A talk is being held at the Shire Hall Museum in Dorchester this weekend on the trial of a Dorset farmer which would lay bare the social and political forces that underpinned Victorian Dorset.

In 1850 John Brake of Sydling was accused of killing William Allen, 19, by a blow from his stick. He had been standing next to a tree on the Bridport Road when an irate farmer ran up to him and hit him hard on the side of the head.

It was the culmination to a day of violence that divided the population of Dorchester and would lead to a trial for manslaughter that captured the attention of the entire country.

In this talk, Philip Browne will show how the Corn Laws pitted landowners and farmers against the poor and those who supported Free Trade.

He will describe how this tension sparked an outbreak of violence in Dorchester that ended with the killing of an innocent bystander. 

Philip Browne’s talk brings these characters back to life and leads us to a verdict that was both sadly predictable and, in the eyes of many, a miscarriage of justice.

This Trial of John Brake talk in the Teas and Talks series is on Saturday, February 4 at 2pm. 

Tickets cost £6. Go to the website https://shire-hall-historic-courthouse-museum.myshopify.com/ to buy tickets.