Halesworth held a public festival which involved a procession including almost two hundred characters representing '....heathen mythology, and ornamented with the emblems of Peace and Plenty...' among which were '...seated in triumphal cars Britannia, Venus, Bacchus on a wine....'. After the procession;....a variety of rustic sports took place, the whole concluding with a vast bonfire 60 feet high, and an elegant display of fire works'.' 10

The Ipswich Journal gives a very comprehensive account of the festivities in the town: 'Thursday being a day appointed for the Proclamation of Peace, great preparations were made in this town to celebrate the long wished for return of its blessings. The morning was ushered in by the ringing of bells, and a display of flags from church steeples, and many houses throughout the town....At noon the Corporation in regalia, preceded by a number of flags, bands of music, and followed by an immense concourse of persons went from the Town-hall to the front of the New Corn Exchange, where peace was proclaimed with the usual formalities amidst the shouts of the multitude' .

In accordance with custom, the proclamation was repeated at the Common Quay, where 'the sailors afterwards fired their great gun'. During the evening there was an illumination 'unprecedented in this town for its brilliancy... the whole town ornamented as it was by excellent devices and transparencies, interspersed with many thousands of variegated lamps, and profusely decorated with laurel, flowers, boughs of oak and other wood...and until a very late hour the streets were thronged with large parties of pedestrians...no interruption was experienced during the evening, and the fair sex were enabled to enjoy the pleasing spectacle without being exposed to those alarms which the unpardonable practice of firing blunderbusses, etc. on public festivals cannot fail to occasion'. 11

The summer's rejoicing in London culminated in a Jubilee celebration on 1 August, the centenary of the Hanoverian accession. The Royal Parks were opened to the populace for fairs and entertainment. St James' Park was hung with coloured lanterns and its canal spanned by a Chinese bridge, crowned with a seven-storey high gas-lit pagoda. The Green Park had a model castle one hundred and thirty feet high, before which the storming of Badajoz was staged.

There was also a Grand Fair, with Fireworks in Honour of the Peace in Hyde Park. As well as booths, entertainers and fireworks, there was a representation of the Battle of the Nile on the Serpentine, involving model three-decker ships made out of barges, and fitted with miniature cannon. The Times newspaper was critical of the lavishness of the celebrations: 'The public will first gape at the mummery, then laugh at the authors of it & lastly grumble at the expense'.

Charles Lamb wrote to Wordsworth, complaining: 'The very colour of the grass is vanished, the whole surface of Hyde Park is dry crumbling sand, not a vestige or hint of grass ever having grown there, booths & drinking places go all round it for a mile & a half I am confident - I might say two miles in circuit - the stench of liquors, bad tobacco, dirty people & provisions, conquers the air & we are stifled and suffocated in Hyde Park....The whole beauty of the Place is gone - that lake-look of the Serpentine - it has got foolish ships upon it....the fireworks were splendid - the Rockets in clusters, in trees and all shapes, spreading about like young stars in the making, floundering about in Space (like unbroke horses) till some of Newton's calculations should fix them, but then they went out'.' 12

Forgotten Troops

While England celebrated its victories, it seemed to forget the troops who had won them. All through June and July, troops were returning in dark, crowded transport ships. The soldiers were given their arrears of pay, without interest, and disbanded. Rifleman Harris wrote: 'We were then marched to Chelsea to be disbanded, where we met thousands of soldiers lining the streets, and lounging about before the different public-houses, with every description of wound and casualty incident to modern warfare. There hobbled the maimed light infantry man, the heavy dragoon, the hussar, the artillery-man, the fusileer, and specimens from every regiment in the service. The Irishman, shouting and brandishing his crutch; the English soldier, reeling with drink; and the Scot, with grave and melancholy visage, sitting on the steps of the public-house amongst the crowd, listening to the skirl of his comrades' pipes, and thinking of the blue hills of his native land. Such were Chelsea and Pimlico in 1814'. 13

Rifleman Harris himself was discharged with a wound-pension of 6d a day, however he never received this as he was called to attend '..together with others, in consequence of the escape of Bonaparte from Elba; but I was then in so miserable a plight with the remains of the fever and ague, which still attacked me every other day, that I did not answer the call, whereby I lost my pension'. 14

Private William Wheeler complained about the treatment of Sergeant Button of the 9th Foot. He listed the actions, sieges, storms and skirmishes at which Sergeant Button was present, including losing a leg in 1813, then followed this by saying, 'He was 10 years 8/12 in the 9th Foot. His brilliant service was rewarded by a pension of what, 3/6 per day? no, a paltry 1/3 per day...'. 15

The poor treatment of th common soldier contrasted with the liberal allowances given to commanding officers and relatives of Ministers. Wellington was granted 400,000 pounds to buy a mansion and estate plus other remuneration.

In 1814, England's economy was not at its best. There was mass unemployment, and high taxation to fund the war. The return of thousands of soldiers made the unemployment situation significantly worse. Also there was a marked rise in crime at the end of the wars. John Rule believes that this 'was clearly linked to demobilisation on to a glutted labour market...'. 16

E.P.Thompson states 'The Wars ended amidst riots'. 17 By the end of the wars the mob was militant, especially in London, the cities and manufacturing districts. The claims of 'Rights of Man' 18 were now assumed. Thompson suggests that 'between 1792 and 1815, 155 barracks were constructed, many of which were deliberately sited in 'disaffected' districts of the Midlands and north'. 19

The celebrations of 1814 helped people to forget their situation for a short period. Similar to the recent 50th Anniversary VE day celebrations, it could be seen as a propaganda exercise to help hide the real issues of the day.

In March 1815 Napoleon escaped from Elba. There followed the 100 days campaign, culminating with the battle of Waterloo in June, and the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte once again. England did not celebrate to the same extent as it had in 1814. In 1815 there was very little celebration, instead, many towns collected subscriptions in aid of the widows and orphans who fell in the battle of 'La Belle Alliance' (Waterloo).

It may be that celebrations were not thought appropriate as 'once bitten, twice shy'. People recently in Europe were fleeing back to England because of the threat of Napoleon. The losses at Waterloo were vast. The total casualties were estimated at one hundred and forty-six thousand men. Soldiers were returned to Britain wounded instead of being hospitalised in the country of conflict as they were in Spain or Portugal. On the East Coast, troop ships were landing at Lowestoft, Felixstowe and Harwich. This battle at Waterloo was closer to home.

Double Time try to recreate the feeling of the celebrations of 1814 in the Regency Fairs that are staged at various historic sites. Provisionally, in 1996 these fairs will be held at: Fort Amherst, Chatham, Kent (18/1 9 May) Guildford Museum, Guildford, Surrey (6 July) Wrest Park, between Bedford and Luton, Bedfordshire (10/1 1 Aug) Hartlepool Historic Quay, Hartlepool, Cleveland (Aug. Bank Hol.)The representations of the fairs of 1814, though very small in comparison to the originals, aim to recreate the atmosphere of that summer. This year we hope to include buskers and jugglers, peddlers, stall holders, craftsmen, games, a quack doctor, a fortune teller, Punch and Joan, ('Punch joins the Redcoats'), players and showmen, the infamous 'Wildman' 'mermaid', and the 'sapient piglet', (hopefully joined by an Egyptian mummy), and a minirecreation of the Battle of the Nile staged on the Serpentine. In addition to this, units from the Napoleonic Association, or the 68th Display Team will also be in attendance.

NOTES

1 Ipswich Journal, 18 June 1814.
2 Ipswich Journal, 25 June 1814
3 Ipswich Journal, 2 July 1814
4 Ipswich Journal, 4 June 1814
5 Ipswich Journal, 25 June 1814
6 The Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow, Rees Howell Gronow, 1892
7 Ipswich Journal, 11 June 1814
8 Ibid.
9 Ipswich Journal 25 June 1814
10 Ipswich Journal 18 June and 2 July 1814
11 Ipswich Journal 25 June 1814
12 As quoted in The Age of Elegance, 1812-1822, by Arthur Bryant, 1950
13 The Recollections of Rifleman Harris, ed. Christopher Hibbert,1970.
14 Ibid.
15 The Letters of Private Wheeler,1809 - 1828, ed. Captain B.H. Liddell Hart,1951
16 Albion's People, English Society 1714-1815, John Rule, 1992
17 The Making of the English Working Class, E.P Thompson, 1980.
18 The Rights of Man, Thomas Paine,1791
19 The Making of the English Working Class, E.P Thompson, 1980