The Grand Old Duke of York by Derek Winterbottom

Author:Derek Winterbottom [Winterbottom, Derek]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Royalty
ISBN: 9781473845787
Google: Ml1KDAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2016-07-31T00:19:51+00:00

Chapter Nine

An Eventful Day

In the early summer after his return from the Helder, York put the Grenadier Guards through a series of manoeuvres in Hyde Park, which were attended by the king. Suddenly, a musket-ball was fired from the centre of the ranks and hit a junior clerk in the navy office, called Ongley, who was standing only six or seven yards from the monarch. It went right through one of his thighs and lodged in the other, near the groin. Surprisingly, despite vigorous investigations, no culprit was identified and the matter was declared to be an accident. Ongley recovered and the authorities made sure that in due course he received a suitable commission in the navy.

That night the king and queen, the Duke and Duchess of York and other members of the royal family attended a first performance of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at Drury Lane. As the king entered the royal box, a contemporary recounted,

… the whole house was thrown into confusion by the discharge of a pistol from the front row of the pit; but though the bullet struck the pilaster just over the head of the King, it providentially did no mischief, owing to the sudden jerk to the hand of the assassin at the moment he was taking his aim. Immediately the perpetrator of this atrocious deed was seized and dragged over the rails of the orchestra into the music room, where Mr Sheridan and the Duke of York soon entered, to attend the examination. On seeing His Royal Highness, the man recognized him instantly and enthusiastically exclaimed, ‘God bless you! I know you: you are the Duke of York under whom I served on the continent.’ Then, turning to the people about him, he went on and said: ‘Ah, he is a good soul: he is the soldier’s friend and love.’1

York remembered the man, whose name was James Hatfield (or Hadfield), because he had been one of the dragoons who formed his personal guard at Famars, back in 1794. Formerly a silversmith, he had fought bravely, but was badly wounded in the head at Lincelles, so that he had to be discharged on a pension. For his attempted assassination of the king he was tried for high treason the following month, before Lord Kenyon in the Court of King’s Bench in Westminster Hall. York was called as a witness. Upon seeing him, Hatfield, who had sat listlessly throughout the trial so far, exclaimed brightly, ‘Ah, God bless His Highness! He is a good soul!’ York explained that his personal guard had been chosen from men of the best character and the court heard several witnesses testify that Hatfield had become deranged as a result of his wounds. Lord Kenyon stopped the trial and committed the prisoner to the Bethlehem Hospital (nicknamed ‘Bedlam’). On one occasion he escaped from there, but was recaptured on the coast of Kent. York made sure that his wife and family received some support, and, it would appear, sometimes called at the hospital to see him.

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