15th May 1816: Protests in Bury St Edmunds about a Hosier's use of the Spinning Jenny

The Bury & Norwich Post of 22nd May 1816 carried a report about a protest that took place in the town of Bury St Edmunds in the evening of Wednesday 15th May 1816:

On Wednesday evening a number of persons assembled in a riotous manner before the house of Mr. Wales, hosier, in the Butter-market of this town, demanding that he should give up a machine called a spinning jenny, (by the use of which they imagined themselves aggrieved) and threatening destruction of his premises in case of refusal; but by the firmness of Charles Blomfield, Esq. assisted by the other Borough Magistrates, and many respectable inhabitants, the intentions of the mob were happily frustrated, and they at length dispersed, although it was found necessary to keep the Staff Establishment of the West Suffolk Militia, (whose aid, with that of the different recruiting parties here, had been called in) upon duty all night.