Old North Speaker Series: John Tyler - “Such ruins were never seen in America”: The Looting of Thomas Hutchinson’s House at the Time of the Stamp Act Riots
When:
Wednesday, Aug 26, 2015 6:30p -
8:00p
Wednesday, Aug 26, 2015 6:30p -
8:00p
Where:
Old North Church
193 Salem St.
Boston, MA 02113
Admission:
FREE
Categories:
Lectures & Conferences
Co-sponsored by Revolution 250 Forum
On the night of August 26, 1765, an angry mob attacked the North End mansion of Thomas Hutchinson, lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts. By dawn, “one of the best finished houses in the Province” lay in ruins “with nothing but the bare walls and floors remaining.” Bostonians believed Hutchinson (incorrectly) to have been a secret favorer of the Stamp Act and had taken revenge on him for the detested new tax. In an illustrated lecture, John Tyler will use an inventory made by Hutchinson to discuss the contents of the house, and even the clothing of its inhabitants, as an illustration of the way in Boston’s elite lived on the eve of the American Revolution. Please join us for a reception immediately following the lecture.
John W. Tyler is editor of The Correspondence of Massachusetts, Vol. 1 published in March 2015, as well as Editor of Publications for the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. A Princeton PhD, he is the author of numerous books and articles, including Smugglers & Patriots: Boston Merchants and the Advent of the American Revolution published by Northeastern University Press in 1986.
