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Looks ready for the Riot Act to be read. Print 1874 PD
According to the BBC The last reading of the Riot Act on mainland UK was in Glasgow on the 31 January 1919. However, we have found what we believe to be a later reading of the Riot Act.
In 1918 and 1919 the Police twice went on strike in Britain. The second strike was called to start on 1 August 1919. It was not so successful as the first with only a relatively small number of officers taking part across the country.
Although a national strike had failed, the police officers of Liverpool, Bootle and Birkenhead still had a large number of local grievances and many of them supported the strike. The Home Secretary reported to Parliament on 4 August that striker numbers were 932 officers in Liverpool out of an establishment of 2,100, 106 in Birkenhead, and 63 in Bootle.
Over that weekend the authorities in the Liverpool area were very concerned that in the absence of police, civil unrest by criminal elements would break out. A call for help was sent by the Mayor to the Home Office and troops were mobilised in the area; even a battleship and two destroyers were despatched to the port.
The fears were founded. Wholesale looting began on the Saturday night, which left the remaining police on duty and special constables struggling to maintain order.
Shops were smashed and looted and goods strewn about the streets. The Times newspaper correspondent later described the area as the Ypres of Liverpool. The soldiers were called out and with bayonets fixed, they charged the crowd on several occasions. At one time even a volley of shots was discharged over the rioters heads.
The Times reported that in nearby Birkenhead the Riot Act was read out while 40 shops were wrecked and looted, and 700 soldiers assisted the police in attempting to maintain order. [1]
Once the troubles had died down there followed court cases to deal with the trouble makers, none of whom faced the charge of a statutory felony which carried the death penalty for which the Act provided.
The Act was repealed in Britain in 1973.
[1] The Times, Monday, August 04, 1919
The Essex Record Office 'ERO' are custodians of the parish registers of Essex. Ancestry.co.uk have now transcribed the entire collection of Essex parish registers. Search now on Ancestry for your Essex ancestors. Then on the results page click on ‘request image’ and you will be taken to the ERO website where you can purchase an image of the relevant page.
Visit our Parish Registers of Essex page for more information.
Newspaper archives are now a very important source of information for researching your family tree.
Try our example search to help you discover if your ancestors are in the British Newspaper Archive.
Ebay is a good source of old images of Essex towns and villages. If you're looking for pictures to add to your family tree album, then try one of the auctions, or there are several 'Buy It Now' shops offering postcards which have been touched up and improved - so if you're unsure about bidding, try these.
Link below already formatted for Essex and Postcards.