RIOT!!!
by Graham Palmer
'dogs and hogs and horses are treated with more civility and as to food and lodging how gladly would the labourers change with them' ... Wm Cobbett 1826
Life for an agricultural labourer has never been an easy one but the early years of the 19th century witnessed a particularly low point. At the time of this story local men were earning in the order of 7/- per week, well below the 10/- to 12/- they should have been receiving. Squalid conditions had been noted by one Thomas Davies steward to the Marquis of Bath in 1813 but the situation hadn't improved when William Cobbett visited our locality in 1826. Cobbett, an extremely complicated man, was born in Surrey in 1762, the son of a small farmer and a self educated man, a considerable accomplishment at that time. He wrote about almost anything and everything but he is perhaps best known for the rural rides that he undertook between 1821 to 1832.
Cobbetts personal views paint a extraordinary first hand depiction of Georgian life. He had a strong sense of justice for the rural poor and an extreme dislike of the establishment which incidentally he called 'the thing' and seems to have spent most of his life getting himself into trouble spending time in prison and in exile in America and true to form he was one of several radicals who after these agricultural troubles were accused of instigating the problems but of this he was eventually cleared. During his 1826 journey he witnessed much misery and in his entry for November 6th while nearing Marlborough he noted that 'the labourers along here seem very poor indeed' and that 'there were some very pretty girls, but ragged as colts and as pale as ashes'. By the end of his tour he wrote of his fears of things ending in a dreadful way, he was right to be concerned for dreadful is only one way of describing the events that occurred!
'the country is rather too bare until you come to Auborne'
William is known to have passed through Aldbourne on Monday October 2nd where he noted that .the country is rather bare here until you come to Auborne, there are no meadows in the valleys and no trees even around the homesteads this therefore is too naked to please me .
The passing of the enclosure Act for Aldbourne in 1805 brought with it troubles anew for Aldbourne men were well used to being able to catch rabbits in the Warrens to supplement their diet but that had to stop and as a result poaching became the most prolific felony. By 1824 no matter how hard men worked most could not maintain their families without the help of parish relief. Counties where poaching was at its worst included Wiltshire where the paying of wages out of the poor rate was practically the norm. In 1815 the introduction of the corn bill that prevented cheap corn from entering the country and the war with France ending seemed to only exacerbate the already appalling circumstances that the labourers by now found themselves in and what with new machines and an indifferent attitude by employers it was no wonder that the men eventually took matters into their own hands.
BREAKING POINT
The hard winter of 1828 and the following poor summer resulted not only in a reduced harvest but also in high levels of foot rot in sheep with losses estimated at the time at two million! The following year was no better and again in 1830 the country experienced a less than average harvest. The result of all this made for a very sorry state of affairs and with families close to starvation and only poor prospects for the future all this inevitably made for a perfect combination for dissent. By the end of August 1830 it was abundantly clear that fears for survival in the coming winter were very real indeed. The traditional winter work of threshing was also being threatened by new-fangled threshing machines and the men had more than a good cause to be worried for by 1870 this work had been mechanised by as much as 80% !
Isolated occurrences of unrest occurred throughout 1830 but the start of what was to become branded as the 'swing riots' began in August in Kent. Threatening letters signed by a mythical 'Captain Swing' were being sent to farmers and landowners alike but more menacingly there were large lawless gatherings of men not only smashing the new machines and burning ricks but also demanding higher wages and lower tithes. News of the uprisings took only days to reach the Marlborough area but the initial disturbances did not occur until mid September. Bands of local men travelled around the farms and others soon joined them not only wrecking farm machinery but also demanding money and food with menaces as well.
The organisational aspects of the men was invariably controlled at a local level with leaders or 'captains' being from the native workforce. Not all of the men involved in these agrarian offences in Aldbourne came from our village but I name all the ones known to have been involved for this tale would not be complete if I were to omit anyone though I do not intend to wander too far away from this village as that would be beyond the scope of this story.
The news had spread quickly from village to village but although the contagious aspect alarmed the authorities they were somewhat slow in their response. Some troops were dispatched to some of the troubled districts but as far as the Marlborough area is concerned the government left it to our own local magistrates to deal with their own problems so special constables were sworn in and landowners organised their own forces made up of tenants and servants. On 4th of December 1830 and only a few weeks following the troubles, Stephen Neate of South Street and Richard Church were appointed the principal constables for the purpose of protecting property and suppressing riot for Aldbourne.
Dudmore Lodge then owned by Robert ChurchOn the morning of Tuesday the 23rd of November a 150 strong mob entered our parish and before long many villagers had joined them swelling their numbers to around 400! Research shows that the farmers and farms visited were: Robert Church of Dudmore Lodge, Richard Church who farmed in West Street, William Church who may have lived in Hightown or just behind the Blue Boar and George Church of Hillwood farm. Two farmers had threshing machines smashed they being John Brown of West street and Broome Witts of Yew Tree farm in South street. Thomas Gould of Aldbourne had a threshing machine smashed in the village of Burbage and William Woodman of Aldbourne had machinery smashed in the village of Ham (to date neither of these men's farm's have been identified). The men were not particular in who they threatened and William Deadman, the tenant of Snap farm had to hand over a sovereign, William would have been no better off than any men in the crowd.
Headstone of Robert Church 1861Typically the majority of the men were not from Aldbourne and most others seem only to have been involved as spectators though just their presence must have been very intimidating surely? They were however not all prosecuted and only the main perpetrators being brought before the courts. I suspect that this was to reduce the amount of time needed to deal with the matter for if all had been put on trial it would have taken an eternity to deal with them.
The day after the troubles the Marlborough troop accompanied by a 200 strong posse made up of the farmers and their employees arrived in Aldbourne. They had expected to find the large group of rioters still here but the men had heard that the militia were on their way and had dispersed into the surrounding countryside and villages, surprisingly only 12 men were arrested in Aldbourne. The troop next rode to Ramsbury where they arrested a further 20.
THE TRIALS
Counties worst affected by the riots were Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Buckingham and Dorset and by the end of December over 2,000 individuals had been rounded up and awaited trial though riots and demonstrations continued into 1831. The final sum for Wiltshire was around 100 threshing machines smashed, a couple of dozen ricks burnt, a cottage destroyed, 400 folk detained, 157 transported and 57 imprisoned.
The special assize court for Wiltshire was opened on January 1st 1831 in Salisbury and lasted eight days. The three judges were Mr justice Parke, Mr Baron Vaughan and Mr Justice Alderson. Holistically they had some 300 hundred individual cases to deal with and by the end of the eighth day they had sentenced 104 men to transportation to either Van Diemans Land or Tasmania and 46 men to death. The trials continued on and off for some time with men still appearing in the Wilts Quarter Sessions and Assizes in 1831 and 1832 on charges of sending threatening letters, arson, rioting and machine breaking. The troubles were still being treated with as much harshness as was possible and one man was transported for fourteen years and two were transported for life. Henry Wilkins of Ludgershall was found guilty of arson and duly executed on the 22nd March 1831!
THE MEN
Ploughman David Baker, aged 29, came from Chisledon and was one of three including George Durman, and John Vokins of Aldbourne who were indicted of robbing Robert Church of Dudmore Lodge of money. The three were acquitted due to the indictment being 'wrong' it seems that some of the money belonged to Church's servant Thomas Brind and the rest to one Mr Smith. The amount was also incorrect as the indictment stated 10/- and four halfcrowns whereas the men had infact obtained a half sovereign and four halfcrowns. They were reminded by Mr Justice Park on how close they had all come to receiving a capital punishment i.e. THE DEATH SENTENCE!
For smashing a machine belonging to Richard Church of West Street they were all found guilty but all the men who received a death sentence for their part in the Aldbourne riot had their punishment commuted to transportation.
Baker also had a warrant issued on November 24th that was charged on the oath of Thomas Ovens of Chisledon with him having broken a thrashing machine at 'Auldbourne' the property of one William Woodman. Even though he was a married man with three children Baker was sentenced to 7 years transportation from Devizes prison via the prisonhulk ship 'York' moored at Portsmouth and then to Van Diemans Land on the Eliza sailing on the 6th of February 1831 and arriving on the 29th of May 1831. Baker was pardoned in 1836 and returned to live in his native Chisledon.
William Giles, originally from the Cricklade area, was charged on the oath of Thomas Ovens of Chisledon with having broken a threshing machine in Aldbourne the property of William Woodman of Aldbourne but his sentence was 'No Prosecution', Giles was possibly still living in Snap village in 1841.
William Ponting of Ramsbury aged 37 was charged with destroying machinery at Aldbourne but his sentence was passed as 'no bill' and he was acquitted. Ambrose Alexander also of Ramsbury was acquitted of destroying a threshing machine belonging to Robert Church.
Ploughman John Vokins was born in Aldbourne on the 2nd of June 1810 to John and Sarah Vokins. A good physical description of John is known he being 5 ft 8 inches tall with a brown complexion, black hair, brown eyebrows and hazel eyes. He was clean shaven with a long visage, large nose and small chin and a brown mole on his right arm. He was charged on the oath of Thomas Brind that he feloniously broke and destroyed a threshing machine the property of George Church at Hillwood farm and for obtaining a half sovereign and four half crowns belonging to servant Thomas Brind and a Mr Smith. The ruling was that he received sentence of 7 years transportation. After being kept in Devizes goal John was received on the prison hulk 'York' at Portsmouth on the 19th January 1831 and was transported to Van Diemans Land on the 'Eliza'. His pardon was dated Feb 3rd 1836 but it is not known if he ever returned to England, he does not appear on any village census and we can presume that he did not, as indeed did many, and elected to remain in Australia.
Little is known of George Durman only that he was aged 29, a ploughman with no schooling and that he was born in Wiltshire. He was found guilty of assaulting one William Deadman and obtaining a sovereign from him. For his part of the day he was sentenced to death but was sent to New South Wales for life. He was kept on the prison hulk York at Portsmouth before being transported. Both Thomas Smith and his servant Joseph Butler received £25 for their part in the discovery of the man who was in hiding when the troop from Marlborough arrested him. George received his pardon on November 9th 1837 and he returned to England to live in Surrey.
Thomas Goddard, aged 28 and born 14th June 1836 to Thomas and Elizabeth in Aldbourne, had moved to live in the neighbouring village of Ramsbury where he lived with his wife and daughter Susan. He was a tanner by trade and a landowner himself and according to records worth some £1000! His warrant, dated Nov 26th 1830, was issued on the charge given on the oaths of William Coleman of South Street and Richard Church that he had forcibly obtained one sovereign from Richard Church of Aldbourne. Church told that Goddard had been part of the mob who came to his farm to smash machinery and after they had done so had asked for a sovereign for their trouble. Church also told that although he had complained of the hardship this would bring the mob had ignored his plea and had asked for Goddard to receive the money. Goddard claimed that he had no bad intentions and had only gone 'to prevent as much as he could any serious mischief'.
Both he and one William Taylor of Ramsbury were put to the bar charged with robbing Richard Church of the money. One petition for leniency was actually signed by Richard Church who was also one of Goddards prosecutors. A petition was also received from one William Palmer asking that Goddard be allowed to pay for his own passage in order that he may become free on his arrival in New South Wales 'if your Lordship should be pleased to grant the said boon it will save an aged mother from a premature grave and give great satisfaction to the gentlemen and inhabitants of Ramsbury'. Another letter was written by his wife Christina on March 18th saying that they 'were in a comfortable way of business, but are now entirely ruined and myself and child are in a most afflicted condition from having lost our only support'. She did not ask for a free pardon only that he was not sent out of the country'. Both his wife Christina and mother died of their grief.
Taylor was accused of using threatening words ('we'll have blood for supper') by a witness named Coleman but Taylor refuted this and claimed that he had been misheard and that he had in fact said 'we'll have bread for supper', he added that he had hardly eaten for two days and that he and his family were very distressed from the want of enough food. During the affray he had also said to Church 'I have assisted in putting up several machines and we will be paid for every one that is broken, if you do not give us a sovereign we will break your windows'.
Mr Justice Parke found both men guilty and a sentence of death was recorded on the two. When they appeared for sentencing Mr Baron Vaughn asked why the sentence of death should not be recorded against them and twice Goddard interrupted stating 'my lords, I am not guilty', finally he received a commuted sentence of 7 years. Both men were were transported from Devizes to the prison hulk ship York on the 10th of Feb 1831 before leaving for Van Diemans Land on the Proteus. Goddard returned from Tasmania on board the 'Norval' on the 30th May 1836 to live in Ramsbury. Taylor originated from Islington, a sawyer and ploughman he could neither read nor write. He married a Ramsbury girl, Elizabeth Hunter, in 1809 and they had 8 children, he returned to his family in Ramsbury in 1836.
Two Aldbourne men were acquitted of their charges. James Gwyn aged 21 born 23rd July 1809 to George and Sarah Gwyn. His warrant was issued on November 30th and charged him with destroying machinery the property of William Church but he was found not guilty. James Newman aged 20 was also charged with destroying machinery the property of William Church at Aldbourne and he too was found not guilty. Census returns show that Newman married in 1833 and continued to work as a farm labourer at both Blakes and Woodsend farms.
Rear of Brooms Witts farm in South St (now demolished) note the
fustian factory building on the right still standsThomas Palmer born December 2nd 1798 to Martin and Elizabeth Palmer was a married man with four children. His warrant was issued on Nov 30th he being charged with destroying a thrashing machine the property of Broome Witts at Aldbourne but due to him having received a good character his sentence was a light one
'as to you Thomas Palmer you have received a good character, the sentence is, that you be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for nine months' 10 JAN 1831
James Liddiard, born 26th April 1807 to James and Sarah in Aldbourne, was charged of having destroyed a thrashing machine the property of John Brown. At the time of his arrest he had only just married Sarah Nippris some 7 weeks prior and what must have been a relief to his new wife James was acquitted of his charge, by 1841 he had disassociated himself from farming and had become a bricklayer.
Joseph Liddiard aged 24 born was born in Ramsbury. A blacksmith and farrier by calling he was charged with destroying machinery in Ramsbury and of obtaining a sovereign by threats and menaces from the wife of Robert Church though he was acquitted of robbing her husband. Joseph was received aboard the York on the 21st of January 1831 and transported on the Eliza to Tasmania for 7 years.
Prison hulk ship 'YORK'
In the late 1820s single men were in general not employed by farmers and therefore they did not have a lot to lose when standing up to the injustices levelled at them. After these trials one young prisoner said that he had committed a theft because his father, an agricultural labourer with 10 children to feed, simply 'had no money'. Hulk prison ship officials said that the men did not fear transportation infact they generally wished to go because they conceived that once free they would enjoy good employment and have good masters.
The Eliza sailed on the 6th of February 1831 and arrived in VDL on the 29th of May. She carried some 224 men. The Proteus sailed on the 14th of April 1831 and arrived in VDL on the 3rd of August, she carried some 112 men. Wiltshire was as heavily affected as any county, nationally some 19 men were executed and over 600 sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, fines, and around 500 were transported, the largest group ever from rural England. The journey to Australia seems to have been comparatively routine with men handcuffed together and secured by leg irons, unpleasant but most seem to have survived the trip.
This sign is still in place on a bridge in DorsetAlthough most of our village men appear to have all returned it would seem that they were in the minority but that story is of Australia and is not for the telling here.
If you would like to read more on these events there are numerous books and articles that can be accessed but for the ultimate read then you must read Jill Chamber's book 'Wiltshire Machine Breakers' volumes 1 & 2 and Barbara Croucher's book 'The Village In the Valley' that details Ramsbury's problems.
~ THE END ~
Do you have a question for Graham? Why not visit the discuss boards on www.aldbourne.org/discus or contact Graham at grahampalmer@lineone.net
DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO TELL - WRITE IT DOWN AND SEND IT TO info@aldbourne.org.uk or drop a printed copy off at the post office.
© Aldbourne Website Group 1999/2000
Email: Info@Aldbourne.org.ukFor pictures and more information from Aldbourne hit link.