If the government believed that trouble was brewing, it was a far
better use of resources to ensure that troops were already in place before they
were needed, and this is one of the reasons why spies were needed. Whitehall
relied heavily on reports from local magistrates and concerned loyalists for
news of potential troublemakers in the provinces.
 |
| Many local JPs were active intelligence-gatherers. |
Unfortunately many local justices seem to have been particularly
pusillanimous and communicated every minor happenstance. Letters poured into
the Home Office on a daily basis, and the clerks had the unenviable task of
winnowing the chaff to determine which letters and spy reports were important
and required immediate action, and which were trivial.
Several local officials employed spies and informers to gather
information, which they forwarded to London. For example, magistrates like Col.Ralph Fletcher in Bolton, Rev. William R. Hay in Manchester, and clerk of the
peace John Lloyd of Stockport, were highly active correspondents. Their spies
and informers were given code-names in correspondence, such as ‘B’ or ‘S’;
sometimes the term ‘confidential agent’ or ‘confidential person’ was used.
Images:
John Bull fighting the French single-handed. Unknown artist, c. 1800.
Courtesy Library of Congress LC-DIG-ppmsca-10749.
'The Bench'. Hugh Thomson illustration for Our Village, Macmillan &
Co., 1893.
