The Full Story
In 1763, John Wilkes published Issue 45 of The North Briton, accusing the King's ministers of lying to Parliament. King George III ordered a general warrant, not for one man, but for anyone connected to the article. Forty-nine people were arrested. Most of them innocent. They ransacked his home and seized his papers. They threw him in the Tower.
Then he sued the government. And won. General warrants were declared illegal. The government could never again arrest unnamed people for unnamed crimes.
But the government wasn't finished. They expelled him from Parliament. Middlesex voters elected him again. Parliament expelled him again. The voters elected him a third time. Parliament expelled him a third time. Then they gave his seat to the man who lost the election. 'Wilkes and Liberty!' echoed across London, and across the Atlantic, where American colonists named towns after him.
Wilkes had one more fight. It was illegal to report what MPs said. The debates were secret. In 1771, Wilkes set a trap. He encouraged printers to publish the debates. When Parliament tried to arrest them, the printers appeared before Wilkes, now a City magistrate. He set them free. Then he arrested the man Parliament sent. Parliament backed down. From that day, the press could report what your government said.
Because of him, you cannot be arrested without cause. Your home cannot be searched without a warrant. The press can hold your government to account. And the people you elect cannot be removed by those in power.
Why This Matters
John Wilkes's fights established freedom from arbitrary arrest, protection from unreasonable search, the right of elected representatives to serve, and freedom of the press to report on Parliament. His battles directly influenced the American Bill of Rights.
Key Facts
- ✓John Wilkes (1725-1797), English radical, journalist, MP, magistrate (Wikipedia, Britannica, ODNB, Parliament.uk)
- ✓The North Briton No. 45 published 23 April 1763, attacking King George III's speech to Parliament endorsing the Peace of Paris (multiple sources, Parliamentary records)
- ✓General warrant issued 30 April 1763, named "the authors, printers, and publishers" but gave no specific names (Parliament.uk, Britannica)
- ✓49 people arrested under the general warrant (Parliament.uk, Wikipedia, multiple sources)
- ✓Wilkes imprisoned in the Tower of London for approximately one week in late April/early May 1763 (Britannica, Spartacus Educational)
- ✓Chief Justice Pratt (later Lord Camden) ordered his release on 6 May 1763, ruling the arrest violated parliamentary privilege (Britannica, Parliament.uk)
- ✓Wilkes v. Wood (1763), Wilkes sued for trespass over the search of his home, won damages, court declared general warrants unlawful (Congress.gov, legal sources)
- ✓Entick v. Carrington (1765), related case declared general warrants illegal; called by the US Supreme Court "one of the landmarks of English liberty" (Congress.gov, Library of Congress)
- ✓House of Commons resolution in April 1766 denounced general warrants as illegal (Parliament.uk)
- ✓Wilkes elected MP for Middlesex 1768, expelled February 1769 (Parliament.uk, Wikipedia)
- ✓Re-elected three times in by-elections (February, March, April 1769), Parliament voided each result (Parliament.uk, Middlesex election affair Wikipedia)
- ✓After April 1769 by-election, Parliament gave the seat to defeated rival Henry Luttrell (Parliament.uk, Britannica)
- ✓"Wilkes and Liberty" was a widespread rallying cry in London and the American colonies (Colonial Williamsburg, multiple sources)
- ✓American colonists named towns after him, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Wilkesboro, North Carolina (Colonial Williamsburg, multiple sources)
- ✓Wilkes's fight against general warrants directly influenced the Fourth Amendment of the US Bill of Rights (Congress.gov, Library of Congress, New American)
- ✓1771 Printers' Crisis, Wilkes encouraged printers Thompson and Wheble to publish Parliamentary debates, which was technically illegal (Parliament.uk blog, Parliamentary Archives)
- ✓Printers appeared before Wilkes as City Magistrate, he discharged them and arrested the Parliamentary messenger (Parliament.uk, Parliamentary Archives blog)
- ✓Parliament effectively capitulated, never again enforced the ban on reporting debates (Parliament.uk, Parliamentary Archives)
- ✓Wilkes became Lord Mayor of London 1774, held office of Chamberlain 1779-1797 (Wikipedia, Parliament.uk)
- ✓His coffin/wall tablet read: "A Friend of Liberty" (Spartacus Educational, NPG, Wikipedia, actually a wall tablet in Grosvenor Chapel reading "The Remains of John Wilkes, a friend to liberty")
- ✓"His memorial reads", the wall tablet in Grosvenor Chapel reads "The Remains of John Wilkes, a friend to liberty." Simplified to "A Friend of Liberty" for narrative.
- ✓Wilkes was famously ugly, pronounced squint in right eye, protruding jaw, described as "the ugliest man in England" (Hogarth engraving, NPG, multiple biographies)
- ✓1760s Georgian men's clothing: three-piece suits (coat, waistcoat, breeches), shorter wigs with side curls replacing full-bottomed wigs for everyday wear, tricorne hats (fashion-era.com, historic-uk.com)
- ✓Judicial dress: Chief Justices wore scarlet robes with full-bottomed wigs in court (standard judicial dress of the period)