Presentation about thehistory of the Burning of

Westhoughton Mill by Luddites in April 1812.

Garth RatcliffeWesthoughton Local History Group

1844- 47OS MAP

1844- 47OS MAP

Cotton Weaving – the cottage workers.

Background

1. The French Revolution began in 1789 and involved the guillotining of hundreds of French aristocracy. 1400 were killed in the last six weeks of terror in 1794 in Paris alone!!

2. In Jan 1793, the revolutionary government declared war on Britain which would last another 22 years.

3. The Anglo – American war of 1812 – 1815 was about excluding British influence over trade etc in the northern states etc.

4. Naturally , these wars interrupted the supply of cotton and the trade of cotton goods and consequently led to reduced income of English cottage weavers.

Origins of the Luddite Movement.1.In 1811, The Luddite movement erupted when the earnings of skilled craftsmen ( silk workers in Nottinghamshire, woollen workers in Yorkshire and cotton weavers in the North West ) were undermined by the introduction of textile machines in factories.These machines could produce more output cheaper by unskilled labour.

2.The term Luddism originates from “General” Luddwho was a leader of the militant workers in Nottinghamshire where one of them named Ludd, had a reputation for breaking his loom in temper.

3.Luddism was not just against any progress bymachines but was against a factory system thatexploited labour and also opposed the increased production of textiles at a time when the income of skilled weavers was declining substantiallythrough lack of demand.

4.In addition, the social conditions of weavers had declined to the extent that some were desperate and starving.But representations made to King George III fell on deaf ears and led to food riots in the area.

This montage, by Tom Newton, of the Burning of Westhoughton Mill and the consequent events, provides a vivid pictorial summary of the exhibition.

1.On 24th April 1812, amob of Luddites from Chowbent break into the Mill on the land opposite the White Lion.

2. The Mill is set on fire using straw from the White Lion stables.

3. The Scots Greys round up the suspects from Chowbent, the next day.

4. The suspects are “examined” by local magistrates , Ralph Fletcher, Wm Hulton and Wm Hampson. Some are committed for trial at Lancaster Castle Assizes. In addition other Luddites are charged with illegal oathtaking.

5. Four men are found guilty of burning the Mill and hanged.

6. Nine other prisoners are found guilty of illegal oath taking and sentenced to 7 years transportation to Australia.

7. The prisoners are taken to Portsmouth and then sail to Sydney on the Fortune 2.

Bolton Luddites

The Bolton Luddites were cotton weavers desperately poor, short of money, food and clothing as a result of the dramatic decline of their income. Their pleas for government help had been rejected. But what could they do to remedy their circumstances?

They needed to act collectively, but meetings and unionism had been made illegal by the government of King George III. Hence secret meetings were held by the weavers, at night, to make plans.

There are records of where these meetings took place in 1811 and 1812 – a) by the Sign of the Gibraltar Rock Inn on Deane Road b) at the Lord Nelson Inn on Derby Street c) at the Rope Walk and the Brick Kiln off Derby Street. These locations are shown on the subsequent 1814 map of Bolton.

The Luddite OathI of my own free will and accord do hereby promise, and swear that I will never reveal any of the names of any one of this secret committee, under the penalty of being sent out of this world by the first brother that may meet me, I furthermore do swear, that I will pursue with unceasing vengeance any traitor or traitors, should there any arise should he fly to the verge of —— .I furthermore do swear that I will be sober and faithful in all my dealings with all my brothers, and if ever I declare them, my name to be blotted out from the list of society, and never to be remembered, but with contempt and abhorrence.So help me God to keep this my oath inviolate.

It was unlawful to attend meetings that challenged authority.In order to maintain secrecy of meetings and plans, members of the Luddite movement were required to “take the oath”, shown below.But it was illegal to take this oath and the penalty was seven years transportation to Australia

Names and addresses of the Transported Luddites convicted of Oathtaking (from the 1811 Census)James Brierley - Howell Croft

John Burney - Sweet Green

John Fisher - Green St

John Hurst - Back Rothwell St

James Knowles - Deansgate

Christopher Metcalfe - Foundry Square

Thomas Pickup - Bengal Square

Sam Ratcliffe - Rothwell St

Henry Thwaite - Howell Croft

Thomas Holden we know from his letters lived at Hag End, Darcy Lever

Joseph Greenhalgh - Hag End

List of men convicted of illegal oathtaking or administering an illegal oath, and their addresses.

Ralph Fletcher and the Bolton Local Militia1.Groups of over 50 people, mainly weavers, attended meetings on Bolton Moor and Deane Moor. These meetings were infiltrated by spies who reported back to Colonel Ralph Fletcher, the commander of the Bolton Local Militia.

2.These spies were paid by Colonel Fletcher using money provided by the Home Office. Many of the convictions of the Luddites were secured by the evidence of spies.

3.Evidence of the spy system is provided by the letters between Ralph Fletcher and the Home Office. Copies of some of these are available at the information table. 4.Ralph Fletcher lived at the Hollins

which was located on Radcliffe Road, Bolton just before the road descends to Darcy Lever.

5.Although he had a reputation as a ruthless man, he was driven by the belief that there were rebellious forces present in England who were determined to instigate rebellion and revolution. His intention was to eliminate these radical republican movements.

6.Hence he regularly communicated with the King George III and Prince Regent, through the Home Office, in return for money to pay spies.

7.An extract of one of Ralph Fletcher’s letters is shown below.

Why did the Chowbent Luddites Attack Westhoughton Mill?

1. Westhoughton Mill was built on the Factory Nook, opposite Mill Street, about 1804 by R Lockett and leased to Thomas Wroe of Hollinwood in Oldham, cotton manufacturer, and James Duncuff about 1806.

2. The mill was very advanced for the time and contained about 170 weaving looms that were steam driven. It is likely that the water supply needed was drawn from Dam’s Head locality and stored in a reservoir near the Reform Club bowling green.

3. Scores of people must have worked at the Mill and the names of some are specified as witnesses in the trial reports.

4.In 1811 Luddites had attacked and burned factories in Middleton and Stockport. There were meetings between Manchester, Stockport and Bolton Luddites so it was natural for similar attacks to occur on mills in the Bolton area.

5.In addition, particular spies who attended the Luddite meetings, urged action to attack mills, possibly to justify the views of their paymaster Ralph Fletcher that rebellion was imminent and needed quelling.

The Chowbent Luddites.1. Chowbent is the area of Atherton in the vicinity of Atherton Central railway station and towards the centre of Atherton.

2.Chowbent Chapel is located on Bolton Old Road and was a centre of radicalism having broken away from the conformist church of Atherton. The Chowbent weavers were noted as rebellious.

3. The Chowbent weavers attended the Luddite meetings held on Deane Moor and Bolton Moor.

4. It was reported, at a meeting of the ChowbentLuddites, that an attack on Westhoughton Factory was proposed. “Lets brun it deawn”.

5. Chowbent and Hag Fold are located just a few miles over the fields from Westhoughton so it was easy for the Luddites to walk to the factory.

Some Details of the Attack on the Factory

1.On the afternoon of Friday 24th

April, a mob of over 50 people gathered near Chowbent market and walked to the Westhoughton factory carrying various large tools ie hedge hooks, scythes.

2.It is possible that they walked up Bag Lane and Platt Lane or through Daisy Hill and the Hall Lee park to arrive at the factory Nook.

3.The factory was unattended because the supervisor Joseph Kay, having been forewarned, had gone to Bolton to fetch the Scots Greys. Some workers who had been asked to guard the factory were completely outnumbered.

4.But the factory was locked and entry was gained by smashing windows and breaking down the door using the weapons the Luddites had carried.

a). Some of the witnesses were local residents others were employees at the mill. Their accounts are in the trial reports.

Witness Accounts of breaking looms and burning the mill.

b). Joseph Kay, the Mill superintendent, rode to Bolton to fetch the Greys about 4.00pm. The Greys had been present at the Mill between 1 and 2 pm but therewas no disturbance then.

c). George Hilton, lives in Westhoughton, is a weaver and remembers the day Westhoughton Factory was burned down. On that day he saw John Shuttleworthand Job Fletcher near the Mill.

d). Holland Isherwood lives at Hag Fold, in Atherton and knows that Shuttleworth lives at Hag Fold and Job Fletcher just below Hag Fold.

e).Bold Howarth informed Isherwood that the factory would be burned down that afternoon.

Culprits rounded up and taken to Lancaster Castle by horse and cart.

Committed for TrialJames SmithJohn CharltonWilliam KaySamuel RadcliffeAbraham BulloughThomas KerfootJohn ShuttleworthJob FletcherBold HowarthAbraham CharlestonRobert WoodwardJohn BromilowLydia MolyneauxMary Molyneaux

1. It is noteworthy that all the people charged with burning the factory came from Chowbent with the exception of Samuel Radcliffe.

2. In fact none of the Luddites lived in Westhoughton.

The trial at Lancaster Castle, quarterly assizes.This session dealt with the cases of 68 men and women including

those charged with illegal oath taking and breaking looms and burning a factory.

Corridor of prisoners cells at Lancaster Castle

Inside a prisoners cell.

Below is shown an extract of the charges/alleged offences against the names of the accused.

Details of Cases Against the Accused

This image shows the first page of the prosecution case against the Luddites accused of “setting fire to a Mill warehouse and shop in Westhoughton”.

The names of the accused and the verdicts, Guilty or Not Guilty are listed on the left.

This document was photo graphed at the National Archive , Kew and the complete copy with transcription is available at the information desk.

The Results of the Trial of men charged with breaking machinery and burning mill

The Judge ( Baron Thompson ) summed up the evidence for one hour and twenty minutes . The jury retired nearly one and a half hours and brought in their verdicts. The trial lasted from eight o’clock in the morning to near ten o’clock in the evening.

James Smith

Thomas Kerfoot

Job Fletcher

Abraham Charleston

All found guilty of breaking into and burning Westhoughton Factory and sentenced to be hanged. Executed on 13th June 1812.

The condemned men waited in this room of the castle before exiting through the door to the “hanging corner” shown below.

Details of Transportation1. The convicted men were taken to London and then on to Portsmouth by coach/waggon.

2. At Portsmouth the men were imprisoned in a ship’s hulk at Langstone Harbour until a ship was available for the scheduled journey to Australia.

3. On 3rd Dec 1812 the convict ship “Fortune 2” embarked for New South Wales. The journey required some 8 months because of the need to “catch” the prevailing winds blowing in the correct direction. Hence the first stop was Rio De Janeiro!

4. The Fortune 2 arrived at Sydney on June 11th, 1813.

5. According to the ship’s muster, Thomas Pickup was not transported because of his age and John Burney died in Rio de Janeiro.

6. The Westhoughton Local History Group were interested in finding out what happened to these convicts? Did they all die in Australia? Did they have families? Did any of them return to UK/Bolton?

John Burney – died in Rio de Janeiro during transportation.

Thomas Holden – lived in Hag Fold, Darcy Lever and his case is distinctive because there are records of the letters that he sent to his parents when he was in Lancaster Castle, Portsmouth and NSW. These letters were delivered to theGolden Lion, Churchgate. granted pardon in 1817 and returned to England. Listed on 1851 census of Bolton.

James Brierley – married Maria Roberts a convict , in 1816 and produced five children but few survived. He died in 1824. The name has changed to Brailey.

John Fisher – was featured on an 1828 census of Mount Pleasant, was married with a son who died aged 15 months. Fisher died in 1836.

Joseph Greenhalgh – although married in Australia and produced children , he died without any descendants. John Hurst – married a convict Margaret in 1814 and moved to Tasmania. From there the couple may have sailed on the ship Mary in 1821 to Liverpool UK because a Mr and Mrs Hurst were on the passenger list.

James Knowles – was granted a certificate of freedom in 1817 and sailed to the Brazils in 1818. He may have made his way back to England.

Christopher Medcalf – died in 1831 aged 65 in Liverpool, Sydney Hospital with no record of any relatives.

Thomas Pickup – too old to travel to NSW; served 3 years of his sentence in Portsmouth.

Samuel Radcliffe – there are no records of this person after 1833 and he may have returned to England.

Henry Thwaite – No records of marriage or producing offspring, but remained friendly with Samuel Radcliffe and may also have returned to England.

Brief Summary of the Fate of the Transported Convicts

Two descendants of James Brierley, namely Catherine Rowntree and Philip Brailey who reside in Australia, have contacted WLHG.

James Brierley (1779 - 1824)

is your 4th great grandfather

Martha Mary (Maria) Brierley/Brailey (1816 - 1890)

Daughter of James

Frances Kingsbury (1841 - 1875)

Daughter of Martha Mary (Maria)

Martha Jane People (1875 - 1948)

Daughter of Frances

Gladys Ellen Dowsett (1905 - 1989)

Daughter of Martha Jane

Raymond John Thompson (1941 - )

Son of Gladys Ellen

Catherine Marea Thompson /Catherine Rowntree

“ I just found you on the net. My ggggrandfather was James Brierley one of the rioters sent to Australia in 1813. All the birth death & marriage Certs show the problems with the spelling. It did change to Brailey and I an proud to say that I still have carried on the name”.

Kind regards,Philip Brailey19 Morinda StreetMt Annan NSW 2567Australia

An example of the Oath of Allegiance

(James Lyon)

Fate of the Mill

1824 – used as a cornmill.

1845 – used again as a weaving mill.

1856 – Rebuilt after being struck by lightning.

1890 – Flock manufacturing.

1900 – Mill demolished.