William Tozer was born on the 7th June 1783 in Chatham and was christened on the 4th July 1783. His parents where Charles Tozer and Mary (more about them in a following blog)
In the early 1800's he was living in Stepney in London and was working as a baker. At the age of 25 he married a young widow of Dartford, Kent, Elizabeth Couchman formerly Archer who had three very young children, they where married at St.Dunstan's church in Stepney, London on the 23rd October 1808, William was 25 and Elizabeth 33.
After their marriage they lived in Dartford, Kent where William became a publican at the Crown and Anchor, an old 15th Century pub which is still standing and is located at 80 High Street, Dartford. William and Elizabeth had five children, two of whom died in early childhood, so along with Elizabeth’s three children from her previous marriage it was a large family.
In 1803 Britain resumed war against Napoleonic France, hostilities were to continue until the British victory at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. This period required the resumption of mass enlistment, higher taxes and the fear of a possible French invasion.
Last week I was trying to find some more information about my Tozer family and decided to do a Google search of ‘William Tozer of Dartford ‘ I discovered an interesting fact in a book in Google Books. The book is called ‘The Trial of Charles Random de Berenger and Sir Thomas Cochrane....’ by William Brodie Gurney which recounts a trial which was held in the Court of King’s Bench, Guildhall on Wednesday the 8th and Thursday the 9th of June 1814. The trial was about a Hoax which had a significant impact on the London Stock Exchange, it is known as the du Bourg hoax.
On the morning of Monday, 21 February 1814, a uniformed man posing as Colonel du Bourg, aide-de-camp to Lord Cathcart, arrived at the Ship Inn at Dover, England, bearing news that Napoleon I of France had been killed and the Bourbons were victorious. Requesting this information to be relayed on to the Admiralty in London via semaphore telegraph, "Colonel du Bourg" proceeded on toward London, stopping at each inn on the way to spread the good news. Three "French officers" dressed in Bourbon uniforms were also seen celebrating in London, and proclaiming the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy.
Rumours of Napoleon's defeat had been circulating throughout the month, and the combined events had a significant impact on the London Stock Exchange. The value of government securities soared in the morning, after the news from Dover began to circulate among traders at the Exchange. Lacking official confirmation of the news, prices began to slide after the initial rush, only to be further propped up at noon by the French officers and their handbills.
However, the entire affair was a deliberate hoax. In the afternoon, the government confirmed that the news of peace was a fabrication. The affected stocks' prices immediately sank to their previous levels.
The Committee of the Stock Exchange, suspecting deliberate stock manipulation, launched an investigation into the hoax. It was soon discovered that there had been a sale that Monday of more than £1.1 million of two government-based stocks, most of it purchased the previous week. Eight people were eventually convicted of conspiracy to defraud, including Lord Cochrane, a Radical member of Parliament and well-known naval hero, his uncle the Hon. Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone, Richard Butt, Lord Cochrane's financial advisor, and Captain Random de Berenger, who had posed both as du Bourg and as one of the French officers. Six, including those involved in the purchases, were tried, and sentenced to twelve months of prison time, with the most prominent also sentenced to the public pillory; fines were also imposed. Lord Cochrane was stripped of his naval rank and expelled from the Order of the Bath.
William Tozer was one of the witnesses at the trial, this is what is recorded in the book ..... ‘William Tozer, the next witness, says, “I keep the Crown and Anchor at Dartford; I remember Jem Overy bringing a fare to a house in our town on Monday about the 21st February, and the person I took notice of was sitting in the chaise. I made my obedience to the gentleman in the chaise, hoping he had brought us good news; he said he had, and that it was all over; that the allies had actually entered Paris; that Bonaparte was dead, destroyed by the Cossacks, and literally torn to pieces.” ...’
I can imagine the joy and relief that William and his family must have felt on hearing this news and the disappointment when they heard it was fake news.
For me it was a great discovery to find out a little bit more about one of my ancestors and the life that he led.
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