered and smashed all the furniture.

Another mob, also composed principally of youths,
but armed with staves, went to the house of Andrew
Caton, No. 4, Harrison's-yard, Newbridge-lane, about
eight o'clock in the same evening. The man is an Irish-
man and a Roman Catholic. Ho was sitting at his sup-
per with his fzmily and several lodgers, when the door
was burst open by the mob, who entered and asked for
Patrick M'Manus, one of the lodgers. Caton replied
that he was not in; but they would not believe it, and
searched the house, but without finding him. On re-
turning from the upper rooms, one of the mob collared
Caton and dragged him into the yard, where more than
twenty of his dastardly assailants beat him unmercifully
with their staves. With his, head cut and bleeding he
escaped and sought refuge in the house of John William-
son, private watchman to the cottom mill of Mr. Thor-
niley, in an adjoinieg street. The mob followed him
into this house, and beat him until the floor and furni-
ture were sprinkled with his blood. He was then drag-
and would probably have been
Williamson,aani after vainly attempting to
kgeildleidn, tohathie
not street
dissuade them, thrown himself over the poor man's
body. The ruffians then departed, and Caton, who is
described as a very inoffensive quiet man, was carried
into his own house, where his wounds were washed
and dressed by his neighbours. He had received a
cut on his head three inches in length, and he had many
serious bruises, his clothes being completely saturated
with blood. Yesterday he was lying in bed in a state
of great prostration, no surgeon having been
called in,
because, as his wife said, they had no money to pay
for one.

It is to be feared that the above are not all the cases
of outrage which time and inquiry would bring to
light. The tenants of several houses seem to have fltA.
or taken refuge in those of their neighbours. The win-
dows and furniture had been demolished, and there was
no one left from whom to inquire of the circumstances.
The house of a man named Charles Dowd, an Irish Re-
man Catholic, in John-street, was broken into between
8 and 9 o'clock on', Tuesday night. The windows and
all the furniture were completely demolished, and the
legs and spindles of tables and chairs were carried away
by the mob for weapons. His wife says the offence on
their part was for having given refuge to a man whom
the mob were beating in the streets. Thess outrages
do not appear to have been entirely occasioned by reli-
gious differences. While some of Caton's neighbours
were interceding for him at his home, the as,sailants
replied that the Irish must be turned out,—they were
working for less wages than the English, and were
ruining trade. The assailants were colliers and factory
operatives, but Caton worked in a gravel-pit, and the
charge could not, we were informed, be applicable in his
case.

It is a singular fact that during the proceedings on
Wednesday night, above described, the police were un-
able to apprehend a single offender. They were sent
for in some cases, and arrived in the neighbourhood
where the attacks had been made, but too late to get
more than an indication of the direction in which tee
offenders had gone. The magistrates were engaged in
swearing in special constables during the evening, and
had administered the oath to no fewer than 500, who
were dispatched before twelve o'clock in patrols of 20
each through different districts of the town. The au-
thorities also sent for a reinforcement of the military:,
and a troop of the 2d Dragoon Guards, or Queen s
Bays, under the command of Captain Keene, from the
Manchester Cavalry Berraoks, arrived at Stockport about
ten minutes before six o'clock in the evening. The two
companies of the 4th Regiment, which had sided in
quelling the disturbances on Tuesday night, were quar-
tered at the National School, Wellington-road, on the
western side of the town; and in the eastern and central
part of the borough the dragoons were billetted in
three divisions—at the Red Bull, Commercial, and Pack
Horse Inns. These precautions were deemed the more
necessary on account of a rumour which bad prevailed
in the town during the day to the effect that bodies of
Irish Roman Catholics from Manchester, Ashton,
Droylesden, Hyde, and other places in the neighbour-
hood, were coming over in the evening to take ven-
geance on the Protestants for the destruction of the cha-
pels and houses of their countrymen in Stockport on
Tuesday night. The magistrates also published the fol-
lowing notice during the day:—
"V. R.—Whereas a disgraceful riot and tumult cc-
curred in this borough yesterday evening, and various
buildings and property of the inhabitants were feloni-
ously destroyed. Now, we the undersigned justices of
the peace, acting in and for the borough of Stockport,
do hereby express our firm determination to maintain
the public peace and property against the recurrence of
such disgraceful acts; for which purpose we have pro.
Tided a sufficient force to protect the persons and pro-
perty of the inhabitants; and we call upon all peaceably
disposed persons to assist us in our endeavours; and we
earnestly request all persons to confine themselves dur-
ing the evening and night to their own homes, and to
refrain from assembling or appearing in the public
streets, hereby cautioning them as to the consequences,
the Riot Act having been read.
"J. BOOTHROYD, Mayor, eC. HOWARD,
"P. E. MARSLAND, tg S. CARRINGTON,
" Q. MARSLAND, T, EsKRIGGE,
"R. PENDLEBURY, Kt. "E. MARSLAND,
''J. NEWTON, 46 G. TURNER,
Justices of the Peace for the borough of Stockport.
" Court-house, Stockport, June 30.
" The magistrate, in pursuance of the statutes in that
Case made and provided, direct that all public-houees
and beer-houses in the borough of Stockport be closed at
the hour of eight o'clock each evening until the ter-
mination of the present disturbances, of which due notice
will be given.
" Court-house, Stockport, Juno 30."
Notwithstanding the first of the notices above quoted,
previouste evening.rioting
The d been
majority
thousands of people assembled in the streets between six
and seven o'clock, especially in those parts of the town
where h
most
of
considerablethepeople had
evidently come out of curiosity, but some appeared to
on the
be there only with a view of renewing the disturbances
at the first opportunity which
might occur. No such
occasion, however, presented itself in those parts of the
town, and before twelve o'clock the street which had
been most disturbed on Tuesday were again almost
cleared.

s Lordp pass
ss Campbell,
became
m e
rse,
rSeuertri
h sAh co T
startled To LbymttpheCnAoiuser BELL.---Yesterday
the head by
gate on the
even-
ing, at about a quarter-past eight o'clock,
was riding across Southwark-bridge, attended by his groom,
made by the
Y andside t h throerew higmh. which h
Lordship
the fall, but is, we hope, not otherwise seriously injured, lie
was conveyed at once in a cab to his residence.