8/22/2012

August 22: The Last Land-Battle Fought on English Soil was Caused by a Madman

John Nichols Thom was an English madman who claimed variously to be a member of the Rothschild banking family, Sir William Courtenay, the King of Jerusalem, and, after a stay in an insane asylum, the Messiah. Preaching against Queen Victoria and the Poor Laws, Thom somehow gathered 100 followers. In May 1838 they were surrounded by equally many constables at Bossendon Wood, in what is acknowledged as the last land battle fought on English soil. One constable was killed, along with Thom and nine of his supporters.