John Nichols Thom - Aftermath and Legacy

Aftermath and Legacy

Trial against nineteen of the surviving followers began 9 August 1838 in Maidstone and ended on 17 August. Some of them were sentenced to death but all the sentences were commuted to penal transportation or hard labour.

As a result of the battle at Bossenden, the Government realised there was a serious problem in Dunkirk. They dealt leniently with the survivors of Courtenay’s army. Most were given parole. Only two were sentenced to transportation, and one of them went on to make a fortune in the Australian goldfields.

Frightened of further unrest in the area, the Government decided a Christian mission might help, made Dunkirk a proper parish at last, and built both a church and a school. The church, at the top of Boughton Hill, was declared redundant some years ago and is likely to be converted into a house. The school has now also closed.

Although technically a rebel and fanatic, Thom's 19th Century reputation was darker. In a celebrated cartoon by Richard Doyle (the uncle of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) of Madame Tussaud's museum, which named the room of criminal items "the chamber of horrors", in the forefront were a set of statues of various murderers or attempted murderers, including James Greenacre, Daniel Good, James Blomfield Rush, and Edward Oxford. Among these is also John Nichols Thom.

In 2003 the story of John Nichols Thom was made into a stage musical.