Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the most destructive riots in London's history, which reached their peak on 7th June 1780 as troops fired on the crowd outside the Bank of England. The leader was Lord George Gordon, head of the Protestant Association, who objected to the relaxing of laws against Catholics. At first the protest outside Parliament was peaceful but, when Gordon's petition failed to persuade the Commons, rioting continued for days until the military started to shoot suspects in the street. It came as Britain was losing the war to hold on to colonies in North America.
The image above shows a crowd setting fire to Newgate Prison and freeing prisoners by the authority of 'His Majesty, King Mob.'
With
Ian Haywood Professor of English at the University of Roehampton
Catriona Kennedy Senior Lecturer in Modern British and Irish History and Director of the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies at the University of York
and
Mark Knights Professor of History at the University of Warwick
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time. |
| 0:07.3 | There's a reading list to go with it on our website, |
| 0:09.5 | and you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter |
| 0:12.8 | at BBC In Our Time. |
| 0:14.7 | I hope you enjoyed the programs. |
| 0:16.7 | Hello, in June 1780, thousands of British troops |
| 0:19.9 | fired on unarmed crowds in London. |
| 0:22.6 | Several hundreds were killed and more died of their wounds later. |
| 0:26.8 | The soldiers were putting down riots at a range for a week, |
| 0:29.8 | originally aimed at Catholic property, |
| 0:31.9 | it broadened out, storming and burning prisons, as well as chapels. |
| 0:36.4 | These became known as the Gordon riots, after the man who arguably sparked them off with his petition. |
| 0:41.3 | And they said to be both the most destructive riots that London has seen, |
| 0:44.9 | and according to some historians, the closest that Britain has come to revolution. |
| 0:49.5 | When we did discuss the Gordon riots at E.N. Haywood, |
| 0:52.0 | Professor of English at the University of Rohampton, |
| 0:54.6 | Katrina Kennedy, Director of the Centre for 18th Century Studies |
| 0:58.1 | at the University of York and Mark Knight's Professor of History at the University of Worry. |
| 1:02.6 | Mark Knight's London was at the heart of the British Empire, |
| 1:06.1 | but what were the strains of that empire in the 1770s, |
| 1:09.4 | which related to the riots we're about to talk about? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.