Forgotten riot takes its place in history
Jan 22 2004 By Tony Henderson, The Journal
Unjust death for a 74-year-old 'rioter'
Balloting for military service had already ended in Gateshead, Belford and Morpeth - but Hexhamshire magistrates called in six companies of the North Yorkshire militia, who formed up in front of the Moot Hall.
Craftsmen, labourers and pitmen from all over the Tyne Valley marched into the crowded Market Place and the magistrates read the Riot Act to disperse them.
When the shooting started, 49 of the crowd were killed and two soldiers died - believed to have been shot by their own weapons.
Five months after the riot, a 74-year-old man called Patterson was arrested for his alleged involvement in the Hexham riot. He was sentenced to be hung, cut down alive, disembowelled and have his entrails burnt in front of his eyes and then to be quartered.
The sentence was "reduced" to hanging. But the rope snapped before he died and he was able to utter his last words: "Innocent blood is hard to spill".
It was later discovered that Patterson had not been in Hexham on the day of the riot.
