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Forget JFK, this was on our own doorstep
Ask most adults or students anywhere in the world to name at least one American President who had been assassinated during their time in office and the chances are they could (though they may struggle with Garfield or McKinley).
Ask the same people to name an assassinated British Prime Minister from history and my guess is their faces would look blankly back at you.
I find it most irritating that throughout all of my school days not once did I hear a history teacher mention the name of Spencer Perceval. In any case, does it really matter?
Well, I think it matters only because they chose to teach us some things but not all. I knew more about John Wilkes Booth and Dr Mudd than I did about a political tragedy on my own doorstep.
We were taught about Abraham Lincoln and we lived through JFK, yet not one lesson included a similar crime much closer to home which occurred in a Westminster doorway. Spencer Perceval had served as British Prime Minister since 1809 and was Tory MP for Northampton. Indeed, should you visit Northampton's Guildhall you will find a rather grand statue of him. On May 11, 1812, in broad daylight, he was shot dead at point-blank range in the lobby leading to the House of Commons. His assassin, John Bellingham, was a disgruntled merchant, upset that the Government had not supported him either financially or diplomatically during his time in a Russian jail. He was immediately detained by those who witnessed the shooting.
He was tried at the Old Bailey, found guilty and executed.
Perceval is buried at St Luke's Church in Charlton, south-east London.
Britain has had only 52 Prime Ministers since Sir Robert Walpole took up office in 1721 and I have often wondered why such a grotesque event had not stood out sufficiently to be deemed worthy of discussion.
The next time you are visiting London as a tourist, or perhaps on business, take a little detour to our own "grassy knoll" and spare a thought for Spencer Perceval. Indeed, it surprises me that the sight of Perceval's macabre assassination has not been predictably exploited by the London tourist industry.
This is not a conspiracy theory.
I should like to add that the rest is history, but of course it isn't: well, it is, but it never was.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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