‘Each man carried a blanket so’s he could sleep under it on t’road to London. It showed he were a textile worker. Some five thousand spinners and weavers were planning to leave Manchester in groups of ten so they couldn’t be accused of unlawful assembly. It was a peaceful march, Mr Skillen. They obeyed the law.’

‘What happened?’

‘They were part of huge crowd as met in Manchester. Before they even left, they were set on by King’s Dragoon Guards. Leaders were arrested. Rest of ’em didn’t gi’e up easily. Hundreds set off bravely with a petition for the Prince Regent. They didn’t get far.’

‘Why not?’

‘They were attacked by dragoons with them sabres. Some of their wounds were serious. These were decent, law-abidin’ men, Mr Skillen, yet they were treated as if they were deadly enemies.’

‘What did the petition say?’

‘It told His Royal Highness about the dreadful state of the textile industry in Lancashire and protested against doin’ away with that law.’

‘Habeas corpus?’ said Peter.

‘That’s the one, sir.’

Others contributed with additional comments. A couple of the men had relatives in Manchester and knew how bad the rate of unemployment was there. They were quick to point out that Nottingham had similar problems. Peter was shocked at the degree of suffering endured. He began to appreciate the scale of their loss. To have their spokesman assassinated in London had been a hammer blow for them. Sir Roger Mellanby was irreplaceable. The only thing that would bring them succour was the arrest and execution of his killer.

The main door of the Black Horse had been locked by the landlord before the meeting. They wanted no strangers there. Expecting simply to sit and listen, Peter was surprised when, after opening the meeting, Hooper suddenly called on him to say a few words about the search he’d undertaken for the assassin. Peter responded by assuring everyone that neither he nor his brother would rest until they’d caught the person responsible. While trying to sound optimistic, he warned them that it might be a lengthy process. As he looked around the faces, he realised that he was talking to a cross-section of the local working and middle classes, family men with other mouths to feed who’d exercised their right of petition to the Prince Regent in a bid to achieve urgent political reform.