Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

One of the attendants of the Grenoside Beacon arrived in Sheffield about six in the morning with intelligence that all the beacons seen from that station were lighted! The “French have landed!” became the general cry, the drums immediately beat to arms, and in a short time the whole regiment of volunteers assembled for the purpose of marching in search of the enemy, except nine, all of whom were either detained by sickness, or were at a distance from home, excepting one man, a non-commissioned officer, who it is said actually marched to Baslow on a fishing expedition, instead of joining his comrades on the parade ground, in Barker’s Pool. Owing to the difficulty in procuring wagons and horses for the service, it was noon before the volunteers marched out of town, amidst the cheers of their fellow townsmen, and the tears of their wives and sweethearts, many of whom watched the formidable cavalcade from the heights of the Park and the Occupation Road, till the horizon drew a curtain betwixt them and the objects of their anxiety. The regiment arrived at Doncaster by eight o’clock at night, and halted for refreshment and further orders, in company with other corps of volunteers from Wath, Rotherham, and other parts of the vale of the Don. Happily, a messenger soon arrived from General Ferguson, stating the whole to be a false alarm, which it is supposed was raised for the purpose of trying the spirit of the Yorkshire volunteers, and ascertaining how speedily they could be brought together in any case of real danger that might occur.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations:

• ER: East Riding
• GM: Greater Manchester
• NR: North Riding
• NY: North Yorkshire
• SY: South Yorkshire
• WR: West Riding
• WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

Comment

A lovely but puzzling footnote:

At the commencement of the French Revolution, similar associations were again formed in various parts of England, for the protection of liberty and property “against republicans and levellers;” and amongst them was the Sheffield Armed Association, commanded by Captain Samuel Robinson, and consisting of about 160 men, who obtained amongst their fellow townsmen, the cognomen of Peep-a-day-boys, or Stoop-and-rail-men, from their appearing regularly on the parade ground at the early dawn of morning, not with fire-locks, but with wooden guns.

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Original

During that year of clamourous discontent and distress, 1794, there were raised in Yorkshire and other counties, many regiments of volunteer infantry and yeomanry cavalry, and Sheffield, notwithstanding the republican spirit, which prevailed amongst many of its half-employed inhabitants, was not behind any other town in the kingdom, in the provision which it made for the suppression of civil commotions, and the support of the authority of the three estates, ‘King, Lords, and Commons.’ The first corps of ‘Sheffield Loyal Independent Volunteers’ was formed in April, 1794, when upwards of 150 individuals offered to provide themselves with arms, accoutrements, and clothing; but government insisted on furnishiug every thing but clothing, and agreed to allow a certain number of days’ pay per annum for the service. A subsciption was speedily opened by the gentlemen of the town, to provide clothing for those who were too poor to purchase it themselves, and in a little time the regiment consisted of upwards of 490 effective men, who, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Athorpe, and the instructions of Adjutant Radcliffe, Captain Goodisou, Drum-Major Pots, (strict disciplinarians) and a few other gentlemen of the town, who had served as volunteers in the American war, soon acquired a complete knowledge of military tactics, and an excellent character for steady conduct and “soldier-like appearance.” In August, they were presented with a set of colours by Miss Benton, daughter of Lady Cope; and in the following year, 1795, the lady of Thomas Walker, Esq. of Masbro’ Iron Works, offered them two iron guns, but on their being considered too unwieldy for field service, she gave them their value in money, with which, and a sum paid out of the regimental stock, two brast six pounders were purchased at Woolwich. On the 4th of August, 1795, Colonel Cameron (from the North) having, at his own expense, raised a regiment in Sheffield, for the service of government, ordered his men to march; but on their mustering in Norfolk-street, they refused to leave the town without an advance of marching money, and on a mob assembling and espousing their cause, the volunteers were called out, who, after the riot act had been read, were ordered to fire, and two persons (Sorby and Bradshaw) were shot dead, and several others severely wounded. In January, 1796, Mr. Montgomery, the editor of the Iris, was fined £20, and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, for a libel on Colonel Athorpe, relative to his conduct in dispersing the rioters in Norfolk-street, in doing which, the colonel’s horse was shot under him, but whether accidentally or intentionally was never clearly ascertained.

On the 24th of May, 1802, (after the peace of Amiens) the first Sheffield Volunteers, then reduced to 351, were disbanded, and their colours deposited in the parish church; but in the following year, when hostilities were re-commenced against France, the town again displayed its patriotism by raising another corps of “Sheffield Volunteer Infantry” which soon amounted to about 600 men, who, as well as the officers, were provided with arms and clothing by government, and were obliged to attend on duty at certain periods, for which they were paid after the rate of the regular militia; but as the officers liberally threw their pay into the general stock, for equal division, the privates received as much as their superiors.

In 1805, when Napoleon Buonaparte was threatening England with an invasion, the questions of domestic policy were lost sight of, in the apprehension of common danger, and persons of all parties rallied round the throne. At this period, the volunteers of Sheffield, and other parts of Yorkshire had an opportunity of signalizing their loyalty and spirit, and of affording a triumphant refutation of the suspicions that had been propagated by the maligners of the volunteer system of defence. Beacons were placed in every part of the West Riding, to give early notice of an expected descent upon the coast, and on the 15th of August, 1805, one of the attendants of the Grenoside Beacon, arrived in Sheffield about six in the morning, with intelligence that all the beacons seen from that station were lighted! The “French have landed!” became the general cry; the drums immediately beat to arms, and in a short time the whole regiment of volunteers assembled for the purpose of marching in search of the enemy, except nine, all of whom were either detained by sickness, or were at a distance from home, excepting one man, a non-commissioned officer, who it is said actually marched to Baslow on a fishing expedition, instead of joining his comrades on the parade ground, in Barker’s-Pool. Owing to the difficulty in procuring waggons and horses for the service, it was noon before the volunteers marched out of town, amidst the cheers of their fellow townsmen, and the tears of their wives and sweethearts, many of whom watched the formidable cavalcade from the heights of the Park and the Occupation-road, till the horizon drew a curtain betwixt them and the objects of their anxiety. The regiment arrived at Doncaster by eight o’clock at night, and halted for refreshment and further orders, in company with other corps of volunteers from Wath, Rotherham, and other parts of the vale of the Don. Happily, a messenger soon arrived from General Ferguson, stating the whole to be a false alarm, which it is supposed was raised for the purpose of trying the spirit of the Yorkshire volunteers, and ascertaining how speedily they could be brought together in any case of real danger that might occur. On this occasion they received the thanks of his Majesty’s Ministers and the House of Commons. The Sheffield Volunteers returned home on the 17th, and each man received two guineas besides his regular pay.

[Peace, inaction, dissolution:]

In 1821, they presented to the Town Trustees their two pieces of Brass Cannon, which are now stationed at the barracks.

982 words.

Tags

Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.

• 1794 Treason Trials (2), anti-radical show trials mounted by Pitt the Younger, resulting in acquittals and public rejoicing ·
• Barker’s Pool (1) ·
• Baslow (1) ·
• Beacon (3) ·
• British Army (18) ·
• Classical radicalism (9) ·
• Derbyshire (11) ·
• 📌Doncaster (34) ·
• Fishing (7) ·
• France (31) ·
• Freedom of the press (2) ·
• French Revolution (7) ·
• George III (1738-1820) (17), ruled 1760-1820 ·
• Grenoside (3) ·
• Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1794 (2) ·
• Horse (71) ·
• Militia (5) ·
• Montgomery, James (1771-1854) (2), Scottish-born hymnodist, poet and editor, eventually settled in Sheffield ·
• Napoleon’s planned invasion of the United Kingdom (1) ·
• Napoleon (3) ·
• Napoleonic Wars (1803-15) (19), a series of conflicts fought between the First French Empire under Napoleon (1804-15) and a fluctuating array of European coalitions, which originated in political forces arising from the French Revolution (1789-99) and from the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802), and produced a period of French domination over Continental Europe ·
• Newspaper (3) ·
• Paine, Thomas (1737-1809) (5), English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary ·
• Rights of Man (2) ·
• River Don, Yorkshire (10) ·
• Rotherham (21) ·
• Sheffield Iris (2) ·
• 📌Sheffield (72) ·
• South Yorkshire (9) ·
• War of the Third Coalition (1) ·
• Wath upon Dearne (3) ·
• West Riding of Yorkshire (147) ·
• William Pitt the Younger (4) ·

All tags.

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