Featherstone Massacre shouldn’t be forgotten | Letter

When two people were killed during a coal dispute in 1893, it was the last time British citizens were killed by British troops on English soil, writes Tony Hufton

While we are remembering the victims of Peterloo and Burslem (Letters, 23 August), we should not forget those who died in the Featherstone Massacre of 1893. Two people were killed when soldiers fired on Yorkshire miners who were attempting to prevent the movement of coal during a dispute. This was the last time British citizens were killed by British troops on English soil. At the inquest it was reported that when the magistrate announced he was about to read the Riot Act and the crowd must take the consequences, a voice was heard to shout: "Read it, you old b-, and don't talk so much about it". When, further, the crowd was told the soldiers were about to open fire, there were cries of: "We'd rather be shot down than hungered to death."
Tony Hufton
Norwich

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