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4 unusual facts about Francis Burdett


1810 in the United Kingdom

April - Rioting in London after the imprisonment of Sir Francis Burdett, MP, charged with libel against Parliament after calling for reform of the House of Commons.

Christopher Hely-Hutchinson

He voted in favour of Sir Francis Burdett's plan of parliamentary reform, and one of the last speeches he made was directed against emigration to Canada as a panacea for Irish distress.

Daniel Lovell

In 1811, Lovell was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment for copying the reporting of Manchester papers on the conduct of the military at Sir Francis Burdett's arrest; in contrast the original publishers of the libel were only asked to express regret at their inadvertence.

Peter Finnerty

The poem's 'hero' is Sir Francis Burdett, a figurehead for the campaign to support Finnerty, its targets are variously: Lord Castlereagh, the 'cold advisers of yet colder kings' who sent English soldiers to die in the Low Countries, and Napoleon, 'like a meteor on the midnight blast'.


Adam Buck

His patrons included Angelica Catalani (an opera singer), JP Kemble, Sir Francis Burdett, Thomas Hope, George IV, the duke of York and his mistress Mary Anne Clarke.


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