Overview

The early 1790s were a turbulent period in an increasingly divided England, nowhere more so than in Birmingham, where a strengthening Republican threat inevitably prompted a desperate Anglican and Tory backlash. As a young Birmingham metal-worker who was there, Billy gives a vivid first-hand account of the part he and his friends played in the Birmingham Riots of 1791, and the resulting trials which attracted the attention of the whole country. Through Billy's eyes the reader comes to understand the social and political unrest of those turbulent times. Billy Hands describes his life as a common but well-respected metal-worker. Billy was also invited to be a servant member of a remarkably egalitarian gentlemen's Birmingham Athletic Society. When some of the gentlemen members were developing plans for some anti-Republican riots, Billy heard and understood the gentlemen's reasons. Thus, Billy's story provides an important insight into public disorder in England that still applies to this day.

Full Product Details

Author:   Tony Rail
Publisher:   William Tabb
Imprint:   William Tabb
Weight:   1.050kg
ISBN:  

9781919412801

ISBN 10:   1919412808
Pages:   384
Publication Date:   09 February 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Dedication & Apologia v Introduction viii Ch.1 Friday morning 15th July 1791 1 Ch.2 Gay Hill juxta Headley Heath 14 Ch.3 An Excess of Monarchs, 1714 19 Ch.4 Bromsgrove 27 Ch.5 Runaway 37 Ch.6 Digbeth 44 Ch.7 Whitesmith 54 Ch.8 Hydrogen balloons 64 Ch.9 The Hunting Parson 73 Ch.10 Reverend Joseph Priestley 78 Ch.11 Equestrian Amphitheatre 82 Ch.12 Athletics Society 87 Ch.13 L'energie Francaise 97 Ch.14 Isaac Perrins 101 Ch.15 Church & King Club 107 Ch.16 A Talent for making enemies 117 Ch.17 Agitators' Committee 123 Ch.18 Portugal House 128 Ch.19 Unitarian Chapel 135 Ch.20 Nine Caballers 141 Ch.21 A Wily Ruse 152 Ch.22 The Gathering Storm 161 Ch.23 The French Revolution Dinner 170 Ch.24 Outside the Hotel 180 Ch.25 'To the Meetings' 186 Ch.26 Destruction of the Meeting-houses 194 Ch.27 Priestley's Fair Hill House 202 Ch.28 A quite Amicable Riot 213 Ch.29 Viewing the Ruins 224 Ch.30 A Second Rubber of Rioting 233 Ch.31 John Ryland's House at Easy Hill 241 Ch.32 We Sporting English 248 Ch.33 For the Sport Alone 254 Ch.34 William Hutton 260 Ch.35 Sparkbrook 269 Ch.36 Moseley Hall 275 Ch.37 Castle Bromwich 280 Ch.38 Kings Norton 286 Ch.39 A Time for Reckoning 293 Ch.40 Worcester Trials 300 Ch.41 Warwick Trials 307 Ch.42 The Priestley Three 313 Ch.43 In the Dock 319 Ch.44 Trueman's Cross-examination 326 Ch.45 Death Cell 334 Ch.46 Petition Rejected 344 Ch.47 London 349 Ch.48 Marriage 356 Appendix 1...Members on the Agitators' Committee 364 Appendix 2...List of Houses to be Demolished xi Appendix 3...List of Rioters Arraigned xii

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Author Information

Tony Rail is a research chemist, teacher and historian with a particular interest in Eighteenth-century history. Dr. Rail has published numerous academic articles on Joseph Priestley, the eighteenth-century scientist, theologian and political radical, including his 'William Priestley Vindicated,' which corrected the historic record in regard Priestley's second son.

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