Conflict amongst fishermen

A bitter feud between Cornish and Lowestoft fishermen came to a climax at Scarborough during the herring season of 1896. The cause of the trouble arose over the question of Sunday fishing, and following trouble earlier in the season at other ports the Lowestoft men vowed they would settle the squabble once and for all when the herring fleets came to Scarborough.

The chief officer of the Coastguards was so concerned about these threats that he asked the Admiralty to send help. Two warships, HMS Hearty and HMS Starling, arrived, and the commanding officer came ashore and called upon the layor and chief constable offering to send a force of marines ashore to assist the civil authority to maintain the peace should this be required. The mayor declined the offer, but the ships remained in the bay over the week end in case the need should arise.

On both the Friday and Saturday (26th and 27th August) the chief constable made special preparations so that any disturbances could speedily be dealt with. A strong reserve force kept in readiness at the Police Station. On the Saturday evening the Lowestoft men came ashore in full force, but the Cornishmen stayed on board their boats. Had they come ashore as well, there would have been trouble far worse than that which actually occurred. All went well until about 11 o'clock, when a Lowestoft fisherman of the name of Martin started a disturbance. A crowd of several hundreds had gathered to address the crowd on the question of Sunday fishing, which was the primary cause of the riots at Newlyn earlier.

That sparked off the trouble, and the chief constable determined that this was the time to act. Supported by an inspector, two sergeants, and a number of constables the police started to clear the street and disperse the crowd. This the police succeeded in doing, but after some time the crowd reformed on the Lighthouse Pier, where Martin was taken in custody for disorderly behaviour.

Foord “Scarborough Records”

OTHER ARTICLES
• Trawling and overfishing - Filey fishing
• The Harwood and Bullamore fishing family history in Scarborough
• The Allen and Truman Scarborough fishing families
• Primitive Methodism amongst the Scarborough Filey and Flamborough fishing communities
• Children of the fishing families in Scarborough
• The history of the Scarborough fishing industry
• Tunny fishing in Scarborough in the 1930's
• A sea shanty about a storm on the Scarborough coast
• Catching fish - a good catch and bad catch
• Filey and the gales of 1860,1867,1869 AND 1880
• Filey fishermen in 1862 - yawls and cobles
• Suzanne Pollard and her Filey Fishing relatives
• Charles Dickens account of Filey and Scarborough graveyards
• Events and newspaper clippings from Scarborough
• The new way of catching caller herrin
• Sea Urchin Stall on the West Pier at Scarborough
• The history of the herring fishing in the North Sea
• Pollack,codfish,and pollack fishing in Scarborough in the 1800's
• Filey and the Great War - minesweeping and influenza

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