James Norris (lawyer) aftermath of the massacre, and he was appointed as Chairman of Quarter Sessions for Salford Hundred in 1825, retaining that post until his death in 1838. Despite links with the Middleforth district of Penwortham, where he inherited a mansion built by his family in the Tudor era, Norris was the only magistrate involved in the Peterloo Massacre who actually "resided" in Manchester at the time. James Norris (lawyer) James Norris (c. 1774 – 19 January 1838) was an English lawyer, notable for his role in the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. Appointed stipendiary magistrate of Manchester in March 1818, his reports
Peterloo Massacre an ironic comparison to the Battle of Waterloo, which had taken place four years earlier. Historian Robert Poole has called the Peterloo Massacre one of the defining moments of its age. In its own time, the London and national papers shared the horror felt in the Manchester region, but Peterloo's immediate effect was to cause the government to crack down on reform, with the passing of what became known as the Six Acts. It also led directly to the foundation of the "Manchester Guardian", but had little other effect on the pace of reform. In a survey conducted by "The