Skeleton Army
Encyclopedia
The Skeleton Army was a diffuse group, particularly in Southern England
, that opposed and disrupted the Salvation Army
's marches against alcohol
in the late 19th century. Clashes between the two groups led to the deaths of several Salvationists and injuries to many others.
objected to Salvation Army criticism concerning the selling of alcoholic beverage
s so he founded the 4,000 member organisation. The "Skeletons" recognised each other by various insignia
used to distinguish themselves.
Several techniques were employed by the "Skeletons" to disrupt Salvation Army meetings and marches. Black, sticky tar was put onto alley walls which damaged Salvation Army uniforms as they marched past and threw eggs filled with blue paint at the “Sally Army”. Other tactics included throwing rocks and rats, marching while loudly playing musical instruments or shouting, and physically assaulting Salvation Army members at their meetings. Many in the town approved, but the Salvation Army continued unabated.
Captain Ada Smith led those who faced the "Skeletons". General Booth
wanted police protection for the Salvation Army. The Home Secretary
, Sir William Harcourt
said it was outside his jurisdiction. Captain Ada Smith of the Salvation Army and her group were ordered to march on Sundays.
George Scott Railton
, second in command of the Salvation Army, by contrast, claimed the Skeleton Army first started in Weston-super-Mare
in 1881. There in 1882 Captain William Beatty was given a three months prison sentence by the magistrate
s for a breach of the peace
. The action was reported by The Times
; at the appeal hearing it was stated that the Skeleton Army was founded in Weston-super-Mare
.
The 'Bethnal Green Eastern Post' (November 1882) stated:
Skeletons used banners with skull and crossbones; sometimes there were two coffins and a statement like, “Blood and Thunder” or the three Bs, “Beef”, “Beer” and “Bacca”. Banners also had pictures of monkeys, rats and the devil
. Skeletons further published so-called "gazettes" considered libellous as well as obscene and blasphemous.
Both sources agree Salvationists were pelted with missiles. At Bethnal Green
flour, rotten eggs, stones and brickbats were among those used. Salvationists were beaten. When news of trouble in London spread, Skeleton riots took place in other parts of Britain.
The Metropolitan Police
were at first unhelpful. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner
, Sir Edmund Henderson
denied what happened. The public eventually demanded action and Skeleton riots in London were belatedly put down.
Skeleton riots continued elsewhere until 1892 when they faded out. In 1889 at least 669 Salvation Army members were assaulted, including 251 women. On one occasion, while defending themselves 86 Salvation Army members were arrested and imprisoned on disorderly conduct charges. When a new Salvation Army Corps was opened in Potton
in Bedfordshire
on 1 June 1890, large contingents of the Skeleton Army made fun of the local Salvationists.
The War Cry reported:
At Guildford
the corps officer’s wife was kicked unconscious close to a police station
and a woman Salvationist fatally injured. At Shoreham
too, a woman was killed when a stone hit her. The mayor of Eastbourne
stated he would, “put down this Salvation Army business” with help from the Skeleton Army if necessary. Skeletons attacked many Salvationists. Salvationists considered it unchristian to defend themselves but thought the police should protect them. The case of Beatty v Gillbanks (1882) holds that the Salvation Army was acting lawfully when marching, despite having knowledge that their assembly could well lead to riots.
As their intentions were ultimately peaceful and unrelated to the cause of inciting riot, the court found their actions to be within the limits of the law. That it was known that their marching may cause riots was not found to be a breach of the law, as it was the actions of antagonistic parties which led directly to the riotous behaviour.
was a 'lieutenant' in the Skeleton Army, and was well known for disrupting Salvation Army public meetings and on occasion had assaulted Salvation Army Soldiers
and Officers
. Then Jeffries was proselytized and started to attend a Salvation Army corps, soon becoming an active Soldier, and then after attending training college, became an Officer. He served in many countries including China
and Australia
and eventually rose to the rank of Commissioner
, serving as the head of corps work as British Commissioner in the 1920s and 30's.
Southern England
Southern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...
, that opposed and disrupted the Salvation Army
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
's marches against alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
in the late 19th century. Clashes between the two groups led to the deaths of several Salvationists and injuries to many others.
Origins
In April 1884 the owner of a drinks store in WorthingWorthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
objected to Salvation Army criticism concerning the selling of alcoholic beverage
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
s so he founded the 4,000 member organisation. The "Skeletons" recognised each other by various insignia
Insignia
Insignia or insigne pl -nia or -nias : a symbol or token of personal power, status or office, or of an official body of government or jurisdiction...
used to distinguish themselves.
Several techniques were employed by the "Skeletons" to disrupt Salvation Army meetings and marches. Black, sticky tar was put onto alley walls which damaged Salvation Army uniforms as they marched past and threw eggs filled with blue paint at the “Sally Army”. Other tactics included throwing rocks and rats, marching while loudly playing musical instruments or shouting, and physically assaulting Salvation Army members at their meetings. Many in the town approved, but the Salvation Army continued unabated.
Captain Ada Smith led those who faced the "Skeletons". General Booth
William Booth
William Booth was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General...
wanted police protection for the Salvation Army. The Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, Sir William Harcourt
William Vernon Harcourt (politician)
Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for various constituencies and held the offices of Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Ewart Gladstone before becoming Leader of...
said it was outside his jurisdiction. Captain Ada Smith of the Salvation Army and her group were ordered to march on Sundays.
Confrontation
On Sunday, August 17, 1884, the police, the Salvation Army and the Skeletons confronted each other. For an hour the police kept the peace, then the Skeletons rioted. The area was filled with screaming men, brick dust and broken glass. The Salvationists returned to their "barracks" and the Skeletons tried to burn it down. The landlord of the barracks, George Head, defended his property and the people there with a revolver, wounding several Skeletons.George Scott Railton
George Scott Railton
George Scott Railton was the first Commissioner of The Salvation Army and second in command to its Founder General William Booth.-Early life:...
, second in command of the Salvation Army, by contrast, claimed the Skeleton Army first started in Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
in 1881. There in 1882 Captain William Beatty was given a three months prison sentence by the magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s for a breach of the peace
Breach of the peace
Breach of the peace is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries, and in a wider public order sense in Britain.-Constitutional law:...
. The action was reported by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
; at the appeal hearing it was stated that the Skeleton Army was founded in Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
.
The 'Bethnal Green Eastern Post' (November 1882) stated:
- A genuine rabble of "roughs" pure and unadulterated has been infesting the district for several weeks past. These vagabondVagabond (person)A vagabond is a drifter and an itinerant wanderer who roams wherever they please, following the whim of the moment. Vagabonds may lack residence, a job, and even citizenship....
s style themselves the 'Skeleton Army'.... The 'skeletons' have their collectors and their collecting sheets and one of them was thrust into my hands... it contained a number shopkeepers' names... I found that publicanPublicanIn antiquity, publicans were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects...
s, beer sellers and butcherButcherA butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
s are subscribing to this imposture... the collector told me that the object of the Skeleton Army was to put down the Salvationists by following them about everywhere, by beating a drum and burlesquing their songs, to render the conduct of their processions and services impossible... Amongst the Skeleton rabble there is a large percentage of the most consummate loafers and unmitigated blackguards London can produce...worthy of the disreputable class of publicans who hate the LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
school board, education and temperance and who, seeing the beginning of the end of their immoral traffic, and prepared for the most desperate enterprise.
Skeletons used banners with skull and crossbones; sometimes there were two coffins and a statement like, “Blood and Thunder” or the three Bs, “Beef”, “Beer” and “Bacca”. Banners also had pictures of monkeys, rats and the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
. Skeletons further published so-called "gazettes" considered libellous as well as obscene and blasphemous.
Both sources agree Salvationists were pelted with missiles. At Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
flour, rotten eggs, stones and brickbats were among those used. Salvationists were beaten. When news of trouble in London spread, Skeleton riots took place in other parts of Britain.
The Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
were at first unhelpful. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service, classing the holder as a chief police officer...
, Sir Edmund Henderson
Edmund Henderson
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson KCB was an officer in the British Army who was Comptroller-General of Convicts in Western Australia from 1850 to 1863, Home Office Surveyor-General of Prisons from 1863 to 1869, and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London...
denied what happened. The public eventually demanded action and Skeleton riots in London were belatedly put down.
Final stages
Potton
Potton is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is 10 miles from Bedford and the population in 2001 was 4,473 people. In 1783 the 'Great Fire of Potton' destroyed a large part of the town. The parish church dates from the 13th Century and is dedicated to St Mary...
in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
on 1 June 1890, large contingents of the Skeleton Army made fun of the local Salvationists.
The War Cry reported:
- "... the skeletons did all the shouting and we had only the opportunity of blessing them by showing unruffled love in answer to the disturbance in our proceedings"...."The skeleton flag was out with its coffin, skull and cross-bones as well as the whole Skeleton force, uniformed, beating a drum, playing flutes, whirling rattles and screaming through trumpets. One of their chosen leaders was carried shoulder high, ringing a bell and attired in an untrimmed coal-scuttle bonnet. I noticed that the publicans looked pleased to see this array and several waved their hats. But we were good friends of the skeletons, twelve of whom sat at our tea table... Their leaders were very courteous and sincerely desirous of keeping their somewhat rabble followers within bounds. Almost implicit obedience was given them. Their skeleton War Cry was freely sold, but doesn’t quite beat the original".
At Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
the corps officer’s wife was kicked unconscious close to a police station
Police station
A police station or station house is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms.- Facilities...
and a woman Salvationist fatally injured. At Shoreham
Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea is a small town, port and seaside resort in West Sussex, England. Shoreham-by-Sea railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre and London Gatwick Airport is away...
too, a woman was killed when a stone hit her. The mayor of Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
stated he would, “put down this Salvation Army business” with help from the Skeleton Army if necessary. Skeletons attacked many Salvationists. Salvationists considered it unchristian to defend themselves but thought the police should protect them. The case of Beatty v Gillbanks (1882) holds that the Salvation Army was acting lawfully when marching, despite having knowledge that their assembly could well lead to riots.
As their intentions were ultimately peaceful and unrelated to the cause of inciting riot, the court found their actions to be within the limits of the law. That it was known that their marching may cause riots was not found to be a breach of the law, as it was the actions of antagonistic parties which led directly to the riotous behaviour.
Skeleton to Salvationist
Charles JeffriesCharles Jeffries
Commissioner Charles Henry Jeffries was a British pioneer Salvationist and notable convert, after he left the Skeleton Army and attained the third highest rank possible as an Officer in The Salvation Army....
was a 'lieutenant' in the Skeleton Army, and was well known for disrupting Salvation Army public meetings and on occasion had assaulted Salvation Army Soldiers
Soldier in The Salvation Army
A soldier is a Salvationist who is at least 14 years of age and has, with the approval of The Salvation Army Pastoral Care Council in each local Salvation Army corps , been enrolled as a warrior in the Christian denomination - The Salvation Army - after signing the Salvation Army Articles of War...
and Officers
Officer in The Salvation Army
An Officer in The Salvation Army is a Salvationist who is in essence a minister of the Christian faith, but who fulfills many other roles not usually fulfilled by clergy of other denominations...
. Then Jeffries was proselytized and started to attend a Salvation Army corps, soon becoming an active Soldier, and then after attending training college, became an Officer. He served in many countries including China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and eventually rose to the rank of Commissioner
Commissioner in The Salvation Army
The rank of Commissioner in The Salvation Army is the second highest rank attainable by Officers in the organisation, and the highest 'appointed' rank, as the rank of General is by election...
, serving as the head of corps work as British Commissioner in the 1920s and 30's.