Francis Reynolds M.P. (d. 1773). Lancaster Election Riots, 1...

Francis Reynolds M.P. (d. 1773). Lancaster Election Riots, 1768 Eyewitness account of mob violence and the threatened "total destruction of the Town of Lancaster" J. Reynolds, son of Francis Reynolds M.P., to his father, Sunday night, docketed 18 June 1768; autograph letter signed, 1 p. on a large folded sheet, signed "Your Dutiful Son, J. Reynolds"; integral address panel to Francis Reynolds Esq., Clifford Street, London, with postal marking and remnants of red wax seal; contemporary docket "Capt. Reynolds / 18 Jun 1768"; old folds, small losses and contemporary paper repair, otherwise substantially complete and legible. An eyewitness account of the violent disturbances surrounding the Lancaster election of 1768, sent by Reynolds's son directly to his father. Francis Reynolds was himself one of the sitting members for Lancaster and a principal figure in the contest, being returned alongside Sir George Warren after Lord John Cavendish withdrew; the violence described here therefore reached Reynolds as immediate intelligence from within his own family and political interest. He reports that the Mayor and Corporation, rather than attending church, remained at the Town Hall until four in the afternoon in an attempt to find "some method to prevent the total destruction of the Town of Lancaster"; friends wished "for a Military force to be sent for", although this was opposed by the other party, while "the Bucks wished for the Mobs to fight it out, but that we absolutely rejected". The writer further reports that one man was "not yet dead, but very near it", and that Mr G. Birch had "behaved very Ill throughout this whole Affair"; his house was reportedly "pulled down", although Reynolds cautiously adds, "this wants confirmation". A particularly immediate family communication recording the factional violence associated with the bitter Lancaster parliamentary contest of 1768. For further discussion of the election and associated disturbances, see Richard Harrison, 'Further Light on Lancaster's Later Eighteenth-Century Parliamentary Elections', Northern History, vol. 61 (2024), pp. 226–241.

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