1843 and All That: murder and a ‘crooked’ parliament

A venal House of Commons, a time of economic dislocation, an unpopular PM: Siân Busby sees eerie resonances in the strange case of Daniel McNaughten

When Daniel McNaughten, a young Glaswegian wood-turner, shot Edward Drummond Esq on a freezing January afternoon in 1843, the widespread reaction was dismay but not astonishment. Such atrocities were only to be expected at a time of economic depression, social dislocation, terrorists and spies around every corner (does that sound familiar?). The unfortunate Mr Drummond was not only a scion of the wealthy and influential Drummond banking family (half the world’s wealth was said to be stashed in their coffers beneath Charing Cross). He was also the Prime Minister’s private secretary — and in January 1843 politicians and the very wealthy were perhaps even more mistrusted than they are today.

It was generally assumed that the ‘Scotch maniac’ must have intended his bullet for the prime minister, Sir Robert Peel — an assumption which still prevails, although no proof has ever been discovered.