Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

One of the largest insurrections of the pre-Chartist era of the Industrial Revolution in England took place in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the first two weeks of April 1820. It constituted outbursts in three towns in that county and was loosely connected to a simultaneous revolt in the west of Scotland around Glasgow. It also coincided with the trials of political radicals arrested at “Peterloo” some months earlier. The rebellion began with a coordinated attack from four directions on the town of Huddersfield by some 2,000 armed men on April 1, 1820. For some reason the assault was called off and most of the insurgents disappeared. The authorities made only four arrests; Nathaniel Buckley (journeyman clothier), Thomas Blackburn (cardmaker), John Peacock (laborer), and John Lindley (nailmaker). The first two served two years in the prison hulks, and the latter two were transported to the penal colony in Tasmania. A second attempt was made to capture Huddersfield on the night of April 11–12, 1820, this time by an armed band of about 400, mostly linen weavers, from the Barnsley area. Their radical club, the Barnsley Union Society, which had a Secret Acting Committee, directed their efforts. Led by Waterloo veterans Richard Addy and William Comstive, they marched to the beat of a drum to Grange Moor outside Huddersfield. They expected to be a small part of a much larger force, ... log in or subscribe to read full text