William Hulton was appointed High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1811 . After a cotton mill in Westhoughton was torched by Luddites in 1812 , Hulton ordered the execution of four of the suspects , one of them reported to be twelve years old . Hulton was a magistrate who dealt harshly with the working-class crime and social unrest . On 16 August 1819 . 60,000 pro-democracy reformers gathered in St Peter 's Field in Manchester to listen to the radical orator , Henry Hunt . Hulton , chairman of the Lancashire and Cheshire magistrates , a body set up to deal with the growing problem of civil unrest was in Manchester to ensure order was maintained . Observing from a nearby house , Hulton issued an arrest warrant for Hunt and his associates , but was advised that military assistance was required . He called on the local yeomanry to arrest the radicals and disperse the meeting . The yeomanry attacked the crowd indiscriminately . It is estimated that 18 were killed and 600 to 700 injured . The event became known as the ' Peterloo Massacre ' . Home Secretary Lord Sidmouth conveyed King George III 's ' great satisfaction ' at Hulton 's ' prompt , decisive and efficient measures ' , but among the working classes he was known as ' old Peterloo ' , his reputation was forever sullied . In 1820 he turned down a Tory seat in Parliament , while in 1841 Hulton and his family were attacked in Bolton during an election campaign demonstrating how the massacre had influenced public opinion
Peterloo Massacre
Peterloo Massacre
Hulton family of Hulton