The time when there was a deadly riot in Cambridge city centre

Christ’s College gatehouse, photographed by Sue Marrah of Cambridge
-Credit: (Image: Sue Marrah/Cambridge News)


The concept of 'town and gown' is well known across Cambridge, though the rivalry between university students and 'born-and-bred' city locals is typically a good-humoured one. Even where tensions have risen, they have rarely led to the kind of riot that left a poor college porter dead in 1868.

The "foolish conduct" described by a Cambridge Independent Press reporter on November 28, 1868, was brought about by the borough election. Thousands of people crowded in front of the Independent Press office on November 17 to hear speeches by the newly-elected Liberals.

A hotel keeper drove his carriage through the group several times, leading some frustrated people to push it over. This disturbance ignited a fight between "the townsmen and the gownsmen".

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Students rushed to Christ's College and shut the gates while people threw mud at them. Stones were also hurled between the rival groups.

William Lofts, the head porter at the college, was hit by one of these stones as he opened the gate to leave the college. The stone struck his right eye and left it seriously wounded.

Although Mr Lofts was treated immediately, he died around ten days later. A 21-year-old shoemaker called George Clark was charged with manslaughter.