Benjamin Hanson

341

Maureen Withey on 21st April 2025

National Archives. Criminal Petitions. Ref: HO 17/122/47 A list of those convicted of high treason at York. Prisoners sentenced to transportation for life: William Comstive, Richard Addy, Charles Stanfield, Benjamin Hanson, Benjamin Rogers, Joseph Chappeil, William Rice, John Birkenshaw, Joseph Firth - all annotated NSW [New South Wales]. Also Michael Downing. The following names crossed out: Thomas Blackburn, John Johnson, [John Vallance], [Alexander Jackson], John Peacock and Thomas Morgan. Prisoners sentenced to transportation for 14 years: Thomas Blackburn: annotated 'died'; Nathaniel Buckley: annotated 'quiet and misled', York hulk; John Lindley [name crossed through]: annotated to go abroad New South Wales; Abraham Ingham and George Bryan: annotated 'good characters', York hulk, seduced; John Hobson: annotated 'young, under 20, probably seduced', York hulk; George Birkenshaw: annotated 'good character, imbecile', York hulk; William Holland: annotated 'young, under 20, probably seduced', York hulk; James Flowers: annotated 'old and infirm, deaf and simple, discharged'; John Ferrysmead: annotated 'quare, York hulk'; John Vallance [name crossed through]: annotated 'quare case, good character, free pardoned'; John Peacock [name crossed through]: annotated 'to go abroad New South Wales'. The following men listed as [tried at] York 9 September 1820, sentenced to 14 years transportation, commuted to seven years 13 April 1821, and annotated to be pardoned uinless Sir John Byng sees some objection: John Farrimond, William Holland, George Birkinshaw, John Hobson, George Brien, Abraham Ingham and Nathaniel Buckley. Papers: Letter from J Byng of Pontefract advising on the safe state of the county, in spite of occasional meetings of 'Ranters', and reporting that it is not necessary 'to detain longer in confinement the offenders convicted at York in 1819' [1820]. A letter from Mary Ashett asking if she may be allowed to accompany the wives of the men transported for treason to New South Wales. She was about to be married to William Comstive. Annotated: William Holland, George Burkinshaw, John Hobson, George Brien, Abraham Ingham, Nathaniel Buckley; Free pardoned 14 September 1822. Date: 1822.

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Maureen Withey on 3rd February 2020

Benjamin Hanson was charged with High Treason for taking part in the Yorkshire West Riding Revolt of 1820. The Yorkshire West Riding Revolt of April 1820 was an uprising planned by working class radicals. It is thought to have been associated with Scottish uprisings, and occurred just as those arrested in the Peterloo Massacre and other reform demonstrations of 1819 were coming to trial. The desire for universal suffrage, annual elections and an end to the Corn Laws were the main motivation for radicals. On 1 April, about 2,000 armed men approached the town of Huddersfield from four directions, with the intention of taking the town from the garrison stationed there. About 400 men within Huddersfield itself were part of the plan. However, for some reason the plan was aborted, the insurgents withdrew and returned to their homes and only four men were arrested, after the event. On the evening of 11 April, a group of from 300 to 500 men from Barnsley and the nearby villages of Dodworth and Monk Bretton marched to Grange Moore, near Huddersfield. They believed that they were part of a rising postponed from 1 April and that they would meet with other groups and take Huddersfield. They carried arms and provisions, marched to a drum beat and carried political banners which they had used in meetings in 1819. On arriving at Grange Moore, they found that only about 20 men from Huddersfield had come to join them, and that the other towns had not mobilised. Most fled, and when the military arrived to confront them, they arrested a small group who did not resist. In Sheffield, a simultaneous event did take place, although as on 1 April, a planned attack on a barracks was apparently aborted. About 200 armed men assembled, marched, split into two groups then reassembled in the Haymarket. They chanted ‘ Hunt and Liberty’, ‘The Revolution, the Revolution’ and ‘All in the Mind for the Barracks’. Their leader, John Blackwell, symbolically fired off a pistol, but this was the only shot fired. The men simply dispersed. At Halifax, as in Sheffield, there was a meeting of men who chanted loudly and fired off a rocket, before dispersing. At Mirfield and Dewsbury there were general strikes. On 12 April at Wigan in Lancashire, about 300 men assembled, thinking they were to be part of a general rising, but as in Grange Moore, dispersed in confusion. Four men were prosecuted as a result of the events on 1 April. John Peacock and John Lindley were transported to Van Diemen’s Land and Nathaniel Buckely and Thomas Blackburn served two years imprisonment before being pardoned. Twenty two men were prosecuted for High Treason as a result of the events of 12 April at Grange Moore. They admitted their actions and entered a group plea of guilty, relying on William Comstive, their leader, to be their spokesman. They were sentenced to death but recommended for mercy and the sentences were commuted to imprisonment or transportation to Van Diemen’s Land. Eleven of the 22 were told they would be deported to Van Dieman's Land – the Australian penal colony which was later renamed Tasmania, while the rest were sent to the 'hulks' (prison ships). John Burkinshaw and his brother George Burkinshaw were among those charged with high treason. One pleaded guilty, the rest including John and George pleaded not guilty. The penalty if the charge was proved was death, however they were told if they changed their plea to guilty, they would be spared. The guilty plea was subsequently entered and the death sentence was replaced with transportation – 11 of them, including John, for life and the remainder, including George, for 14 years. The ‘lifers’ were sent to Van Dieman’s Land. Eleven arrived in 1820 on the 'Lady Ridley' and a twelfth transportee, Michael Downing, arrived on the 'Phoenix' in 1822. Source: Wikipedia.

40

Peter on 10th August 2014

Killed by Aborigines 1824