A misunderstanding with Mr. Francis compelled his retirement from that gentleman’s house, and he took up his abode at the residence of one of his most devoted followers named Wills, from whence subsequently he again removed to the farm-house of a person named Culver, at Boughton. During these changes he was constant in his exertions among the poorer classes; and the influence which he obtained over them was extraordinary. The women excited their husbands and sons to join him, “because he was Christ, and unless they followed him, fire would come from Heaven and burn them.” They asserted, as he had declared, that “he had come to earth upon a cloud, and would go away from it on a cloud;” and instances were not unfrequent in which the misguided people, the subjects of his imposture, had actually worshipped him as a God.
At length this excitement was destined to be brought to a conclusion; but not without the occurrence of events which are deeply to be lamented.
On Monday, the 28th of May, Courtenay, with about ten or fifteen followers, sallied forth from the village of Boughton, without having any very distinct or apparent object in view, and proceeded at once to the cottage of Wills. Here they formed themselves into a species of column; and a loaf having been procured, it was broken in halves, and one half of it was placed on the top of a pole, which bore a flag of blue and white, upon which a lion rampant was drawn. Wills having joined them, they all proceeded to Goodnestone, near Faversham; Courtenay, as they went along, haranguing them and the country people whom they met, and producing a great deal of excitement and astonishment at his proceedings. From thence they went to a farm at Herne Hill, where they received food, and then to Dargate Common. By Courtenay’s desire they all went to prayers here; and after that they returned to Bossenden Farm, where they retired to rest in a barn. At three o’clock on Tuesday morning, they went to Sittingbourne, and Courtenay provided them with breakfast, for which he paid twenty-seven shillings; and then they went to Newnham, where, at the George Inn, they had a similar treat. After visiting Eastling, Throwley, Seldwich, Lees, and Selling, where, as at Sittingbourne and Newnham, speeches were made, and new followers obtained, the party again returned to Bossenden farm.
During these progresses, it appears that Mr. Curling, a respectable farmer, lost some of his labourers, who were enticed away from their work by the crowd; and disinclined to permit them to join the riotous proceedings of Courtenay and his party, he went before a magistrate of the district, by whom, at his desire, a warrant was issued for their apprehension. Nicholas Mears, a constable, and his brother, were entrusted with the warrant for execution; and on Thursday morning at about six o’clock they went to Culver’s farm-house to secure the men. Upon their presenting themselves, Courtenay and several of his followers appeared; and almost before the unfortunate Mears could state his object, Courtenay drew a pistol from his breast and shot him dead. He returned into the house, exclaiming to the men who were there, “Now, am I not your Saviour?” and then going out again, he discharged a second pistol at the body of Mears, and mutilated his body with his sword.
This diabolical murder was communicated to the magistrates directly afterwards, and they proceeded to take steps for the apprehension of Courtenay. But the latter immediately called out his men, and marched them to Bossenden Wood, and there he administered the sacrament to them in bread and water. This over, a man named Alexander Foad, knelt down in the presence of the rest and worshipped him; and while on his knees, he demanded to know whether he should follow him in the body or whether he should go home, and follow him in the spirit? Courtenay answered, “In the body;” upon which Foad jumped up with great exultation, exclaiming “Oh! be joyful, be joyful; the Saviour has accepted me. Now go on; I will follow you till I drop.” Another man, named Blanchard, also worshipped him; and Courtenay then, in answer to a question which was put to him, said that he had shot the constable, and had eaten a good breakfast afterwards; and added, “I was only executing the justice of heaven in consequence of the power God has given me.” At twelve o’clock Sir William and his followers had shifted their position to the Osier-bed, and here he harangued them, informing them that he was invulnerable, and that they also could not be hurt by reason of the faith they put in him. He defied the attack of the magistrates, which he declared would do neither him nor them any harm; but then he proposed that they should take up a position in ambush in the wood. This was agreed to; and on their way thither, seeing the Rev. Mr. Handley, of Herne Hill, observing their motions, Courtenay fired at him, but happily missed his aim.
In the mean time the magistrates had been taking such steps as they deemed advisable, for the maintenance of the public peace; and in order to secure the person of the leader of these extraordinary proceedings, with his followers. Acquainted with the desperate violence of Courtenay, by his act of the morning, they deemed it unfit that an unarmed force should be brought in opposition to him and his party, and they in consequence despatched a messenger to Canterbury, requiring the aid of the military. A detachment of one hundred men of the 45th Foot, under the command of Major Armstrong, was at once placed at their disposal, and marched to Boughton. The rioters were known to be posted in Bossenden Wood, from the information of out-scouts; and in that direction the troops, accompanied by the magistrates and special constables, were marched. The position of Courtenay was ascertained to be about a mile from the road in Bossenden Wood. The wood was of very considerable extent, but was intersected by two roads; and it was found that the insurgent party were placed so that their front and rear were covered by the roads right and left. The military were in consequence divided; and while one party of fifty took the road nearest Canterbury, under the command of Captain Reed, the other was conducted by Major Armstrong, assisted by Lieutenant Bennett, and Lieutenant Prendergast, along the road next Boulton-under-Blea. Thus the insurgents were placed between the two bodies of troops, and their only chance of escape was to take a straight line through the woods. For this, however, the madman who was their leader, was in nowise disposed, and he soon presented himself to Major Armstrong’s troop. He was required to surrender; but without waiting to give any answer, he called upon his followers, (now only between thirty and forty in number), as if to prepare for the approaching conflict, and rushed at Lieutenant Bennett, who was rather in advance of the soldiers. Lieutenant Bennett observing this movement, rushed forward also, sword in hand; but almost before he had reached his assailant, Courtenay presented a pistol, fired, and the ball entered the right side, and passed completely through the body of the young officer, killing him instantaneously. At this moment Courtenay was felled to the ground by a constable named Millwood, but he jumped up again, and at the instant of his regaining his feet, he was shot by the troops. The order to “fire,” was then given by Major Armstrong, and being mounted, he dashed in among the peasantry. By the discharge eight men were killed on the spot, and several others were wounded; but the wretched peasantry fought desperately, until at length, perceiving the dreadful consequences which must result from persevering in their resistance, they at once dispersed, and scattered themselves through the woods. In the course of the afternoon twenty-seven prisoners were made by the military and constables, and of these seven were wounded, two of them mortally. Of the party who were employed in maintaining the law, George Catt, a constable, who acted with much determination, was shot under the mistaken impression that he was one of the rioters; and Lieutenant Prendergast received a contused wound on the head from the bludgeon of an insurgent.
During the remainder of the week the coroner of the county was engaged in conducting the necessary inquiries into the cause of death of the deceased persons. Evidence, the general effect of which was that which we have stated, was produced, and the result of the investigation fully bore out the course which had been adopted by the magistracy. Verdicts of “Wilful Murder” were returned in the cases of the constable Mears, and of Lieutenant Bennett, against Courtenay and his adherents; while in the case of Catt, the jury found “That he had been killed upon an erroneous belief that he was a rioter.” In the cases of death which had occurred amongst the insurgents, the jury found a verdict of “Justifiable Homicide.” The scene which presented itself, during the sitting of the jury, was distressing in the extreme. The Red Lion, at Boughton, was the place at which the coroner conducted the investigation; and there also all those prisoners who were suffering from the wounds which they had received were detained; while in the stable attached to the house, the bodies of the slain were extended. In the yard were the wives, widows, and children, of these deluded men, lamenting bitterly the position of danger into which the fanaticism
