in 1884-5 there were a series of bomb attacks on London.dynamite, packed in tubes and with a crude detonator made from a pistol firing mechanism and a clock, were left at Victoria and Paddington stations. two boys found an unattended package in trafalgar square before a policeman took them , and it, to scotland yard. in early january a bomb exploded on the underground, near gower street on the metropolitan line. no one was killed but sevral ladies fainted and the ticket collector was thrown off his chair.

then, at 2pm on the 24th january - a saturday - the 'dynamitards' struck at the tower of london. a device in the white tower startled tourists but again, thankfully no one was seriously hurt. there were two injuries - if not fatal ones fortunately, at the houses of parliament.

miss davies, visiting the crypt in westminster hall with her brother, noticed what seemed to be part of the carpet on fire. her brother realised it was a bomb and they alerted the policeman on duty, PC cole. he then 'pluckily' picked up the bomb and ran up the steps. it went off and he spent until the end of march in hospital. his colleague, PC cox, raced to his assistance from his station outside the entrance to the commons chamber. and this was the bombers' plan: the bomb in the crypt was a diversion (and this probably saved pc cole's life) while the commons was unguarded the second device was dropped in and it exploded doing a great deal of damage. luckily, no one else was injured - just frightened.

the press went mad with calls for retribution; of clampdowns on sedition and warned the irish community that this did them no favours. the police were criticised, although the dynamitard at the tower was arrested at the scene and an accomplice soon after (the result of 'good detective work').other papers cautioned calm and reminded their readers (and the government) that less than £20,000 worth of damage had been caused, two pc's were injured, no one had died and that this was mere 'onepenny twopenny' mischief-making.

the terrorists (for surely that is what they were?) were put on trial and in just a week found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. the secret servive continued the battle it had been having with fenian nationalists since the 1860s.

i thought this was an interesting, and perhaps little known, tale of the late nineteenth century with poignant reflections for society 125 years later.

p.s there's a fascinating book, 'the Dynamite Wars, by Short - probably out of print but i got a s/h copy online. i'm revisiting it with help from the 19th century newspaper collections of the british library and the old bailey online (which has the trial record).