A Piece of History
| Published: 8th March 2007 09:36 |
PRIME MINISTER ASSASSINATED!
St. Neots man Indicted!
A Report by Brian Boyle, Little Paxton.
This is not the shocking report of some recent terrorist atrocity, but the headline of a report which may have appeared in the newspapers on the morning of 12th May, 1812.
A certain John Bellingham, described as a limner of St. Martin in the Fields, London married Elizabeth, the daughter of William Scarbrow of Old Hall in St. Neots, and set up home at No. 1 Cambridge Street on the corner of the Cross in the town. Their son John was born in 1776.
He grew up to become a merchant trading in goods with Russia, which was then ruled by the Czar Paul, who reigned from 1796 to 1801. The Czar was intensely jealous of England's power, and frequently caused the seizure and detention of British merchant ships in Russian harbours. So it came about that Bellingham's goods were seized and he himself imprisoned, without investigation or trial by the despotic Russian government.
Bellingham was eventually released and expelled from Russia without any redress. When he returned to England Bellingham began petitioning the British government for redress of these wrongs. However by then the government was particularly anxious to cultivate friendly relations with Russia, whose government was on the brink of war with Napoleon. Therefore Bellingham had little chance of a favourable consideration of his case.
Considering himself aggrieved, and at the end of his tether in rage and disappointment, he resolved to take revenge on the government who he felt had denied him justice. He armed himself with a pistol and went to the Houses of Parliament on the morning of 11th May 1812. As Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the Tory Government since 1809 entered the lobby John Bellingham stepped forward and shot the Prime Minister dead.
In those days retribution for such crime was swift. In response to public indignation Bellingham was tried only four days later, on 15th May. He was condemned and hanged at Newgate prison on 18th May 1812.
It is curious that the local History Society and the Town Museum have completely ignored the story of this unique event, and St. Neots' most notorious son, while promoting the story of the St. Neots Quads, long after the successful birth of quadruplets has become almost commonplace.
Community Comment:
You will need to sign in to post a comment to this article. if you do not have an AboutMyArea account, you can join now for free.
Joined: 11 Jun 2007Posts: 1
Thank you again. I J Matthews
Posts: 1