1. Recollections of family and friends show that John Bellingham was born in St Neots, Huntingdonshire, and brought up in London, where he was apprenticed to a jeweller, James Love, aged fourteen.
16 Facts About John Bellingham
1. 2.
John Bellingham returned to England in 1802 and was a merchant broker in Liverpool.
3.
John Bellingham's owners filed a claim on their insurance, but an anonymous letter told Lloyd's the ship had been sabotaged.
4.
Soloman Van Brienen believed John Bellingham was the author, and retaliated by accusing him of a debt of 4,890 roubles to a bankruptcy of which he was an assignee.
5.
One year later, John Bellingham secured his release and went to Saint Petersburg, where he attempted to impeach the Governor-General.
6.
John Bellingham was again imprisoned until October 1808, when he was put out onto the streets, but still without permission to leave.
7.
John Bellingham was allowed to leave Russia in 1809, arriving in England in December.
8.
Once home, John Bellingham began petitioning the United Kingdom's government for compensation over his imprisonment.
9.
John Bellingham's wife urged him to drop the matter and he did so reluctantly.
10.
John Bellingham had a tailor sew an inside pocket to his coat.
11.
John Bellingham made his way to Parliament, where he waited in the lobby.
12.
When Prime Minister Spencer Perceval appeared, John Bellingham stepped forward and shot him in the heart.
13.
John Bellingham was immediately restrained and was identified by Isaac Gascoyne, MP for Liverpool.
14.
John Bellingham was tried on Friday 15 May 1812 at the Old Bailey, where he argued that he would have preferred to shoot the British ambassador to Russia, but insisted as a wronged man he was justified in killing the representative of his oppressors.
15.
John Bellingham made a formal statement to the court, saying:.
16.
Evidence was presented that John Bellingham was insane, but it was discounted by the trial judge, Sir James Mansfield.