Former St Neots man was involved in 1812 murder in London

On May 11, 1812, for the first and only time in history, British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated.

His killer was John Bellingham who had spent a large part of his childhood in St Neots. Bellingham's father died in 1781 and he became an accountant and then a Liverpool merchant hoping to make his fortune through trading timber and iron with Russia.

Unfortunately, on his second trip to Russia, which he financed himself, he was accused of fraud and thrown into a Russian prison. He adamantly refused to admit any guilt and remained imprisoned in Russia for five years.

When he was finally released from prison in December 1809 he returned to London determined to claim compensation from the British government and he petitioned the Prince Regent and the Prime Minister asking for compensation.

When his petitions failed, Bellingham returned to Liverpool to live with his wife and children, but was unable to accept defeat. Then in early 1812 he returned to London and on Monday, May 11, he entered the lobby of the Houses of Parliament armed with two loaded flintlock pistols.

As the Prime Minister hurried into Parliament, Bellingham stepped out from the shadows, and shot him at point blank range.

Inside the Houses of Parliament there was intense shock at the brutal murder; however, outside crowds gathered to celebrate the death of the man they believed had caused widespread unemployment across Britain.

John Bellingham made no attempt to escape and was quickly arrested and charged with murder. At his trial, only four days later, he was adamant that he had only wanted to obtain justice for his losses in Russia and that he had no accomplice.

He was tried before a jury at the Old Bailey on May 15 and found guilty and hanged at Newgate Prison on May 18, 1812 .

A contemporary drawing of Bellingham in the dock in 1812. (Image: St Neots Museum)

His body was dissected at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and his skull is still held by Queen Mary’s Pathology Museum, London.

The Bellingham skull is held at the Queen Mary, University of London. (Image: Queen Mary, University of London.)

However, recent evidence has uncovered the possibility that he may have been encouraged to commit the murder by a group of Liverpool businessmen who had lost large sums of money during the economic depression of the early 1800s.

Liz Davies, chair of the Friends of St Neots Museum, writes: "The early 1800s were a time of international turmoil with many European countries involved in the Napoleonic wars, which began as France tried to create a new French empire.

At the same time, following on from the French revolution of 1789, working people protested violently about the unemployment brought about by the agricultural and industrial revolutions sweeping Britain.

It was also the period that saw the struggles to abolish slavery and the flowering of a period of great artistic creativity, with Beethoven, Byron, Jane Austen and Mary Shelley – to name just four - all writing during this period."

On Saturday, November, 16 the St Neots Players and the Friends of St Neots Museum present the world premiere of a play about the 1812 murder.

The play has been written by Glenys Shaw of the St Neots Players and uncovers the story of this shocking event.

The play will be performed at the United Reformed Church, in Moore’s Walk, St Neots, PE19 1BN.

The play will be followed by a talk from Liz Davies revealing the national crisis which led to the murder. Tickets £15, available in person from the museum or from the museum website: www.stneotsmuseum.org.uk/whats-on.