On March 2, 1882 the Scotsman Roderick Edward Maclean...



...tried to kill Queen Victoria...



...with a revolver - the assassination attempt fails!





Let's have a reporter of the time speak...:

"The attempted murder followed the arrival of the royal train that the Queen, Princess Beatrice ...



... and promoted the Windsor yard. Queen Victoria had just walked across the Windsor station platform to a carriage when Maclean, who was standing among a line of spectators at the station entrance, deliberately fired a revolver at her. The shot was missing and Maclean was overwhelmed by Chief Superintendent Hayes of the Borough Police. Torn the gun from someone in the crowd from his hand. "






Another newspaper wrote much more precisely:

"The weapon was more of a toy ...



... and the life of the beloved monarch was not seriously endangered. At that time there were a few Eton students around the station, and one of them hurried forward and hit Maclean with his umbrella, which is why he did not hit exactly.



The boy in question, Gordon Chesney Wilson, was called into the castle by Her Majesty, who thanked him for his intervention in the spirit.
He was the son of Sir Samuel Wilson, the Australian wool magnate who introduced salmon to the Australian rivers and then briefly sat in Parliament for Portsmouth. Gordon Wilson married Lady Sarah Spencer-Churchill, a sister of Lord Randolph and Lady Wimborne. He was killed in the early days of the war. "

Maclean was tried for treason and attempted murder ...:



An expert appointed by the court, Dr. Charles Vernon Hitchins, however, testified that the accused was classified as "insane".

He was sent to an asylum (as it was said at the time) in Somerset, where he lived until his death on June 8, 1921 - surviving for years both his victim and the boy who prevented it.

It was the eighth and last attempt to assassinate Queen Victoria during her long reign.

Interesting as always. And see how two (contemporary?) artists have widely different takes on the carriage while the reporter says Queen Victoria was being shot at while walking towards the carriage.

Pre the era of the camera, such discrepancies can be expected. It's human nature.

Thanks again Martin

Thanks. Very good article

Marc