Luddites
Luddite was the name given to participants of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers who opposed the adoption of automated machinery due to concerns regarding workers' wages and the quality of output. The term originated from "General Ludd" or "Ned", a mythical figure associated with the leader of these disturbances. The movement began in Nottingham and was primarily driven by the increasing use of automated textile equipment. Conflicts escalated when larger hosiery employers reduced wages to boost trade and explore new markets.
In the early eighteenth century, Framework Knitting was a predominant industry in and around Nottinghamshire, particularly so in Arnold. Over three-quarters of the town’s population were engaged in the stocking-making trade.
The Luddite movement emerged during the economic difficulties of the Napoleonic Wars, which resulted in deteriorating working conditions in newly established textile factories. From 1810 to 1812, the British economy experienced severe challenges, including high unemployment and inflation. This crisis led to widespread protests and violence.
One of the initial disturbances linked to Luddism occurred in Arnold on 11th March, 1811. A group of framework knitters gathered in the Nottingham marketplace, delivering impassioned speeches before moving up Mansfield Road towards Arnold. Upon arriving in the town, they targeted the premises “belonging to those hosiers who had rendered themselves the most obnoxious to the workmen”. During that evening, 63 stocking frames were destroyed. This incident is considered the inception of the Luddite movement, with subsequent attacks intensifying over time. Between 16th and 23rd March 1811, over one hundred frames were broken in Sutton in Ashfield, Kirkby in Ashfield, Woodborough, Lambley, Bulwell, and Ilkeston, followed by further attacks in Mansfield and Bulwell.
In John Blackner’s History of Nottingham (1816) he referred to the events of 11th March as a form of direct action to take “vengeance upon some of the hosiers, for reducing the established prices for making stockings, at a time too, when every principle of humanity dictated their advancement”. On 26th March 1811, a handbill produced by Nottingham corporation, offered a reward of £50 to anyone supplying information about the frame breakers, referring to them simply as “evil minded persons” who had “assembled together in a riotous manner” ‘Ludd’ was never a real person. The term was used to refer to a leader and could be assumed by anyone leading a group of frame breakers.
However, the movement took a sinister turn on 10th November 1811. John Westley of Arnold was shot dead during a disturbance in Bulwell. His fellow Luddites first removed his body to a safe distance, before returning to the workshop and, “with a fury irresistible by the power opposed to them”, smashed the frames, while the so-called guards all ran away. That same evening another 10 or 12 frames were smashed at Kimberley. On 27th November 1811, a frame was broken at Carlton and several frames which were being moved to Nottingham were attacked and smashed at Redhill.
On 28th December 1811, an agreement was signed between the hosiers and the knitters which was designed to ensure that average wages would rise. The Duke of Newcastle, the lord lieutenant of the county, hoped that this would be the end of the unrest but unfortunately, some Nottingham knitters remained dissatisfied, and some of the hosiers refused to be bound by the terms of the agreement. As a result, January 1812 saw more frames being broken in the villages around Nottingham.
Despite appeals, including one from the young Lord Byron in the House of Lords, the government garnered substantial support from the middle and upper classes and deployed military forces to quell all working-class disturbances, particularly the Luddite movement. The framework knitters felt they had been unfairly treated by the hosiers during the economic depression of 1811-12. Despite efforts to garner sympathy in Parliament, notably through Lord Byron's maiden speech, the Luddites received no legislative support. In February 1812, Parliament enacted legislation that made frame-breaking a capital offence.
© Arnold Local History Group
