I have to thank Mr. J. J. Phelps for calling my attention to two papers in a scrap-book at the Chetham Library which he conjectures to have been that of Mr. Francis Phillips, the protagonist on behalf of the magistrates, and the author of An Exposure of the Calumnies, &c. One of these is the actual subpœna which Mr. Phillips received, summoning him to give evidence in the trial at York: “there to testify the truth on our behalf against Henry Hunt and others for certain misdemeanours whereof they are indicted.” (MS. B. 9. 41. 110. p. 43.).

The other paper is of some importance as it fixes the date of the embodiment of the Manchester Yeomanry. In The Story of Peterloo (p. 13) some details are given in support of a conjecture that the corps was formed later than March in 1817. The scrap-book just quoted confirms this conjecture, for there appears a printed copy of a letter addressed to the Boroughreeves and Constables of Manchester and Salford, and bearing over a hundred signatures (that of Mr. Phillips coming second), asking that a meeting may be convened with the object of forming such a corps. In response to this appeal the Boroughreeves and Constables summoned a meeting for the purpose, in a letter dated Manchester, June the 16th, 1817. (MS B. 9. 41. 110. p. 22). With this date as a guide, it was easy to find in the advertisement columns of Wheeler’s Manchester Chronicle for Saturday, June the 21st, 1817, a copy of both letters, a list of the signatures, and the announcement that the proposed meeting was actually held on June the 19th, 1817, when it was resolved: “that under the present circumstances it is expedient to form a body of Yeomanry Cavalry in the Towns and neighbourhood of Manchester and Salford.” Details follow as to Government allowances for uniform, etc., and as to the possibility of amalgamating with similar corps in the surrounding towns, should such be formed. Each man was to provide his own horse.

This information has an important bearing on the tragedy of Peterloo, and taken in conjunction with the Resolution of the Magistrates mentioned in The Story of Peterloo (p. 13), leaves no doubt as to what was the nature of the “present circumstances” that called the corps into being.

4.—EXPLANATION OF THE CONTEMPORARY PLAN AND PICTURE OF PETERLOO.

(a) The Contemporary Plan of St. Peter’s Field which appears on the following page was published in Farquharson’s verbatim Report of the Trial in 1822. As the lettering is small, some explanation is necessary.

The shaded area in the centre represents the open space on which the tragedy was enacted. To the south of it is clearly seen the “raised ground” mentioned by Stanley, and shown also in his Plan. The windmill which stood near, and gave its name to Windmill Street, had disappeared some years before. The site of it is now occupied by the Central Station Approach.

On the shaded space are marked: “Hustings;” “Carriage” (i.e., Mr. Hunt’s carriage, marked also on Stanley’s Plan); the double line of “Constables;” and the “Manchester Yeomanry,” drawn up in front of the row of houses in Mount Street, labelled: “Magistrates assembled here.” The Friends’ Meeting House is marked “Quaker’s Meeting House,” and the enclosing wall is stated to measure in height “3 ft. 7 in. on the inside” and “10 ft. 3 in. on the outside.” These measurements would be inserted, probably, in connection with the statement that one of the Cavalry jumped his horse over this wall. Apparently a gate and posts cross Mount Street in front of the Meeting House, and lead into “St. Peter’s Field,” across which two dotted lines indicate the projected line of Peter Street.

[Larger Image]
Photo by R. H. Fletcher.
Plan of Peterloo.
From Farquharson’s Report of the Trial, 1822. (See [page 88].)