8th December 1815: The Warwickshire JP, William Hamper, informs the Home Secretary about a man selling pamphlets about the Luddites

Birmingham, Decr 8th, 1815—

My Lord,

A Man named William Cooper, who appears to have been formerly a Grocer at Nottingham, is now travelling through this neighbourhood, under the pretence of offering for sale a Pamphlet of his writing containing some account of the Luddite Disturbances. He talks largely of being patronized by many of the Nobility, & in a List of Benefactors (whose donations amounted upwards of One Hundred & Forty Pounds) your Lordship’s Name is set down for 5£ in an handwriting which I shall now endeavour to give in Facsimile:

Lord Sidmouth . . . . . . . . 5

Some of the Signatures in his List appear to be genuine, but others have every appearance of being artfully fabricated for the purpose of deception; and I trust your Lordship will not consider me as overstepping my Duty in enquiring whether or not the Man has been a partaker of Your Lordship’s bounty.—I have detected so many Plunderers on public Benevolence, in Persons travelling with Petitions & false Certificates, that I make a point of thoroughly investigating every Case of that description which comes before me. I have the honour to remain, with the greatest Respect,

My Lord
Yr Lordship’s faithful Servant
Wm Hamper.
One of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the Counties of Warwick & Worcester

PS. From the colour of the Ink, it is not improbable that Your Lordship’s name was written a year or two ago.—

12th September 1812: "The people are violently enraged against us and swear vengeance"

Mill bridge 12th Septr. 1812.

Sir,

I had the Honor to receive your Letter with its enclosure last night at 7 o'clock. After apprehending James Starkey, Lieutenant Buckley of the 15th Dragoons and myself with a Party proceeded to the places described in Dr. Colthurst Letter — we took a Mr. Robinson a Clergyman with us who knew the exact [streets] we did not succeed in finding any arms tho’ we made a very strict search

The People are violently enraged at us and swear vengeance against Robinson, and Ashworth, for giving information against Starkey—I have the Honor Sir, to enclose a Copy of an Oath, or engagement, used by the disaffected in this part of the Country. The Original was printed, and found in the road near the Constables House of Millbridge—

I shall have the Honor to send a Report to morrow, of the [progress] of the Parties I detached into the Country

The People exclaim against Soldiers going about, such a secret manner but say they will soon put a stop to it. Strapper has been with me this morning he thinks he shall get a number of Ludds to attend his [daring] school

I have [etc]
Francis Raynes Capt
Stirling Militia

To
Major Genl. Ackland
&c &c &c

2nd September 1812: John Becket of the Home Office writes to the Stockport solicitor John Lloyd

Copy
Private

Whitehall
2. Septr. 1812.

Dear Sir

I have received your several letters (3 in No) dated the 31st Ulto by this mornings post.

I had certainly been a little misled by your Statement respecting the Persons who had come in & taken the Oath of Allegiance at your office at Stockport concluding that they were from the immediate neighbourhood of that Place—this however does not appear to have been the case—I hope nevertheless the Example will be followed there in a short time.—

I hope the Clergyman at Holmfirth is a discreet man otherwise the Discretion you have entrusted him with to hold out the Expectation of a Pardon to any Person who will offer to make an ample disclosure of his Crimes may lead to some Embarrassment—The moment this is known every Scoundrel in the neighbourhood may come & claim the Benefit of this offer—& I don't see how a Pardon could be refused in any such case—Besides you are to recollect that the Legislature has not authorized such a Pardon to be granted. & it ought to depend & must depend upon the circumstances of a particular case Whether the Party should receive the Kings Pardon for any offence to Which it is not Extended by act of Parliament. I wish therefore you would write immediately to the Clergyman at Holmfirth and desire that for the present at least no previous general Engagement to grant a Pardon to Persons coming in & making disclosures be made, or the Expectation of it held out—it is not at all Clear that Persons who have taken an illegal Oath, will not readily take the opportunity afforded them by the Act of getting quit of the Penalties attached to that offence—Although they may be conscious of having been concerned in other outrages—It is also Possible that Persons with this Prospect of obtaining something like a General Pardon may come in & pretend they want Absolution from the Penalties they have incurred by taking an illegal Oath—While in point of fact their object is to procure a Pardon for other offences—they never having taken the Oath at all.—

You ask what you are to do with Yarwood. Upon this Point I will write to you again for the present let him remain in Custody—Bent also should remain unmolested—I have received information about him Which leads me to request you will take no notice of Him Whatever without writing to me first—You had better consult General Maitland about William Cooper Who you say was sent into Shropshire to be out of the way—if there is a Probability of his being made useful—it would be an easy matter to send for Him & employ him, I should doubt Whether [near] him not suspected—would not be the better Agents.—

I quite approve of your having urged a Commitment to York Castle in Scholefield's Case & you will acquaint Mr. Scott that He has adopted your suggestion very properly. Mr. Wood was not aware probably of all that you had passed respecting him—Which may account for his suggesting a previous communication with the Secretary of State—I trust that your Endeavours to procure Evidence against the other Parties Who were accomplices with Scholefield may prove successful—The case is so strong against Him that nothing should be said to Him Which can be construed into a promise of Mercy, by way of inducement to him to confess—if He proposes of Himself to say any thing let it be received—but I beg the Gaoler at York may be cautioned on this point, it is one of much Consequence. You will of course apprize me if you discover any thing from the Parties Whom you mention it is your intention to take to a distance—I see no great objection to this Step—provided you bear in mind the caution above mentioned respecting Scholefield—& apply it if possible to other Parties Who are implicated. It is not impossible that with care a conviction may be obtained against more than one.—

Please to send me back the intercepted letter signed J.B.—keeping a copy if you please—& send a copy to Ralph Fletcher Esqr. Bolton to Whom it may be [usefully] new Information against the 38 from Lancaster should be taken and sent up for consideration.

I am &c

(Sigd) J. Beckett

[To] J. Lloyd Esqr—
Wakefield—

31st August 1812: The Stockport solicitor writes to the Home Office about his spies and informers & suspects John Bent

Wakefield
31st August 1812

Sir

I have to beg your pardon if not sooner answering yours of the 26th –

The people continue to flock to my Office to take the oath of allegiance but at the time I left home I understood from my Clerks that the Inhabitants of Stockport formed no part of what had then been; of course Genl Maitland will explain the mistake which seems to have been made — as to our correspondence — There is no doubt however of its becoming very general — & I will venture to promise that in a few days we set it a going at Huddersfield — for we have obtained abundance of materials to act upon.

Your request of having the Instances of persons returning to their allegiance made public was anticipated, for I wrote paragraphs, for the papers the day before your wishes were known to me and I find Genl Maitland has done the same —

(1) I find from talking with the Clergyman at Holmfirth yesterday that his opinion is that the Luddites are afraid to come forward under the Act of Grace (if I may so term it from the provision it contains) because they are not indemnified in respect to their stealing arms — but I endeavoured to remove the obstacle by desiring him to assure some one Individual of a pardon from Offences even of that nature so that he made an ample disclosure — & told him if the Delinquent informed of two capital felonies he wou’d be intitled to his Pardon — that the promise cou’d not be extended — and he must induce some one to embrace the offer as early as possible

Extract 2 (with respect to the Letter from Ireland it appears to have been written by James or Jno Bent whom Yarwood mentioned as Treasurer of the Disaffected and Knight appears to be a relation to Knight that is one of the 38 at Lancaster (the 38 bundles of Blue) immediately returned — I do not know whether Whitaker did not mention Bent also. They are J.B.is right about Yarwood being still at Middlewich. Pray what must I do with him, he is in prison he is no longer, I conceived, of any use — William Cooper alias Strapper, is a man whom I employed at Newton & he was instrumental in convicting Daniel Garside of being privy to an unlawful oath adminsd to Cooper, and in convicting Joseph Thomas Schofield of inciting a felony, for which the latter was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment — the former of course transported). I sent Cooper into Shropshire after the trials at Chester to be out of the way of their vengeance but I think such men wou’d be very useful here — not that they wou’d again trust a stranger — but still a stranger cou’d observe the motions. I am already making some of them useful —

Wou’d you have any thing done with Bent

Your faithful & obedient St

J Lloyd

[To] J.Beckett Esqre &c &c &c

[Written vertically in the: “there is evidence in my office to fix some of the 38 returned — I suppose it must be done"]

24th August 1812: Convictions at the Chester Summer Assizes

Some of the less well-known convictions for Luddism took place at the Chester Summer Assizes, on or before Monday 24th August 1812. William Cooper, a spy/informer from Newton in Cheshire employed by the Stockport Solicitor, John Lloyd, played an important part. Cooper had been uncovered by the local Luddites prior to the Assizes, and an unsuccessful attempt had been made on his life in July.

Daniel Garside (around 23 years of age) was found guilty of being present at and consenting to the administering of an illegal oath to Cooper, although another man called John Hollingworth charged with a similar offence was acquitted after taking the oath of allegiance. Two other men, George Dernally & Joseph Horsefield, were found guilty of taking the oath, and were acquitted after admitting evidence for the crown and taking the oath of allegiance.

Thomas Schofield was convicted of inciting Cooper to steal a barrel of gunpowder, and also taking an illegal oath.

Although the newspaper reports do not contain details of the subsequent sentences, the Home Office records show that Garside was sentenced to 7 years transportation, with Schofield receiving 4 years imprisonment.

A report in the Lancaster Gazette states that evidence was given about both men convicted, that alleged they had collected money for delegates, and also to pay for Counsel for the 'Manchester 38', whose trial at the Lancaster Summer Assizes was imminent.

The firmness of these convictions, and Cooper's role in it all, is as yet unclear to this historian.

31st July 1812: A would-be Luddite assassin is found dead in Newton, Cheshire

In his memoirs, Captain Francis Raynes related an incident that took place in the evening of Friday 31st July 1812 at Newton, near Hyde, Cheshire. The Cooper referred to is William Cooper, Raynes' informer, who had been uncovered by Luddites and whose life had been threatened previously. Raynes had taken him under the protection of the military:

About five o’clock in the Saturday morning ... Ashworth, my special constable, came to inform me, a man had been murdered in Newton, at a short distance from the back of Cooper’s house, and his body horribly burnt and disfigured. I immediately hastened to Newton, accompanied by some soldiers and the special constable, and found there a spectacle too shocking to describe. On examining the body and the place where it was found, I had no doubt in my own mind, but the deluded men, bent on the horrid purpose of murdering Cooper, had assembled at the back of his house, with determined resolution of executing it. But it appeared to me, that Samuel Crabtree, the young man found shot, after loading his pistol, had put it into his pocket, where it had accidentally gone off, several bullets having entered his back, and the fire communicating with a quantity of powder he had about him, produced the dreadful appearance the body assumed: a powder flask burst, and a leathern bag, containing upwards of sixty bullets, some of which were melted, were found with the body.

Raynes went on to state that there was no formal inquest into the death. The incident was later related in the press, although there was no mention of Cooper. Crabtree was 18 years old.