Riot in 19th century Upper Canada
The Types Riot was the destruction of William Lyon Mackenzie's printing press and movable type by members of the Family Compact on June 8, 1826, in York, Upper Canada (now known as Toronto). The Family Compact was the ruling elite of Upper Canada who appointed themselves to positions of power within the Upper Canadian government. Mackenzie created the "Colonial Advocate" newspaper and published editorials in the paper that accused the Family Compact of incompetence and profiteering on corrupt practices, offending the rioters. It is not known who planned the riot, although Samuel Jarvis, a government official, later claimed he organized the event. On the evening of June 8, 9–15 rioters forced their way into the newspaper offices and destroyed property. During the event, Mackenzie's employees tried to get passersby to help stop the rioters. Bystanders refused to help when they saw government officials like William Allan and Stephen Heward were watching the spectacle. When the rioters finished destroying the office, they took cases of type with them and threw them into the nearby bay.
Mackenzie sued the rioters for the damage to his property and lost business opportunities. The civil trial attracted substantial media attention, with several newspapers denouncing the government officials who failed to stop the riot. A jury awarded Mackenzie £625 to be paid by the defendants, a particularly harsh settlement. He used the event to highlight abuses of the Upper Canada government during his first campaign for election to the Parliament of Upper Canada, for which he was ultimately successful. Reformers viewed Mackenzie as a martyr because of the destruction of his property and he remained popular for several years. Historians identify the event as a sign of weakening Tory influence in Upper Canada politics.
Background.
The ruling elite of Upper Canada consisted of members of the Family Compact, who were descendants of Loyalist families. Shortly after the War of 1812, they convinced the lieutenant-governor of the colony to appoint them to the unelected executive council and positions in the judicial system while occupying higher offices in the Anglican church and the boards of financial institutions. They used their power to benefit themselves and their families economically. At the time, members of the Family Compact were also referred to as Tories, while modern-day historians sometimes refer to the group as Conservatives. Reformers were the political opponents of the Family Compact. Journalists such as William Lyon Mackenzie published newspapers that questioned the authority of the Tory ruling elite. The Family Compact tried to maintain their political power by attacking and disrupting Reformer political meetings.
In 1824, Mackenzie began publishing the "Colonial Advocate", a newspaper critical of the government and the Family Compact. The newspaper was a popular publication amongst people who were displeased with the administration of Upper Canada. Under the pseudonym "Patrick Swift", Mackenzie published articles that questioned the Family Compact's ability to run the colony and how they used their legal power to enrich themselves. For the "Colonial Advocate"'s second anniversary on May 18, 1826, Mackenzie published several negative stories on the history of Family Compact members. He accused female ancestors of the Family Compact of having many sexual partners and having been infected with syphilis, and he criticized their personal appearance. On June 8, 1826, Mackenzie published an account of an 1817 duel between Samuel Jarvis, a Tory government official, and John Ridout, the son of a prominent Reformer, which resulted in Ridout's death. Jarvis considered this a personal attack on his character and commentary on a private matter.
The "Colonial Advocate"'s printing press was located at the northwest corner of Palace Street and Frederick Street in York, Upper Canada (now known as Toronto). Mackenzie lived there with his mother Elizabeth, his wife Isabel, and his children James and Elizabeth. Isabel's siblings, Margaret and James Baxter, were also living on the property and the latter was an apprentice of Mackenzie. Two other apprentices lived there, along with a journeyman named Charles French. Mackenzie travelled to Queenston before the riot for unknown reasons and left his foreman, Ferguson, in charge of the press in his absence.
Riot.
It is not known who planned the riot. Members of the Family Compact approached John Lyons, the lieutenant-governor's clerk, and encouraged him to plan an attack on Mackenzie's printing press. A few years after the incident, Jarvis claimed he had planned the riot. William Proudfoot testified at the civil trial that he heard Jarvis, Lyons, and Charles Richardson plan to ambush and attack Mackenzie. Raymond Baby stated that Charles Heward, the nephew of the attorney general, and Henry Sherwood, the son of a judge, recruited him for the mob on the afternoon of the riot. Baby claimed they brought him to the attorney general's office, but several members of the mob denied this eighteen months after the trial concluded.
The riot began just after 6:00 pm on June 8, 1826. The exact number of rioters is uncertain; Jarvis reported there were nine or ten people, while a newspaper at the time reported fifteen participants. The rioters included Jarvis, Lyons, Richardson, Sherwood, Charles Baby, Raymond Baby, Charles Heward, Henry Heward, James King, and Peter McDougall. Several rioters brought clubs and sticks with them to aid in damaging the property. Some historians have stated that the men were dressed as indigenous people, although newspaper accounts and published documents from the riot participants did not confirm this. Heather Davis-Fisch, a professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, stated that this information was included in the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography" without verification by the authors, possibly because it was a "cultural memory" of the event.
The rioters intended to attack Ferguson at the "Colonial Advocate"'s printing office; they believed Ferguson wrote the Patrick Swift editorials and wanted to retaliate against him. When the group was gathered, Jarvis sent Heward to the printing office to ascertain if Ferguson was there. The others followed shortly after, walking in single file and brandishing their weapons. When the men arrived at the printing press, they shouted, demanding to be let into the building. When no one responded, they forced their way in. Two apprentices, James Lumsden and James Baxter, immediately fled the house and shouted for help. When the rioters could not find Ferguson, they attacked the printing press. James and Elizabeth Mackenzie investigated the noise and discovered the rioters destroying property. Upset by the situation, Elizabeth left the house. The rioters intimidated the occupants of the house, scattered type across the room and demolished the printing press. When a rioter announced the mob had done enough damage, they left carrying cases of type, which were thrown into the nearby bay.
A passerby heard Baxter's call for help, but did nothing because he saw William Allan and Stephen Heward, two high-ranking administrators in Upper Canada, observing the riot and taking no action to stop it. Heward shouted encouragement to his sons to continue rioting while Allan watched from his property. Charles Ridout watched the riot from the bay and saw Heward and Allan were doing nothing to stop the mob. Other spectators gathered on a bank of a bay near the printing press. When Francis Collins, editor of the "Canadian Freeman", arrived at the printing office, he discovered the rioters had left and Elizabeth was distraught over the damage. He reported that Elizabeth feared the men would return to demolish the house.
Immediate aftermath.
Independent newspaper editors throughout Upper Canada believed Allan and Heward's inaction during the riot meant the Upper Canadian government supported it. Collins denounced the destruction in the "Canadian Freeman" newspaper and criticized Allan and Heward, as police magistrates, for not helping to stop the riot. H. C. Thompson in the "Upper Canada Herald" criticized the rioters' connection to the Upper Canada Administration as an attack on the freedom of the press. James Macfarlane supported the rioters in the "Kingston Chronicle", stating they had no other recourse to the Swift editorials in the "Colonial Advocate". The "Upper Canada Gazette", the journal published by the public administration of Upper Canada, did not comment on the riot, furthering speculation that the government supported the event.
Members of the Upper Canada elite expressed their opinions in private letters. Anne Powell wrote the riot was the "most disgraceful scene" that had happened in York. She hoped her sons were not involved in the incident and forwarded the news to her husband in London. Robert Stanton said the rioters displayed their passion without restraint. When William Jarvis discovered his brother was involved in the riot, he wrote to him saying he wished Samuel had thrown Mackenzie into the bay, too.
Lieutenant-governor Peregrine Maitland was not in York during the riot and government officials did not comment on the event on his behalf. When Maitland returned to York two weeks later, he fired Lyons as his private secretary. He did not comment on the event publicly and did not report the incident to his superiors at the Colonial Office. Attorney General John Robinson did not publicly condemn the attacks or admonish his employees who had participated in the riot. The dean of York attorneys, William Warren Baldwin created a list of actions he felt highlighted Robinson's failure of duty as attorney general; Robinson's decision not to prosecute the rioters was first on that list.
Public opinion supported Mackenzie because of the government administrators' failure to stop the riot or charge the perpetrators. Mackenzie stayed away from York immediately after the riot because friends advised him his life might be in danger. He struggled financially for six months as the printing press was his source of income and he was responsible for boarding his apprentices. He had previously suffered from malarial fever and it returned due to the stress he suffered.
Civil trial.
Trial details.
Mackenzie was not confident that Robinson would pursue criminal charges against the perpetrators, so decided to sue the rioters in civil court for damaging his property. He hired James Edward Small as his attorney. Small issued writs addressed to "Jarvis et al." for a civil suit. Jarvis hired James Buchanan Macaulay to defend him. Small proposed a settlement of £2000 as the value of the destroyed printing press and type. Macaulay claimed the rioters were righteous in their actions and that the destroyed property was not worth £2000. He offered to settle for £200, then £300. Small rejected these offers, so the lawsuit went to trial.
Jarvis, Lyons, Richardson, Charles Baby, Charles Heward, King, McDougall, and Sherwood were the defendants. Raymond Baby was not named as a defendant possibly because he was considered too young to be responsible for his actions, as he was 17 or 18. Henry Heward was named as a rioter but not as a defendant.
Marshall Spring Bidwell represented Mackenzie at the trial, with Small's assistance. Christopher Alexander Hagerman represented the defendants. The trial took place in York's new courthouse; William Campbell presided. Allan was an associate judge during the proceedings. The defendants admitted they participated in the riot, so the jury was tasked with determining the amount of money Mackenzie should receive.
Hagerman insisted that the case be heard by a special jury. The jury's foreman was Robert Rutherford, who owned a general store in York. The other two jurors from York were Edward Wright, a tailor, and George Shaw, a grocer. The remaining jurors were farmers from the surrounding towns of Whitby, Markham, Scarborough, and Vaughan, and included Jacob Boyer, a German immigrant; and Joseph Tomlinson, who became an agent for the "Colonial Advocate" after the trial.
Arguments and jury deliberations.
Bidwell argued Mackenzie should be awarded a larger settlement because of the damaged property's value and Mackenzie's inability to fulfill printing contracts after his printing press was destroyed. He stated the rioters violated all Englishmen's rights to a free press and that the law should decide the morality and legality of a newspaper, not a mob. Bidwell also argued that the defendants should have used their social standing and education to find a peaceful solution instead of using violence. He also accused the defendants of violating Mackenzie's privacy by damaging his home, which was on the same property as the printing press.
Elizabeth Mackenzie was the first witness for the plaintiff and described the attack from inside the property, although she could not identify any perpetrators. William Lyon Mackenzie's five employees identified the rioters and explained the business's finances to showcase the lost income from the riot. Hagerman did not want