The Battle of Bossenden Wood took place on 31 May 1838 near Hernhill in Kent; it has been called the last battle on English soil. The battle was fought between a small group of labourers from the Hernhill, Dunkirk, and Boughton area and a detachment of soldiers sent from Canterbury to arrest the marchers' leader, the self-styled Sir William Courtenay, who was actually John Nichols Tom, a Truro maltster who had spent four years in Kent County Lunatic Asylum. Eleven men died in the brief confrontation: Courtenay, eight of his followers and two of those sent to apprehend them. The background context of the battle was the impact of new Poor Law and it has been linked with the Swing riots.[1]
- ^ Gore, David (2006). On Kentish Chalk: A Farming Family of the North Downs. David Gore. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-9530912-2-5.