The dinner attended by a group of eminent Birmingham men – including philosophers, scientists, and newly-rich industrialists. Many were connected with the Lunar Society, an informal social club which met each full moon, whose membership encompassed a broad range of interests. Chief among them was Joseph Priestley (1733 – 1804)
Priestley, a discoverer of oxygen, a supporter of both the American and French Revolutions, Joseph freely expressed his views, often from the pulpit. Some of these views were considered to be seditious by the British establishment and many citizens.
The riots began by breaking the windows of the hotel, when someone in the crowd cried out, "Go and burn the Meetings! " The mob marched down Bull Street, and in half an hour the New Meeting was in a blaze. At this point it is thought the magistrates would have stopped the riots had they been able.
The Old Meeting was the next building burnt down. This was followed by Dr. Priestley's house, about a mile from Birmingham, which was plundered and burnt without mercy.
Joseph was forewarned and made his escape stopping overnight at the home of Thomas Hawkes on Moseley-Green.
Over the next three days twenty-six other Dissenters’ homes and three more churches were ransacked and burned to the ground. The government, which considered Priestley and his supporters to be political agitators, was slow to respond, and the riots did not cease until military intervention on 17 July.
Birmingham Riots of 14th July 1791
