Cold Open

It’s November 16th, 1763.

Wind rustles the branches of London’s Hyde Park as John Wilkes hurries along a path, eager to be on time for an unusual rendezvous. The park is a popular location for locals and tourists alike, but Wilkes isn’t here for the scenery. Instead, it's to meet a fellow Member of Parliament, Samuel Martin.

Wilkes is a radical whose antigovernment sentiments and criticism of the Crown have brought him the ire of many of his peers, including Martin. Recently, the two have traded insults and barbs in the political arena. But today, they’re swapping words for pistols.

After Wilkes’s latest article criticizing King George, Martin decided to challenge Wilkes to a duel. But Wilkes stands by every one of his words and is here today to fight for his reputation and honor.

A servant who has accompanied Wilkes points out his adversary who is waiting by a nearby line of trees.

Wilkes pauses for a moment, steeling himself for what’s to come.

He approaches Martin and the two men exchange terse greetings. Both he and Wilkes have brought a pair of pistols each. They examine the weapons glinting in the sun, then move to their starting positions.

Wilkes pulls back the hammer on both of his weapons to arm them. He hears Martin do the same. One of the witnesses Martin has brought with him gives both men their instructions. The witness sees each man nod as they indicate they understand and are ready. Back to back, they began pacing away from each other as the witness counts down to zero.

At that moment, both men whirl around, take aim, and squeeze their triggers. Incredibly, both men miss.

But when Martin raises his second weapon and pulls the trigger again, it meets its target. The bullet strikes Wilkes in his midsection, and he doubles over consumed by agony.

Fortunately for Wilkes, though grave, his wound is not fatal. But this brush with death will not deter Wilkes nor will he moderate his criticism of the government or the crown. And in less than two months, Wilkes’s criticism of the King will see a warrant issued for his arrest. Wilkes will find himself driven not only out of his job but even his beloved England, after he’s expelled from the British Parliament for his alleged sedition on January 19th, 1764.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is January 19th, 1764: John Wilkes is Expelled from British Parliament.

Act One

It’s April 19th, 1763, in London, seven months before a duel leaves John Wilkes badly injured.

King George III of England looks out across a sea of faces seated before him inside the Palace of Westminster.

This building, situated on the banks of the River Thames is the beating heart of the British Government. The place where laws are passed and reputations are made and ruined. It’s home to both the House of Lords and House of Commons - the two chambers of the British Government.

An audience of Ministers has come today to hear the King make his traditional speech opening the latest session of Parliament. As they wait expectantly, there’s one topic on everyone’s minds: peace.

King George has been on the throne for three years. But as well as inheriting the crown, he was left a war between Britain and the combined French and Spanish alliance, a war that has cost the United Kingdom a fortune. Thanks to a recent peace treaty, hostilities have ceased. And today, the King honors this achievement.

As King George begins his speech, a hush descends over the room. He talks about the recent treaty and the peace that has accompanied it. He finishes to rapturous applause from many of those assembled.

But not everyone is celebrating. Member of Parliament John Wilkes is firmly opposed to the treaty, a fact that he’s happy to tell anyone who will listen.

Wilkes is known for being outspoken. He uses his platform as a Member of Parliament to regularly attack policy and positions taken by the Prime Minister. And unlike many of his peers, Wilkes believes the war should have been allowed to continue on.

As part of the treaty, the UK had to hand back a number of foreign territories it had taken. And Wilkes is adamant that Britain should have pressed ahead with the conflict, at least until better terms were secured. Handing back these landholdings has, in his eyes, weakened the British Empire.

And once King George is done with his speech, Wilkes develops another unpopular opinion. He’s convinced that the speech was written by the new Prime Minister George Grenville, and those in Grenville’s inner circle and that the King himself is a mere mouthpiece.

So, as his fellow members of parliament file out of the building, Wilkes is fuming. Over the coming days, he grows more and more incensed to what he sees as a weak capitulation by both the Government and his King.

But he doesn’t just speak his mind. Wilkes runs a radical weekly newspaper called “The North Briton.” And he lets his anger pour out onto the page.

Four days after King George’s speech, issue forty-five of the North Briton is published in London. With a circulation of around two thousand, it has an impressive reach, and this issue is about to become the most infamous yet.

All across the city, readers open it up, eyes widening in surprise at just how direct Wilkes is in his criticisms. In the issue, he attacks the Treaty and those who negotiated it. He condemns the government ministers who helped draft the King’s speech.

And while Wilkes stops short of attacking the King himself, carefully referring to the King’s speech as being that of the Prime Minister, Wilkes's criticism is read by many as a scathing rebuke of the crown including the King who takes Wilkes’s words as a personal insult. The article makes him sound like a powerless puppet. And a personal slight like this cannot go unanswered.

Three days after issue forty-five is published, an arrest warrant is issued for Wilkes, and anyone else involved in publishing or printing The North Briton newspaper.

And as authorities try to locate Wilkes, the Attorney General goes public with a statement, recommending that Wilkes and his associates be charged with seditious libel - a criminal offense of inciting contempt against the Royal Family, or rebellion by published words or images. If found guilty, Wilkes could face a lengthy prison sentence.

What started as a difference of political opinion will now become a matter for the courts. Issue forty-five will prove to be the first in a chain of events that will eventually see Wilkes ousted from his seat in Parliament, and forced to build a new life in the very country Wilkes believed England should still be at war with.

Act Two

It’s April 30th, 1763, in London, England, seven days after John Wilkes publishes Issue forty-five of his North Briton Newspaper.

Far from his printing press or writing desk, John Wilkes shakes his head in disgust as he and forty-eight others connected to him and his newspaper have been rounded up and arrested for criticizing the government and the King, and have been thrown in cells here at the Tower of London.

As the heavy door clangs shut behind Wilkes, he knows the chances of escape are minimal. If he is to regain his freedom, he’ll have to argue his case in court.

But in the end, Wilkes’s stay at the Tower is brief. When the case comes before a judge, Wilkes appeals to his liberties as a parliamentarian. And there’s a long-standing notion that Members of Parliament should have freedom of speech. Wilkes claims this parliamentary privilege should apply to his case and make the arrest invalid. Fortunately for Wilkes, the judge agrees and Wilkes is declared a free man and walks out of the courtroom to cheers from his supporters.

But yet again Wilkes will not back down. Following his release, Wilkes sues for damages for his wrongful arrest. He wins and is awarded four thousand pounds - a sum equivalent to more than fifteen times the annual average wage at the time.

But his opponents refuse to stand down as well. On November 15th, one of Wilkes’s many political enemies obtains more controversial pieces of Wilkes’s written work and reads out several in the House of Commons. The most famous of these is called “An Essay On Woman,” which many of the politicians in attendance denounce as both pornographic and blasphemous.

The following day, two more important events take place. Members of Parliament vote to condemn issue forty-five of the North Briton Newspaper as being libelous. And just a few hours later, Wilkes has his infamous duel in Hyde Park, sustaining painful, but ultimately not life-threatening injuries in the process.

And while he recuperates from these wounds, Wilkes is powerless to stop further debate around his actions. A week into his recovery, another vote in Parliament decides that the privilege which protects Wilkes and other Members of Parliament’s speech does not extend to cover libel of this nature. This decision is sent to the more senior parliamentary body of the House of Lords for confirmation. And five days later, the Lords back the verdict, saying that parliamentary privilege should not stand in the way of the law of the land.

With this layer of protection stripped away, Wilkes is forced to contemplate his next move from his sickbed. He is confident enough to defend his opinions in Parliament, but he does not want to repeat his stay in the Tower of London. His second trip there may not be as brief as his first.

So, running out of options, Wilkes makes a drastic decision. On Christmas Day, he packs up as many of his belongings as he can carry, and slips out of his house unnoticed. He is certain that if he stays in London, he’ll be rearrested. And without parliamentary privilege to fall back on, there’s a real chance that any new charges might stick.

So, despite being a vocal supporter of the war against France, Wilkes crosses the English Channel and flees to France, England’s former adversary, trying to get as far away as he can from any form of British prosecution.

But in his absence though, the case against him continues. Almost a month after Wilkes fled to Paris, his political career is ended in no uncertain terms. On January 19th, 1764, Wilkes is formally expelled from the House of Commons for seditious libel. And ten months later on November 1st, 1764, he's tried in his absence, found guilty, and declared an outlaw.

Wilkes will spend the next four years in Europe, but eventually dwindling funds will see him return from exile to his home country, where he will face consequences. But an unlikely return to favor will bring him back to power, as his defiance against the government turns him into a symbol of liberty.

Act Three

It’s March 29th, 1768, in the county of Middlesex, England.

Former member of Parliament, John Wilkes, stands at the center of a group of men, who hang on his every word.

After four years in France and Italy, Wilkes returned home this month. Soon after he arrived, he wrote to the King, begging for a pardon from the legal troubles he had fled from. But he received no reply. So, Wilkes is here to regain his power through his popularity with the people.

Wilkes has become well-admired among the masses, many of whom view him as a victim of government oppression. And far from making him the villain, Wilkes’s expulsion from Parliament has only fueled sympathy and cemented Wilkes's status as a political martyr. Scared of inflaming this popular support, authorities have yet to arrest Wilkes.

So today, Wilkes is further testing the limits of his popularity, standing for election as a Member of Parliament again. There’s no law explicitly preventing an expelled MP from running for re-election. And if the voters so choose, Wilkes has every right to return to the House of Commons.

Wilkes spends the day whipping up support among already sympathetic crowds and by the time polls close, Wilkes has beaten off any challenges from a number of candidates and is once again an elected official.

But he still needs to clear his name with the authorities. Shortly after his victory, Wilkes surrenders himself to police, and despite being the country’s newest Member of Parliament, finds himself behind bars once more until his fate is decided.

Six weeks later, he’s still in prison, when an estimated crowd of fifteen thousand people gather outside. The mob yells chants that denounce both the Government and the King. And it isn’t long before things turn ugly between the protestors and soldiers who are sent to control the crowd. And in the violence that follows, seven are killed in what becomes known as the massacre of St. George’s Fields.

The following month, Wilkes is sentenced to two years in prison for his original offense of libel, and he is once again expelled from Parliament.

But true to his nature Wilkes refuses to take this lying down. From behind bars, he runs for office again and elections are held three times in 1769, with Wilkes winning each contest. The ultimate outcome is the same though, – Parliament overturns the results, and Wilkes is denied his shot at returning to the position he believes has been stolen from him.

Upon his release in April 1770, Wilkes is still banned from Parliament, so he returns instead to writing newspaper articles. His opponents may have stopped him from becoming a Member of Parliament once more, but there are other offices where he can make a difference to society.

In the years that follow, Wilkes will be elected as Lord Mayor of London in 1774; a platform he will use to again be a thorn in the government’s side. He’ll focus on issues such as the American Revolution, and the freedom of the press to report on Parliament. In doing so, he will become an early advocate for a broader freedom of speech – an incredible comeback for a man forced to flee his country for expressing his opinions, one whose political career was upended by his first expulsion from Parliament on January 19th, 1764.

Outro

Next on History Daily. January 22nd, 1879. The Northern Cheyenne face off against the U.S. Army in an attempt to return to their ancestral lands.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Rob Scragg.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.