On 16 February Shrove Tuesday 1847, the 'Whipping Toms' made one final attempt to uphold their ancient tradition before they were forcibly suppressed by the police.

On Shrove Tuesday, a fair was held at the Newarke. No one knows the origin of the custom, but at 2pm a bell would ring this was the time of the 'Whipping Toms'.

A group of men with cart whips would gather with a license to use those whips on persons of any social class left within the fair. You could be paid to be left alone or take a beating. The Toms were only supposed to strike the lower leg and many chose to pad this area. This rarely happened. The 'Toms' would drive their victims between two lines, beating them indiscriminately. In 1846, an Act of Parliament abolished Leicester’s Whipping Toms.

There are no other traces of similar customs existing at any period in other parts of the country.

One local tradition is, that it was instituted to commemorate the expulsion of the Danes from Leicester on Hoke Day A.D. 1002, when nearly all the Danes in England were massacred. Another plausible theory, is, that it owes its origin to John of Gaunt. The barbarous custom of " Bull-running" at Tutbury was instituted by John. But it is more then probable the practice may have arose from a difficulty clearing the square of the people in order to close the gates.