Special Constable James ALEXANDER (-)

08 Mar 1848
City of Glasgow Police

Special Constable Alexander died when he was accidentally shot by `Army Pensioners` in John Street during the Glasgow Bread Riots. He was survived by his seven children.

On the afternoon of Monday 6^th March 1848 a ‘meeting of the unemployed’, part of the growing Chartist movement, took place on Glasgow Green. Gatherings of the sort had been taking place there regularly with the tacit blessing of the authorities, who had taken to distributing soup and meal to the needy & finding what little work they could for those who needed it.

On this day the meeting was ‘taken advantage of by a band of blackguards intent on plunder’ as the Glasgow Herald later reported, resulting in ‘the town being at the mercy of the mob for an hour and a half’…

On the Green, speakers harangued the organisers of the meeting and urged the crowd to take matters into their own hands, urging them to ‘do a deed worthy of the name of France’.

Although there was a police presence, under Supt. Pearce, there does not appear to have been sufficient numbers to stop the nascent riot and the mob began to march on the City Hall where the soup was being prepared for distribution.

Attempting to force entry on their arrival, the staff prevailed upon the mob to wait in line but the leaders intimated that they ‘would have something more substantial than soup’ and led the mob off into the surrounding streets, attacking shops, breaking widows and plundering as they went.

A particular target seems to have been the various gunsmiths shops with Mrs. Musgrave’s at the Tron being one of the first to be raided. The poor woman was thrown out the broken window onto the street. Martin’s in Exchange Square was next and it was comprehensively emptied of anything which could shoot. Those who could not secure a firearm of some sort satisfied themselves with whatever implements they could steal from the local hardware merchants.

As the mob made their way through the town they began to recruit others to their cause and the numbers quickly grew with bands rampaging throughout the city centre. Although quite heavily armed and bent on destruction, giving such cause for concern that the Infantry stationed at the Gallowgate barracks were asked to help, it would appear that many of the rioters were apprehended without offering much resistance by unarmed Constables or ‘Gentlemen’ incensed at their behaviour.

Although acts of extreme violence were undoubtedly perpetrated by the rioters, there were a few moments of almost surreal comedy.

At one point a large group broke the windows of a spirit merchant and stole the bottles of expensive brandy displayed there. There is no record of their reactions when they discovered the bottles contained only coloured water. Another band decided to have a competition to see which of them could shoot stolen loaves of bread as they threw them in the air for target practice by the Clyde.

The City Police were doing what they could, arresting stragglers as they were able and waiting for reinforcements. The Infantry initially refused to turn out as they were unable to act without the presence of a magistrate; this was said to have delayed their deployment for some time. Meanwhile, the city authorities were issuing proclamations urging citizens to muster at St. George’s parish church to be sworn in as Special Constables. The Herald and other contemporary reports stated that ‘thousands’ did so.

Around 5pm the situation changed markedly when a detachment of Dragoons arrived from their Eglinton Street base. The rioters soon made themselves scarce and the focus moved to the Gorbals area, where a number of cavalry charges were made, followed by squads of police to apprehend those who had not been quick enough to dodge the hooves or the flat of a sabre!

As night began to fall, workers left their places of employment with some joining in the fun and others taking up positions to protect their mills and factories from the mob.

There was a large gathering in the Saltmarket where Baillie Stewart read the riot Act and the cavalry were again deployed to clear the area, and by about 8pm the police were able to close the surrounding streets, using the Royal Exchange as a base of operations and mustering point. There had been about 60 arrests by then, with around 20 of them women. They were described by the Herald as being ‘the scum of the city’.

Throughout the afternoon there appears to have been as many spectators as actual rioters and much was made of the fact that they could have stopped the riot in its tracks had they intervened early enough. By midnight the city was quiet and many muskets and fowling pieces had been recovered. Military assistance had been sought from the surrounding areas with the Duke of Hamilton offering to call out the Yeomanry and the Light Infantry arriving by train from Edinburgh.

The city fathers hoped they would not be required.

Tuesday ‘opened uneasily’ with some merchants opening up their premises. They didn’t last long and soon closed them up again due to sporadic violence throughout the city.

 Word came of a plan to attack Campbell’s Silk Mill in John Street. A running battle ensued and James Smart, Assistant Superintendent of the Eastern division and a group of officers arrested a man who was part of a group stoning the police. When they attempted to take the prisoner to the police office they came under sustained attack by a mob. An 18 strong unit of ‘pensioners’ (retired soldiers) which was part of his force dispersed the mob by means of several bayonet charges.

In short order their situation deteriorated and, even with the support of the pensioners, the police were under such sustained attack they lost their prisoner. Superintendent Smart gave an order to the pensioners to charge in an attempt to gain some relief. Whether the order was misunderstood is conjecture but the pensioners opened fire, hitting five people.

The streets were, once again full of spectators as well as rioters and a number of them were hit, one was killed outright and another two subsequently died, including a Special Constable.

James Alexander was a victualler or provisions merchant with premises nearby. He had been a Special Constable for some time and had been deployed the previous evening at the height of the riot.  A widower with seven dependent children, Alexander was by all accounts an industrious and civic minded individual, he was said to have left his shop to assist the other officers in his capacity as a Special Constable when he was shot.

Numerous arrests were made in what came to be known as the ‘Bread Riot’ and the full range of punishments meted out to those involved, from execution to transportation and various prison terms.

James Smart was promoted to Chief Superintendent after the riots and under the police Act of 1862 he was designated Chief Constable of Glasgow. He presided over many innovations including the introduction of photography and the electric telegraph between police and fire stations. He died in 1870.

Special Constable Alexander’s name is engraved on the Scottish Police Memorial, and will never be forgotten.

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