John Shuttleworth Eyewitness Account

• Place: Manchester
• Role: Spectator
• Occupation: Merchant

Says there was less than one stick per ten persons in the procession. Saw no resistance to the yeomanry. Gives detailed description. ‘Nothing in their arrival excited his fear for the town of Manchester’.

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John Shuttleworth was next called and sworn, but Mr. Hunt wishing to examine him to certain points, an altercation took place between him and the Counsel for the prosecution on the propriety of following up the course he wished.

Justice Bayley interposed, and ruled, that where evidence had been given of molestation against the yeomanry by the people, the same might be given of that offered by the yeomanry against the people.

John Shuttleworth is a merchant, residing at Manchester; he recollects being on the Exchange of Manchester about eleven o'clock on the 16th of August, and witnessed several parties pass to St. Peter's Field: they were marching with considerable regularity in the form of procession, and conducted themselves in an extremely orderly and decorous manner; he observed that several of the parties had banners or flags with inscrip­tions upon them; many of the inscriptions merely stated the district from which the parties came, and some had reference to questions of political interest; his attention was directed to the Lees, Mosely and Saddleworth party with the black flag, which caused his attention being directed to this party conducted themselves strictly with order and regularity; can­not say he observed what portion of sticks were in that party, but can precisely speak to the average number of sticks in the whole body; in consequence of the observations made on the number of sticks earned by pre­vious parties and meetings at Manchester, he determined to count as accurately as he could the portion on the occasion; he did so in several hundreds, until indeed he thought he had a fair average, and he result has left no doubt on my mind that here was not one stick to ten persons; he speaks only of those who were walking, in the procession, those at the sides did not come under his notice; the sticks were such as are usually carried by country persons; observed no large staves in hands of the Lees and Moseley parties shouldered as muskets; they certainly were not; if any person had conducted themselves, he think he must have observed it, even if one out of five had so acted; nothing objectionable took place in his presence: se­veral respectable persons could observe as well as himself, hey were placed in an equally favourable situation; did not hear a word indicating alarm or apprehensions; the only objection he heard to any part of the procession was to the black flag; he went to St. Peter’s field a quarter before twelve; saw nothing to create fears for the safety of the town; nothing in the ap­pearance of their conduct, their manner, their language, that could fairly excite the fears of any rational mind; saw them assembled together; passed through the line of constables extended from the Magistrates' house, and took my station 30 or 35 yards from Mr. Buxton's house, on the elevated ground at the top of Windmill street, not so far as half way between the house and hustings; he was about 30 yards from Buxton’s house, about 80 from the hustings; saw several parties arrive at distance; nothing in their arrival excited his fear for the town of Manchester; could command the whole view of the area; the different parties were received with cheers and congratulation by those assembled; those who came to the ground in procession had away made for them to the hustings; remained there till past one, and then removed to the rear of the hustings fifteen yards from, them; saw his arrival; Mr. Hunt was received with louder cheers; there was some difficulty about the hustings, witness could not understand; heard him (Mr. Hunt) calling to order, and making some remarks on the necessity of keeping silence, that the extremity of the meeting might have as favour­able an opportunity of hearing as was possible in their situation: he (Hunt) was exhorting the-meeting to be quiet when some disturbances arose in the rear of the Hustings; as that was the only part whence a noise proceeded, Mr. Hunt turned round and stated something to this effect. That though they must conduct themselves with order and propriety, he did not wish them to compromise the rights of every Englishman to interfere to prevent distur­bances, and if that parties in that direction would persist in attempting to breed a riot, he trusted they would put them down and keep them down; where he stood was a large posse of special constables, many of whom seemed an­xious to hear Mr. Hunt and when this appeal of Mr. Hunt’s produced tranquillity, many of them exclaimed, well done Hunt, that’s right; immediately after some companies of foot regiment marched round the barrier in Cooper's-street into Dickenson-street and placed there, from the meeting; this occasioned some disorder in the part of the meeting which was in sight of their station; Mr. Hunt observing the disorder, said something about it being a trick, and desired the people to give three cheers, which was complied with; Mr. Hunt did not say to the soldiers there are your enemies, put them down; on the contrary, he doubts if any person on the hustings could see Dickenson Street; it seemed to him that he (Mr. Hunt) only cheered to restore tranquillity, and it had that effect; he stood near the Windmill public-house; there was a rank of constables from that to the hustings, which rendered it quite practicable to commu­nicate with them; saw no communication by any persons in that direction with the hustings; in the rear there was not a dense phalanx of Reformers 10 or 15 deep; saw the cavalry arrive; up to that period observed nothing to excite his fears for the safety of the town; heard none of his respectable fellow-townsmen express such fears; to the best of his recollection he (Mr. Hunt) desired that the yeomanry should be cheered, and they were so; did not hear them assailed with hissings, hootings, and groanings; must have heard them near where he was if they had done go; the people turned round, but he saw no brandishing of cudgels, saw no act of defiance offered to the military upon that occasion; while the people were cheering he moved to a few yards from the left flank of the yeomanry, and while doing so, they shouted, brandishing their swords in the air; this seemed to excite great agitation, and there was a confused noise for a few moments, and many of the special constables reaching from Buxton's house to the hustings fell back together with others who stood there, so as to leave an open space of about fifty yards; the ca­valry then proceeded at a quick Space towards the hustings; their speed seemed to increase as they passed this open space, and those in front entered the crowd at what appeared to me a gallop; this speed was checked by the density of the crowd; did not see any of them separated from the rest, they appeared to me in one circular mass; observed no resistance made; observed them till they reached the hustings; saw no stone, stick or brick-bat hurled as they were going to the hustings.

Cross-examined by Mr. Cross . — Did not know Mr. Hunt; heard of him before that day; saw The Manchester Observer sometimes; does not take it in; does not remember to have heard before the Meeting of the 15th that Mr. Hunt presided at the Smithfield meeting. Hearing that he had presided at the Spa-fields meeting, it did not make me afraid. Never saw so numerous a meeting at Manchester; never knew any person invited from London before to preside at a Manchester meeting; there were; many there capable of presiding and speaking, does not know whether it is usual for them to preside; he was not at the former meeting at which Mr. Hunt presided; knows the Editor of the Liverpool Mercury, Mr. Smith. Upon, the Exchange, parties were congratulating each other on the 16th, that the, meeting was not to be interfered with by the Magistrates; that it was not to be interrupted. It was this report induced me to go to this meeting; should not have gone otherwise; heard of drilling before then of numerous bodies round the town; felt no alarm at the idea of their coming to Manchester, because I heard the drilling was for the purpose of going more orderly to, the meeting; did not hear of drilling before that meeting; never heard it announced in Manchester that a black book should be kept, for the purpose of entering the names of persons guilty of acts to violence and oppression, to be produced on a future day.

(Here The Manchester Observer was produced by Mr. Cross, having a paragraph to the above effect from Mr. Cobbett).

Witness. - never saw the paragraph before. I was apprehensive of the consequences of the meeting of the 16th, but not from the people. It appeared to me that any apprehensions entertained arose from threats of violence from those in the confidence of Magistrates, and the report that the swords of the yeomanry had been sharpened. I heard of no confederacies or combinations of Radical Reformers, except what were called the Reform Unions. I am not aware of a Head Committee, or of the details. I felt no alarm; and saw nothing but joy in the faces of all when they entered the town; I was not aware of a meeting of the respectable inhabitants at the Police-office on the 16th. I counted the proportion of sticks, they were about one in ten. Their march was a lounging, saunter­ing kind of walk; this applied to all but the Rochdale division. I did not go to the meeting of Magistrates at Mr. Buxton's; I was not in the house that day, nor ever in my life. I am a member of the Manchester Committee for the Relief of the Sufferers on the 16^th. As the bodies came up out of the country, room was made for them round the hustings. I did not hear the word ‘enemies' used by Mr. Hunt.

Re-examined by Mr. Hunt—The Committee of which I am a member is for the relief of all injured by the forcible dispersion of the meeting; I was led to become a member from a feeling of Humanity: I heard that bodies of men were exercising for the purpose of proceeding more orderly to the meeting.

In putting this last question, Mr. Hunt repeated it as an answer given before by the witness.

Mr. Scarlett objected to this mode of examination.

Justice Bayley thought, as the question was answered before, the an­swer might be repeated, preparatory to some other question. It was fre­quently done.

Mr. Scarlett was persisting in his objection, when,

Justice Bayley said, My situation is one, brother Scarlett, of much difficulty. I wish you were in my place.

Mr. Hunt—God forbids my Lord.

The examination proceeded. — I heard of Mr. Hunt attending a meet­ing before at Manchester; heard of nothing that occurred there to create apprehension, for the meeting of the 16th; I heard that the proceedings at the former meeting were orderly; I did not hear of any disturbance or breach of the peace at that meeting; I heard of a meeting called by the Boroughreeve and constables to congratulate the Prince Regent on some occasion; I am not certain if it comprehended the neighbourhood; I was at it; great multitudes assembled; this meeting was adjourned, and great outrages committed; the Exchange windows were broken; people from the country came in great numbers; the meeting could not consist of less than 5, in a much more inconvenient place than St. Peter’s field; it was called together by public advertisement. There were very large processions at the Proclamation of the Peace in Manchester; I joined in them; great numbers of the labouring classes joined in them also; all the shop windows were shut in the general line of the procession more than on the 16th. a, for there was a town holiday; I am a merchant of the town of Manchester; and have considerable property there were women children with all, the parties I saw; there was a considerable number of them in St. Peter’s field.

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