18th July 1812: The Vice Lieutenant of the West Riding urges the Home Office to take steps to confiscate arms

Hemsworth
Nr. Pontefract
July 18th 1812

My Lord,

I have the honour to send herewith 8 depositions as to the stealing of Firearms which took place at Clifton near Sir George Armitages’s House, and about 6 miles north of Huddersfield, on Monday night the 13’ instant—I am sorry to add the magistrates of that Neighbourhood report several single instances of the continuance of the same system occurring since the 23d ult.

The Magistracy and Lieutenancy of the West Riding, assembled yesterday at Wakefield, have requested me to ask your Lordship's answer to the following points—

— If his Majesty's Ministers think that a general search for arms should speedily be made under the Provisions of the Act now before Parliament will they order on a day unlooked for the Magistrates and Military to make such search throughout a considerable district in Yorkshire & the immediate adjoining parts of Lancashire and Cheshire, or will they leave it to the discretion of the Lord Lieutenant & the Magistrates on what day or days to what extent and how, the searches for arms are to be made?—Were the Meeting to express an opinion upon the Subject it would be expressive of its conviction that it would be advisable and much more likely to effectuate the object in view, if the direction for such searches were given by his Majesty's Government

— The magistrates would be of an entirely different opinion if they had any expectation of gaining Intelligence where the arms are concealed, but grown hopeless from their past experience of gaining such information they think that a search directed by Government, would be more unexpected simultaneous & effectual than a search grounded on their own previous deliberation & arrangement—

— I have also my Lord to request on their behalf that 30 or 40 Copies of the new act may be forwarded to W Jno: Foljambe Deputy Clerk of the Peace with the smallest possible delay, that they may immediately become acquainted with its Provisions.

— Several other Suggestions were made which I have the honor of subjoining tho’ I fear the act will be past before you receive them, and probably several of them will be met by the enactments of the Bill in question.

1st That Constables & Special Constables should have with or without the military the same power of dispersing unlawful assemblies as is understood at present to be given to the Magistrates only.—

2dly That Magistrates & all the Peace Officers may arrest & apprehend, as well as disperse, Persons attending such meetings.

3dly That men of notorious bad character be prohibited from selling Gunpowder, whether they be shopkeepers or otherwise

4thly That all arms & ammunition left in the hands of Individuals be registered, and account given if they be missing at a future time.

5h That the offering of money for undefined purposes, as “to obey future orders”, to become a member of an undescribed association to be made a misdemeanour and the party subject to immediate commitment—

Sir George Armitage will be obliged to your Lordship to return him the inclosed depositions to Kirklees Hall near Leeds and we shall be glad of your Lordships reply to the above requests and of your Instructions in general so as to reach us previously if possible to Friday next.—

I have &c

(Signed) F.L. Wood.
Vice Lt. West riding

[To] Rt. Hon.
Lord Sidmouth
&c &c &c

23rd June 1812: Francis Lindley Wood complains to Earl Fitzwilliam again about Luddite arms raids

Hemsworth June 23d 1812

My Lord,

I have the Honor to send herewith the Resolutions of the Meeting of Lieutenancy & Magistrates held yesterday at Wakefield, & once more to request your Lordship to lay them before the Secretary of State, or to transmit them to him with such observations as you think proper to be made there upon.—I have to state that the Meeting still retains the same firm Conviction as was expressed by the Meeting of the 11th inst: that without a Seizure of Arms from the Robbers, or some equally strong & unlooked for Measure sanctioned by his Majesty's Proclamation or by new legislative Provisions adapted to meet the present Emergency, no reasonable Hope can be entertained by the Magistrates of putting a Stop to the Extension of the present System of Outrage & Terror—I inclose a Statement made by 3 respectable Merchants from Elland as being the strongest, but by no Means the only Evidence since the 11th inst:, of the Prevalence & Continuance of this System in the manufacturing Districts of the Riding.—On the contrary the Magistrates & Lieutenants from the disturbed Districts repeated their former Statements & brought down their Instances to the 21st that the nightly Robberies of Arms, Lead & Ammunition are universal throughout the Districts bounded by the Rivers Calder & Aire, & that the drilling & training of the disaffected are carried on with increasing Activity.—The Deposition herewith sent shows in some Degree that a Sort of military arrangemt takes Place amongst these People, of which also the Impossibility of Approach to their Places of Exercise or Assembly as a much stronger Evidence.—I am urgently requested by the Magistrates & Lieutenancy to press upon the Consideration of his Majesty Secretary of State the Impossibility of their preserving in any Degree whatever the Peace of the Riding without the Aid of the whole force at present in this Neighbourhood, at the least — & they would be glad of some Answer as to the Doubts expressed by several of the Magistrates as to the Extent of the Powers in the Case of an armed Assembly of Men in the Night who do not, while observed, proceed to any other Breach of the Peace then may be supposed to arise from such Assembly at such a Time.—

I remain My Lord
Your most obedt faithful Servt.
Fras. L Wood

The Rt Honble
Earl Fitzwilliam

17th June 1812: Francis Wood writes to Earl Fitzwilliam with fresh concerns about Luddite arms raids

Hemsworth nr Pontefract
June 17th 1812

My Lord,

I have the Honor to acknowledge your Letter of the 15th inst: communicating to me the Answer which Lord Sidmouth, after consulting his Colleagues, is pleased to give to the Resolutions of the Meeting of the Deputy Lieutenants & Magistrates of the Westriding held on ye 11th inst:—This Answer I will state to another Meeting which I have convened for the 22d inst: & will then take the Liberty of laying before the Secretary of State the Sentiments of the Magistrates & their further Reports on the daily increasing dangers of the manufacturing Districts on the Neighbourhood of Wakefield—In the meanwhile, deeply impressed with the Conviction that the Rt. Honble Secretary is by no means aware of the full Extent of the Outrages committed in the Country, particularly in the Wapentakes of Agbrigg & Morley, of the total Insecurity of the Persons & Property of the well-affected Inhabitants therein, & of the rapid & extending Organization & drilling of the rebellious, I beg Leave to mention some of the Circumstances whereon the Resolutions of the 11th inst: were grounded & some few Occurrences which have taken Place in the short Period of the following 3 days.

It was stated on the 11th that in the whole Neighbourhood of Huddersfield & Birstall the Arms of the peaceable Inhabitants had been swept away within the last Month by Bands of armed Robbers – that the Watch & Ward Act could not, except in two Places in the District, possibly be carried into Effect, the disaffected outnumbering by every Degree the peaceable Inhabitants; that the well-disposed could not & would not join in any armed or civil association but lay entirely at the Mercy of a Banditti with Arms in their Hands; that, except the very Spots which were occupied by Soldiers, the Country was virtually in Possession of a lawless.—On the Friday subsequent to our Meeting og the 11th, a partial Robbery of Arms took Place near Netherton, on the 12th strong Patroles of the 15th Hussars were sent out both on the North & South Banks of the Calder—they report that in the ill-affected Villages they found the People up at Midnight, that they heard the firing of small Arms at short Distances from them throughout the whole Night to a very great Extent & had no Doubt but that it proceeded from Parties at Drills—& this Part of the Report is entirely confirmed by the Farmers & Men of Property throughout the Country.

Under all the foregoing Circumstances I beg to state my entire Conviction that the Arms & Ammunition now collected by the Depredators will first be employed in enforcing their alarming System of Terror & Robbery, [next] in ye Assassination of the Magistracy & others whom they may chuze to mark out for Destruction, & lastly, will end, as the same Course of Outrage ended in Ireland, in open Rebellion against the Government of the Country.—The similarity of our present State to that of Ireland strikes everyone who witnessed the [transactions] of 1797 & 1798 in that Country, & in this close Similarity we are unfortunately distinguished from the more open, riotous & unorganized Proceedings in Lancashire & in Cheshire.—We fear greatly that there will be a further Resemblance in the Circumstance of the Magistrates speedily feeling themselves unable to render any Service to their Country, & on that account declining to act as they did in Ireland, or to expose themselves to Danger without a Prospect of any commensurate Advantage from their Exertions.

I must beg Leave to repeat that the Magistrates are still totally unable to gain any legal Information as to the Persons of the Depredations, & that under the existing Laws, all the Efforts they have made to detect or surprzse these Midnight Robbers have tended only to harass the military & to give Confidence to the disaffected who well know to what Extent they are safe under the Law of the Land, & whose Meetings & Drills are rendered unapproachable by their intelligent numerous & active Sentinels.

I intreat in Conclusion that Lord Sidmouth will be obliging enough to enquire of Major General Stevenson now quartered at Wakefield what he sees Reasons to think of the Country, or to make any other such Enquiries has he thinks fit from Residents in the agitated Districts—

I remain [etc]
Francis L Wood Vice Lieut

To the Rt. Honble
Earl Fitzwilliam &c &c

11th June 1812: Francis Lindley Wood informs Earl Fitzwilliam of arms raids in the West Riding of Yorkshire

Wakefield June 11th 1812

My Lord,

I transmit you the Resolutions of a very numerous & unanimous Meeting of the Depy Lieutents & Magistrates of the West riding formed after a serious Deliberation of the whole Morning, & after the Receipt of your Lordship's Letter of the 9th inst:—In reply to the Opinions which you state the Rt Honble the Secretary of State to have given on my Letter of the 7th inst: (& in which your Lordship impresses your general Concurrence) I beg Leave to mention briefly the Observations which occurred to & were impressed by the Meeting of this Morning.—We are perfectly impressed with the Truth & force of the Opinions you mention to me of the Hazard of a general Search under a general Warrant, but amidst some Hundreds of Cases of the Seizure of Arms there has been only one Instance of Information being given as to the Person of the Depredator. We have should have a Hundred Depositions as to the fact of the Robberies – We have but a single one as to who was the Perpetrator, & this solitary Individual alone is in York Castle. It is obvious that the more extensive the System grows the more difficult, for it will be the more dangerous, will become the gaining any authentic Information as to the Persons of the Depredators.—Already a considerable Number of well-affected People have declined giving up their Arms to the civil or military Power under the Terror that the lawless not finding Arms will commit Violence, as they threaten, against their Houses or their Persons.—Your Lordship is aware that on the 14th of May I have the Honor to recommend associations, but that they have not been formed & are not likely to be formed those who were favourable to the Resolution & those who doubted of it’s Practicability are alike agreed.—It is obviously impossible to station Troops in every Village of two very large Districts & indeed Genl Stevenson has this very Day found it impossible to send Detachments to those Places which have applied for them, which have been partly swept by the Robbers, & where a Repetition of their Depredations is expected.—No Information can be gained by the Magistrates either by Promises of Secrecy or Reward.—Your Lordship will observe that the blank Depositions I had the Honor to send on [the] 7th were Depositions as to the facts, not as to the Persons.—I have in the Course of today examined & crossexamined several People who have had their Fire-arms taken away by Force.—Of these I believe none could swear to the Persons, but in many Instances no doubt they dare not & therefore will not. As to the Publicans, the Danger of losing their Licences appears to them Nothing in Comparison to the Loss of their Lives which they assert would be Consequence of their giving the least Hint, or Particle of Information.—It is believed that Individuals either keep in their Houses (or bury) the Arms they have stolen not in any Depot.

I ought to say in Conclusion that the Magistrates & Depy Lieutts will not cease to make every Exertion which the Law, as it stands at present will warrant, but they are hopeless of Success.—It was unanimously determined that the Resolutions herewith sent shd be kept perfectly secret of the Expediency whereof there can be no Doubt—I have the Honor to express to your Lordship the earnest Request of the Meeting that you would be pleased to lay its Resolutions before the Secretary of State & request his immediate answer thereupon

& remain [etc]
F L WoodVice Lieutt of the
West riding &c

To the Rt Honble
The Earl Fitzwilliam
Lord Lieutt & Custos
Rotulorum of the West riding
of the County of York

7th June 1812: The Vice Lieutenant of the West Riding writes to the Home Office with his concerns about Luddite arms raids

Wakefield June 7th 1812

My Lord,

I inclose to you two most material Depositions which are in the originals signed by most respectable Individuals, but who state that they would be murdered immediately if their Names became known. Mr Woods the Magistrates & Mr Foljambe the Deputy Clerk of the Peace know the Men & their Handwriting.—In consequence of a Letter I rec’d from Mr Bolland this Morning I have appointed a Genl Meeting of Lieutenancy & have fixed it for so early a Day as Thursday next in Consequence of the alarming State of this Neighbourhood, the further Seizures of Arms are expected every Night in the adjacent Villages.—Under these Circumstances I should be happy if your Lordship could possibly communicate to me at Wakefield on Thursday Morning your opinion what general Steps can & ought to be taken to put a Stop to these Outrages which are taking the direct Road to an open Insurrection & if you think it expedient to see the Secretary of State on these Matters on Tuesday I shd be very glad to be prepared on Thursday with the Result of your Deliberation thereupon—

I am concerned that unless some preventative Measures are taken in this Meeting the Disturbances will take a much more serious Character than lately in Nottinghamshire. Every successful Seizure of Arms, (& they are all successful) gives fresh force to the System & increase the Confidence of the ill-affected.—Should the Harvest be only moderately good & no outlet be offered to the Manufacturers of the West riding there is no Doubt but that every Species of outrage will increase on the Approach of Winter when a long Nights & bad Weather will render their Prevention impossible & the Detection more difficult.—All the Magistrates, with whom I converse, concur that if a Police were established by Government & placed in a central Situation under the Protection of the armed forces it wd be able to do more to break into the Plans of the disaffected & introduce Distrust among them than any Measure that can be adopted or pursued by the Magistracy Lieutenancy or Military Powers—

Magistrates serving their Country independently will not act as Police officers (however advantageous in these times it might really be) in general & no one wishes to distinguish himself beyond the Rest in the present dangerous & disturbed State of the Country—

Major Genl Stevenson has already on the Request of Magistrates & Deputy Lieutts collected the Arms of such Persons as were afraid to [help] & unwilling or unable to defend them, but desirous they might be placed in Safety, in two or three of the neighbouring Villages. We have had today more Applications of the same Nature & have complied with two of them.—

The next question is, whether or no it would be a preventative Measure, or whether it wd be sanctioned by his Majesty's Government – if the Magistrates were to issue Search Warrants to search for Arms in the Houses of Persons suspected of these Outrages – & make the Search by the Aid of the Military.—There can be no Doubt of [obscured] I conceive, in Case [illegible] swore that he suspected [obscured] had stolen arms in his Possession, but this Case unfortunately will seldom arise, since the actual Suspicion will be that in a Number of 40 Luddites some 8, 10 or more have such Arms in their Houses or Premises.—

I write in Haste at this Place in order to have the Advantage of your Answer, if possible, on Thursday Morning at Wakefield – & remain

Your Lordship's obliged & faithful Servt
Francis L Wood
VL

Private

June 7th 1812

P.S.

In fact the Magistrates at Wakefield are in a State of complete Division as to the Means to be adopted, & will concur in nothing.—They all however wish the Lieutenancy to take a Share of their Hazards & Duties, which cannot legally be done except in general Measures—But I will write to your Lordship if any is resolved on next Thursday.—Majr Genl Stevenson is perfectly willing to take a execute any Measures resolved upon by the Magistrates or Lieutenancy – of Course he will do no more.—I proposed to him to lay a Troop of Soldiers for the Collectors of Arms. He is unwilling to do it without having a Magistrate present & of Course Magistrates do not think themselves bound to such Services – Police officers – [illegible] in [illegible] – & sent & paid by Government can alone prevent our being in a worse Situation [illegible] long than any of the neighbouring Counties for our Rioters &c will be armed

FL Wood