A new book sheds light on how a town in Dorset was at the forefront of the tradition of using fireworks to celebrate Bonfire Night.
The events of the Gunpowder Plot from November 5, 1605, are still commemorated annually more than 400 years on with firework displays and effigies of Guy Fawkes. Around 20 million people across the country attend Bonfire Night firework displays.
Now a new book by historian and former reporter John Withington, History of Fireworks from Their Origins to the Present Day, recounts events of which Dorchester helped lead the way.
John Withington (Image: John Withington)
The county town, which was strongly Puritan in the period, appears to have been one of the first places to celebrate the night on November 5.
The day was soon associated with disorder, according to the author, as in 1632 Dorchester’s local police constables had to arrest a group of apprentices who had drunk too much beer whilst marking the occasion.
In the late nineteenth century, the authorities were again concerned about the mayhem that could surround Bonfire Night. In 1879, Dorchester’s local MP and other donors stumped up money for a procession of Guys, as well as music from the town band and a fireworks display to try and reduce rowdiness in the county town.
Speaking to the Echo, Mr Withington said: “In the early seventeenth century, Dorchester was dubbed ‘the most puritan town in England’ where plays were banned and you could be fined for swearing or leaving a church service early, so the foiling of Fawkes’ Catholic plot would have been received with especial rejoicing, and it’s believed the town was one of the first places where fireworks were set off to mark the great day, alongside bonfires, church bells and anti-Catholic sermons.
“Certainly by 1632, Dorchester’s constables were arresting apprentices who celebrated 5 November by drinking 4 ‘double jugs’ of beer at the Antelope Inn.
“The 1632 arrests illustrated the ambivalent attitude of those in power to Guy Fawkes’ Night.
“After the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, parliament had decreed that every 5 November must be celebrated, but the authorities were often disturbed by the amount of disorder this led to.
“In 1859, the law was repealed, and in the late nineteenth century, the authorities in Dorchester tried to tame the occasion by putting on official events. In 1879, they spent £50, about £8,000 in today’s money, on a Guy Fawkes Night celebration featuring, a procession of ‘Guys’, music from the town band and a firework display. Donors included Lord Alington who had been a local MP.”
Fireworks have been a mainstay for Guy Fawkes’ celebrations (Image: Pixabay)
Mr Withington’s book also makes a mention of Dorset later in history, when in in 2009, Fantastic Fireworks went for a world record attempt for the number of rockets to set off in 30 seconds in Bournemouth, standing just shy of 57,000. At the festival, 110,000 rockets were lined up, but the first set fire to the rest causing an explosion – which ended up in the Daily Mirror’s top ten disappointments of the year list.
In his book, Mr Withington looks at the origins of fireworks in ancient China to how important they became as weapons on a battlefield, charting their history through time to the 2012 Olympic display.
Published by Reaktion Books, the book is available from: https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/a-history-of-fireworks-from-their-origins-to-the-present-day
