Catalogue description Folio(s) 549-551. Letter from [Aaron Graham], magistrate, at Sheerness [Kent], reporting...

Folio(s) 549-551. Letter from [Aaron Graham], magistrate, at Sheerness [Kent], reporting a riot by dockyard workers who had threatened to throw Commissioner Coffin from the ramparts of the garrison if he did not obtain the release of one of their men from impressment aboard the Zealand at the Nore. The man had formerly been one of the Commissioner's boat crew but had been discharged for drunkenness. Graham had read the Riot Act and with difficulty succeeded in dispersing the workers to their duties without recourse to military assistance. He intended to arrest three ringleaders. Graham recommends that the Port Admiral be instructed by the Admiralty not to give up the impressed man as it would undermine the authority of all concerned.

Enclosed: Copy of a notice offering a reward of £50 for information leading to the conviction of the rioter who had thrown the head of a large nail at Graham as he read the Riot Act.