Not So Much a Character Assassination...

[Daft Bat]

…But a real one! Yes, it was today, 11th May back in 1812 that the one and only British Prime Minister to be actually assassinated met his untimely end.

This was Spencer Perceval, who was shot in the chest in the lobby of the House of Commons. His assailant was a bankrupt chap by the name of John Bellingham who bore a grudge against the British Government for failing to provide support when he was arrested for debt in St Petersburg.

Although he said that he didn’t have anything against Spencer Perceval personally, that was small consolation to the Prime Minister’s family.

After a trial that lasted just one day, he was hanged at Newgate prison.

Mind you, there was nearly another assassination 30 years later when Daniel McNaughten mistakenly shot and killed the Prime Minister’s Private Secretary, Mr Drummond, mistaking him for Robert Peel.

 

[mugwortismy cat]

His son, John Thomas Perceval wrote a book about his time in a mental hospital advocating for patient rights. It is a good read (called The Narrative of John Perceval). It is thought that he either witnessed the assassination, or saw the body shortly afterwards (he was 9 years old), and that this coupled with a religious 'mania' was the trigger for his breakdown some years later

 

[Anthony J Corps]

…But a real one! Yes, it was today, 11th May back in 1812 that the one and only British Prime Minister to be actually assassinated met his untimely end.

This was Spencer Perceval, who was shot in the chest in the lobby of the House of Commons. His assailant was a bankrupt chap by the name of John Bellingham who bore a grudge against the British Government for failing to provide support when he was arrested for debt in St Petersburg.

Although he said that he didn’t have anything against Spencer Perceval personally, that was small consolation to the Prime Minister’s family.

After a trial that lasted just one day, he was hanged at Newgate prison.

Mind you, there was nearly another assassination 30 years later when Daniel McNaughten mistakenly shot and killed the Prime Minister’s Private Secretary, Mr Drummond, mistaking him for Robert Peel.

Bit of hard luck for Drummond Probably resembled his boss too closely