Somebody thought this was an interesting piece about Stamford theatre, because they outlined the item in black ink on the original newspaper saved for the archive!
“The play at Stamford Theatre advertised for Monday last, ‘by desire of the gentlemen who compose the committee for conducting the late election of Lord Thos. Cecil and Col. Chaplin,’ produced an extraordinary scene. The notion had been entertained by some persons that it was possible to pack the whole audience at a public theatre; and that one-twentieth part of the population could prevent every soul of the other nineteen parts from obtaining admission to the house! Upon this opinion it was really attempted to act; and one of the Aldermen of the borough (Mr. Thos. Mills) actually gave into the custody of constables who were in attendance, the first individual (a young man named Buck) who, not being a partisan of the political interest to which the worthy Alderman belongs, had been unable to obtain a ticket of admittance, but who had paid his money at the door, and had passed into the theatre, where he was quietly seated when he was seized and dragged out. This circumstance occasioned a riot amongst an immense crowd of persons who were waiting at the entrance, and great agitation was produced within the theatre. The mob at length tore away the large folding doors at the principal entrance (leading to the boxes and the pit), and carrying them down to the town bridge, threw them into the river Welland. The gallery door of the theatre was also forced open, and many persons obtained admittance to that part of the house without making any payment. The manager (Mr. Manly), from the stage, stated his inability to preserve order, and even hinted at danger to the ladies in the house, – some of whom, on his suggestion, got over the boxes , and took seats on the stage for safety! This proved to be a very unnecessary alarm: no personal violence was offered by the intruders; though, from conflicting party cries, great part of the play and farce passed in dumb show, and the entertainment of the night was sadly disturbed.
At the close, the ladies who were in the house were safely escorted from it, and the popular excitement passed off in loud condemnation of the bad judgement and overweening notion which had suggested the possibility of an exclusive and invidious appropriation of a place of licensed public amusement. – An application to the Court of King’s Bench, it is stated, will be made on the subject of the extraordinary seizure and confinement which led to the irritation and tumult of the night.”
The Stamford Mercury, 17th September, 1830.