Following the outbreak of the French revolution in 1789 many British and Irish reformers flocked to Paris to experience the breaking away from tyranny of the French people and witness the second great revolution of the late eighteenth century. This small enclave, eventually forming into the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man or the British Club served as a political club for English speakers, be they British, Irish or American.
In the early days of the revolution, such cosmopolitanism was welcomed with open arms by French legislators and many from Whites were looked on favourable by revolutionary leaders. Thomas Paine, Edward Fitzgerald, the Sheares brothers and many more were to be found in attendance at dinners and parties held there. Most importantly for myself, William Jackson was also in attendance.
In November 1792 following the formation of the club, a declaration was drafted and signed for the National Convention, pledging support for the revolution. Upon it are the signatures of all who were present (and some who were present in spirit). Upon that declaration is the name William Francis Jackson - it is this document alone which has cleared up what was a grey area for myself and others. On some publications his name is William F. Jackson, but this document is the first which we find his full middle name written down. There are no records of any other William Jackson in Paris at this time, who became involved in British or Irish affairs, so the assumption goes that it must be him.
In my research, mainly from the work of J. G. Alger, it is unclear why so little is mentioned of Jackson. The affairs of White’s Hotel come to us mainly from the writing of Captain George Monro, who was told to stay in Paris after the departure of the British Embassy. In his writings he speaks about almost everybody of note, but never names or mentions Jackson despite a supposed reputation which he had developed during his time in Paris.
There is one piece of work which I have found, which goes against the grain of all other work I’ve encountered. Olivier Blanc suggests in Les Espions de la Révolution et de l'Empire (1995) that both William Jackson, and his future handler, John Hurford Stone were both British agents. Perhaps this could explain Jackson’s absence in Monro’s writing? Maybe Jackson was sending his own correspondence back to London? I can’t say I believe it, but it is certainly another avenue worth exploring and there is no hard evidence to suggest otherwise. I’ll return to this episode, and Jackson’s time in Paris in much more detail in a future post, for now, the address to the National Convention.
Citizen Legislators,—The British and Irish citizens now in Paris, animated by the sentiment of liberty which your principles have imparted to the French republic, assembled on Sunday, 18th November, to celebrate the brilliant successes of your arms, and were unanimously of opinion that it was their duty to offer to the representatives of so great a nation the tribute of their congratulations on events which essentially interest all peoples who aspire to be free. Receive, then, citizen legislators, this pure and fraternal homage of men who have ever applauded the sacred principles upon which you have sworn to base the new government which you are about to give to your country. Hitherto wars have been undertaken only to satiate the vilest passions ; they have consequently been conducted only by the most iniquitous methods.
You have taken up arms solely to make reason and truth triumph. It doubtless appertained to the French nation to enfranchise Europe, and we rejoice to see it fulfilling its great destinies. Let us hope that the victorious troops of liberty will lay down their arms only when there are no more tyrants or slaves. Of all these pretended governments, works of the fraud of priests and coalesced tyrants, there will soon remain only a shameful memory.
Peoples enlightened by your example will blush to have bowed servile heads so long under a yoke debasing for human nature. Our good wishes, citizen legislators, render us impatient to see the happy moment of this great change, in the hope that it will no sooner arrive than we shall see the formation of a close union between the French republic and the English, Scotch, and Irish nations, a union which cannot fail to ensure entire Europe the enjoyment of the rights of man and establish on the firmest bases universal peace. We are not the only men animated by these sentiments. We doubt not that they would be also manifested by the great majority of our countrymen if public opinion were consulted, as it ought to be, in a national convention.
As for us, who are at present making Paris our residence, we gladly embrace this opportunity of declaring that in the whole course of the Revolution, and notwithstanding the abrupt departure of our ambassador, we have constantly experienced on the part of the French nation sentiments of the frankest cordiality and sincerest friendship.
Paris, 24th November 1792, first year of the French republic.
Signed by us, members of the committee nominated for that purpose.
Francis Tweddell.
Matthew Bellewes.
John Frost.
Richard Joyce.
Joseph Green.
J. Skill.
J. Usher Quaterman.
David Gibson.
Thomas Armfield.
Edward Fitzgerald.
William Duckett.
J. O'Neill.
Edward Ferris.
B. Murray.
J. H. Stone, President.
Joseph Webb.
William Newton.
J. TlCKELL.
Harold Mowatt.
Pearce Lower.
Bernard MacSheehy.
Jeremie Curtayn.
William Choppin.
William Wardell.
N. Madgett.
James Gamble.
Thos. MacDermott.
William Ricketts.
Robert Rayment.
William Francis Jackson. (Pictured Below)
Robert Merry.
Robert May O'Reilly.
J. E. Macdonnel.
William Watts.
Thomas Marshall.
John Oswald.
John Walker, sen.
Thomas Potier.
L. Masquerier.
R. Smyth.
N. Hickson.
T. J. Gastineau.
Stephen Sayre.
Henry Sheares.
John Sheares.
Rose.
John Bradley.
William Maxwell.
B. Bulmer.
CAESAR COLCLOUGH.
J. H. Stone, President.
Robert M. O'Reilly, Secretary.
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Source:
British Club address to the National Convention, signed on 24th November 1792 and presented to the Convention on 28th November 1792 (AN C 11/278/40).
Further Reading:
Alger, J. G., Paris in 1789-94 (1902).
Alger, J.G., The British Colony in Paris, 1792-1793’ in The English Historical Review (1898), pp 672-694.
Erdman, David V., Commerce des Lumières: John Oswald and the British in Paris, 1790-1793 (1986).
Ferradou, Mathieu, ‘‘Un festin patriotique’ at White’s Hotel, 18 November 1792: the ‘secret’ origins of Irish revolutionary republicanism’ in History Ireland (2016), vol. 24, no. 3.
Rogers, Rachel, Vectors of Revolution: The British Radical Community in Early Republican Paris, 1792-1794 (2012).
Rogers, Rachel, ‘White’s Hotel: A Junction of British Radical Culture in Early 1790s Paris’ in Anglophonia Caliban/Sigma, vol. 33 (2013), http://journals.openedition.org/acs/139; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/caliban.139
Rogers, Rachel, Friends of the Revolution (2021).
One thing that always strikes me in documents like this is how fluid identity still was in the revolutionary moment. “English, Scotch, and Irish” are listed together almost as political companions rather than rigid categories.
While working on a novel about Ulster during the 1798 rising (A Heart of Oak), I’ve found that this fluidity is essential to understanding the United Irish movement. The idea that someone could claim the “common name of Irishman” wasn’t just rhetoric, it reflected a genuine attempt to imagine loyalty beyond sectarian boundaries.
Pieces like this are invaluable because they let us hear that moment before later history hardened the lines again.
A lengthier version of the History Ireland article is available in French:
https://journals.openedition.org/ahrf/13560