Friday Talk: ‘I fear there will be blood spilt this evening’: The Blandford ‘reform riots’ of October 1831

In early October 1831, the defeat of the Second Reform Bill in the House of Lords led to a wave of pro-reform public protests and disturbances across Britain and Ireland. Meanwhile in Dorset, a microcosm of the national struggle over electoral reform was being fought out in a county by-election which posed Lord Ashley – an anti-reformer – against the pro-reform candidate William Ponsonby. After a closely-fought race, marked by widespread claims of corruption, Ashley was victorious. Immediately after the result was announced, disturbances broke out in a number of Dorset towns, and at Blandford trouble continued over four days between 15 and 18 October. These riots were serious events with significant damage to property and were put down only after the intervention of Yeomanry and regular Cavalry units.

This talk will consider the four days of rioting in Blandford in detail with particular emphasis on the targets of the rioters, their interaction with the authorities and what the events can tell us about the maintenance of order in early nineteenth century England. Why did local magistrates find it so difficult to recruit constables to control and disperse the crowd? Why was there so much confusion over the extent of the Corporation’s jurisdiction when they tried to summon military assistance? Why were magistrates so divided over the use of the military, and why were Blandford rioters treated with such exceptional severity by the courts in the aftermath? And why, in any case, were labouring class men and women rioting in support of a Reform Bill that was never likely to enfranchise them?

Steve Poole is professor of History and Heritage at UWE, Bristol and Director of the University’s Regional History Centre. He has published widely on histories of popular protest, criminality, public disorder and radical politics in the Hanoverian era. His most recent book (with Nick Rogers) is Bristol from Below:  Law, Authority and Protest in a Georgian City (2017).

This lecture is part of the ESRC funded project Intergroup Dynamics within the 1831 reform riots led by the University of West of England. More information about the project is currently on display at the Museum during October.

Please take part in the public survey: What do you know about crowds and riots?

Steve will also lead a guided walk of the route taken by the Blandford rioters on Saturday 29^th October; please click here for more information.

Admission to the talk is £5 for museum members, £8 for non-members.

Drinks and homemade food will be available to buy from 6.30 pm, and the talk will start at 7.30 pm.

We have a wide variety of talks about our history and heritage from a range of expert speakers lined up for Spring and Autumn 2022. These will take place on Fridays (usually, but not always, the last Friday of the month) at the Parish Centre in Blandford. Please see our Events Calendar for the dates and details of other talks.