Diabolical Outrages and Atrocious Attempts”: the Media, the Monarchy, and the Assassination Attempts on Queen Victoria, 1840-1882
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“DIABOLICAL OUTRAGES AND ATROCIOUS ATTEMPTS”: THE MEDIA, THE MONARCHY, AND THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS ON QUEEN VICTORIA, 1840-1882 by Rachel Hamilton Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Honours Program in History, University of Prince Edward Island April 16, 2021 ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... iii Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 2 Part One: A Media Monarchy ........................................................................................................ 6 Part Two: Seven Assassins, Eight Attempts, and One Unshakable Queen ................................. 19 Part Three: Reporting “Diabolical Outrages and Atrocious Attempts” ........................................ 32 Reading the News...................................................................................................................... 32 Radical Threats .......................................................................................................................... 33 Gender and the Press ................................................................................................................ 41 Sensational Reportage .............................................................................................................. 60 Conclusion: It’s In All The Papers................................................................................................ 83 Appendices .................................................................................................................................... 88 A. Newspapers .......................................................................................................................... 88 B. The Assassins ....................................................................................................................... 89 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 91 iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank the History Department at the University of Prince Edward Island for sponsoring a subscription to the British Newspaper Archive, which allowed me to access most of the primary source material for this research. My thanks also to Dr. Richard Raiswell for providing access to the 19th Century UK Periodicals Series. Thank you to my panel readers – Dr. Susan Brown, Dr. James Moran, and Dr. Wendy Shilton – for their time and interest in my thesis. Thanks to my family for listening to endless stories about “dastardly villains” and “insane assassins.” Finally, I would like to extend my deepest thanks to Dr. Susan Brown for her supervision of this project, enthusiasm for my research, and unwavering support. 2 Introduction “It is with deep regret that we have to announce another attempt (happily unsuccessful) on the life of our Gracious Queen,” announced the editors of John Bull to its readers in 1849.1 The paper was referring to the fifth of what were to be eight assassination attempts on Queen Victoria, made by seven would-be assassins between 1840 and 1882. At the time, the attacks shocked Britain and were the subject of significant and sustained coverage in all sectors of the press, from the conservative Times to the radical Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. When reflecting on these events, historians often refer to the assassination attempts as fascinating anecdotes but fail to consider their greater cultural and historical value. This essay seeks to address this omission and explore the significance of these events through the press attention they garnered. Following the scandalous and lackluster reigns of George IV and William IV, the monarchy had fallen somewhat into disrepute, and it became increasingly evident that the monarchy had to adapt if it wanted to weather the political turbulence of the nineteenth century. As a result, the British monarchy evolved into a more constitutional and populist institution during the Victorian era. Although Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are usually credited with this modification in the monarchy’s role, historian John Plunkett argues that there was another key actor that helped facilitate this evolution – the press.2 The Victorian era witnessed unprecedented developments in the press through technological advancements and expanding audiences.3 Plunkett argues that this new media landscape played a pivotal role in the British monarchy’s transformation as the press and the monarchy developed a symbiotic relationship 1 “Diabolical Attempt To Assassinate The Queen,” John Bull, 21 May 1849, p. 16. 2 John Plunkett, Queen Victoria: First Media Monarch (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 1. 3 Plunkett, Queen Victoria: First Media Monarch, 3-5. 3 and the monarchy became a “media monarchy.”4 While Plunkett and other historians have considered the press’s presentation of a variety of royal events to understand this phenomenon, the press coverage of the assassination attempts has yet to be analyzed in this manner, a fact which has undermined and concealed the importance of these events in the monarchy’s transformation. This essay argues that the press coverage of the attacks on Queen Victoria reveals insights into the Victorian monarchy’s populist and constitutional evolution and the media’s crucial role in this change. The first section of this essay considers historiographical approaches in the study of the monarchy and the media, as well as John Plunkett’s definition and characterization of the “media monarchy.”5 It also outlines the key developments in Victorian journalism, including the democratization of the press, technological advancements, and changes in visual and written discourse. The section concludes with an overview of the various newspapers that have been used in this research. (Additional information on these newspapers can be found in Appendix A.) Part two analyzes the eight assassination attempts and the seven would-be assassins who made the attacks. Since the purpose of this essay is not to conduct an exhaustive review of the details of the assassination attempts, but to study the ways that the press reported on these events, this section is limited to providing the necessary background context for understanding the press coverage that forms the core of this argument. (Further details about the assassins and their attempts can be found in Appendix B.) Some of these threats are better characterized as attacks or assaults rather than direct attempts to murder the sovereign. However, they have been collectively referred to by historians as assassination attempts and, while acknowledging the 4 Plunkett, Queen Victoria: First Media Monarch, 14. 5 Plunkett, Queen Victoria: First Media Monarch, 1. 4 variation in the extent of the threat each of these occurrences presented to Victoria, this essay will refer to the eight attacks as assassination attempts. Part three, “Reporting ‘Diabolical Outrages and Atrocious Attempts,’” focuses on the press coverage of the assassination attempts, the themes that emerge from these reports, and what these accounts indicate about the press’s role in facilitating the monarchy’s constitutional and populist transformation. This section opens with a brief consideration of the press’s relationship with its readers, followed by an analysis of the Victorian monarchy’s relative immunity from radical and republican threats and the media’s handling of the few radical linkages in the assassination attempts. Instead of focusing on political or radical motivations, the press emphasized matters of gender and used sensational frameworks to cultivate public interest in both the attempts and royal news in general. Although her gender sparked controversy upon her accession to the throne, Victoria’s femininity quickly became perceived as an asset that made her relatable, safe, accessible, and popular. Press reports of the assassination attempts highlighted Victoria’s gender through discussions of her feminine qualities, maternal image, resolution in the face of these attacks, and merciful intercessions in the assassins’ sentences. This depiction cultivated a feeling of intimacy and attachment between the people and their sovereign. Meanwhile, the gendered representation of the men involved in the attempts underscored Victoria’s femininity and validated her role in the public sphere. Consequently, the press’s portrayal of Victoria and the various male actors in terms of prevailing gender norms helped facilitate the monarchy’s populist transformation by making Victoria relatable and accessible to the public. Accounts of the assassination attempts were also sensationalized to appeal to readers, allowing the press to cultivate interest in royal news and create bonds of connection between 5 itself and its readers. The press depicted the assassination attempts through melodramatic devices that were familiar to readers, including dramatic descriptive language and popular tropes of imperiled heroines, scheming villains, and gallant protectors. Similarly, the press focused on the assassins’ mental health in accordance with advancing scientific and medical understandings of mental illness and the public fascination with insanity. These devices furthered public interest in the monarchy and played a central role in creating an imagined community of readers