Assassination in London

[Mayerling]

Oddly enough for this website, I have seen no comments being made of the tragedy regarding Jo Cox, Labour MP (and some say a rising star in her party) on a London street by an assassin with a gun. From today's news he has connections with some White Supremicists in the U.S (sadly to admit), and a history of mental problems.

Cox is not the first political figure from England (or even in London) to die in an assassination. It is just seen as a rarer phenomenon there than in the States.
Going back to 1605 you'd have

1) The plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament ("the Gunpowder Plot") by Guy Fawkes and his associates - in London
2) George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, by John Felton in 1628.
3) Sir Edmundberry Godfrey (during the "Popish Plot" mania) in 1676 - in London,
4) Fenwick's plot against King William III in 1694.
5) Guiscard's physical attempted murder of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford in 1711 - in London.
6) The assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval in the old House of Commons in 1812 - in London (to this date the only time a modern British Prime Minister was assassinated).
7) The plot to kill the cabinet at a dinner party (the "Cato Street Plot") of Arthur Thistlewood and his associates in 1820 - in London (one police officer was killed by Thistlewood).
8) The killing of Mr. Edmund Drummond, Secretary to Sir Robert Peel, by Daniel M'Naghten - in London (when M'Naghten was actually trying to kill Peel, and felt Drummond was Peel, as he was leaving 10 Downing Street).
9) The murder of the Earl of Mayo, Viceroy of India, in the Andaman Islands by a convict, in 1872 (though actually in Asia).
10) The Phoenix Park Assassinations of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Thomas Burke in 1882, though in Dublin.
11) The murders of Sir Curzon Wylie and a doctor, by Mal Dhingra in 1909 - in London
12) The attempt to assassinate Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1917.
13) The assassination of General (and MP) Sir Henry Wilson, outside his home by two I.R.A. members in 1922 (in London, on Eaton Place).
14) The assassination of Sir Lee Stack, the "Sirdar" to Egypt and the Sudan, in 1923 - on a Cairo Street, however.
15) The assassination of Sir Michael O'Dwyer, and wounding of Lord Zetland, by a Sikh national avenging O'Dwyer's help in "covering-up" the Amritsar Massacre of 1919, in 1940 - in London.
16) The assassination of Lord Moyne, and his chauffeur, by two members of the Stern Gang in 1944 - in Cairo, Egypt.
17) The assassination of Foreign Minister Airey Neave (and several others) in a hotel bombing in 1979, when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was to attend.

Roughly those were the only ones that came to mind, although the murder (by a bomb) on a yacht, by IRA people of Lord Mountbatten and his grandson and others in 1977 might be added. It, though, was in Ireland, and Mountbatten was then in retirement and not an active member of the armed forces or the government.

Jeff

[GUT]

Awful development.

[GUT]

In London

Mountbatten.

Alexander Litvinenko

The former USSR defector.

1940 Michael O'Dwyer, former Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, in London during a speech at Coxton Hall.

[GUT]

So lucky in Australia, or maybe we just don't give a rats, but almost unheard of, John Newman is the only one that I can think of.

[Robert]

Hi Jeff

Airey Neave was not a minister when he was murdered by Irish terrorist group the INLA, as it was just before the general election that brought Thatcher to power. He was killed by a car bomb in the House of Commons car park. The bomb in the hotel was at Brighton in 1984. during the conservative party conference. One MP and several others were killed. Finally, Ian Gow, MP, was murdered by the IRA in 1990 (car bomb).

Re the latest atrocity, it was a sickening and cowardly murder of a woman. I don't know what more can be said, since the case is sub judice.

[Robert]

In fact I've already said too much since it may be ruled manslaughter.

[Wickerman]

Jo Cox was murdered in Birstall, on the outskirts of Leeds, West Yorkshire, not London.

[Mayerling]

Jo Cox was murdered in Birstall, on the outskirts of Leeds, West Yorkshire, not London.

Thanks Robert and Wickermann for the corrections.

GUT, there was an attempted assassination in 1868 in Melbourne - the Duke of Edinburgh, Victoria's second oldest son, making the first royal visit to the Australian colonies. He was shot in the back by one Henry O'Farrell, a mentally ill man who later vaguely claimed Fenian sympathies. O'Farrell followed the Duke to a large public picnic, and shot him there, but was grabbed. The Duke recovered.

The assassination attempt was shortly after the Clerkenwall Explosion Outrage in London, and trial of Michael Barrett, and the assassination (in Ottawa) of Thomas D'Arcy M'Gee. The leading figure in the government of the colony of Victoria was Henry Parkes, and Parkes saw an opportunity of turning this attack to his political advantage, beginning an anti-Irish/anti-Catholic crusade (sounds vaguely similar to something in American politics right now), claiming he had evidence that O'Farrell was in cahoots with a set of Fenian conspirators to topple the government who met at Kiowa. By now O'Farrell was not as open mouthed about Fenians, and he was not all that alone in the colony questioning Parkes' story. On top of this, the Duke felt that O'Farrell was mad and should not be sent to prison (and certainly not executed) but put into an asylum. Parkes ignored this reasonable assumption, had O'Farrell prosecuted (and convicted) and the madman was hanged (years later, in 1882) O'Farrell's brother - a priest - shot at Archbishop Goold and wounded him; he ended up in a mad house). After O'Farrell's execution, and the Duke's return to Great Britain, Parkes' critics began questioning the justice of the sentence, in the wake of Parkes' failure to prove the existence of the "Kiowa Ghost" as the so-called plotters were referred. In 1869 Parkes lost his position as Premier - but Parkes was an extremely able politician, and he would soon be back in the post. In fact he'd be the colony of Melbourne's leading political power figure until his death in the 1890s. He also would become SIR Henry Parkes.

Jeff

[GUT]

When you type in my response and it dissappears.

Attempt on politician in Australia was on Arthut Callwell's life in 1966 when A rifle was fired at ear point blank range and the bullet was deflected by the car window.

At the time Callwell was leader of the federal ALP, then in opposition, to the Liberal Party lead by either Meznies or Holt.

[GUT]

In terms of Royals, there was that idiot that jumped on stage and aimed, what turned out to be a starting pistol at Prince Charles in Sydney in the mid 90s.

John Fahey, then PREMIERRE of NSW (about equivalent of a State Governor in USA) just about broke him in half when he tackled him, Fahey had been a (semi) professional Rugby League player known for his defence and hit him with a copybook tackle.

I'm ashamed to admit that the idiot (whose name I can't recall) is now a Barrister, blowed if I know how he passed the "Fit and Proper Person" test.

[Pcdunn]

Don't forget the ladies

In terms of Royals, there was that idiot that jumped on stage and aimed, what turned out to be a starting pistol at Prince Charles in Sydney in the mid 90s.

Weren't there attempted assassinations on the lives of both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria as well? (The latter while she was in a carriage with Albert?)

[GUT]

Weren't there attempted assassinations on the lives of both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria as well? (The latter while she was in a carriage with Albert?)

Not in Australia but.

The one on Queen Vic features in a Murdoch a Mysteries episode.

Mrs Gut tells me there were a few on Queen Elizabeth and in fact my ancestors were involved in one.

Some idiot claims that a log on the train lines near Lithgow was an attempt on Queen Elizabeth II life here in Aus. Most think he's stretching things a bit.

[Mayerling]

Victoria was to be attacked on 8 occasions from 1840 - 1882. The one in a carriage was the first, when one Edward Oxford shot at Victoria in her carriage with Albert on Constitution Hill in London. Oxford was (like most of these assassins) either insane, feeble minded, or eccentric. His attack was to lead to rumors that he was the tool of Victoria's uncle Ernest, now King of Hanover as Ernest I. Unlike Great Britain, the Hanovarian throne could only be inherited by male heirs. Up to 1837 all the Kings of Great Britain from George I to William IV (five in 122 years) were also Kings of that fifth kingdom of Hanover, but when Victoria inherited the British throne in 1837 (her line of descent was from Edward, Duke of Kent, who was the fourth son of King George III, after George IV, the Duke of York, and William IV; Ernest, Duke of Cumberland was the 5th Son of King George III) Ernest was able to become King of Hanover, as Victoria could not become ruler. Ernest was not too thrilled about this, but there was nothing he could do.

Unfortunately the rumor mills soon spread stories about Edward Oxford. Supposedly there was a paper in his rooms showing he was trying to get the throne for Ernest. It was recalled that Ernest had a sinister event in his own career in 1811 when his servant De Selis attacked him with a saber, and apparently cut his throat. But many believed Ernest killed De Selis and made it look like he had been attacked (hard to believe as Ernest had a saber scar on his forehead for the rest of his life, which ended in 1851). Believing Ernest had once gotten away with murder, many now felt he had been behind a plot against his niece. While Ernest and Victoria never really were friendly (Ernest kept insisting he had priority in dining when visiting his niece as her uncle, and she refused to be bullied into being meek about this demand), it really does not seem like Ernest planned an assassination with a mental defective. Oxford went to Bedlam, and later (in the 1860s) agreed to emigrate to Australia when released.

Most of the attacks on Victoria were variants of what Oxford did, with occasional minor things of interest. One Bean attacked her in 1843, and he was a hunchback gentlemen who fled the scene. Constables were rounding up all male hunchbacks they found until they caught him. In 1850 a retired army officer varied the attacks and actually hit Victoria - with a cane or swagger stick. It bloodied a cheek I believe. He turned out to be wealthier than most of these fellows, and he ended up in a fancier asylum. In 1872, when Victoria was at a public event, Arthur O'Connor confronted her with a gun and a petition for reforms. Her ghillie, John Brown, grabbed O'Connor, and would later get a medal for his action. O'Connor (another nut) happened to have some ancestry of interest. His grandfather was the Chartist leader, Feargus O'Connor. Finally, in 1882 the last attack occurred when Victoria was leaving a railway car at Windsor. One Roderick MacLean presented a pistol at her (ironically John Brown was present, but preoccupied when the attack occurred, so he was not involved in the capture this time). MacLean did not realize he faced terrible odds - he was attack and beaten by a large number of young male students from Eton College. MacLean did not go to an asylum - he got a seven year prison term. The reason was his attack occurred just before the Phoenix Park Assassinations, and the jurors were not in as generous a mood this time for the would-be assassin.

Elizabeth I also had several plots against her. The three that come to mind are the Throgmorton Plot of 1571, which led to the trial for treason and execution of the hitherto loyal Sir Nicholas Throgmorton - apparently he was involved with corresponding with King Philip of Spain, about possibly freeing Mary of Scotland and replacing Elizabeth with her cousin. Better remembered is the Babbington Plot of 1587 wherein Anthony Babbington and several other Catholic gentry were in touch with Mary about overthrowing and killing Elizabeth and giving the throne to the Scottish Queen/prisoner. However, Sir Francis Walshingham was ahead of them, keeping tabs on the conspiracy by a spy in their midst. The result were the arrests, torture, trials and executions of the Babbington plotters, and the follow-up trial, conviction, and execution of Mary at Fotheringay Castle in 1587. The last one I recall was in 1596, and is called the Lopez Poisoning case. Dr. Roderigo Lopez was the Queen's physician, and was also of Spanish and Jewish ancestry (although he was practicing Christianity). He was arrested for suspicion of trying to poison Elizabeth, and eventually tried and convicted and executed for the crime. As the person who found all this out was Elizabeth's current favorite, Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex (who would subsequently lead an unsuccessful revolt against Elizabeth in 1601, and end up on Tower Hill for execution for treason), I tend to wonder about how real Lopez's guilt was. In terms of literature it may have been very powerful. About that time Shakespeare would write his Jewish/anti-Semitic (?) [play) "The Merchant of Venice, and it has been suggested that he was influenced by the fate of Dr. Lopez.

Jeff

[Pcdunn]

Hi, Jeff,

Fascinating post, as usual, and very informative. I saw the movie about Queen Victoria and Mr. Brown, and enjoyed it immensely. I also follow the Murdoch Mysteries (here known as The Artful Detective), and remember the carriage attack.

[GUT]

Hi, Jeff,

Fascinating post, as usual, and very informative. I saw the movie about Queen Victoria and Mr. Brown, and enjoyed it immensely. I also follow the Murdoch Mysteries (here known as The Artful Detective), and remember the carriage attack.

I didn't know it was called something different, thanks it may make finding a season on DVD that I'm after a bit easier.