5th September 1812: William Cartwright informs on those he suspects were involved in the Southowram attack

Saturday morning
Sep 5 ‘12

Sir,

I this Evening learn that the mob have destroyd the Machinery of a Mr Waterhouse at Halifax, assume this to be the Case; it occurs to me as most Singular that this same Gentleman was lately the mean of discontinuing the patrol of the Civil Power in Halifax declaring that no one could doubt for a moment that the County was in a State of perfect Tranquility!!!—

The purport of the present however is to day that I do not doubt the plans and executors of this Destruction are his own Servants my reasons are

George Hartley the Brother of Hartley who was shot here &
John Midgely – Particular [friend] [of Hartley…]
Abraham Pule all work with Mr Waterhouse

Now previous to the attack at my Place Pule who had formerly work’d with me (& who had at that Time taken up the dealing in Pigs) came to me & from affected motives of Friendship inform’d me that he had 2 Nights before been in a private meeting of the men of this very Mr Waterhouse & had overhear’d them say that they had receiv’d a message from the Huddersfield men on the Subject of the Attack at my Place which it was determined should take place before the End of 4 Nights unless it was thought that I was too much on my Guard, in which Case it should be defer’d for 2 or three Weeks (it took place exactly 3 Weeks from the Time)—but he play’d himself that none should take place without his conveying distinct Information to me—he did not keep his Word

Between his first visit & the attack Pul went to work with Mr Waterhouse & he remains there at present. I know not any where two more daring Characters that Midgley & Pul, Hartley I do not so well know. Pul is a Private in my Company of Halifax Local Mila the other 2 are Privates in the Light Company of the same regiments—

On the Morning of the Inquest on the 2 Men shot here Pul & Midgely were both lounging about at Robert Town 8 miles from their Home & Evinc’d so much Perturbation as led to suspect strongly that they had been of the Party—

Tho mere surmise I could not think myself justified in omitting to convey them to you & I remain

Sir – Yours Very truly

W Cartwright

[To Acland]

13th April 1812: Inquest into the deaths of Booth & Hartley at Roberttown

In the daytime following Samuel Hartley's death at 3.00 a.m., an inquest was held into the death of Hartley & John Booth, apparently in Roberttown where the corpses of the men still lay. The coroner, James Wiglesworth, who reminded the 'respectable' Jury gathered there of the comments of the Judge at the last York Assizes in relation to the disturbances. Witnesses were examined, but it would appear that no evidence has survived of who they were or what was said. Unsurprisingly, the Jury returned a verdict of justifiable homicide.

William Cartwright later wrote to Major General Acland, pointing out either that he had seen or had heard that Abraham Pule, his informant about the Luddites plans for Rawfolds, and another man called John Midgely, a friend of Samuel Hartley, were in Roberttown that day, and appeared to be very upset about what had happened. This and the fact that they were both several miles from where they lived led Cartwright to conclude that they had been involved in the attack at Rawfolds.

28th March 1812: West Riding manufacturers turn their Mills into fortresses following warnings

On Saturday 28th March 1812, William Cartwright received a warning from a man called Abraham Pule. Pule was a cropper who had formerly worked for Cartwright before he automated his factory, and had in between times become a dealer in pigs, but was now back working as cropper at Halifax.

Pule told Cartwright that two days earlier at the place where he now worked, Waterhouse's factory, he had been party to a private conversation: the workers there said that they had heard from Huddersfield Luddites, who were planning to attack Rawfolds within the next four nights, unless they determined that Cartwright was "on his guard": if the latter, then the attack would be deferred for between 2 to 3 weeks.

Pule promised to alert Cartwright as soon as he knew the date of the attack. But Cartwright did not trust him, viewing Pule's friendly approaches as "affected motives". In any event, he had been preparing the Mill at Rawfolds for all possible eventualities.

The Mill had a certain built-in defensive nature, in the sense that it was surrounded on one side by the Spen Beck, which effectively acted as a moat. Cartwright had replaced the main door with a more substantial one reinforced with studded iron. Although the ground floor was left unprotected, he intended to use the first floor as his firing platform: the flagstones nearest the windows had been propped up against them to form embrasures, a robust defence for a defender with a musket. Cartwright planned to arm a small number of his workforce when they were needed. Later, he would apply to the Cumberland Militia to station soldiers at Rawfolds.

Cartwright had also planned to raise the alarm, by fitting a bell to the roof with a rope than ran all the way down to the ground floor to allow it to be pealed by those inside. Cartwright later estimated he had spent £80 on his preparations, equivalent to more than £53,000 at today's prices.

Ottiwells Mill (since demolished). The remains of the defensive wall & gun loops can be seen bottom left.

Another manufacturer who had an aggressive & defensive mentality was William Horsfall. Over the hills at Marsden lay the 'manufactory' of his family, Ottiwells Mill. He he had built a stone wall to surround the front of the Mill facing the road, complete with gun loops which could be used by those of his employees he had armed with muskets. Like Cartwright, he had started a night watch at Ottiwells.

A view of William Horsfall's House, Ottiwells House, showing the defensive wall, from the Huddersfield Weekly News, 27th November 1880

One thing that was clear was that any Luddite attacks on such premises would not be the one-sided affairs they had experienced thus far in the West Riding.