James Norris ( c. 1774 – 19 January 1838 ) was an English lawyer , notable for his role in the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 . Appointed stipendiary magistrate of Manchester in March 1818 , his reports to the Home Office , describing unrest and ( alleged ) paramilitary activity amongst the populace , have been described as " full of excessive alarms " and may have coloured the attitude of troops sent to maintain order . Much of this correspondence was collated ( with highly critical commentary ) in a report to Parliament by John Edward Taylor , founder of the '' Manchester Guardian '' newspaper . Nevertheless , his career suffered little in the aftermath of the massacre , and he was appointed as Chairman of Quarter Sessions for Salford Hundred in 1825 , retaining that post until his death in 1838 . Despite links with the Middleforth district of Penwortham , where he inherited a mansion built by his family in the Tudor era , Norris was the only magistrate involved in the Peterloo Massacre who actually '' resided '' in Manchester at the time
Peterloo Massacre
Peterloo Massacre
James Norris (lawyer)