22nd October 1811: frame-breaking returns to Arnold

All of the publications about Nottinghamshire Luddism agree that after a lull of 6 months, the disturbances recommenced on 'Mischief Night' (4th November) in 1811. However, the Home Office records hold vital evidence that frame-breaking had begun at least a fortnight earlier, and at the same location as in March - the village of Arnold.

A notice that appears to be unconnected with any other document offers 150 Guineas (total) reward for information leading to the conviction of a 'number of persons' who entered the house of a Framework-Knitter, William Marshall, at Red Hill near Arnold at one o'clock in the morning and destroyed five stocking-frames, as well as stealing a large piece of cloth. The owner of the frames appears to be James Pritt & Co, because the notice states the reward will be paid at their warehouse at St. Mary's Church Yard, Nottingham.

This document appears in the Home Office archive at HO 42/117. A J.J & D Pritt had signed a statement in the Nottinghamshire Papers in January 1811 undertaking to not reduce their prices prior to the first appearance of frame-breaking in March.

In addition, a letter from a Thomas Hayne, Lace Manufacturer, to the Home Office on 12th February 1812 states that frame-breaking recommenced 'at the beginning of October 1811, when some more frames were broken at Arnold, at Bulwell, at Basford etc'. The letter can be found at HO 42/131.

21st October 1811: Printed address to Lancashire Weavers

TO THE

Manufacturers, Mechanics, Artisans, and Others,

(INHABITANTS OF MANCHESTER AND ITS VICINITY),

Who Signed and Supported the late PETITION to the

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

BRETHREN,

NOW that the result of your late application to Parliament is known, the reasonable expectations for the present disappointed, and little hope remaining that any future petition of a similar nature, and to the same quarter, will in future be more successful, it becomes the painful duty of the Committee, entrusted with the management of this unfortunate business, to lay before you the leading circumstances therewith connected.

Your petition had 36,104 signatures annexed, which was sent to London on the 25th. May, 1811. The Petition from Scotland, presented at the same time, and for a similar purpose, had 30,000 signatures. One from Bolton 7000; which plainly proves, that the distress experienced by the Mechanics and Artisans is generally felt through the United Kingdom.

The Delegate from Manchester, and three from Glasgow, was sent to London to forward the business; where their utmost exertions were only able to obtain the appointment of a Committee, consisting of the following 21 Members, who were appointed to consider the said Petition:

Colonel STANLEY, President.
Mr. BLACKBURN,
Lord A. HAMILTON,
Sir ROBERT PEEL,
Mr. BOOTLE,
Mr. DAVENPORT,
Right Hon. G. ROSE,
Mr. WESTON,
Mr. BRADSHAW,
Mr. WILBERFORCE,
Mr. WHITBREAD,
Mr. HOUSTOWN,
Mr. PAYTON,
Sir J. SHAW,
Sir J. ANSTRUTHER,
Mr. GRAHAM,
Mr. NEWPORT,
Mr. PONSONBY,
Mr. LONG,
Mr. D. GEDDY,
Mr. ADAM,

The Report of the Committee was, by a vote of the House of Commons, ordered to be taken into consideration by Committee of the whole House, on Wednesday the 19th of June; but there being no House on that and the following day, it did not come on till the 21st, when, by a motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was again put off till the 24th; when with a view as it would apply to get clear of so troublesome question, it was a second time put off to a period, at which it was then expected the House would be prorogued, and the Session ended.

In perusing the evidence given by the Delegates on this business, you will see that the ruined state of the manufactures of the country, sufferings of the labouring classes of the community, and the different allegations of your Petition, have been substantiated to the satisfaction of the Committee to which it was referred; and by that Committee, in your report, fully acknowledge, and most deeply lamented; yet no one solitary expedient has been proposed on their part, either for a permanent relief, or a temporary mitigation, of sufferings so candidly acknowledged, and so deeply felt for. On the contrary, in the said report, the Committee seem to consider some of the measures proposed by the Petitioners of too great magnitude for the time to which they found it necessary to circumscribe their deliberations; others of a nature hostile to the principles of individual liberty, and which would ultimately be injurious even to the Petitioners themselves, as calculated to arrest the progress of national improvement, and consequently of national prosperity; as tending to circumscribe matters, which ought to be left to their own operation, and which, white water, would find their own level. Above all, the report is decidedly against pecuniary aid being granted, and hopes would thereby be created, which could never be realized; as any sum that could be given must prove altogether inadequate to the distress. Besides that, the balance of commerce, of Manufacturer, and agriculture, would be endangered.

We are only mechanics, of course ill acquainted with the reason why the same measures are frequently opposed, at one time, by the same arguments by which at other times they are vindicated and supported. When we consider the extent and severity of the sufferings of which our Petition complained, with the most unparalleled patients of the sufferers—when we consider the number of the Petitioners, their usefulness in society, their peaceable demeanour, the respectful language in which their petition was couched, and that petition altogether unconnected with party politics, not the unseasonable clamour of the discontented populace, but the prayer of starving industry, which had relief, and that alone, phrase object—was it possible that some reasonable portion of hope should not have been founded on these circumstances? But when we consider likewise, that the legislator has already interfered in matters apparently less moment—has enacted laws regulating the price of corn, fixing the assize of bread, the fixing the price of labour in the case of the Spittalfields Weavers, and Journeyman Tailors of London; for augmenting the salaries of Judges and Clergymen; for regulating commerce, and a multitude of other things, which time would fail to enumerate. To say nothing of the Act now pending, or just passed into a law, for fixing a minimum on bank paper; and considering, moreover, that every law by which society are bound together, are subject to the same objections as those brought forward against the prayer of our petition being granted; namely, that it is an infringement of individual liberty. This Committee are utterly at a loss to conceive on what fair ground Legislative interference can be improper under circumstances so necessitous. If a large mound be projected from the one bank of a river, the stream must necessarily make inroads on the opposite shore: and if laws be made to regulate the price of the necessaries of life, laws should also be enacted for regulating the wages by which such provisions must be purchased, especially when (as in our case) such wages have lost all reasonable balance and proportion.

We have been in the habit of considering the wisdom of the House of Commons equal to every emergency. We have seen that House triumph over the united efforts of prejudice and barbarity, of ignorance and unconscionable avarice, in the abolition of the slave trade. We have seen their arm extended for the protection of the weak and defenceless—their hand open liberally to the relief of the indigent. We still see them able to provide the means for defending our common country against the attacks of Europe united against us; even in cases the most critical and alarming, their wisdom has never been nonplussed: but our case, it would seem, stands an exception in the general rule of Legislation; but why it should be so, we confess we have not sufficient penetration to discover a satisfactory reason.

On the whole, when reasonable hopes have been entertained, and considerable exertions made to realize these hopes, it becomes a painful task to relate the tale of disappointment. This the Committee find it on the present occasion; and have only to say for themselves, that nothing, which the means in their power enabled them to attempt, for bringing this business to a happy termination, has been neglected; every thing that could be done, has been done to secure success; and all the consolation that remains, either to the Committee or the supporters of the Petition, is the poor reflection, that they have done their best, and that the distress of the country has been fairly, formerly, and specifically represented at the proper place.

The Committee cannot dismiss the subject, without returning their sincere thanks to the Contributors, the chearful manner in which they have exerted themselves and the support of this business, notwithstanding the general poverty and pressure of the times. A statement of the receipt and expenditure is herewith subjoined for the inspection of the Public, by which it will appear, the subscriptions and benefactions amounted to £109 6 11½; under total of the expenditure (exclusive of this address and report) amounts to £108 12 4½, leaving a balance in the treasurer's hands of 14 s. 7d.

From the foregoing statement it is evident, that although the distress of the Manufacturers and Artisans was fully proved to, and admitted by, the House of Commons, yet it is equally evident, that the House was either unable or unwilling to remove this general calamity: in either case it proves that House (as at present constituted or appointed) to be unfit to manage your affairs. They, the Members of that House, can make arrangements which advance the price of provisions—increase your taxes—introduce such a state of things as diminishes your business and employment, and reduces your wages; but when you state to them that you cannot exist under these accumulated and accumulating evils, they will coolly tell you they cannot relieve you. Had you possessed 70,000 votes for the election of Members to sit in that House, would your application have been treated with such indifference, not to say inattention? We believe not. Is it not therefore high time to look to your own concerns, to strengthen the connexion between you and your nominal Representatives, to claim the constitutional privilege of electing those Men who are to make the laws which are to govern you; who impose your taxes, and direct your exertions. Your industry and economy no longer procure you plenty, nor have you any security they ever will, while your affairs are managed by Men over whom you have no check or control, and who have the power of raising the price of provision, increasing your taxes, and diminishing the value of your labour. That such is the state of things at present, the state of the Representation abundantly proves. It having been stated, and not contradicted, that in the year 1793, one hundred and sixty-two individuals sent 306 members into the House of Commons, being a majority thereof. If therefore you have any regard for yourselves, or your wives and children, if you have any regard for your liberty, property, or security, hesitate not to solicit the PRINCE REGENT for the restoration of that Right, without which no other rights are available or secure; namely, the right of electing your Representatives, and extending the elective franchise as far as taxation.

RICHARD TAYLOR, Secretary.

Manchester, Oct. 21, 1811.

1810s: Song “The Hand-loom Weavers’ Lament.” Lancashire

Kevin Binfield includes this song in his excellent book 'Writings of the Luddites'. He uses it as an example of folk song which illustrated the distress suffered by the weavers in the period of Lancashire Luddism. The wages of a Lancashire Weaver had declined from 25 Shillings in 1800 to 14 Shillings in 1811. Binfield dates the song roughly the 1810 decade, sometime after 1807 and the American Embargo Act and the collapse in trade with South America and changing to include the exile and death of Napoleon Bonaparte. Binfield also points out that the references to 'old prices' may have meant the song was influential to another well-known song which was yet-to-emerge. The song is sung to the tune of 'A Hunting We Will Go'.

The Hand-loom Weavers’ Lament

You gentlemen and tradesmen, that ride about at will,
Look down on these poor people, it s enough to make you crill;
Look down on these poor people, as you ride up and down,
I think there is a God above will bring your pride quite down.

Chorus
You tyrants of England, your race may soon be run,
You may be brought unto account for what you’ve sorely done

You pull down our wages, shamefully to tell;
You go into the markets, and say you cannot sell;
And when that we do ask you when these bad times will mend
You quickly give an answer, "When the wars are at an end."

When we look on our poor children, it grieves our hearts full sore,
Their clothing it is worn to rags, while we can get no more,
With little in their bellies, they to work must go,
Whilst yours do dress as manky as monkeys in a show.

You go to church on Sundays, I'm sure it's nought but pride,
There can be no religion where humanity's thrown aside,
If there be a place in heaven, as there is in the Exchange,
Our poor souls must not come near there, like lost sheep they must range.

With the choicest of strong dainties your tables overspread,
With good ale and strong brandy, to make your faces red;
You call d a set of visitors—it is your whole delight—
And you lay your heads together to make our faces white.

You say that Bonyparty he's been the spoil of all,
And that we have got reason to pray for his downfall;
Now Bonyparty’s dead and gone, and it is plainly shown
That we have bigger tyrants in Boneys of our own.

And now, my lads, for to conclude, it’s time to make an end;
Let s see if we can form a plan that these bad times may mend;
Then give us our old prices, as we have had before,
And we can live in happiness, and rub off the old score.

10th October 1811: a letter from a Lancashire informant

On the 10th October 1811, Colonel Ralph Fletcher, a JP, Local Militia Commander and member of the Orange Order at Bolton-le-Moors, received a letter from one of his informants in Lancashire.¹

The writer, who he called 'B',  painted a very vivid picture of secret committees and the political underground in that County. Writing on the 5th October, 'B' reported that he had just got back from a meeting attended by 140 delegates, held in a field, a mile from the Toll Bar at Mottram, Cheshire (on the border with Lancashire). The purpose was to discuss the sending of a delegate on a trip through several counties, to test the political, economic and social waters, and how the delegate must exercise care & sensitivity so as not to be discovered. Those gathered would reconvene at Gee Cross, a few miles up the road, in a fortnight, with reports from their local areas about the numbers of people who wished to be involved in 'the Business', as the 'B' puts it.

'B' talks of the widespread nature of the discontent in the land: there is talk of delegates travelling between Glasgow and Ireland, with Stockport in Cheshire being some kind of central meeting place of importance. There is talk of possible assistance in 'the Business' from France.

More revealing is 'B's' insistence that the country areas are more advanced than the towns in their readiness for change: the Manchester Committee is chosen by delegates from Saddleworth, Royton, Hollinwood, Glodwick and Ashton-under-Lyne, all places in Lancashire, with the Committee meeting in the Falstaff Hotel in Market Place.²

The fact that the content of many of these discussions, as far as 'B' could ascertain, were largely concerned with petitioning the Prince Regent and Reform and vague about anything else is part of the strange character or Lancashire and Cheshire Luddism, which would only emerge into the open 5 months later. Fletcher's mysterious informant was to write many more letters over the coming months.

Northern Anarchist Network: The Luddites 200th Anniversary commemorative booklet - a call for articles, artwork and ideas

An 'Enoch' Sledgehammer, as manufactured by Enoch & James Taylor of Marsden & put to good use by Luddites

 We've been contacted by the Northern Anarchist Network (NAN) about a commemorative booklet about the Luddites they are planning for 2012, and we're reproducing their press release below. Expressions of interest can be made directly to the NAN or via our email address:

2011 & 2012 sees the 200th anniversary of the Luddite uprisings in the midlands and north of England. After an initial sudden outburst in Spring 1811 amongst framework-knitters in Nottinghamshire, discontent gestated until November 1811, when the self proclaimed 'Army of Redressers' emerged once again, this time proclaiming allegiance to the mythical avatar 'General Ludd'. Though the outbreaks were initially located in and around Nottinghamshire and were concerned chiefly with industrial disputes, they soon entered into parts of South Derbyshire and Leicestershire, before extended further north to Lancashire & Cheshire amongst weavers and most notably amongst the cloth-dressers of West Yorkshire in 1812, by which time the uprisings had taken on a wholly different character: opposed to the Napoleonic War, tyranny and the direction that a particularly militant version of laissez-faire capitalism had begun to take, using new technology to drive down wages and break the power of highly organised workers. Though the uprisings continued in a muted form all the way into 1816 in the Midlands, the back was broken in the north by early 1813, with show-trials, mass executions, deportations and the virtual occupation of the region by 12,000 troops, more than were currently engaged in conflict on the continent in the Napoleonic Wars.

The Northern Anarchist Network plans to facilitate a booklet to mark the 200th anniversary of the Luddite uprisings at their zenith, in April 2012. We are looking for contributions, chiefly original articles and artwork, but any kind of work that fits into the printed format will be considered (i.e. poetry, creative writing). Articles of any reasonable length will be considered.

We welcome original submissions of all kinds, but it you are stuck for ideas, we have some themes we have come up with that interest us:

• The local history of Luddism from where you live
• Caravats in Ireland 1806-1811 & the parallels with Luddism
• Enclosure of the commons, 200 years ago and today
• The 'neutrality' of technology
• The role of technology in the modern workplace
• Why does 'the left' ignore the Luddites?
• The politics of rioting
• E.P. Thompson & the Luddites
• Disappearing workers, skilled and unskilled: from self-service checkouts to 3D printing
• General Ludd in the North, Captain Swing in the South

You may have your own ideas, and we would welcome discussing them with you.

We are Anarchists, but we welcome contributions from comrades across the Libertarian Communist spectrum, and beyond: we are happy to consider articles from those who feel outside any political spectrum but are willing to contribute regardless.

Although this is the Northern Anarchist Network, we welcome ideas from anywhere in the world.

We plan to have the booklet published by April 2012, and will be seeking expressions of interest until the end of October 2011. We request that a first draft is submitted by the end of November 2011 at the very latest.

We feel that for a number of reasons, the history of the Luddites and their messages and significance down the generations have been distorted and all-too-often ignored, quite often wilfully. There is an opportunity over the next 12 months to rehabilitate and to begin to regularly celebrate the machine-breakers from 200 years ago from whom we can still learn so much.

Our silence

If you've been following this blog, you may have wondered why it's gone quiet. There are several reasons for this:

• In terms of the historical side of this project, after a brief spurt of activity in early 1811, Luddism goes quiet, and then explodes in November 1811 and continues to burn for many months. On that basis, other than some contextual posts in late October of this year, we won't be writing about the history until November 2011.

• We're doing the research and donkey-work now, and it's hard work...

• We have other irons in the fire!

• There haven't been that many events to bring to wider attention.

In the meantime, if you want to stay up to date with the latest bits of news and ephemera that may be of interest, and also engage with us, the best places to go to are our pages on twitter and facebook.

So, in the meantime, thanks for your patience!

14th July 1811: frame-breaking at Sutton-in-Ashfield

Three calendar months after the last reported frame-breaking incidents, more frames were destroyed at Sutton-in-Ashfield (Kirby-in-Ashfield according to one account).¹

Lawrence Batley Theatre 'Cloth, Culture & Communities' funding bid to commemorate 1812

The Huddersfield-based Lawrence Batley Theatre (LBT) is planning to commemorate the Luddite uprisings of 1812 on the bicentenary next year, and tomorrow are hoping to win the regional final of a funding competition which will enable them to bring the project to full fruition.

The LBT have applied for £55,197 from the Jubilee People's Millions fund, part of the Big Lottery Fund for the project, which is entitled 'Cloth, Culture & Communities' which will also involve the Mikron Theatre Company. If you are in the Yorkshire ITV region, you can view a short film about the project tonight between 6.00 and 6.30 p.m. and everyone can vote for the project by telephone tomorrow by calling 0871 62 68 141. We will update this blog post, as well as our twitter and facebook pages with the number when we know it.

We'll leave you to ponder the irony of a project that celebrates Luddism as part of a 'Jubilee' jamboree!

The Luddites - a public meeting in Huddersfield tomorrow night, with Alan Brooke

Huddersfield Anarchist League have called a public meeting in Huddersfield tomorrow night (Monday, 6th June 2011) to discuss their plans to mark the bicentenary. The main speaker is local historian Alan Brooke, the co-Author (with Lesley Kipling) of 'Liberty or Death: Radicals, Republicans & Luddites, 1793-1823', which is being relaunched at the meeting.

This is the first meeting we're aware of in the heart of Yorkshire Luddite country, and it has also drawn some attention from the local press. The venue is the Albert Hotel, 36 Victoria Lane, Huddersfield, HD1 2QF. The meeting starts at 7.00 p.m. and is free of charge.

We hope to provide a report of the meeting at a later date.

'Luddites Without Condescension' - a report from the Birkbeck Conference

The Luddite conference at Birkbeck which took place on May 6th was the most important date so far for those interested in the bicentenary. With a somewhat stellar academic cast, it promised much, but the delivery was arguably somewhat patchy and it was possible to firmly divide it into three very distinct sections: historical, political and cerebral (or perhaps theoretical would be more apt).

There was no sign of Eric Hobsbawm, despite his late billing, and as people started to arrive in increasing numbers, the conference organiser, Iain Boal, announced that Hobsbawm could not attend due to a forthcoming stay in hospital the following week. Short of a medium channelling E.P. Thompson it would be hard to think of a more fitting start to proceedings than having the man who wrote 'The Machine Breakers' almost 60 years ago, so this was disappointing.

However, we did get a link to E.P. Thompson via historian Peter Linebaugh, an ex-student of his and co-author of a book. Linebaugh proceeded to 'pull a thread' through the history of roughly the Luddite period, but with an international dimension that was eye-opening with the connections. Noting that Frank Peel has talked of the 'flaming sword' of the Great Comet of 1811 heralding upheavals, and dubbing General Ludd an 'avenging avatar', Linebaugh declared that Luddism is 'incomplete' and proceeded to relate parallel 'avatars' in Ireland ('Captain Right' and 'Captain Knockabout' - the latter was lost in translation and should have been 'Captain Rock'), one place that experienced similar unrest. Linebaugh admitted early on that he did not have a script, only notes, and his presentation had a stream-of-consciousness feel to it, but it was a very rich concoction which also took in the Demerara slave revolt and the German coast uprising. Linebaugh's chief concern was to illustrate how the commons or 'commoning' was under attack across much of the world, mainly via the system of enclosure, whether of land of other aspects of life. I found this fascinating: it's too easy to confine history to a particular time and place, and Linebaugh's Marxist analysis is one which is open to examining what the international economic imperatives were underpinning the attack on the commons.


Following a break for lunch and prior to Session 2, we had an impromptu performance of Lord Byron's infamous maiden speech to the House of Lords in February 1812 (see video below). It was a fairly straight reading, albeit one executed fairly well. A bit of dramatic flair would not have gone amiss.



After lunch, Dave King stepped in for Beth Lawrence on behalf of the Luddites200 Organising Forum. King spoke about science and it's relationship to capitalism, with a particular emphasis on genetic and reproductive technology, saying the Luddites had resisted the capital intensification of production, with the issue now being the capital intensification of labour itself. Where the Luddites and others had resisted the enclosure of the commons, the issue now was the extension of that tendency into the bio-sciences, with the patenting of genes and cell-lines. King went on to speak about how the Organising Forum hoped to hold a technology politics conference, how there were ideas for arts and theatrical projects & public events involving education and 'wackiness'.


Iain Boal looked at latter-day Neo-Luddism and spoke in general terms about the politics of Earth First! & anti-GMO campaigners, with a particular emphasis on the American variants of those organisations, noting the divergent manner in which the organisations had developed, and also the different responses of governments in the US & elsewhere to them. Alongside Dave King's talk, there was here an attempt to address how technology is utilised by capitalism and whether or not it can ever be considered neutral in and of itself.


T.J. Clark's talk was a scripted, articulate and dense affair which was chiefly concerned with the Left - as the title suggested 'a Left with no future' - but questioning why the Left has to be 'looking forward' rather than present-centred. Virtually the only reference Clark had in his talk to the Luddites was the use of the same image of the card ticket to a Luddite meeting that we use as the banner for this blog. Clark also made clear that he viewed the current times as a watershed moment, similar to that after Waterloo in the 19th Century, a 'moment between paradigms.' Noting the Left's use of comedy, in particular the 'ironic mimicry of the language and assumptions of the ruling class', Clark harked back to Ned Ludd as a 'wonderful, appalling mask' which rhymes with Blood, Mud, Flood, Thud (of the trap door), M'lud (putting on the black hood), leading to Lump, Judder, Lurch, Shudder, Lead (or Led), Dead, Dread - Ludicrous and Lunatic, with Red Blood as a 'phonetic threat' in the background.


The last talk of the day was billed as a response to Clark by Esther Leslie, although Leslie got off to a bad start by admitting she hadn't prepared for it. By this time, I had tweeted that 'Ned Ludd has left the building' as I was completely out of the academic lucozade that seemed to be fuelling the others to discuss the issues arising from Leslie's brief talk. In fact, I'm still lacking in it now and can't really grab anything from her talk to write here, but you can listen to the mp3 below if you're eager to know.


All in all, this conference was a patchy affair, both in terms of content and relevance to the Luddites and the issues their rebellion raise 200 years later. For myself, it was worth attending for hearing Peter Linebaugh's talk, and the debut of the Luddites200 Organising Forum, as well as getting my hands on the latest issue of the The Land, of which a review will follow.

Luddites200 Organising Forum - "Celebrating the 200 Anniversary of the Luddite Uprisings: Technology Politics Then and Now", London, 8th June 2011

Next month the Luddites200 Organising Forum are holding an open meeting in London entitled "Celebrating the 200 Anniversary of the Luddite Uprisings: Technology Politics Then and Now", the first of many to come over the next 18 months. Well let the blurb speak for itself:

In 1811-12 Artisan cloth workers in the Midlands and North of England rose up against factory owners who were imposing new machines and putting them out of work. Since the 1950s the Luddites have been painted as fools opposed to all technology and progress, but in fact the Luddites were very selective in their attacks, breaking only machines they thought were 'Hurtful to Commonality'.


What can the Luddites teach us about the ongoing use of technology to replace workers' jobs, as well as issues like GM food and nuclear power? Can we escape the myth that technology always brings progress? On the anniversary of the first action against a GM crop site in Britain, come and discuss the issues with speakers from the Luddites200 Organising Forum, Stop GM, a trade union activist, and the Stop Nuclear Network.

PLUS! Luddite entertainment

The meeting is being held on Wednesday 8th June at the Feminist Library in Lambeth and starts at 7 p.m. Residing in the Luddite heartlands, we are unable to make it, but would welcome any report back from anyone else who can attend. For more details, see our events page.

'The Luddite Lament' - BBC Radio 4, Thursday 19th May, 11.30 a.m.

This coming Thursday (19th May) on BBC Radio 4, folk singer John Tams will be exploring the story of the Luddites through their songs. The 30-minute programme will be broadcast at 11.30 a.m., and it will remain available afterwards (until 2099!) via this page.

We plan to review this programme in due course.

'What did the Luddites ever do for us? A 200th anniversary workshop' – 2nd June 2011, King’s Place, London

In 3 weeks time, the Society for Participation, Engagement, Action and Knowledge Sharing (or SPEAKS) is holding a day long meeting "to explore Luddite perspectives on the crises we face in 2011 and to plan what activities might be appropriate in the future."

Although it's not entirely clear what the aim of the meeting is, the programme tells us "there will the opportunity to read short sections of Luddite, or Luddite inspired, prose or poetry (sic)" and also talk about "what Luddism means to me." SPEAKS also says that it is involved in a project with the Food Ethics Council to "democratic control over science and technology associated with the food system (sic)."

The meeting takes place between 10.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. on Thursday, 2nd June at King's Place in London. The organisers are keen to facilitate access to the meeting via Skype or similar methods - see the programme for more details.

'The Luddites Without Condescension' - a Conference at Birkbeck, tomorrow

Tomorrow sees a major conference about the Luddites take place at Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities in London. The conference aims to look at the historical Luddites alongside contemporary resistance to capitalist modernisation. Announced some months ago, the speakers have now been finalised and the full programme finally drawn up. We'll publish it here, annotated as appropriate:

The conference begins at 10.00 a.m. with a 30-minute introduction by historian Eric Hobsbawm, who is the President of Birkbeck. In 1952, Hobsbawm wrote 'The Machine Wreckers', an essay about the Luddites in the first ever issue of Past & Present, arguably beginning the modern attempts to rehabilitate the Luddites and Luddism.

This is followed by Session 1, entitled "Ludd, Rebecca and History from Below" which begins with a talk entitled "The Luddites and the Atlantic commons" by historian Peter Linebaugh. Linebaugh was a student of E.P. Thompson, and co-authored a book with him, as is probably best known for his own book "The London Hanged".

After a break, the session recommences at 12.00 p.m. with a discussion moderated by Anna Davin
of History Workshop.

In between lunch and session 2, there's a reading of Lord Byron's maiden speech to the House of Lords "In Defence of the Luddites", given on 27th February 1812 at the height of the disturbances in Nottinghamshire.

Session 2 is entitled "Modernization and Contemporary Movements of Resistance" and takes place from 2.00 p.m. in two sections: Beth Lawrence from Corporate Watch will outline the Luddites200 project which we looked at a few days ago, and Iain Boal of Birkbeck reflects on machines, sabotage and direct action in a piece entitled "To put your bodies upon the gears".

After a further audience discussion and break, the conference recommences at 4.00 p.m. for Session 3, which is entitled "Rebels Facing Backwards and the Dream of Modernity". T.J. Clark delivers a retort entitled "A Left with no Future". Clark is an art historian, and in the 1960s was a member of the English section of the Situationist International and also a member of King Mob in the 1970s. Session 3 ends with a response by Esther Leslie of Birkbeck, followed by closing general discussion, to end for 6 p.m.

A very interesting agenda with some heavyweight speakers. The event is free, but registration is required. Those unable to attend will be pleased to hear that the Backdoor Broadcasting Company are streaming the conference, with mp3s available for download at a later date.

You can read our review of this conference here.

'The Original Luddites' - Katrina Navickas & Jeremy Black on BBC Radio 3 Nightwaves

Historians Jeremy Black and Katrina Navickas debating the Luddites, from BBC Radio 3 'Nightwaves' on Tuesday night. We may add our own thoughts at a later date.

Luddite commemorations: the Luddites200 Organising Forum

The first, and so far only, explicitly political group set up to commemorate the bicentenary are the Luddites200 Organising Forum. The group emerged from the 2010 London Anarchist Bookfair, with a brief to celebrate the Luddite bicentenary, attempt to rehabilitate the term 'Luddite' and to focus on contemporary technology politics On their website, there's a founding statement which we'll reproduce below:

November 2011 – January 2013 are the 200th anniversary of the Luddite uprisings: a great opportunity to celebrate their struggle and to redress the wrongs done to them and their name. Today science and technology raises many more critical social, environmental and ethical issues, but from GM food and eugenics to plans for engineering the planets climate, from surveillance to nuclear power, these issues are rarely addressed properly, partly because anyone who raises criticism is denigrated as a ‘luddite’. History has been written by the victors and the Luddites are portrayed as opposed to all technology and progress: it is ironic that while the ideology of technology as progress has hardened into a rigid dogma, which must condemn all critics as ‘anti-science’, in fact the Luddites opposed only technology ‘hurtful to commonality’, (i.e. the common good). They destroyed some machines whilst leaving others, and earnt their living using a complex piece of technology, the hand loom. In their spirit, we make no apology for calling for real democratic control over science and technology.

Like the Luddite Link, the project is in the early stages, but their website also tells us that they plan "public events throughout the country, including arts and theatre projects and a poetry competition, and a conference for technology politics activists." We also understand that they have a short slot to promote the project at next week's Luddite conference at Birkbeck.

We will keep you informed of developments with this group.

Luddite commemorations: West Yorkshire's 'Luddite Link'

Whilst there is still no news of any kind of commemorative events from Nottinghamshire, West Yorkshire has already announced it is planning to remember the Luddites in 2012.

The University of Huddersfield and Kirklees Museums and Libraries have announced the Luddite Link, a project which aims to act as a portal for information about resources and events provided by organisations and institutions in West Yorkshire commemorating the bicentenary. A website has appeared with some details, and you can also sign up for a mailing list to receive advance notification of events.

One to watch going forward into 2012.

20th April 1811: Report from the Nottingham Journal

Seven days after the previous reported instance of frame-breaking, the Nottingham Journal published a report¹, which we have transcribed below, about the measures being taken by the authorities to quell the disturbances in Nottinghamshire.

What's most interesting about this report is that it admits that Bow Street Runners were active in the area a full ten months prior to the more well-known appearance of the fellow Bow Street magistrates Conant & Baker who were sent to Nottingham amidst the second wave of disturbances. It's certainly the only reference we can find to the presence of the fledgling police force prior to 1812.

The authorities were quite clearly most concerned about the relationship between the proto-Luddites and the crowd, with the latter displaying no intention to intervene in the direct action taking place, and this article serves as a warning, perhaps even hinting at collective punishment for those who "by being spectators, became abettors in the mischief." Given that the uprising had died down following an agreement between the Hosiers and Frame-work Knitters in the previous month, it's also possible to see the vanity of the authorities wishing to attribute the waning of the disturbances to the actions they had taken. There was no question of their admitting that the direct action of the Frame-work Knitters had brought the Hosiers back into line - no chance of admitting that violence and direct action worked.

We congratulate the public upon the vigorous proceedings adopted for putting an end to the shameful system of destroying frames, which has been lately pursued in this neighbourhood. In addition to the liberal rewards offered, some of the most active and intelligent Officers from Bow Street are now employed, and have been in the adjacent villages in the last week. Their known ability gives us every reason to expect, that an effectual stop will be put to the diabolical proceedings of a set of men, who, under the pretence of preventing an evil, have inflicted the most grievous injury upon their most industrious neighbours, by depriving them of the means of obtaining bread for their families, and have brought upon themselves the execration of all good men. The County Magistrates, we learn, have requested the continued services of these vigilant and indefatigable Officers, for an indefinite period. On this subject we cannot refrain from expressing our regret at the cultural apathy exhibited in the late tumultuous proceedings, in cases where the mischief was performed by ten or twelve individuals, in the pretence of, perhaps, two or three hundred, who, by being spectators, became abettors in the mischief, and thus justly rendered themselves liable to punishment. We understand that the County Magistrates have determined to punish with the utmost severity of the law, all persons who may be brought before them, for being present at any riotous and disorderly assemblage, where destruction of property has ensued.

13th April 1811: frame breaking at Bulwell

Almost two weeks after the last reported incident of frame breaking, six more frames were destroyed at Bulwell. Thomis tells us that a reward of 100 guineas was offered, which is double the amount offered by the authorities towards the end of March.¹

Frames had already been broken in Bulwell during the fortnight following the Arnold incident, and in 7 months time, it would become a place of some notoriety.

29th March 1811: frame breaking at Mansfield

Only 3 days after the broaching of the agreement between the hosiers and framework knitters, it was reported that more frames were broken at Mansfield.¹