The assassination of Thomas Ashton, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and mill-owner, took place at around 7:00 p.m. on 3 January 1831. Ashton was shot dead by striking workers in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

as a warning to their employers. The attack occurred in the midst of the rising tensions of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

due to the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

and the subsequent emergence of the Chartist and

trade-union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

movements to combat the extreme poverty of major industrial cities such as Manchester at the time. The assassination is widely considered to have inspired

Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer, and short story writer. Her novels offer detailed studies of Victorian era, Victoria ...

's first novel, ''

Mary Barton ''Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life'' was the Debut novel, first novel by English author Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in 1848. The story is set in the English city of Manchester between 1839 and 1842, and deals with the difficulties ...

'' (1848). Gaskell, however, denied that she had based the book on Ashton's death.

Assassination and trial

Three men were implicated in the crime - James Garside, Joseph Mosley and William Mosley. The men mistook Thomas for his brother Samuel, a manager of the mill. The judge and jury decided that Garside had pulled the trigger, despite it being his information which had originally led to the arrests; it was ruled that he had been hoping to blame his accomplices. William Mosley's account of the murder ran as follows: 'A short space afterwards there came a man down the footpath towards the clap gate. The man was in the footpath leading from Mr. Ashton's. Garside got up, and met him in the field before he got through the gate, and pointed the piece at him. He gave way. Garside fired. When Mr. Ashton gave way he only went a little out of the way. Garside met him, and he went back. He had got through the clap gate when he fired, and was going along the road to the mill. The man who was shot fell across the road, with his head towards the right hand side, opposite to where I was. We immediately ran away, and I made the best of my way across the fields to the second canal bridge.'

Background

As a centre of capitalism, Manchester was frequently the scene of labour riots and calls for greater political recognition by the city's working and non-titled classes - resulting in events such as the

Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Eighteen people died and 400–700 were injured when the cavalry of the Yeomen charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who ...

of August 1819. The year prior to Ashon's death also saw major uprisings and rebellions against the bourgeoisie in the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

of France, which stimulated

radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

and Chartist progression in England. William Mosley recounted that when he asked Garside which of the Ashtons he had shot, the response was 'it didn't matter which it was; it was one of them.'

References

{{reflist History of Manchester 19th century in Manchester 1831 in England Assassinations in the United Kingdom January 1831 1831 murders in the United Kingdom