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John Hetherington is an apocryphal English haberdasher. A frequently republished story from the late nineteenth century claims that in 1797 he invented the top hat and caused a riot by wearing it in public in London.

The story

In 1899 the quarterly London journal Notes and Queries published^[1] a letter by a Richard H. Thornton of Portland, Oregon, quoting a "note from a recent number of the Hatters' Gazette^[a]". The note claims Hetherington as having decided to wear his invention of a "silk hat" in public on the 15th of January 1797 with the intention to "cause a sensation" only to be surrounded by a "howling mob".

The note claims to quote an unnamed gazette as having reported the following day that

John Hetherington... was arraigned before the Lord Mayor yesterday on a charge of breach of the peace and inciting to riot, and was required to give bonds in the sum of £500^[b] [for having] appeared upon the public highway wearing upon his head what he called a silk hat... a tall structure, having a shiny lustre, and calculated to frighten timid people.... several women fainted at the unusual sight, while children screamed, dogs yelped, and a young [boy] was thrown down by the crowd which had collected and had his right arm broken.

The note concludes by claiming to quote a comment in The Times published the same day^{[verification needed]} approving of the hat and stating that it was "destined to work a revolution in headgear".

Notes

^ A trade journal for hatmakers published in London since 1877.^[2]
^ Equivalent to £65,408 in 2023.

References

^ Thornton, Richard H. (29 April 1899). "The First Silk Hat in London". Notes and Queries. Ninth series. III. London: John Francis: 325. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
^ Wolff, Michael; North, John S.; Deering, Dorothy, eds. (1976). The Waterloo directory of Victorian periodicals, 1824-1900. Vol. Phase 1. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 464. Retrieved 16 January 2024.

[3] A trade journal for hatmakers published in London since 1877.^[2]

[4] Equivalent to £65,408 in 2023.

[notes-and-queries-1] Thornton, Richard H. (29 April 1899). "The First Silk Hat in London". Notes and Queries. Ninth series. III. London: John Francis: 325. Retrieved 16 January 2024.

[2] Wolff, Michael; North, John S.; Deering, Dorothy, eds. (1976). The Waterloo directory of Victorian periodicals, 1824-1900. Vol. Phase 1. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 464. Retrieved 16 January 2024.

[1]

[a]

[b]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Apocryphal British haberdasher}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2011}}
+{{for|the mayor of Brisbane|John Hetherington (mayor)}}
-'''John Hetherington''' is a presumed apocryphal [[English people|English]] [[haberdasher]], often credited as the inventor of the [[top hat]], which is said to have caused a riot when he first wore it in public on 15 January 1797.
+{{use British English|date=February 2024}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
+'''John Hetherington''' is an apocryphal [[English people|English]] [[haberdasher]]. A frequently republished story from the late nineteenth century claims that in 1797 he invented the [[top hat]] and caused a [[riot]] by wearing it in public in London.
 ==The story==
-The common form of the story, as reproduced in many books, has it that he was arraigned before the Lord Mayor on 15 January 1797 on a charge of [[breach of the peace]] and inciting a riot, and was required to post a £500 bond. Reportedly he had "appeared on the public highway wearing upon his head what he called a silk hat (which was shiny lustre and calculated to frighten timid people)" and the officers of the Crown stated that "several women fainted at the unusual sight, while children screamed, dogs yelped and a younger son of Cordwainer Thomas was thrown down by the crowd which collected and had his right arm broken".<ref>''Australian Law Review'', 1927, attributed to ''Hatters' Gazette'', 16 January 1797</ref>
+In 1899 the quarterly London journal ''[[Notes and Queries]]'' published<ref name=notes-and-queries>{{cite journal | last = Thornton | first = Richard H. | title = The First Silk Hat in London | journal = [[Notes and Queries]] | series = Ninth series | volume = III | date = 29 April 1899 | pages = 325 | publisher = [[John Francis (publisher)|John Francis]] | location = London | url = https://archive.org/details/s9notesqueries03londuoft/page/325/mode/1up | access-date = 16 January 2024}}</ref> a letter by a Richard H. Thornton of [[Portland, Oregon]], quoting a "note from a recent number of the ''Hatters' Gazette''{{efn|A trade journal for [[hatmaker]]s published in London since 1877.<ref>{{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/waterloodirector0000unse/page/464/mode/1up | title = The Waterloo directory of Victorian periodicals, 1824-1900 | editor1-last = Wolff | editor1-first = Michael | editor2-last = North | editor2-first = John S. | editor3-last = Deering | editor3-first = Dorothy | page = 464 | volume = Phase 1 | year = 1976 | publisher = [[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]] | location = [[Waterloo, Ontario]] | access-date = 16 January 2024 }}</ref>}}". The note claims Hetherington as having decided to wear his invention of a "silk hat" in public on the 15th of January 1797 with the intention to "cause a sensation" only to be surrounded by a "howling mob".
-==Origin==
-Evidently this story first appeared in a late 1890s edition of the ''Hatters' Gazette'': in 1899 the quarterly journal ''[[Notes and Queries]]'' reported the story, noting that it originated in "a recent number of the Hatters' Gazette".<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Thornton | first = Richard H. | authorlink = | last2 = | first2 = | authorlink2 = | title = The First Silk Hat in London | journal = [[Notes and Queries]] | volume = | issue = s9-III | pages = 325 | url = http://nq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/s9-III/70/325-b | doi = | id = | postscript = . }}</ref>
+The note claims to quote an unnamed [[gazette]] as having reported the following day that
-Later accounts also attribute the story to the ''Hatters' Gazette'' — however, both the ''Australian Law Review'' of 1927, and ''[[The Dearborn Independent]]'' in its "I Read in the Papers" column of 8 January 1927,<ref>{{cite book | last = Ford | first = Henry | authorlink = |author2=W. J. Cameron | title = Dearborn Independent Magazine January 1927-May 1927 | publisher = Kessinger Publishing | year = 2003 | location = | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nkZ2Il0aP5oC&pg=PA30 | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-7661-5993-0| page = 30}}</ref> erroneously describe it as being reported in a 1797 edition of the ''Hatters' Gazette'' (''The Dearborn Independent'' specifying it more narrowly as the 16 January 1797 edition) — obviously an error, as the ''Hatters' Gazette'' only began publication in 1878.
+{{quote|John Hetherington... was arraigned before the [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayor]] yesterday on a charge of [[breach of the peace]] and inciting to riot, and was required to give bonds in the sum of [[Pound sterling|£]]500{{efn|{{ucfirstletter|{{Inflation|UK|500|1797|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}.}}}} [for having] appeared upon the public highway wearing upon his head what he called a silk hat... a tall structure, having a shiny lustre, and calculated to frighten timid people.... several women fainted at the unusual sight, while children screamed, dogs yelped, and a young [boy] was thrown down by the crowd which had collected and had his right arm broken.}}
+The note concludes by claiming to quote a comment in ''[[The Times]]'' published the same day{{verify-inline|date=January 2024}} approving of the hat and stating that it was "destined to work a revolution in headgear".
-''[[The Canberra Times]]'' for 10 June 1927 reproduced the usual account, with an introduction saying, "During a discussion in the columns of 'The Times' (London) on the pioneer of umbrellas, a correspondent sent an extract from an old journal in her possession, dated 16 January 1797, giving the following amusing account of the wearing of the first silk hat in London".<ref>{{cite news | last = | first = | title = The First Top Hat | work = [[The Canberra Times]] | pages = | language = | publisher = | date = 10 June 1927 | url = http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1214155 | accessdate = }}</ref> It is not known which "old journal" is referred to, but as noted above it cannot be the ''Hatters' Gazette''.
 ==Notes==
+{{notelist}}
+==References==
 {{reflist}}
+{{Authority control}}
-==Sources==
-*[http://www.formalwear.org/public/resources/tophat.html Berendt, John. "History of the Top Hat". International Formalwear Association.]{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
-*[http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/annus-horribilis/ Jordinson, Sam. "Annus Horribilis: A Chronicle of Comic Mishaps." John Murray.]
-*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4527223.stm BBC News "''Changing the Flaws In London Laws''"]
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hetherington, John}}
-[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
+[[Category:Pseudohistory]]
-[[Category:Year of death missing]]
-[[Category:English fashion designers]]
-[[Category:Pseudohistorians]]