THE Salvation Army came to Basingstoke and tried to curb the alcoholic ways of the locals in the 1880s.

A town with a meagre population of just over 6,000 which housed the region of 50 pubs and three breweries, stormed into the town to preach against the evils of alcohol in December 1880.

The founder of the Salvation Army, General Booth, discovered that Basingstoke had a reputation for drunkenness and sent a team of 25 women and officers to the town.

The breweries strongly opposed them, especially John May’s brewery in Brook Street, just a few yards from the Salvation Army’s base in the Old Silk Mill.

With the backing of town leaders and the founder of the Hants & Berks Gazette, John Bird, the Salvation Army grew bolder and held open-air meetings and services telling of the dangers of alcohol.

This caused trouble, and violence broke out in December 1880, with drunkenness as a major factor.

There were tales of people being attacked, clubbed, and ducked in the Basingstoke Canal.

Police intervened and managed to stop salvationist Captain Jordan being attacked and thrown into the River Loddon at the bottom of Wote Street.

The diary of George Woodman, dated on Sunday March 20, 1881, recorded that a mob of 200, armed with sticks, gathered in the Market Square to attack the Salvation Army procession.

Numbers increased to 1,000 and supporters were verbally attacked and pushed, and windows were broken in Church Street.

A drunken mob, known as The Massaganians, gathered and broke the ranks of the Salvation Army, forcing them to collect in Church Square where they then proceeded to attack them with sticks and kicks.

Brewer W. H. Blatch and the police stood aside and watched violence erupt.

Several local supporters were injured including the Rev Barron of the Congregational Church, now the URC.

The head of Basingstoke police, superintendent Hibberd, applied for the recruitment of special constables to the Mayor, and on March 27, 1881, 100 locals were inaugurated into the force.

The mob grew to 3,000 and salvationists returned to the Silk Mill, singing obscene songs and being noisy and obstructive.

On 30 August 1881, 20 people appeared before Magistrates on charges of assault and obstruction.

Ten rioters were jailed for 14 days in Winchester prison, and on returning to Basingstoke, they received a heroes’ welcome.

Disturbances continued until 1882 when an attack was made on the Town Hall to release a prisoner who had been arrested for assaulting a police constable and six Salvation Army women were thrown into the brook.

Tiring of the conflicts, the local berries realised people were not a threat and the protest dwindled.

The Salvation Army quietly went about their daily lives, and General Booth visited the town, to witness the building of a new Salvation Army hall – and peace followed.