24th May 1814: The Reverend JT Becher writes to the Home Secretary with his views about the Framework-knitters Union

Southwell
24th May 1814

Dear Sir,

In conformity with our arrangements I have abstained from trespassing upon your attention until I found myself enabled to state some of the circumstances materially connected with the offences prevailing in the County of Nottingham.—

The Union Society, as it is styled, does not conceal its existence; altho the printed regulations with which I supplied you are no longer to be procured.—The principal leader is stated to be Grosvenor Henson,—the man alluded to by T. Large in his letter some time since addressed to me.—Henson does not now work at his trade, but is maintained by the association at a weekly allowance of about three guineas.—In connection with him are many desperate characters, who are strongly suspected of being the Frame-breakers and the Instruments of popular vengeance upon all who, in the language of the Society, are "denounced."—The names of the ruffians are very carefully concealed; and as their number is small I entertain little expectation of detecting them until they have been emboldened by success & impunity to the perpetration of more frequent or more tumultuous outrages.—It is not imagined that this Nottingham Gang has ever been broken by the prosecutions formerly instituted;—and the terror impressed upon the minds of the Manufacturers by the existence of such a daring conspiracy has placed the Masters in a state of almost unqualified submission to the demands of the workmen who dictate their own terms.— —Every branch of the Lace & Hosiery trades is represented by a set of delegates; and these Sub-committees hold a regular communication with the grand Executive Committee.—The subordinate Committees are but little acquainted with the application of the sums contributed; or the purposes of the Society: they merely profess that they expect to procure some beneficial changes on behalf of the working Mechanics.—Mr. Nixon ascribes the demolition of his frames to the modification of the Frame-breaking Bill by substituting transportation for life instead of capital punishment at the renewal of the Act; with which alteration I was not acquainted until he mentioned it.—However, altho I regret the mitigation of punishment I cannot entirely agree with Mr. Nixon since many of the machines have been destroyed under circumstances of disguise & violence amounting to a capital Felony.—He feels convinced that the order for demolishing his frames was issued by Henson; and that the evidence which he gave against the bill for regulating the Framework knitting trade & his non compliance with the exorbitant demands of his workmen other sources of provocation.—He has now been compelled to advance the prices of labor in defence of his property tho the Nottingham Hosiers are manufacturing at from 10 to 20 percent above those at Tewkesbury, and the rate of workmanship is such as to preclude the prospect of a successful competition with the foreign markets.—

In the Silk Stocking trade all the Workmen of Mr. Ray have struck because he rejected their application for an increase of wages.—

The Framesmiths have discounted their employments for similar reasons, and are collecting money to sustain themselves.—

The Bricklayers encouraged by the success of the journeymen in the Hosiery trade are endeavouring to affect their purposes by a conspiracy of this date same description.—I enclose one of the hand bills which they are now diligently circulating.—The Title & Style of the address as well as the Printer's name, testify clearly its origin.

Such an extensive system of subordination & terror will, I conceive, be deemed incompatible with the existence of our manufactures: and apprised as we are of the industry & success with which these principles are disseminated among mechanics of every description throughout the empire the expediency of some remedy will unquestionably be acknowledged.

To devise the means of prevention constitutes the difficulty.—Specific regulations between the Masters & the workmen appear to be utterly impracticable.—Labor must find its own value in the market—but the standard ought to be established by free competition, unrestricted by combination on either side.—With this view I have strenuously urged some of the manufacturers to prefer an application to Parliament.—They speak in very grateful terms the attention dedicated by Lord Sidmouth & yourself to their case; and will, I am assured, avail themselves of your countenance.

To render the Bill palatable the Masters as well as the Men should be prohibited from combinations; and to secure efficiency the existing punishments should be considerably augmented.—

For my own part I attribute the late as was as the present outrages to those jacobinical principles with which the Inferior orders have been sedulously inoculated by our Nottingham Reformers; who have, in many instances, become the object of that secret organization & malevolent confederacy which they fostered by their pernicious examples, their licentious harangues & their seditious press for the attainment of their fractious projects.—

Thus have the evils, of which I complain, been introduced & cherished until they have become intimately incorporated with the state of society in this and other manufacturing districts. I do not apprehend that the result will produce any general tumult but I forsee that the ferment will not subside without it be coerced by the interposition of the legislature.

Circumstances seem to require that the law be armed with more extensive powers, adapted to the emergency; and that some formidable examples of punishment be exhibited whenever an opportunity presented for bringing the Offenders to Justice. [For] until these Confedericies which are the source of all our mischief be suppressed we never can hope to close the scenes which have too long disgraced this County.—

I have requested Mr. Allsopp who is now in London to wait upon you.

I enclose the only two pieces information which he has hitherto been able to procure.—The "Minutes of the annual conference." seem to be drawn up with a design of giving something like a lawful appearance the objects of the Society.

I have [etc]

John T. Becher.


To
John Beckett Esq.—

8th April 1814: The Sheriff of Nottingham accuses the Framework-knitters Union of working with Luddites

Elton, near Bingham Notts
April 8th: 1814—

My Lord,

I Have the Honor to enclose an examination which I think it my Duty to submit to your Lordship containing an account of the breaking of Several Stocking Frames belonging to Messrs Needham & Nixons most respectable Hosiers of the town of Nottingham:—from communications which I Have had with these and other Gentlemen and also with the Corperation of Nottingham, I am induced to believe that the Committees of Stocking Makers who are pressing for an advance of wages encourage these unlawful proceedings, or at least possess a power of controuling them, when it is certified to them, by the working Stocking Makers that any individual Hosier has submitted to the advance of price proposed by the Committees. Messrs: Needham and Nixons are desirous of offering a Reward of two Hundred Guineas to any Person that may inform concerning the transaction detailed in the enclosed examination so as to lead to the conviction of any one of the Offenders, and they have requested me to solicit of your Lordship that the Reward may be offered by His Majesty's Government, the responsibility of expence resting on Messrs Needham and Nixons who consider this method is the most likely to obtain the ends of Justice & also to prevent a repetition of the Offence.

I Have [etc]

W. J. N. Norton
Sheriff of the County of Nottingham

[To]
Right Honble
Lord Viscount Sidmouth
Secretary of State for the Home Department &c &c &c

7th April 1814: The Town Clerk of Nottingham reports that Hosiers are yielding to Luddite demands

My Lord,

I am honored with Mr. Beckett’s letter of the 6th April written to me by direction of your Lordship, in consequence of my letter to him of the 4th Instant communicating to you that three frames the property of Messrs Needham and Nixon had been lately broken at Kimberley on the night of the 2d Instant.—I have lost no time in laying before the Deputy Mayor Mr. Alderman Swann, your Lordship’s letter and I am by him directed to apprize your Lordship that at the solicitation of Mr. Needham on the 5th Instant two of our most active Constables were sworn in Constables for the County of Nottingham in order to go over to Kimberley to investigate and endeavour to trace out the persons implicated in this daring outrage and I know that they have been ever since engaged in the Inquiry, but with what success I have not yet learned.—Messrs Needham and Nixon's are most anxious to discover the persons engaged in this daring Violation of their Property and most determined to prosecute them, if discovered. I have reason to know this from personal Communication with Mr. Needham who has advised with me on the subject.

Mr. Alderman Swann, in the absence of the Mayor desires me to assure Lord Sidmouth that he may depend upon the utmost exertions of the Magistracy of this Town if they should appear to be necessary to maintain the Public tranquillity; but Lord Sidmouth may be assured that this is a question entirely distinct from all feelings of Party Spirit, or attachment or disaffection to the State of the Administration for the time being. It is simply an Attempt on the part of the men to induce their masters to raise their wages to accomplish which they have had recourse to Intreaties and means to intimidate.—Messrs Needham and Nixon are amongst the most respectable Hosiers in the Trade but they have been one of the leading Houses, in refusing to advance 2d. a pair to a certain Description of the Workmen who have requested and demanded it of their masters.—Their Frames have been broken to intimidate them into a compliance with this demand. From a considerable intimacy with Mr. Needham I know that this line of conduct would not have had its desired effect upon them but the Trade have pretty unanimously determined to agree to the advance and in consequence they have reluctantly and against their Judgement, been compelled to submit with the rest.—

I have reason to think that this submission, which I lament is a most ungenerous mode of procedure towards Messrs Needham and Nixons on the part of the General Body of Hosiers and a most impolitic act on the part of themselves, will however for the present, produce a total Cessation of all hostilic movement on the part of the Frameworkknitters, and I have reason to know that the Hosiers entertain the same opinion on the subject. If however anything occurs of sufficient importance to be communicated to your Lordship you may depend upon hearing from me.—

I am [etc]

Geo Coldham
Town Clerk

Nottingham
7th April, 1814

4th April 1814: 5 stocking-frames broken at Gilt Hill, near Kimberley, Nottinghamshire

At 2.00 a.m. on Monday 4th April 1814, Thomas Morley and his wife were awoken by noises outside their house and workshop in Gilt Hill, near Kimberley, Nottinghamshire.

Morley's wife opened the bedroom window, and looking down she could make out between 5 or 6 people in the darkness. She asked them what they wanted and they replied that they wanted 'to look at Mr Nixon's frames' (Morley rented 4 frames belonging to the Hosiery firm Needham & Nixon, along with another belonging to Charles Allcock, a clerk of the same company). Morley's wife spotted one of the figures holding a hammer and asked if they were out frame-breaking - the figures didn't answer, but asked again to see the frames. Morley called out that Needham & Nixon were 'good masters' to him and that he would not let them in. Morley then cried out 'murder' and received threats from below to kill him if he continued to cry out.

Morley quickly made his way downstairs. The Luddites were already forcing entry to his workshop from the outside, and broke a window, gaining entry. Morley attempted to enter his workshop from the inside - through the door, he could see men disguised and wearing flannel shirts. However, before he could enter properly, the Luddites on the inside forced him back inside and shut the door. They then set about breaking all 5 frames in the workshop, as well as damaging work that was set-up in three of the frames, all of which they accomplished within 4 minutes.

By now in fear of his life, Morley decided not to pursue the Luddites into the darkness.

2nd April 1814: 3 stocking-frames broken at Kimberley, Nottinghamshire

In the evening of Saturday 2nd April 1814, Nottinghamshire Luddites re-commenced frame-breaking.

A 'great number of persons' arrived at the workshop of framework-knitter in the village of Kimberley during the night. They were initially refused entrance, and decided to break in. Three frames belonging to the Hosiery firm Needham & Nixon were broken, and the Luddites departed.