Barnaby Rudge was one of two novels (the other was The Old Curiosity Shop) that Dickens published in his short-lived (1840–1841) weekly serial Master Humphrey's Clock.

One of the three, Solomon Daisy, tells an ill-kempt stranger at the inn a well-known local tale of the murder of Reuben Haredale which had occurred 22 years earlier on that very day.

He initially asks her to come with him and be his wife, but being "a spoilt child", she shallowly rejects Joe's proposal, despite his previously having risked his own life to save her from an assault by the lecherous Hugh.

She later gives up the annuity she had been receiving from Geoffrey Haredale and, without explanation, takes Barnaby and leaves the city hoping to escape the unwanted visitor.

On the 27th anniversary of Reuben Haredale's murder, Solomon Daisy, winding the bell tower clock, sees a ghost in the churchyard.

He reports this hair-raising event to his friends at the Maypole, and John Willet decides that Geoffrey Haredale should hear the story.

Lord George makes an impassioned speech full of anti-papist sentiment, arguing (among other things) that Catholics in the military would, given a chance, join forces with their co-religionists on the Continent and attack Britain.

Next day the three depart for London, inciting anti-Catholic sentiment along the way and recruiting Protestant volunteers, from whom Ned Dennis, the hangman of Tyburn, and the ill-mannered Simon Tappertit, former apprentice to Gabriel Varden, are chosen as leaders.

Hugh, finding a handbill left at the Maypole Inn, joins the Protestant throng which Dickens describes as "sprinkled doubtless here and there with honest zealots, but composed for the most part of the very scum and refuse of London, whose growth was fostered by bad criminal laws, bad prison regulations, and the worst conceivable police."

Barnaby and his mother have been living quietly in a country village, their whereabouts unknown despite Geoffrey Haredale's attempts to find them.

When Barnaby and his mother arrive at Westminster Bridge, they see an unruly crowd heading for a meeting on the Surrey side of the river.

A detachment led by Hugh and Dennis head for Chigwell, intent on exacting revenge on Geoffrey Haredale, leaving Barnaby to guard The Boot, the tavern they use as their headquarters.

The rioters capture Gabriel Varden, with the help of his wife's maid Miggs, and attempt to have the locksmith help them break into Newgate to release prisoners.

Dennis has changed sides, believing he will obtain the bounty offered for them as well as numerous clients needing his special talents.

[6] Dickens based the Maypole Tavern on the Kings Head, Chigwell,[7] a 17th-century public house, situated on High Road, opposite the entrance to Roding Lane.

[12] BBC Radio 4 chose it for their Classic Serial in 2014, and cast an actor with Down's Syndrome, Daniel Laurie, in the title role.