Thank you, Bill – and thank you Ladies and Gentlemen for coming here this morning. Now, first, I must say how delighted I am that this SWING Bicentenary Commemoration is being developed in conjunction with the English Project. It is the perfect home for a story which needs to be told in the full diversity of spoken English in the 1830s – from the high tones of a senior judge to the humble tongue of a farm worker.
The Captain Swing Riots are a landmark event in Hampshire history – a complex tale of clashing social classes, economic interests, urban and rural values, law and order PLUS political diatribes, technological innovation and, ultimately trials and punishment. It OUGHT to be better known and understood but somehow its historical footprint has been covered up and largely forgotten. This Bicentenary project aims to remedy that gap by exploring and explaining how these dramatic events unfolded right across the county and ended here on this spot in the Castle in December 1830. We want to ensure that the Swing disturbances and what they represent become – like Jane Austen, the Spitfire or the Mary Rose – an enduring part of the Hampshire story.
So looking ahead to the Bicentenary year – admittedly six years off – our vision is to stage a large scale re-enactment of the Grand Assize – presided over by this man here (pointing to the DofW portrait) in the very place – the Great Hall – where the original trial was held. At the core of that re-enactment will be community participation. We want our re-enactors to come from the villages affected by the events of 1830 – and remember, there were over 60 of them
To accompany that re-enactment we want to have an exciting, high tech exhibition organised on a village-by-village basis – again ideally in the Great Hall. And if that wasn’t ambitious enough we also want a major display of Captain Swing themed original documents and exhibits. Again we want the village communities to be directly involved in researching and presenting that exhibition.
For all this to happen, however, we need to prepare the ground especially if we are to raise the funding required for such high profile events. As I said, Swing is a landmark historic event but it is overgrown and forgotten.
That is why we are taking such a long term approach. We need to generate widespread interest and support. In order to raise awareness we will undertake a county-wide programme of lectures, small scale exhibitions, local drama events, music and literary performances so that the mention of Swing will no longer be greeted with a blank face but with instant recognition.
Arising out of this we hope to see journalists, film makers and other story tellers take up the Captain Swing events to examine and re-imagine them in a variety of new and interesting ways. It is from that basis we will be able to fulfil our aspirations for 2030 and the re-establishment of Captain Swing in the collective memory of the county from the Lord Lieutenant upwards. I invite this audience today to get behind it.
Thank you.
The English Project, launched the world’s first English Language Day in 2009 to mark the first occasion on which English was used in Parliament and to raise awareness of the estimated 7,000 varieties of English spoken in 100 countries worldwide.
This first Parliamentary speech in English, rather than in French, was made on 13th October 1362. In the same Parliament, a Statute of Pleading was approved that also permitted debate and law-making in English.
