The House of William Russel, Esq. Showell Green.The House of W. Russell, Esq. This mansion, which is situated about two miles from the town, at Showell-Green, was not destroyed till Saturday the 16th of July 1791. By the activity and intrepid conduct of W. Russell, Esq. its inhabitant owner, the rioters were either repelled or persuaded to retire, more than once... Aussi-tôt après la maison ayant été pilleé du restant de ses meubles (la majeure partie ayant été démenagée auparavant) fut incendiée ainsi que toutes ses dépendances.
Drawn by P.H. Witton Jun.r Engraved by W.m Ellis.
London. Published, 1 May 1792, by J.Johnson, St. Paul's Church Yard.
Aquatint with descriptive text in English and French. Sheet 406 x 260mm. 16 x 10¼". Laid on album page, foxing.
William Russell (1740-1818) was a practising Unitarian Dissenter, close friend and sponsor of Joseph Priestley. Rioters therefore attacked his house, on 16th July 1791, during the Priestley Riots, the Birmingham Riots of 1791, which targeted religious Dissenters, most notably the politically and theologically controversial Joseph Priestley. From "Views of the Ruins of the Principal Houses destroyed during the Riots at Birmingham. 1791." On the 14th of July, 1791, a party having met at an hotel to celebrate the anniversary of the French revolution, collected together as a mob, and proceeded for several days their devastations, setting fire to several meeting-houses and private mansions, but on the arrival of the military from Oxford and Hounslow, order was restored: at the ensuing assizes four of the ring-leaders were convicted, two of whom suffered the penalty of the law. Shortly after this occurrence barracks were erected on the Vauxhall-road, near the town, consisting of a range of handsome buildings, enclosing a spacious area for the exercise of cavalry, and a smaller for parades, a riding-school, a magazine, and an hospital.
[Ref: 21108] £160.00
London. Published, 1 May 1792, by J.Johnson, St. Paul's Church Yard.
Aquatint with descriptive text in English and French. Sheet 406 x 260mm. 16 x 10¼". Laid on album page, foxing.
William Russell (1740-1818) was a practising Unitarian Dissenter, close friend and sponsor of Joseph Priestley. Rioters therefore attacked his house, on 16th July 1791, during the Priestley Riots, the Birmingham Riots of 1791, which targeted religious Dissenters, most notably the politically and theologically controversial Joseph Priestley. From "Views of the Ruins of the Principal Houses destroyed during the Riots at Birmingham. 1791." On the 14th of July, 1791, a party having met at an hotel to celebrate the anniversary of the French revolution, collected together as a mob, and proceeded for several days their devastations, setting fire to several meeting-houses and private mansions, but on the arrival of the military from Oxford and Hounslow, order was restored: at the ensuing assizes four of the ring-leaders were convicted, two of whom suffered the penalty of the law. Shortly after this occurrence barracks were erected on the Vauxhall-road, near the town, consisting of a range of handsome buildings, enclosing a spacious area for the exercise of cavalry, and a smaller for parades, a riding-school, a magazine, and an hospital.
[Ref: 21108] £160.00