In 1830 or 1831 a Cornishman, named John Nichols Thom, suddenly left
his home, and made his appearance in Kent as Sir William Courtenay,
knight of Malta. He was a man of tall and commanding appearance, had
ready eloquence, and contrived to persuade many of the Kentish people
that he was entitled to some of the fairest estates in the county, and
that when he inherited his property they should live on it rent free.
This pleasant arrangement agreeing with the views of a large
proportion of the agriculturists, they entertained him hospitably, and
made no secret of their impatience for the arrival of the happy time
of which he spoke. Unfortunately Thom became involved in some
smuggling transaction, and having been found guilty of perjury in
connection with it, was sentenced to six years' transportation. After
his condemnation it was discovered that he was insane, and his
sentence was not carried out, but he was removed from Maidstone gaol
to the county lunatic asylum, where he remained four years. In 1837 he
was released by Lord John Russell, who considered that he was
sufficiently recovered to be delivered up to the care of his friends.
They, however, failed to discharge their duty efficiently; and in
1838, Thom reappeared in Kent, conducting himself more extravagantly
than ever. The farmers and others supplied him with money, and he
moved about the county delivering inflammatory harangues in the towns
and villages--harangues in which he assured his auditors that if they
followed his advice they should have good living and large estates, as
he had great influence at court, and was to sit at her majesty's right
hand on the day of the coronation. He told the poor that they were
oppressed and down-trodden by the laws of the land, and invited them
to place themselves under his command, and he would procure them
redress. Moreover, he assured those whose religious convictions were
disturbed, that he was the Saviour of the world; and in order to
convince them, pointed to certain punctures in his hands, as those
inflicted by the nails of the cross, and to a scar on his side, as the
wound which had discharged blood and water. By these representations
he succeeded in attaching nearly a hundred people to himself.
On the 28th of May he set out at the head of his tatterdemalion band
from the village of Boughton, and proceeded to Fairbrook. Here a pole
was procured, and a flag of white and blue, representing a rampant
lion, was raised as the banner which was to lead them to victory.
From Fairbrook they marched in a kind of triumphal procession round
the neighbouring district, until a farmer of Bossenden, provoked by
having his men seduced from their employment by Thom's oratory, made
an application for his apprehension. A local constable named Mears,
assisted by two others, proceeded to arrest the crazy impostor. After
a brief parley, Thom asked which was the constable; and on being
informed by Mears that he held that position, produced a pistol, and
shot the unoffending representative of the law, afterwards stabbing
him with a dagger. The wounds were almost immediately fatal, and the
body was tossed into a ditch. The remaining constables fled to the
magistrates who had authorised them to make the capture, and reported
the state of affairs. When the intelligence of Mears's death spread
abroad, the general indignation and excitement was very great, and a
messenger was despatched to fetch some soldiers from Canterbury. A
military party soon arrived, but their approach had been heralded to
Thom and his strolling vagrants, who had betaken themselves to the
recesses of Bossenden wood, where the _soi-disant_ Sir William, by his
wild gesticulations and harangues, roused his adherents to a pitch of
desperate fury. To show his own valour, as soon as the soldiers, who
were intended rather to overawe than injure the mob appeared, he
strode out from among his ignorant attendants, and deliberately shot
Lieutenant Bennett of the 45th regiment, who was in advance of his
party. The lieutenant fell dead on the spot. The soldiers, excited by
the murder of their leader, immediately returned the fire, and Thom
was one of the first killed. As he fell, he exclaimed, "I have Jesus
in my heart!" Ten of his adherents shared his fate, and many were
severely wounded. Some of the more prominent among his followers were
subsequently arrested, tried, and found guilty of participating in
Bennett's murder. Two of them were sentenced to transportation for
life; one had ten years' transportation, while six expiated their
offences by a year's imprisonment in the House of Correction.