The riots were caused by high unemployment and rising grain costs, similar to the general unrest which spread throughout England following the Napoleonic Wars.

Fuelled by alcohol, they left the inn and began intimidating wealthier Littleport residents, demanding money and destroying property.

The following day, encouraged by Lord Liverpool's government, a militia of the citizens of Ely, led by Sir Henry Bate Dudley and backed by the 1st The Royal Dragoons, rounded up the rioters.

[3] One reply to a questionnaire circulated by the Board of Agriculture in February, March, and April 1816 reported that "the state of the labouring poor is very deplorable, and arises entirely from the want of employment, which they are willing to seek, but the farmer cannot afford to furnish.

[13] The mob of 1,500, mainly men but some women, besieged The Crown until the magistrates agreed to allow a deputation of eight rioters inside to make their pleas: to have work and two-shillings (£10) per day.

Backed by the troops, the Riot Act was then read in the market place by Reverend Dering,[vi] causing further tussles, which subsided after arrests started to be made.

[20] One man went to get a horn from Burgess, the lighterman,[vii] and started blowing it outside The Globe Inn, gathering hundreds of villagers to join the first group, and the riot commenced.

[22] The rioters began at Mingey's shop, where stones were thrown through the windows, and then they invaded Mr Clarke's property and threw his belongings into the street.

[31] The rioters then stopped a post-chaise[32] returning with Hugh Robert Evans senior and Henry Martin from a turnpike trust meeting in Downham.

[1] The rioters in Littleport had in the interim stolen a wagon and horses from Henry Tansley and equipped it with fowling guns[x] front and back.

[41]: 107  Most of the Littleport mob, armed with guns and pitch-forks, then began the march to Ely, arriving three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) north of the city between 5 am and 6 am on 23 May.

[1] On being told that they wanted "the price of a stone of flour per day" and that "our children are starving, give us a living wage," the Reverend agreed but stated that he would have to converse with the other magistrates.

[34] The following afternoon, 24 May, the troops marched on Littleport, led by Sir Henry Bate Dudley and John Bacon, a Bow Street constable.

They were followed by the Royston troop of volunteer yeomanry cavalry summoned earlier by Henry Law,[44] and a militia of gentlemen and inhabitants of Ely.

The home secretary, Lord Sidmouth, had dispatched three troops of cavalry (100 men), two six–pounder cannons and three companies of the 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot under Major General Byng to help capture the leading rioters.

[59] From AD 970 until 1837[xiii] the Bishop of Ely retained exclusive jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters,[60] and was also keeper of the records (custos rotulorum).

[citation needed] As part of this right, the bishop appointed a Chief Justice of the Isle of Ely; Edward Christian had held the post since 1800.

[xiv][67] After the service, around 1 pm, the court reconvened; the grand jury was sworn in, and Mr W. Dunn Gardner elected the foreman.

[73] Mr Justice Abbott addressed the court: Gentlemen of the Grand Jury,—You have been called together at this unusual period, and with the present solemnities, in consequence of some very daring acts of outrage committed by various misguided individuals in this town and its immediate neighbourhood, which must still be fresh in your recollection.

In contemplating the nature of these atrocities, it is impossible to consider without commendation, the conductors of those prompt and efficacious measures by which, after it had domineered for several days together, the spirit of tumult and devastation was finally subdued.

[74] He then went on to direct the jury at length, commenting at one point that these disturbances "seem to have been the necessity of an advance in the wages of husbandry; but the circumstances of some among the offenders do not correspond with the supposition of such an object".

[77] He closed:It is of the highest importance to the peace and safety, not only of this isle, but of the surrounding country, that all who are present on this solemn inquiry, and all who read the account of its proceedings (and there are few parts of the kingdom in which it will not be read) may be convinced by the awful lesson which may here be taught, that whatever wild or chimerical notions may prevail of the power of an armed multitude, the law is too strong for its assailants; and that, however triumphant or destructive their sway for a few days, those who defy the law, will ultimately be compelled to submit either to its justice or its mercy.

[79] On Tuesday 18 June the court opened at 9 am; 12 defendants were charged with breaking into the house of Rebecca Waddelow in Littleport and stealing personal property and money.

On Wednesday 19 June the court opened at 9 am; the indictment on three of the defendants was read for forcibly entering the house of Robert Speechly in Littleport and stealing personal property.

[101] On Friday morning 21 June, seven prisoners were brought to the bar on a similar charge as on Tuesday (breaking into the house of Rebecca Waddelow in Littleport and stealing personal property and money).

[105] In summing up, Mr Abbott went on a length closing with "the duty which it belonged to them [the jury] to execute – confident that, from experience which the court had now of them, their verdict would be such as good sense would dictate, and the public justice of the country require".

[118][119][xix][xx] On Friday 28 June 1816 at 9 am, the condemned men, William Beamiss, George Crow, John Dennis, Isaac Harley and Thomas South, were driven from the gaol at Ely market place in a black-draped cart[124] and two horses costing five-pound five-shillings[123] (£508) accompanied by the bishop's gaol chaplain, John Griffin,[125] in a hired chaise and pair costing 13 shillings (£63).

[126] In submitting his expenses on 29 June, chief bailiff F. Bagge noted "We have no power of pressing a cart for the purpose, and 'tis a difficult matter to get one, people feel's so much upon the occasion".

[127] Griffin was unofficially given the ropes, which cost one-pound five-shillings (£121),[123] after hanging, which he kept; he left a collection to his housekeeper, who sold them as a cure for sore throats.

Despite, or because of, media attention—newspapers of the time took sides depending whether they supported the government or not—the prisoners were returned to Ely gaol; it may all have been a simple mistake by the clerk of the assizes.