In 1848, revolution swept across Europe from Italy to Denmark, from Poland to Spain: more than fifty states were affected. The only major European nation not to undergo a revolution was Britain.

This was not because there was any lack of revolutionary fervour: early in the year there were protests and bread riots in Manchester, Glasgow, and Dublin and a huge gathering was held on Kennington Common, London, organised by the Chartists. Attempts were made by this crowd of protestors to march across the bridges of the Thames in order to present a petition to Parliament – many believed this ‘presentation’ was the pretext for an uprising, a sacking of Parliament and the establishment of a new revolutionary government. Many thousands of special constables were recruited by the city to contain the gathering, but in the event the crowd’s passage across Westminster Bridge was prevented by a small number of police officers who managed to repel the throng despite being massively outnumbered. The petition was delivered to MPs but riot and revolution was avoided.