Local officials offer congratulations to Queen Victoria on failed assassination
JOHN Taylor is an old friend of the Bugle, regularly sharing with us the latest finds from his great collection of historical memorabilia, all relating to his birthplace, Stourbridge.
His latest acquisition sent me on a detective hunt to find out the story behind it.
John has recently bought an old letter, dated May 13, 1868. It was sent by the Home Secretary of the day, a man who rejoiced in the typically Victorian name of Gathorne Gathorne-hardy (he was later ennobled as the 1st Earl of Cranbrook).
Commissioners
The recipients of the letter were the Stourbridge Improvement Commissioners, forerunners of the local authority. In the letter, reproduced right, Gathorne-hardy acknowledges the receipt of a message from the commissioners to Queen Victoria concerning the recent failed assassination attempt on the Duke of Edinburgh.
What was the background to this government minister writing to a group of Black Country officials?
The records of the Stourbridge Improvement Commission are kept at the Dudley Archives Centre, and with the help of Andy Bytheway I was able to find the minute book from the relative period.
The commissioners met on May 4, 1868, with William Akroyd in the chair. The others present were Charles W. Collis, L.H. Packwood, H. Billingham, G. Thorne, T.H. Richards and H. Newnam. After discussing the pavements in Birmingham Street, a contract for the painting of the Corn Exchange and butcher’s shambles, and the commission accounts, the commissioners decided to draft their letter to the Queen. It reads:
Loyal subjects
“To the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty. May it please your Majesty, we, your Majesty’s loyal subjects the ‘Stourbridge Improvement Commissioners’ now assembled at their usual Monthly Meeting, humbly desire to express to your Majesty our abhorrence of the crime recently committed, the attempted assassination of his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh while on a visit to a distant part of your Majesty’s dominions. We feel deeply thankful for the providential escape of the Prince from the dastardly attempt, and venture to approach your Majesty with this expression of our unfeigned congratulations. We humbly pray that Almighty God will watch over the life of the Prince and that your Majesty’s heart may be gladdened by the speedy and safe return of the Royal Prince to his native land.”
The letter was signed by William Akroyd.
In a spooky coincidence, the clerk of the Stourbridge Improvement Commission, who recorded the minutes and drafted the letter to the Queen, was also named John Taylor.
In the minutes of their next meeting, on Wednesday, June 3, 1868, the improvement commissioners recorded the receipt of their letter from the Home Secretary.
Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1844-1900), was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria. He was one of the most travelled royals of the day, having sailed around the world while serving in the Royal Navy. In 1868 he returned to Australia on an official visit, the first by a royal.
On March 12 he attended a fund-raising picnic for the Sydney Sailors’ Home. There he was shot in the back by Dublin-born Henry James O’farrell, the bullet lodging just to the right of the prince’s spine.
O’farrell had to be rescued by the police from being lynched on the spot, while the prince spent the next two weeks recovering in hospital under the care of six nurses, newly arrived in Australia, who had been trained by Florence Nightingale.
Rewarded
William Vial, who had wrested the revolver from O’farrell’s hand, was later rewarded with the prince’s own watch and the day after the assassination attempt 20,000 people attended an “indignation meeting.”
Prince Alfred made a full recovery and continued on his world tour. O’farrell was tried on March 30. He had a history of mental illness and had recently been discharged from an asylum. However, he was convicted and sentenced to death. Prince Alfred appealed for clemency but O’farrell was hanged on April 21, 1868.
In 1874 Prince Alfred married Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. They had one son and five daughters. In 1893 Prince Alfred succeeded his uncle as the Duke of Saxe-coburg and Gotha, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) having renounced his claim to the title.
Gathorne-hardy (18141906) was Home Secretary from May 1867 to December 1868, serving under both the Earl of Derby and Benjamin Disraeli. When Disraeli returned to power in 1874 Gathorne-hardy served as Secretary of State for War. In 1878 he became Secretary of State for India and in 1886 he was appointed Lord President of the Council by the Marquess of Salisbury. He retired from public life in 1895.