OVER the past month, a national newspaper has had a series of letters from readers after one of them enquired as to when the Riot Act was read to an unlawful assembly for the last time in this country.

Of the replies, no one wrote about the unrest in Basingstoke, in 1881, when crowds of men, who frequented the many inns in the town, protested in the streets about the arrival of The Salvation Army and its cries of “Ban all drink!”.

Even in Victorian days there were scenes of drunkenness about the town that even included policemen. In January 1877, a police constable was dismissed from the force for being constantly drunk on duty.

The Riot Act was passed by parliament in 1714, during the reign of George I, which gave the military the power to disperse any assembly of more than 12 persons who are causing a disturbance in public.

An official such as a magistrate or mayor would read out a proclamation, more or less telling the crowd to break up and leave or be arrested and put in prison.

The idea for this act came from a statute of law in Edward VI’s time, in 1548, when the crime was known as high treason.

The last time that the act was read in Brit-ain was in March 1933, during a strike of miners at a South Wales colliery, while the “Riot Act” itself was discontinued in 1973.

Rioting occurred as far back as the 12th century, as a result of public discontent with the laws that were enforced upon them.

In 1221, a large crowd in London damaged buildings, but the ringleader was caught and hanged; while in 1780, there was mass rioting by a mob of 40,000 persons, led by Lord George Gordon (1751-93), in a protest against the Parliament Bill passed in 1778, to relieve Roman Catholics of old penalties imposed upon them. For six days, buildings belonging to Roman Catholics were destroyed and, at one time, 36 fires were raging across the city of London.

With the aid of armed citizens and military groups from various counties, these “No Popery” riots (as they became known) were quelled. Some 200 rioters were killed and 250 injured, while the loss of property was estimated at £180,000. Lord Gordon died in Newgate prison of a fever.

Returning to the Basingstoke riots of 1881, these took place over a period of two years and involved The Salvation Army and drunks. It began when the Salvationists decided to make an old silk mill in Brook Street their meeting room in October 1880, and the captain and lieutenant, both women, asked those who were present to have their souls saved.

But it was their campaign to stop drunkenness in the town that brought about the hatred from both publicans and brewery owners.

The local newspaper, the Hants and Berks Gazette, which had begun publication two years before, sympathised with the efforts of The Salvation Army and stated that a certain amount of good was being produced by the new religious group.

A few months later, during an open-air meeting in front of the Town Hall, 200 members of The Salvation Army were attacked by a mob with sticks, and the captain and lieutenant had chemicals thrown into their faces.

In the spring of the following year, 1881, another attack of a serious nature took place on March 20, when a thousand people gathered in Market Place, with about 200 holding sticks and other weapons. Sympathisers tried to prevent the Salvationists from being hit but injuries still occurred.

The following Sunday saw about 100 special constables arrive to keep the peace, but more than 2,000 mobsters were present in Brook Street and the Market Place.

The mayor, William Blatch (who was a member of the May’s Brewery) called for soldiers of the Horse Artillery, who were stationed in the town, to prepare to clear the streets. The mayor then read the Riot Act from the doorway of the Town Hall before ordering the soldiers into action.

Over the following two years, there were other scenes of violence in which many people were hurt, but The Salvation Army accepted this and gradually even the members of the mob felt that they were losing their battle to drive them out of the town.

The national newspapers of that time mentioned the Basingstoke riots, although one called them “a little local disturbance”. Soon afterwards the ring-leaders of the mob were arrested and put into prison.

In September 1883, a new meeting hall was opened in Reading Road, and this building was in use until 1976, when the Town Development Scheme led to a new hall being built in Wessex Close.

During those troubled times, in the late 19th century, William Booth (1829-1912), who founded The Salvation Army in 1865, and his wife visited Basingstoke to see how the local group were coping. Since then, The Salvation Army has become established in 94 countries.

In the UK, there are about 60,000 members devoted to helping those in need and bringing the message of Jesus Christ to the public.