Boston 1770 At Least he Didn;t have to Walk

[jeff of pa]

Narking in 1770 ? Not a Good Idea !

 

[Red-Coat]

Well, they didn’t have Netflix in those days, so they had to make their own entertainment.

Fascinating story, Jeff, and there’s a lot more to it:

From an account by the merchant Samuel Salisbury:

“I perceived candles in a number of windows, what, thinks I, is there an illumination tonight? Getting home I was informed that an Informer had been carted through the streets, Tarred and feathered.
After I had been to the Barber’s my Curiosity led me to the point at New Boston [the western tip of the peninsula] where I found the Informer [Owen Richards] in a Cart before Capt [John] Homer’s door surrounded with a great number of People
he had his shirt taken off & his bare skin tarred & Feathered. Sometimes they would make him say one thing sometimes another. Sometimes he must hold the Lanthorn this way, sometimes that, then he must hold up a glass Bottle & Swear he would never do so agin & let the bottle fall down & break & then Huzzah—
from thence they carried him into King Street Let him get out of the Cart made a lane down the street where 3 or 4 carried him off from the multitude in safety, being about nine o’clock.”

It seems that forcing the victim to carry a lantern, encouraging locals to put candles in their windows along the parade route and the breaking of a bottle with an oath to not repeat the transgression were part of some kind of ritualisation of the punishment, since other similar instances were reported during the unrest in Boston.

Richards was a ‘tide-waiter’ or ‘tidesman’ petty officer in the Customs house and had been instrumental in the seizure of the Schooner ‘Martin’ and the undeclared part of its cargo: "seventeen Hogsheads, four Tierces and two Barrels of Brown Sugar in breach of the Acts of Trade." The vessel’s captain had offered “punch [the drink] and a friendly bribe” to Richards and his accompanying colleague (John Woart), which they declined before searching the ship and discovering that it had rather more cargo on board than shown on its manifest.

Richards himself gave various (sometimes conflicting) accounts of an unruly mob appearing on the quayside as news of the seizure spread and that they had ripped off his hat, wig, and at least most of his clothing and covered him with tar and feathers. In one account he said:

“in this barborous, Cruel & Inhuman manner they carted me thro’ all the Streets in Boston. they also fix’d a paper on my breast, with Capital Letters thereon, but cannot Recollect what it contained—
so after, so much cruel usage. and being so Long naked, it being to the best of my Knowledge, from 10 OClock in the Evening, till Two in the Morning. I gott away at last by the Help of some friends, from my merciless, and bitter Enemies, which happned before Capt. John Homers door, at Bartons point; whilst that another party of the same mob were contending what they should with John Woart; whom they had, in a Riotous manner, brought there, in order to serve him as I had been served—
in fine [i.e., finally] I gott to my house, by the Assistance of God, and some friends, where my Wife and Children with unspeakable Grief, and astonishment, beheld me in that Horrible Condition—"

In a later account it was said he “lost his Cloaths, Money, and Papers to the Amount of near £20 st [sterling]” and “in order to satiate their abandoned Brutality, they set fire to the Feathers as they stuck in the Tar, upon his naked back” and “fixed a Rope round his Neck.”

Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Hutchinson, sent for His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace to “make strict Examination into the Affair of taring, feathering & carting Owen Richards” and to “bind over such Persons, as shall appear to have been active in it, to answer the same in due Course of Law; and that in all Respects they pursue the Steps of the Law, in order to bring the Offenders to Justice.” Despite the incident having taken place on King Street in the centre of town, no-one could be found who would identify any of the men involved.

Richards also commenced an “Action of Damage for Three Hundred Pounds lawful Money, against a young Gentleman of this Town, whose family Connections are among the better sort of folks, the friends of Government.” The family reportedly refused to put up the young gentleman's bail, presumably not supporting his actions.

Some thirteen years later, Richards was still seeking compensation and applied to the Loyalists Commission, testifying that “a Tumultuous Mob of near 2000…came to your Petitioners House, Broke his Windows, and distroyed his Furniture.”

 

[releventchair]

Better to walk than ride a rail.

 

[djackson7348]

Narking in 1770 ? Not a Good Idea !


View attachment 2217185

I would love to see that form of punishment brought back today. Let me know if we should start a list of who should face justice for violating the public trust.

 

[philber]

Well, they didn’t have Netflix in those days, so they had to make their own entertainment.

Fascinating story, Jeff, and there’s a lot more to it:

From an account by the merchant Samuel Salisbury:

“I perceived candles in a number of windows, what, thinks I, is there an illumination tonight? Getting home I was informed that an Informer had been carted through the streets, Tarred and feathered.
After I had been to the Barber’s my Curiosity led me to the point at New Boston [the western tip of the peninsula] where I found the Informer [Owen Richards] in a Cart before Capt [John] Homer’s door surrounded with a great number of People
he had his shirt taken off & his bare skin tarred & Feathered. Sometimes they would make him say one thing sometimes another. Sometimes he must hold the Lanthorn this way, sometimes that, then he must hold up a glass Bottle & Swear he would never do so agin & let the bottle fall down & break & then Huzzah—
from thence they carried him into King Street Let him get out of the Cart made a lane down the street where 3 or 4 carried him off from the multitude in safety, being about nine o’clock.”

It seems that forcing the victim to carry a lantern, encouraging locals to put candles in their windows along the parade route and the breaking of a bottle with an oath to not repeat the transgression were part of some kind of ritualisation of the punishment, since other similar instances were reported during the unrest in Boston.

Richards was a ‘tide-waiter’ or ‘tidesman’ petty officer in the Customs house and had been instrumental in the seizure of the Schooner ‘Martin’ and the undeclared part of its cargo: "seventeen Hogsheads, four Tierces and two Barrels of Brown Sugar in breach of the Acts of Trade." The vessel’s captain had offered “punch [the drink] and a friendly bribe” to Richards and his accompanying colleague (John Woart), which they declined before searching the ship and discovering that it had rather more cargo on board than shown on its manifest.

Richards himself gave various (sometimes conflicting) accounts of an unruly mob appearing on the quayside as news of the seizure spread and that they had ripped off his hat, wig, and at least most of his clothing and covered him with tar and feathers. In one account he said:

“in this barborous, Cruel & Inhuman manner they carted me thro’ all the Streets in Boston. they also fix’d a paper on my breast, with Capital Letters thereon, but cannot Recollect what it contained—
so after, so much cruel usage. and being so Long naked, it being to the best of my Knowledge, from 10 OClock in the Evening, till Two in the Morning. I gott away at last by the Help of some friends, from my merciless, and bitter Enemies, which happned before Capt. John Homers door, at Bartons point; whilst that another party of the same mob were contending what they should with John Woart; whom they had, in a Riotous manner, brought there, in order to serve him as I had been served—
in fine [i.e., finally] I gott to my house, by the Assistance of God, and some friends, where my Wife and Children with unspeakable Grief, and astonishment, beheld me in that Horrible Condition—"

In a later account it was said he “lost his Cloaths, Money, and Papers to the Amount of near £20 st [sterling]” and “in order to satiate their abandoned Brutality, they set fire to the Feathers as they stuck in the Tar, upon his naked back” and “fixed a Rope round his Neck.”

Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Hutchinson, sent for His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace to “make strict Examination into the Affair of taring, feathering & carting Owen Richards” and to “bind over such Persons, as shall appear to have been active in it, to answer the same in due Course of Law; and that in all Respects they pursue the Steps of the Law, in order to bring the Offenders to Justice.” Despite the incident having taken place on King Street in the centre of town, no-one could be found who would identify any of the men involved.

Richards also commenced an “Action of Damage for Three Hundred Pounds lawful Money, against a young Gentleman of this Town, whose family Connections are among the better sort of folks, the friends of Government.” The family reportedly refused to put up the young gentleman's bail, presumably not supporting his actions.

Some thirteen years later, Richards was still seeking compensation and applied to the Loyalists Commission, testifying that “a Tumultuous Mob of near 2000…came to your Petitioners House, Broke his Windows, and distroyed his Furniture.”

Thanks for the additional information. Interesting reading!