The Gordon Riots were the most destructive civil disturbance in London's history, killing up to 700 people and prompting calls for a professional police force.
Key Facts
- Start date
- 2 June 1780
- End date (main violence)
- 9 June 1780
- Estimated deaths
- 300–700 people
- Trigger legislation
- Papists Act 1778 (Catholic Relief Act)
- Key leader
- Lord George Gordon, MP
- Notable targets
- Newgate Prison, Bank of England, Catholic chapels
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Anti-Catholic sentiment, inflamed by the Protestant Association under Lord George Gordon, drove opposition to the Papists Act 1778, which had modestly reduced legal discrimination against British Catholics. Critics warned that allowing Catholics to join the army could enable treasonous plots, stoking popular fears at a time when Britain was already strained by wars in America, France, and Spain.
Beginning on 2 June 1780 with an initially orderly march on Parliament, the protest rapidly descended into widespread rioting across London lasting until 9 June. Rioters looted and burned Catholic chapels in foreign embassies, stormed Newgate Prison, and attacked the Bank of England. Local magistrates refused to invoke the Riot Act until the government finally deployed the army, resulting in an estimated 300 to 700 deaths.
Public opinion in middle-class and elite circles turned sharply against anti-Catholic violence, rallying support for Lord North's government. The riots prompted urgent demands for a professional police force. Edmund Burke later invoked the events as a warning sign prefiguring the French Revolution of 1789, and the phrase 'King Mob' entered the language as a term for dangerous proletarian disorder.
Political Outcome
Riots suppressed by army; up to 700 killed; government survived; public opinion turned against anti-Catholic violence; calls for a formal police force intensified.
Weak enforcement of order; Protestant Association exerting pressure on Parliament against Catholic relief
Lord North's government strengthened by public backlash; Protestant Association discredited; Lord George Gordon arrested