From a hunchbacked dwarf to a paranoid poet–assassin, a history of Victorian England as seen through the numerous assassination attempts on Queen Victoria.
During Queen Victoria’s 64-year reign, no fewer than eight attempts were made on her life. Murphy follows each would-be assassin and the repercussions of their actions, illuminating daily life in Victorian England, the development of the monarchy under Queen Victoria and the evolution of the attacks in light of evolving social issues and technology.
There was Edward Oxford, a bartender who dreamed of becoming an admiral, who was simply shocked when his attempt to shoot the pregnant Queen and Prince consort made him a madman in the world’s eyes. There was hunchbacked John Bean, who dreamed of historical notoriety in a publicized treason trial, and William Hamilton, forever scarred by the ravages of the Irish Potato Famine. Roderick MacLean enabled Victoria to successfully strike insanity pleas from Britain’s legal process. Most threatening of all were the “dynamitards” who targeted her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee—who signaled the advent of modern terrorism with their publicly focused attack.
From these cloak-and-dagger plots to Victoria’s brilliant wit and steadfast courage, Shooting Victoria is historical narrative at its most thrilling, complete with astute insight into how these attacks actually revitalized the British crown at a time when monarchy was quickly becoming unpopular abroad. While thrones across Europe toppled, the Queen’s would-be assassins contributed greatly to the preservation of the monarchy and to the stability that it enjoys today. After all, as Victoria herself noted, “It is worth being shot at—to see how much one is loved.”
About Paul Thomas Murphy
Paul Thomas Murphy earned his BA from Boston College, his MA from McGill University, and his PhD from the University of Colorado. He teaches interdisciplinary writing on Victorian topics at the University of Colorado and sits on the board of the Victorian Interdisciplinary Studies Association of the Western United States. He currently resides in Boulder, Colorado.
Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy
Barnes & Noble Book Review – July 11, 2012 (Excerpt)
The popularity of the British monarchy rises and falls: for every “Good Queen Bess” there is a figure like the dissolute spendthrift George IV of the early nineteenth century. Recent years have offered memorable instances of both extremes. A nearly historic low point was certainly the aftermath of Princess Diana’s 1997 death, which saw the royal family lambasted for appearing uncaring and remote in the face of extravagant public mourning. Subsequent P.R. triumphs seem to have boosted the feelings of goodwill surrounding the royals today: in 2011, Diana’s son Prince William married Kate Middleton in a televised ceremony watched by two billion people worldwide, while just weeks ago, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. Massive crowds lined the streets of London, straining to catch a glimpse of the figure who had fifteen years ago been so widely criticized for being out of touch with her subjects.
In Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy, historian Paul Thomas Murphy observes that the very legitimacy of the monarchy depends on “the popular bond between monarch and public,” and indeed, when the British are unhappy with the behavior of their royals, public support for the continuation of the monarchy erodes. But while the “yoking of royal legitimacy and popular will” seems “natural and timeless,” it is largely the creation of Britain’s longest-reigning sovereign, Queen Victoria. In this delightful book, Murphy argues that eight assassination attempts on the queen during her nearly sixty-four-year reign cemented her popularity, helping her create the modern monarchy. As she herself famously said, “It is worth being shot at to see how much one is loved.” [Read the full article...]
How Not to Kill a Queen - ‘Shooting Victoria,’ by Paul Thomas Murphy
The New York Times Book Review – July 27, 2012 (Excerpt)
Paul Thomas Murphy used to teach “a variety of disciplines” at the University of Colorado, Boulder. I would like to have been taught by him. He’s the most free-spirited of scholars. “Shooting Victoria” rambles uninhibitedly and learnedly through 19th-century history into literature, penology, constitutional theory and even ballistics, stimulating highly topical thoughts along the way.
Victoria’s 63-year reign brought about what Murphy sees as the now familiar “redefinition” of the British monarchy: “The royal weddings, the Jubilees, the walkabouts and openings, the triumphal appearances on the royal balcony are Victorian creations.” Victorian, that is, both in terms of the period and the character of the indomitable little woman who created Britain’s modern, exceptionally serviceable royal institution.
Victoria did it at considerable personal risk. There were eight attempts on her life between 1840 and 1882. She survived, and, more important, the British monarchy survived. Its triumphant durability was evident to the world on June 3, 2012: Diamond Jubilee Sunday and the great London river pageant. A downpour of St. Swithin’s Day glumness did not prevent a million loyal “subjects” from lining the Thames to cheer their queen to the echo. Would they, the British press sardonically inquired, have turned out to be soaked for Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council?
Murphy’s epigraph is Victoria’s plucky comment after the last outrage, in 1882: “It is worth being shot at to see how much one is loved.” Astutely, after every attempt on her life, she declined to retreat behind her castle walls, insisting on being seen everywhere, seeking safety among her people. Every one of the attempts occurred in public places where it was widely known she would be. Until Prince Albert’s death in 1861 plunged her into decades of secluded mourning, such appearances were a regular feature of her schedule. Victoria’s behavior forged, as Murphy rightly says, “a sense of daily responsibility to the public that defines the British monarchy today.” [Read the full article...]
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QUEEN OF MISFORTUNE
A Lady Jane Grey Novel by Peter Carroll
A Love Story of Shakespearean Dimension!
Queen Of Misfortune is the fictional story of Lady Jane Grey as told by her beloved tutor, John Aylmer. At the time of her execution a stranger is recorded to have assisted her when, blind folded, she lost her way upon the scaffold. Was it the same strange who was also recorded to have visited her when she was imprisoned in the Tower? Little is known of this unfortunate girl who was beheaded for treason in the 16th Century. She was only 16. She is omitted from the list of monarchs but was actually queen for nine days. Author Peter Carroll, in his novel, follows John Aylmer’s close relationship with Jane as her tutor and later, as she grows up, her lover. [More...]
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