20th July 1812: General Maitland informs the Home Office that the tactics employed in Cheshire are working

Manchester
20th July 1812

My dear Sir

I some little time ago, stated, to Lord Sidmouth that I was trying the Experiment of keeping a small Bodies of the Military constantly moving about the most disturbed Parts of this Country, “to Wit” The corner of Cheshire between Stockport and Ashton.

I have not been deceived in my expectation of the result of this Measure for in a long conversation I had this morning with the Magistrates, I find that part of the Country is perfectly quiet, that confidence is proportionally increased, and that what has hitherto been the very want, has now become a very peaceable part of the Country.

I shall in future pursue the same line wherever there may be occasion, and I am convinced it will be attended with equally good effects.

I had this day, for the first time, a long conversation myself with Barrowclough; he is either a very deep, or a very shallow person indeed, in my own Mind, he appears to me to be decidedly the last, and I do not think we can ever expect, to get any important informations out of him.

In general, he persists extremely in his Story of the Arms, which were searched for without effect, and in his Story, of the four Men paying them Monthly.

I certainly believe there may be some truth in both statements, but by no means to the extent, he would wish to make out, all that I am perfectly convinced of, from his information is, that near Holmfirth, where he was seized, Numbers had been Twisted in, but if any thing from every information I am more and more convinced in the Opinion I have stated some time ago to Lord Sidmouth, that there is no Head in all this, that it is confined to the very lowest orders of the People, and that it will be got under, if the Magistrates will act with Vigour under the Provisions of the New Bill.

I have got two Men at Halifax apparently going on very well, if they will only be quiet, but they think they do a great deal if they can get Twisted in, whereas that is just the Commencement of their being of any real use, they were sworn in, by a Master Hatter, and I dare say in a Week, we shall hear more of them, they state that part of the Country to be very bad.

Buckley the Man I am particularly anxious to get hold of, has hitherto escaped, the last Accounts we had of him, was a Bradford, to which Place he was followed, but had gone off, as he said himself to Scotland.

Every thing here is perfectly quiet, they have just opened however Petitions for Peace and Parliamentary Reform, which are signing by those Notoriously connected, with the late disturbances.

I am[etc]

T Maitland

Turn over.

P.S.

In respect to the Person stated by Sir Charles Saxton as having worked at Millard’s Mill near Stockport, there is no such Mill & no such Person known, but there is an Idea, upon which I shall write you tomorrow, that he is a man of the name of Roonnie, who is known here, to the Police, and whose discription and Character I am now getting, when I have it, to save time, I shall take the liberty of writing to Dublin upon the Subject.

[To] John Beckett Esqr.
&c &c &c
Whitehall

22nd June 1812: General Maitland writes to the Home Secretary with his view about Humphrey Yarwood

Buxton
22nd June 1812

My Lord

The more I consider and the more I see, of all these untoward Events, the more I am convinced, there is no solid bottom in all this, and that what I stated, in my letter of 19th instant is nearly the accurate State of the Case—

A few days ago, a Man of the Name, of Yarwood, was taken hold of as connected, with those Practices, with a View, to his examination, and committment.

It was stated, that he was a Man, a very considerable Weight, and that he had been, very active, as Secretary, to some of their Associations. I suggested, how extremely important, it might be, to get at the information, such a Man, might be able to give, and proposed, that this line, should be tried, instead of at once committing him. Upon sending him, with this View, he appeared, to be willing to disclose every thing he knew, and I yesterday saw him, and conversed with him, at Stockport, on my Way here.

From his conversation, he struck me, certainly to be inclined, to speak out, and tell every thing he knew, for though the information he gave, certainly did not tend further to incriminate himself, than the having taken the Oath, still he seemed, to have, not the smallest objection, to give such information, with regard to the Individuals concerned, as must completely ruin him, among his Associates, and in fact, endanger his Life from them.

The Sum of every thing he stated, cannot be better described, than in saying, that it is nearly a counterpart, of the Declaration, made by Whitaker, now under Sentence of Transportation at Chester, which of course is in Your Lordship's Office, and which is extremely worth attending to, as it seems to me, as well as Yarwood's, to be a very natural account, of the Progress of the Thing, and stated, in Language, which could hardly be expected, from a Man of his Description.

Might it not be well, to consider, whether, if Whitaker, would give any further information of Importance, his Punishment, might not be carried into Force, provided he left the Country.

Yarwood, is a very shrewd, and intelligent Man, he is now writing out his own Account, of every thing he knows, in his own language, denies positively, any Money having been given, from any Quarter, except a Subscription among themselves, to a very inconsiderable Amount, which indeed, from every account I have, I believe to be correctly the fact, and I have no doubt, the whole of the accounts, we have had upon this Head, are either, totally groundless, or extremely exaggerated. When it is made out, it will be sent to Your Lordship.

I do not totally rely, upon this information, though I certainly think it was given in a Way, to warrant a considerable degree of Belief.

Where the Alarm is so great, and Fear so predominant principle, the Mind is naturally given to suppose, from the nature of the Oath, and the circumstances of the collecting of Arms, that there must be some principle of Action, and ultimate Object, of which we are as yet ignorant, but for my own part, I own, the strong bent of my feeling is, that the present State, has originated, and that it now exists, without either, any definite Object, or distinct End.

Your Lordship, must be well aware, how very easy it is, when Men get into these Clubs, and are associated for one purpose, to be directed by the Leaders to others, of a quite different Nature, and you are equally aware, how very difficult it is, when one drawn in, for Men to disentangle themselves, from these Measures, they may have rashly, and many of them undesignedly enter’d into.

It is not at all uncommon too, for the Leaders themselves, to be drawn by imperceptible Degrees, into Measures, the consequences of which, they had not weighed, and the Effect of which, they had not anticipated.

The definition I would be inclined to give, of the whole of this business, would be, that it originated in those constant efforts, made by these Associations, for many Years past, to keep up, the Price of the Manufacturers Wages, that finding their efforts, for this, unavailing, both from the circumstances, of the Trade, and the High Price of Provisions, they in a moment of Invitation, for which it is, but just to say, they had considerable Grounds, from the real State of Distress, in which they were placed, they began to think, of effecting that by Force, which they had ever been trying to do, by other means, and that in this State, the Oath was introduced. —

Every thing that has happened since, seems to me the Natural progress of this unfortunate line of Acting, and I believe the whole, to be certainly a most mischievous, but indefined, and indistinct attempt, to be in a State of preparation, to do that by Force, which they had not succeeded, in carrying into effect, as they usually did by other means.

The whole History of Manchester, for many Years past, strongly confirms me in this Opinion, as there is no Instance, of a considerable Stagnation of Trade, accompanied, by a high Price of Provisions, where something of the same kind has not ensued.

I am thoroughly satisfied, in my own Mind, that could we only get at some of the Heads, the thing would be squashed.

There is a Man of the name of Bulkeley, a Weaver, but a Calvinist Preacher, whose Seizure, would I think go a great length, to put is in possession, of every thing, that is to be known, and do more towards crushing it, than the Seizure of any other Individual.

We are now after him, and though he has absconded, I think he will be found out.—

I am thoroughly aware, there would be great difficulty, under present Circumstances, to pass any strong Act, before Parliament breaks up, indeed it will be difficult, to draw one upon the Subject, but if Power could be given any where, to seize Twenty Men, in the whole of the Disaffected Country, I am confident, the whole Scene would close.

As to Martial Law, or Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, the great Remedies in every Bodies Mouth, I do not think, that if easy to be passed, the Situation demands it, and I would much rather leave it, as it is, than see those Measures resorted to, but if any Legislative Measure, would be adopted, vesting in any Quarter, the Power of seizing, a very few of the Heads, it certainly ought to be done.—

I wrote Your Lordship, the circumstance of the number of Arms, we have found in one search in the Country. It was a Measure carried on, under Warrant made out, with the View, to afford the well inclined a Picture, to give up their Arms, which they wished, but which they were afraid to do, without such a Pretence, which will give Your Lordship, pretty good Idea, to what Extent Fear is prevalent.

But it was carried into effect by the Constables, in truth, in a manner, to be a complete Seizure, as many were taken, from their possession by compulsion. This Your Lordship is aware, is not to be defended in Law, I am however not sorry it has taken place, as I doubt extremely, whether any of the Parties, will try, and prosecute, and should they not, it will be in my Mind, a very complete Proof indeed; of their want of Pecuniary means, and of their conviction of their own weakness.

I shall write to Mr. Becket, relative, to some Points, to which I wish an Answer.

I have [etc]
T.Maitland

[To] Right Honble
Lord Viscount
Sidmouth
&c &c &c

22nd June 1812: The weaver, Humphrey Yarwood, writes a statement for John Lloyd

As the Stockport Solicitor John Lloyd had informed the Home Office on Sunday 21st June 1812, the weaver and former Secretary of the Manchester Secret Committee, Humphrey Yarwood, had been left with paper, pen and ink to expand upon the information Lloyd had managed to extract from him previously.

He had been in custody for 5 days, and had been visited by figures such as Holland Watson, a Lancashire Magistrate and General Maitland. We do not know exactly what Lloyd did with Yarwood, but on the 22nd June, he wrote out a thorough confession of activities he had been involved in for the past few months.

The 'statement' itself is broadly similar to Lloyd's 'memorandum' of his conversation with Yarwood 3 days earlier. Once again, Yarwood makes John Buckley Booth the main protagonist of the whole affair, even going to far as to imply that he, the Secretary of the Secret Committee, did not play an active part it at the behest of Booth. The 'statement' then proceeds to go through the meetings and events of the past two months in much detail - indeed, this document forms a great deal of what we know about the transactions of the Committees in Manchester.

Yarwood mentions John Bent, Colonel Fletcher's spy 'B' on more than one occasion, corroborating what 'B' wrote in his reports to Fletcher. Yarwood makes it clear that Bent had stopped visiting him recently, and consequently he was not clear how involved he was in the petitioning in Manchester - Yarwood said that Bent had implied to him that he believed petitioning was a way to involve many more people than was previously possible, even if the objectives remained the same.

Yarwood had seemingly exhausted his recollections with this lengthy and literary statement, and no other desposition from him appears in the Home Office records. His fate was confirmed a few days later by John Lloyd.

19th June 1812: The prisoner, Humphrey Yarwood, confesses to the Stockport Solicitor, John Lloyd

On Friday 19th June 1812, two days after his arrest, the Secretary of the Manchester Secret Committee, Humphrey Yarwood, was making confessions to the notorious Stockport Solicitor, John Lloyd.

On this day, Lloyd made notes about the content of their 'conversations' since his arrest. In the preamble, Lloyd paints Yarwood as having represented himself as originally having a concern for the working conditions and pay of his fellow weavers and how they had been organised (which was itself illegal activity), before moving on to describe his encounters with others who had different designs - chiefly John Buckley Booth.

In Lloyd's notes, Yarwood goes on to describe how the Manchester Secret Committee was formed, and the introduction of illegal oaths into this circle, and how the meetings of the Committee progressed, until the final dissolution of this insurrectionary tendency in early May, only a month ago, in a quarrel about subscriptions.

However, Lloyd was not yet satisfied that Yarwood was being open enough and this was not the last information he would 'extract' from him over the coming days.

18th May 1812: The Manchester spy, John Bent, files his latest report for Colonel Fletcher

On Monday 18th May 1812, Colonel Fletcher's spy 'B' (aka John Bent), finished another report for his master.

On 12th May, Bent had met a delegate called Taylor from Newcastle-under-Lyme from Staffordshire. Taylor brought the usual tale of high numbers of those 'twisted-in' and weapons ready to be used: he told Bent that 7000 men were sworn-in and they had 2380 guns, pistols and swords. Others were ready with Pikes. Irish delegates were passing through the town, bringing the usual news about hundreds of thousands being ready, that had been a feature of Bent's reports for months. Bent described Taylor as being 5'7" tall with a dark complexion, of slender build with dark eyes, a bold speaker, 'hath a good utterance' and dressed 'genteel' in black, wearing boots.

Bent had met another man from Huddersfield. He told Bent that all the local Croppers were twisted-in to an oath along similar lines they already knew about, but with the following difference:

they are to helpe haid & asist to the best of their power & ability in destroying all Mechenery who May be determental to them or deemed so and Bound to keep the secerit at the forfit of their life

Bent went on to say of the Huddersfield Croppers that "it is impossable to stop them at present".

Bent then related how the Committees in Manchester had now done all that they could to move away from machine-breaking and assassination. He related how the weavers had even stopped twisting-in, mainly because there had been a dispute between them and the spinners, tailors and shoemakers committees. Things were so bad that the spinners had stopped paying subscriptions.  The head of the weavers secret committee, John Buckley Booth, had sent his wife to the head of the spinners to demand payment, threatening to hand himself in to the authorities and to tell all if subscriptions were not paid up. The reply sent back was that Booth should 'do his worst'. In the meantime, the weavers' secret committee had destroyed their papers, fearing they were compromised. Bent gave a description of Buckley Booth: 5'4" tall, thin, 'tallow complexion' and an ex-dissenting preacher.

Bent believed that these three committees would not be allowed to send delegates to the Committee of Trades meetings and the different direction this group was now taking - that of petitioning for peace and parliamentary reform. He reported that despite the occupation of the area by the military and the other measures in place that the spinners, tailors, shoemakers, bricklayers, fustian cutters, joiners and other trades still met at least once a week.

That day, the 18th, Bent had attended a meeting of trades, to take forward the petition for peace and parliamentary reform. Delegates attended from Huddersfield, Saddleworth, Glodwick, Hollinwood, Ashton, Audenshaw, Denton, Stalybridge, Stockport & Manchester. The meeting lasted 6 hours and passed 5 resolutions: all agreed to the wording of the petition, which was read out. The committees from Saddleworth and Stalybridge funded the printing costs, contributing £1, 11 shillings and 6 pence. Bent himself was again elected to the role of treasurer and gave receipts. Bent promised to send Fletcher copies of the petition and resolutions as soon as he could.

Bent ended his report by stating that the drowned militia Sergeant Moore was an informer who had been found out. He had been working undercover for a Colonel Taylor.

14th May 1812: Government legal opinion on prosecuting Humphrey Yarwood & John Buckley Booth

Sir,

We had the honor to receive Mr. Beckett’s Letter dated May 9th, 1812 transmitting the inclosed Depositions which he states had been sworn before you under the Provisions of the Unlawful Oath Act 37 Geo: 3. C. 123 for the purpose of exculpating the Deponents from the Penalties of the Act they having fled from the jurisdiction in which the Offence was committed for the Security of their persons being suspected of being Spies, which it is stated in point of fact was the Case, they having got themselves sworn for the purpose of giving Information.

And our Opinion is requested upon the Facts disclosed in the Depositions whether they do not contain matter which renders it advisable to apprehend immediately any and which of the Parties implicated in administering the Unlawful Oath deposed to, and to seize their Papers, and with a view of instituting legal proceedings against such persons, whether it will be necessary to have the Depositions resworn before a Justice of the Peace of the County where the Offence was committed, and whether such justice must be within the County at the time of receiving the Information and of granting his warrant, or whether a Magistrate of the proper County being in London may receive the Information and grant his warrant there, the Informants being in London and afraid of returning into the County where the Oath was administered to them—

We have taken the same into our consideration, and are of Opinion that upon the Evidence of these two persons Yarwood may be indicted for Felony in administering an unlawful Oath contrary to 37 G. 3 C. 123.

That Bulkley [sic] who is probably the most criminal of them all, is less nearly affected by the Evidence than Yarwood. The Oaths are talked of in his presence, but the object of them is not stated, that being previously understood. The numbers that had been engaged are also spoken of, but the nature of their engagement is not explained in Bulkleys presence, that also being previously understood.

The utmost with which he can be charged upon this Evidence is the being present at an Unlawful Assembly, or perhaps conspiring with the persons there assembled to disturb the Public Peace, and these charges are also general a nature that we think it doubtful whether he would be convicted.

With this impression upon our minds we incline to think that it would be more prudent to watch him carefully hereafter than to prosecute came upon such proof as can now be obtained.

From Yarwoods account it does not appear probable that any thing would be gained at present by a Search for Papers.

We think it prudent for the Witnesses to reswear their Depositions before a Magistrate of Lancashire within the County, and for such warrants as are issued at all to be issued there.

We have [etc]
V Gibbs
Thos. Plumer

Lincolns Inn
14th May 1812

[To] The Right Honble
Richard Ryder
&c. &c. &c.

4th May 1812: Two weavers from Failsworth meet the Manchester Secret Committee at the Prince Regent's Arms

Joseph Taylor, a weaver from Failsworth recently moved to Club Row, Newton Lane in Manchester, was a curious type. On the day of the first Manchester Food Riot, he had met a relative, called John Blakeley, in the streets on Manchester. Blakeley had greeted him with a gesture which piqued his interest: he put his finger to his lip and asked Taylor if he could answer it. Taylor could not, but made it clear he wanted to know more.

Blakeley made it clear to Taylor that Manchester would soon be witnessing something akin to the French Revolution, but that he would have to be conversant in signs and signals before he could know more. Blakeley taught him the following:

Question: put the two forefingers of the right-hand to the right eye; Answer: present the forefinger of the left-hand

Question: place the little finger of the right-hand under the lip - at the same time advance the right leg; Answer: stroking or rubbing the chin with the left-hand

Taylor knew a man called Joseph Duxbury was involved in something secretive, and decided to try to the signs he'd learned on him. It worked. Duxbury subsequently got Taylor to swear an oath and gave him hints about how he would find the 'principal persons' involved in what he wanted to know more about.

On the morning of Monday 4th May, Taylor set off with his friend Thomas Whitehead, a weaver from Failsworth to find out more. On Port Street, off Ancoats Lane, they met a young man whom Taylor suspected was involved in the secret business. He tried out the second signal on him, and the man, called Ben, responded with the counter-sign. Ben took them both to a cellar at No. 21 where he worked as a weaver. They talked about being twisted-in and then agreed to go for a drink at the White Lion. Ben went ahead, and Taylor & Whitehead joined him later.

At the White Lion, Taylor asked Ben if anyone could help twist-in Taylor. Ben said he knew someone who could and left, returning later with a man he called 'the Secretary'. The man introduced himself as Yarwood and gave Taylor the signal: Taylor responded with the counter-sign. Yarwood questioned Taylor, and then said they needed to go somewhere safer.

Taylor, Whitehead and Yarwood now headed for the Prince Regent's Arms on Ancoats Lane. In private in a room in the pub, Yarwood asked Taylor to tell him the oath, and although Taylor couldn't remember the oath, Yarwood was satisfied. As the landlord, John Brown, entered the room to bring coal to the fireplace, Yarwood then said he would like to read Taylor some verses from the Bible, and asked the ladlord to fetch a Bible. With the landlord present, Yarwood read to Talyor verses 25, 25 & 27 of the 21st chapter of the book of Ezekiel. The landlord left, and then Yarwood administered the oath to him, whilst he held the Bible in his hand.

I, A.B., of my own voluntary will do declare and solemnly swear that I will never reveal to any person or persons in any place or places under the canopy of heaven the names of the persons who comprise the secret committee, either by word and deed or sign, their proceedings, meetings, place, abode, dress, features, marks, complexions, connections nor anything else that may lead to the discovery of the same on the penalty of being put out of this world by the first brother that shall meet me, my name and character blotted out of existence and never to be remembered but with contempt and abhorrence. I further swear that I will use my best endeavours to punish by death any traitor or traitors should any rise up amongst us he or them and though he should fly to the verge of nature I will pursue him with unceasing vengeance so help me God to keep this oath inviolable

At the end, Yarwood asked him to kiss the Bible, which he did. Yarwood then told him the signs and counter-signs to ensure he could safely introduce himself and/or reply to others twisted-in, and said these were changed every fortnight for security reasons, and also that subscriptions were 2 pence per week. Yarwood agreed that Whitehead should be admitted as a 'friend to the cause', and swore Whitehead in too in a similar manner.

After Yarwood had told Taylor some poetry ridiculing the Prince Regent, he said there was a meeting later today, and if he was interested, he should remain at the pub: the location would be announced within 10 minutes of the meeting, again for security reasons.

Yarwood then proceeded to paint a vivid picture to both men of revolutionary proceedings in the country: that 400,000 men were ready to rise, although London was lagging behind somewhat; that army officers and sergeants were twisted in, and that one half of the army would 'be organised before the blow'; that even the Duke of York may join them and they would 'pluck him from the ungodly'.

By 6.30 p.m., up to 18 people were assembled at the Prince Regent's Arms, waiting for the meeting venue to be announced. A little man came in, who seemed to be looked up to by those present. Whitehead knew him, and shook his hand. This was John Buckley Booth, and Whitehead heard from others that he was a Calvinist preacher and he heard others called him 'Parson'.

The meeting eventually convened in the Prince Regent's Arms itself. Delegates were present from Stockport, Oldham, Middleton, Huddersfield, Bolton, Preston, Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge, Bury, Blackburn, FailsworthYarwood's words to the two men earlier, the content of the meeting proved to be agitation for a 'general reform' and a 'general change'.

Later, Taylor and Whitehead became concerned for their welfare. Accusations flew that they were spies - that they would not be allowed out of the pub until someone who had been sent to check their credentials came back - that if it were proved they were spies, their lives would be at stake. The men perceived that the landlord was refusing admittance to the room, but all the while, the numbers outside the room were increasing. Somehow, the men found a back way out of the room, but discovered that all the doors they tried to escape through were locked to them. They were detained again by one of the weavers from the meeting.

Somehow, Taylor & Whitehead eventually managed to leave the Prince Regent's Arms. Three days later, they had fled to London, and gave dispositions about their experience in Manchester before the Home Secretary, Richard Ryder, in Whitehall. They had been acting undercover all the time - most likely employed by the Stockport Solicitor & Magistrates Clerk, John Lloyd, for the purpose of incriminating the weavers present.

20th April 1812: Delegate meeting of Manchester Executive Committee at Ardwick Green

The next General delegate meeting of the towns around Manchester took place on Monday 20th April. The disarray that was displayed in the convening of the meeting was reflected in what occurred later at the meeting itself, and against the backdrop of widespread & escalating disorder in the North West. It would also herald the beginning of the end of the system that had been maintained up until that point by the committees of trades. We know about the meeting because of two sources: the weaver, Humphrey Yarwood, and Colonel Fletcher's spy, 'B' alias John Bent.

John Buckley Booth, of the Manchester Secret Committee, felt that it was not safe for him to attend at the original intended Venue, the King's Arms at Oldfield Lane, Salford. He suggested to another Secret Committee member, George Royles, that delegates should be directed to the Shakespeare at Ardwick Green and deputised him to go to the King's Arms and direct people there. Yarwood said that Royles did not stay long enough to direct all the delegates, and several who had arrived at the public house a 3.00 p.m. did not know where the meeting was. One of them, the treasurer of the Spinners committee called Burslem, took some delegates with him to Yarwood's house to make enquiries, who directed them to assemble at the Plough in New Islington for 4.00 p.m. where he would meet them and inform them where to finally go.

Meanwhile, according to Bent, Buckley Booth had convened some of the delegates at a public house in John Street, Ancoats before adjourning to the 'Place & Park' in New Islington. They were proceeding to business when the pub was entered by a party of Special Constables & some Scots Greys, who proceeded to clear the room. It's likely that they moved onto the Prince Regent's Arms in Ancoats, as that is where Yarwood caught up with them later in his efforts to find out the final meeting place.

When the meeting was eventually convened at the Shakespeare later that evening, Buckley Booth was surprised at the numbers of delegates present. Bent reported to Colonel Fletcher that delegates came from Saddleworth, Ashton-under-Lyne, Newton, Droylsden, Hollinwood, Stockport, Withington, Northenden, Stretford, Urmston, Eccles, Worsley & Astley Green. Yarwood heard that delegates were also present from Stalybridge and even Huddersfield. It is notable that that there was no delegate from Bolton that night, something that Bent pointed our to Colonel Fletcher in his report. Bent was not to know that the Bolton delegates to the previous meeting, John Stones and Waddington, had been traversing the countryside around Bolton and Atherton in the early hours of that morning.

The meeting set to business, and elected Bent as treasurer. Colonel Fletcher's spy now had a firm foothold in the regional organisation, and presumably access to personal details of the delegates.

But Buckley Booth was dismayed that the town of Manchester itself could not raise enough subscriptions to support it's own Committee, and proposed that the town should drop out of the association altogether. The meeting was to be rescheduled for just over a fortnight's time, 4th May at 11.00 a.m. in the Three Crowns at Failsworth, when subscriptions would be due. The proposal was to use the subscriptions to fund a delegate to travel to London. Following the disorder that had taken place in and around Manchester that day and the days before, there was an agreement to recommend that the people 'be peaceable' and that anyone involved in rioting would not be twisted-in.

A sign and countersign were agreed, and noted later by Bent in his report to Colonel Fletcher:

The sign to be admitted is: to clasp the forefinger of the right-hand into the right eye; the answer by the left in the same manner.

6th April 1812: Manchester Executive Committee cancel plans for factory attacks on 9th April

On Monday 6th April 1812, the 'Manchester Executive Committee' met at the Prince Regent's Arms on Ancoats Lane in Manchester to discuss various matters. We know about this meeting from 2 sources - the weaver, Humphrey Yarwood, and Colonel Ralph Fletcher's spy, 'B', both of whom either wrote or gave statements about what occurred subsequently.

B reported that some delegates had returned from a trip to London to report on the situation there: It was said that London was relatively unprepared compared to the North; that the city had been divided into 10 districts and subdivided into 120 other divisions, and that only 7400 had been twisted-in. It was also apparently suggested to B that he should be a delegate for Yorkshire.

Both B and Yarwood also explained that the committee was aware of the preparations for a Loyalist meeting in Manchester that would take place on that coming Wednesday 8th April. On the same night that the Executive Committee was meeting, there was another meeting of 'Gentlemen' taking place at the Bridgewater Arms to oppose the Loyalists, and Yarwood explained that John Buckley Booth of the Manchester Secret Committee was sent to weigh up the likely strength of opposition. B said that another of the executive committee was also deputed to attend, but does not mention any names. Apparently, Buckley Booth eventually returned telling the Executive Committee that he had been asked to sign a petition by the 'Gentlemen'.

At some point in the evening, the plans of the General Delegate meeting that had taken place the previous night in Salford was discussed. That meeting had held that the Manchester Districts would decide if the plan to attack factories should go ahead. In his report for Colonel Fletcher, B explained the plan was to involve seizing all military officers and put them to death along with all the magistrates.

The District rejected these plans, and ordered that delegates must be sent out to the various towns to countermand any planned operations. But there was concern about how this would be financed. Yarwood noted that not enough money had been collected to even pay for that night's ale and that this, allied with discovering the plans of the Kings Arms meeting, meant that 'nothing but dischord reigned amongst them that night'.

After the meeting broke up, the two other members of the Manchester Secret Committee that had been deputed to cancel operations in Bolton and Stockport, Royles and Howarth, told Yarwood they simply didn't have the money to travel out to those towns. Yarwood had an idea who might help...

29th March 1812: A Secret Committee is formed in Manchester

In Manchester on the morning of Easter Sunday 1812, 4 men awaited the arrival of a coach from Stockport: they were Humphrey Yarwood, the Secretary of the Manchester Committee of Trades who had been elected on 19th February, John Buckley Booth, aka 'The Parson', a lay preacher, George Royles, an Irishman partially-sighted in one eye, and George Haworth, a Yorkshireman who lived at the time in Pillings Buildings. All four were weavers, and active in workers' committees in and around Manchester.

When the coach arrived, a young, smartly-dressed man called Joseph Wright met them. Wright was a delegate from the Stockport Committee of weavers. The group retired to a quiet room somewhere in town. They discussed the development of secret workers' organisations in Stockport, and their chief aims: the destruction of Steam Looms, the collection of funds to purchase arms with a view to using force if necessary. As their conversation developed, Wright explained to them that it would be necessary for them to form a Secret Committee and be sworn into an illegal Oath  - an obligation of secrecy - which was by then in use in both Stockport and Bolton. He explained that it would be necessary for the three towns to be in contact with each other, but the necessity of secrecy meant documentation would have to used to facilitate correspondence and communications. Being the most confident of the group, Buckley Booth suggested that he Royles and Haworth should form the Secret Committee.

Wright suggested that a delegate from Bolton should visit Manchester on his way back from Stockport in the next few days and leave the documents with them. The ever self-assured Buckley Booth volunteered to met the delegate.

Within 2 days, the delegate had met Buckley Booth and left with him the paraphernalia. It consisted of a transcribed copy of the Oath the four men had taken, and two indented cards, the purpose of which was to act as tickets which would only match with similar cards held by the other Secret Committees at Bolton and Stockport, so that a delegate system could be used. The underground in the North West now included Manchester, the newest of the Secret Committees.