14th November 1811: The funeral of the Luddite John Westley

In the afternoon of Thursday the 14th November, an almost palpable air of tension existed in the village of Arnold. Up to 1000 people had gathered for the funeral of John Westley, the Luddite shot dead in the early hours of the previous Monday morning.

The funeral cortege was preceded by former colleagues of Westley "bearing black wands, decked with knots of crape"¹ and a band played solemn music. The authorities had turned out for the occasion: the High Sheriff, the Under Sheriff and six of the County Magistrates no less. They were joined by Special Constables as well as 30 Mounted Dragoons. At one stage, the Riot Act was read, and the crowd was given an hour to disperse. To make matters worse, the hour elapsed when Westley's body was being lowered into the grave and the crowd was then ordered to disperse immediately by the High Sheriff, Thomas Wright, the same man who had acted as Coroner at the Inquest into Westley's death. Two who refused were taken into custody (but later released) and at this point the tension dissipated and the crowd dispersed quietly.

11th November 1811: John Westley, Luddite Martyr

At dawn near the road at Bulwell Forest, and at a short distance from Edward Hollingworth's wrecked house, lay the body of the man who had been shot the night before. It would appear that his comrades had decided to leave his corpse where he had died, rather than risk returning with it and increasing the possibility they would be exposed. The man was subsequently identified as a John Westley¹, a framework-knitter originally from Leicester, but who had lived in Arnold for 12 years. Westley was a single parent, with two children aged 5 and 3, who were now orphans. The Inquest, which was held a day later, stated that a bullet had entered Westley on the left side of his body, just below the navel, and had exited on the right side, just below the ribs. The Inquest held that the death was justifiable homicide on the grounds of self-defence.

As far as is known, Westley was the only fatal casualty of the disturbances in Nottinghamshire.