List of riots in London

The following is a list of riots and protests involving violent disorder that have occurred in London:

Cartoon of the Old Price Riots, 1809, following a rise in the price of theatre tickets

1189: The Massacre of the Jews at the coronation of Richard I
1196: William with the long beard causes riots when he preaches for the poor against the rich
1221: Riots occur after London defeats Westminster in an annual wrestling contest; ring-leaders hanged or mutilated in punishment.^[1]^[2]
1268: Rioting between goldsmiths and tailors^[2]^[3]
1340: Fishmongers riot with Skinners after a Skinner murders a Fishmonger's servant, Ralph Turk.^[4]

A dispute arose between certain of the craft of the goldsmiths and certain of the craft of the tailors

The Justiciar...took proceedings against them in the King's behalf, saying that they, against the peace and their fealty to his lordship the King, had gone armed in the City, and had at night wickedly and feloniously wounded some persons, and had slain others, whose bodies, it was said, had been thrown into the Thames.

Chronicles of the Mayors and Sheriffs of London

1391: Riots break out in Salisbury Place over a baker's loaf^[2]
1517: Evil May Day riot against foreigners takes place
1668: Bawdy House Riots took place following repression of a series of attacks against brothels^[5]
1710: Sacheverell riots, following the trial of the preacher, Henry Sacheverell
1719: Spitalfields weavers rioted, attacking women wearing Indian clothing and then attempting to rescue their arrested comrades^[6]
1743: Riots against Gin Taxes and other legislation to control the Gin Craze, principally the Gin Act 1736; rioting was fuelled by consumption of the drink itself^[7]
1768: The Massacre of St George's Fields after the imprisonment of John Wilkes for criticising the King
1769: The Spitalfield riots when silk weavers attempted to maintain their rate of pay
1780: Gordon riots against Catholics
1788: The notorious Westminster by-election held in the summer of 1788 resulting in 2 deaths and more than 40 injured.^[8]
1809: Old Price Riots, 1809 following a rise in the price of theatre tickets
1816: Spa Fields riots, Spenceans met in support of the common ownership of land
1830: Attacks against the Duke of Wellington in his carriage and on his home, for his opposition to electoral reform (which had been seen partly as a solution to rioting by rural workers).
1866: a riot took place in Hyde Park after a meeting of the Reform League was declared illegal
1886: The West End Riots followed a counter-demonstration by the Social Democratic Federation against a meeting of the Fair Trade League.^[9]
1887: Bloody Sunday, a demonstration against coercion in Ireland and to demand the release from prison the MP William O'Brien
1907: The Brown Dog riots, medical students attempt to tear down an anti-vivisection statue.
1919: The Battle of Bow Street, Australian, American and Canadian servicemen rioted against the Metropolitan Police
1932: The National Hunger March ended in rioting after the police confiscated the petition of the National Unemployed Workers' Movement

1936: The Battle of Cable Street saw rioting against the Metropolitan Police as they attempted to facilitate a march by the British Union of Fascists
1958: Notting Hill race riots between White British and West Indian immigrants.
1968: Rioting outside the United States Embassy in Grosvenor Square in opposition to the Vietnam War.
1974: Red Lion Square disorders happened following a march by counter-fascists against the National Front.
1976: Riots during the Notting Hill Carnival.
1977: The Battle of Lewisham occurred when the Metropolitan Police attempted to facilitate a march by the National Front^[10]
1979: Southall riots during an Anti-Nazi League demonstration in opposition to the National Front.
1981: Brixton riot against the Metropolitan Police. Especially on 10 July, rioting extended to other parts of London and numerous other cities around the UK^[11]
1985: Brixton riot against the Metropolitan Police after they shot the mother of suspect Michael Groce
1985: Broadwater Farm riot, residents of Tottenham riot against the Metropolitan Police following a death during a police search
1990: Poll Tax riots followed the introduction of a poll tax
1993: Welling riots, October 1993.^[12] A march organised by the ANL,^[13]^[14] the SWP and Militant resulted in riots against the Metropolitan police.^[12]^{[note 1]}
1994: Riot during the second march against the Criminal Justice Bill
1995: 1995 Brixton riot against the Metropolitan Police occurred after a death in police custody
1996: Rioting in Trafalgar Square and surrounding streets following England losing against Germany in the semi-final of UEFA Euro 1996

1999: Carnival Against Capitalism riot
2000: Anti-capitalist May Day riot^[17]
2001: May Day riot in central London by anti-capitalist protestors.^[18]
2002: Rioting around The New Den stadium following Millwall F.C. losing against Birmingham City F.C. in the 2002 Football League Division One play-off.
2009: G-20 London summit protests occurred in the days around the G-20 summit.
2009: Upton Park riot before, during and after a 2009–10 Football League Cup second round match between West Ham United F.C. and Millwall F.C.
2010: UK student protests against increases in student fees and public sector cuts.
2011: Anti-cuts protest in London against government public spending cuts.
2011: England riots, initially in London, following the police shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham
2017: Rioting outside Forest Gate police station following the Death of Edson Da Costa.

References

^ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 79–81. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c "John Strype's Survey of London Online". hrionline.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ "Introduction". British History Online. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ Barbara A. Hanawalt (1998). Of Good and Ill Repute: Gender and Social Control in Medieval England. ISBN 9780195109498.
^ "Striking the posture of a whore: the Bawdy House Riots and the "antitheatrical prejudice". – Free Online Library". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ "'Industries: Silk-weaving', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2". british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ "The Gin Craze and Gin Riots". staticandwine.blogspot.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
^ "Westimnster by election riot of 1788". thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
^ "Marxism and Rioting". whatnextjournal.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ "BBC ON THIS DAY – 13 – 1977: Violent clashes at NF march". BBC. 13 August 1977. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ "A Different Reality: minority struggle in British cities". University of Warwick. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b DK Renton. "Memories of Welling". DKRenton.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
^ ^a ^b Dearlove, John (2000). Introduction to British politics. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7456-2096-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Welling: Disturbances". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 18 October 1993. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
^ Moyes, Jojo (15 November 1993). "Hard-left violence 'hurting anti-racist organisations'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
^ Saggar, Shamit (1998). Race and British electoral politics. Routledge. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-85728-830-8.
^ "BBC ON THIS DAY – 1 – 2000: May Day violence on London streets". BBC. 1 May 2000. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ "The London May Day protests at a glance". The Guardian. 1 May 2001. Retrieved 15 December 2010.

Notes

^ The march was against the headquarters of the British National Party, located in the area.^[13] Thousands of people attended the demonstration, for which 2,600 police officers were deployed.^[14] A hardcore element associated with the SWP and Militant^[15] refused to accept police instruction to divert the march away from the BNP's headquarters itself, once it had gone past it. In a resulting riot, 21 police officers and 41 demonstrators were injured.^[14] In 1995, Welling Council shut down the BNP headquarters.^[16]

Riots in England

12th–17th centuries

1189–1190 Massacres of the Jews
The revolt of 1196
1355 St Scholastica Day riot
1381 Peasants' Revolt
- Treason Act 1381
1517 Evil May Day
1668 Bawdy House riots

18th century

19th century

20th century

1900s–1960s	1907 Brown Dog riots 1919 Epsom riot 1919 Battle of Bow Street 1919 Luton Peace Day riots 1932 Old Market riot (Bristol) 1932 National Hunger March 1936 Battle of Cable Street 1943 Battle of Bamber Bridge 1944 Park Street riot 1945 Aldershot riot 1958 Notting Hill race riots 1968 student riots
1970s	1970 Garden House riot 1974 Red Lion Square disorders 1975 Chapeltown riot 1977 Battle of Lewisham 1979 Death of Blair Peach
1980s	1980 St Pauls riot 1981 England riots 1981 Brixton riot 1981 Chapeltown riots 1981 Toxteth riots 1981 Moss Side riot 1981 Handsworth riots 1985 Handsworth riots 1985 Brixton riot 1985 Broadwater Farm riot Murder of Keith Blakelock 1987 Chapeltown riot 1989 Dewsbury riot
1990s	1990 Poll Tax riots 1990 Strangeways Prison riot 1991 Meadow Well riots 1991 Handsworth riots 1992 Hartcliffe riot (Bristol) 1993 Welling riots 1994 Criminal Justice Bill riot 1995 Manningham riot 1995 Brixton riot 1996 Trafalgar Square riots 1999 Carnival Against Capital riot

21st century

2000s	2001 Bradford riots 2001 Oldham riots 2001 Harehills riot 2005 Birmingham riots 2009 G20 London summit protests Death of Ian Tomlinson 2009 Upton Park riot
2010s	2010 UK student protests 2011 Stokes Croft riot (Bristol) 2011 UK anti-austerity protests 2011 London anti-cuts protest 2011 England riots Killing of Mark Duggan House of Reeves fire Timeline
2020s	George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom Actions against memorials in Great Britain during the George Floyd protests 2022 Leicester unrest