My grandad was a rioter.....

William's family. My Mother is holding Sarah's hand.




 


Unlike my paternal granddad Fred Abbott (previous blog) my maternal grandfather, William Billington, survived WW1. He came home to a wife, Sarah, and four young daughters ranging from 11 to 4 years old. He was a skilled worker in Luton’s hat trade and you would think he would have wanted to enjoy the peace that had come at such enormous cost to him and his friends,  

and just settle down to a quiet life. That’s not how it worked out though.

Although fighting stopped with the armistice in November 1918, the peace treaty wasn’t concluded until 1919 and, to celebrate, Luton Town Council decided to mark the occasion in style. There was to be a day of brass bands, a procession, fireworks and an official Mayor’s Banquet; all paid for from public funds. However invitations to this seem to have been limited to the Mayor, Councillors and their close friends; none of whom had actually served in any of the armed forces! In fact, none of the ex-servicemen or their organisations had been included in the preparations so the Discharged Soldiers and Sailors Federation and the Comrades of the Great War Association withdrew their support. Somewhat frustrated they did try to arrange an alternative celebration of their own in a local park but, unwisely, the Mayor and Council refused permission for this to take place.

July 19, 1919 was a rainy Saturday and, as the somewhat depleted official procession set off through the town, it had to pass the headquarters of the ex-servicemen’s organisation where the men themselves and their families had organised their own contribution to the celebration. The route was lined with disabled ex soldiers and sailors and a banner across the road demanded “Don’t pity us, give us work”. As the procession passed the servicemen tagged on, eventually arriving at the Town Hall  to hear the Mayor, by now the most unpopular man in town, read the official proclamation of peace.

The Town Hall before the riot. The Mayor gave his address from the 1st floor balcony.



 

Sensing the anger as boos and catcalls from thousands of old soldiers drowned out the Mayor’s address, one councillor called for “three cheers for the ex-servicemen”. This brought even more hostility and suddenly the crowd surged forward causing the mayor and his party to beat an undignified retreat into the town hall. The crowd swept aside the police, broke down the doors and entered just in time to see some of the mayor’s followers vanishing through the back door! Inside the decorations for the Grand Banquet were torn down and the contents of the building were thrown out of the windows to the cheers of those still outside. Discovering the mayor was barricaded in his parlour, serious harm was only averted by the arrival of more police and the fighting spilled out into the streets.

As the night wore on the riot spread. Several fires were started, attempts to put them out being met with fierce resistance and the slashing of hoses, forcing the firefighters to retreat, with remaining hoses being used to protect the police rather than put out the fire. A nearby garage was raided for petrol which was added to the now blazing Town Hall. The police were heavily outnumbered by ex –servicemen, many of them in uniform, though they did manage to smuggle the Mayor out disguised as a special constable. One man was struck so hard by a fireman’s jet that he was hurled through the window of Farmers music shop. The crowd that rescued him also pulled out three pianos, upon which my grandfather and others played a spirited rendition of “Keep The Home Fires Burning” Later heavy police reinforcements arrived and, just as the town Hall clock struck one and collapsed into the debris, the crowd began to disperse.  

A contemporary postcard depicting the blaze. The caption top left reads Looton!




 

The Mayor, fearful for his life, left for Sutton on Sea. He returned to Luton just twice; once for the funeral of a friend and once more for his own. William Billington was never arrested and, with Sarah, went on to add two sons to the family.  He died in 1938 at the age of just 58.

Notwithstanding recent events I’m very proud of my granddad William. I wouldn’t recommend arson as a means of protest but I think his generation knew, as did my parents, that some things were worth fighting for. He was born in 1880 and in the century that followed ordinary people achieved extraordinary things. They got the vote for all men and women. They built strong and independent trade unions that made real improvements to millions of lives. They created the building societies that made owning a home a real possibility for ordinary people. They founded and owned the co-operative movement. Full employment and free health care became the cornerstones of a much fairer society. They achieved free and universal access to education to everyone, right up to degree level. They even created an Open University for those who wanted or needed to study from home. It’s worth remembering that none of these were given to us; they all had to be argued over and fought for. The shame of my generation is that my children and grandchildren now face the prospect of having to fight again to defend many of these things. Only recently I saw that a government adviser was seriously suggesting that all employment legislation should be suspended even though this would mean the government breaking the law.

The current all too familiar response is that “They’re all the same” and “There’s nothing we can do”. I’m really, really glad and proud that my parents and grandparents, and probably yours too, didn’t believe that. Because I know they would have said “No, they’re not” and “Yes, you can” Unless we really want to see those achievements undermined or put beyond the reach of ordinary people I think we will, sooner or later, have to fight to save them.

and after all....If not us, then who? If not now, then when?


* A full account of the riot is the subject of the book "Where They Burnt The Town Hall Down, Luton, The First World War and The Peace Day Riots of July 1919" by David Craddock. Material is also held and on display at Luton Museum.