The seriousness of some of these so–called "assassination attempts" on Queen Victoria was greatly exaggerated. In particular, Robert Pate simply hit her over the head with his walking cane.
The first attempt, however, was one of the most serious.
At approximately 6 p.m. on 10 June 1840, the Queen and Prince Albert left Buckingham Palace by the garden gate in their carriage, bound for the home of the Duchess of Kent and accompanied by their two usual attendants, Colonel Buckley and Sir Edward Bowater. The carriage had travelled a short distance along Constitution Hill when a young man, standing with his back to the railings, fired two pistol shots in quick succession. The carriage initially paused, but Prince Albert urged it to drive on in haste. Some onlookers rushed towards the shooter and seized him; he was handed over to two policemen, who took him to the Queen Square Police Court.
Queen Victoria was 21 years old at the time; the incident took place just ten days before the third anniversary of her accession to the throne. She'd been married to Prince Albert for exactly four months, and she was three months pregnant (her first child, Princess Victoria, was born on 21 November 1840 – 9 months and 11 days after the marriage). Her popularity was low, in the aftermath of the Hastings affair and the so–called Bedchamber Crisis. In the former, the Queen had speculated on rumours that Lady Flora Hastings, an unmarried lady–in–waiting to her mother (the Duchess of Kent), was pregnant; the unfortunate woman turned out to have cancer, and died in July 1839, aged 33. In May 1839, following the resignation of Lord Melbourne as Prime Minister, the Queen had asked Sir Robert Peel to form a government; he had agreed to do so only on condition that the Queen dismiss some of her ladies of the bedchamber, many of whom were wives or relatives of leading Whig politicians (Peel being a Tory). The Queen refused the request, Peel declined her invitation to form a government, and Melbourne was persuaded to stay on.
The assassination attempt turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Queen. It generated a great deal of sympathy, and her popularity soared as a result.
Edward Oxford came from a comfortable working–class background, but the fortunes of his family had taken a downturn. He was born in Birmingham, where his father was a gold chaser (a skilled metal worker) in 1822, but his father died when he was seven years old and his mother took the family to London three years later. He had worked in pubs as a waiter and pot boy, but was unemployed at the time of the assassination attempt, when he was 18 years old – three years younger than the Queen.
At his trial, Oxford pleaded not guilty to high treason. His chief defence was that no ball was found at the scene of the crime; therefore, there was no certainty that the prisoner had done anything more than discharge two pistols loaded only with powder. Even so, the jury found him guilty but insane, and he was detained in strict custody "until Her Majesty's pleasure be known". He was discharged from Broadmoor Hospital in 1867, on the condition that he leave for one of the colonies, and he lived in Australia until his death in 1900 (on St. George's Day, 23 April). Queen Victoria outlived him by 244 days, dying at Osborne House on 22 January 1901.
My chief source for this information was thesocialhistorian.com.
© Haydn Thompson 2017