23rd October 1814: Aborted assassination attempt on an employee of Thomas Garton

On the evening of Sunday 23rd October 1814, a group of men approached the house of an employee of Thomas Garton, the man whose house had been attacked by Luddites 9 days before. The man lived at Lenton, and it is possible the group were trying to intimidate him into not giving evidence - a press report stated their object was to assassinate him.

Despite their number, they abandoned their object when they observed that a guard of some sort had been posted outside his home.

According to a press report, the unnamed man was sacked by Garton for fear that his presence as an employee would bring further vengeance.

25th January 1812: Reward for information about attack on George Ball's frames at Lenton

23rd January 1812: Luddites make audacious attack at Lenton

On the evening of Thursday 23rd January, a mass Luddite attack took place on stocking frames in multiple locations at Lenton, which in 1812 was a village just a mile outside the Town of Nottingham. The village had become a target because of the widespread use there of wide frames, used to make 'cut-up' rather than 'full-fashioned' stockings.

50 armed men entered the village that night, with many of them stationing themselves in the streets and alleyways, keeping watch. A man who was passing by was pressed into service by the Luddites - given an iron bar and tasked with standing sentry.

The Luddites then proceeded to denude Lenton of 22 stocking frames, including the following: 5 at the house of George Ball (of which 4 belonged to Ball himself), 8 at the house of Thomas Selby, 1 at the house of William Selby, with another machine disabled there by removing the jack wires, 2 at Joseph Shepherd, 1 at a Mr Taylor, 1 at John Barnes, 1 at Ann Taylor & 2 at the house of William Burton.

During the action, William Selby ran away to raise the alarm, and was pursued by a Luddite threatening vengeance. The attack was extremely audacious because the main Barracks lay only a quarter of a mile from Lenton, which Selby eventually reached at around 10.30 p.m. and tried to get the military to intervene. However, the officer in charge at the Barracks, a Lieutenant Booth of the 15th Hussars, would not order his men without direct orders from either the Magistrates or a Special Constable from Lenton making a complaint to him, neither of which happened. According to Selby, the frame-breaking could clearly be heard from the barracks, but Booth subsequently disputed this.

Back in Lenton, a volley of shots from 3 pistols signalled the end of the Luddite action that evening, and they escaped into the night.

The incident subsequently became the source of a bitter dispute between the Magistrates and the military. The latter believed the military should have acted with more initiative, with their being effectively only 100 yards away from the frame-breaking when it was taking place. For their part, the military took the view that action would have been illegal without receiving instructions from the Civil authorities.