John Hetherington

John Hetherington

John Hetherington was an English haberdasher often claimed as the inventor of the top hat, who is said to have caused a riot by wearing it in public on 15 January 1797.

The story

The story has it that he was arraigned before the Lord Mayor on 15 January 1797 on a charge of breach of the peace and inciting a riot, and was required to post a £500 bond. Reportedly he had "appeared on the public highway wearing upon his head what he called a silk hat (which was shiny luster and calculated to frighten timid people)" and the officers of the Crown stated that "several women fainted at the unusual sight, while children screamed, dogs yelped and a younger son of Cordwainer Thomas was thrown down by the crowd which collected and had his right arm broken". ["Hatters' Gazette", 16 January 1797 (referenced in "Australian Law Review", 1927)]

Debunking

The tale, however, appears to be apocryphal; for example, the "Australian Law Review" of 1927 cites the above description as being reported in the "Hatters' Gazette" in 1797 - the "Hatters' Gazette" only began publication in 1878. The quarterly journal "Notes and Queries" reported the story in 1899 [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=b9wvfbTuJG0C&q=%22john+hetherington%22+1797&dq=%22john+hetherington%22+1797] , adding that "The Times" of 16 January 1797 commented on the incident. However a search of the Times Archive [http://archive.timesonline.co.uk] shows no such story.

Notes

ources

* [http://www.formalwear.org/public/resources/tophat.html Berendt, John. "History of the Top Hat". International Formalwear Association.]
* [http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/annus-horribilis/ Jordinson, Sam. "Annus Horribilis: A Chronicle of Comic Mishaps." John Murray.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4527223.stm BBC News "Changing the Flaws In London Laws"]


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