Our goal within this area of the website will to bring together as much material as possible related to the people and the places involved in the Captain Swing Riots in Hampshire.
This is a long term project and will rely considerably on the support of volunteer individuals and local community groups – especially local history societies who can contribute local knowledge to our understanding of exactly what happened and where. If you wish to become involved in this exercise then please contact edward.fennell@yahoo.co.uk who is co-ordinating the project.
We are aiming to research and publish information within the following categories:
+ The story of the RIOTS on a village-by-village basis but also examining the role of key figures (such as the Duke of Wellington and William Cobbett) as well details of individual rioters. We will aim to include maps, illustrations (both historic and contemporary) and even, possibly, drone tracking of the paths taken by rioters across the Hampshire countryside.
+ An account of the GRAND ASSIZE held in the Great Hall in Winchester in December 1830 drawing on the extensive documentary material available from the trial and reported in the press.
+ An examination of what happened in the AFTERMATH of the trial following which some rioters were executed and many hundreds were either gaoled or transported to Australia.
+ HAMPSHIRE MACHINE BREAKERS by Jill Chambers is the single, most valuable source of detailed information about what happened to those accused at the Grand Assize. We are hoping to secure the rights to publish an updated version of the book to make its data accessible to all researchers.
+ The GENEALOGY of the rioters is deeply fascinating both in their roots, normally within Hampshire or Wiltshire, and what happened subsequently to their descendants especially those who arrived (and subsequently thrived) in Australia. Our partner in this project is the Hampshire Genealogical Society which will be co-ordinating the work of the volunteers and thegoal is to publish research findings selectively on this site. If you are interested in becoming involved then contact https://www.hgs-familyhistory.com/contact/
RESOURCES and SOURCES
A considerable amount of information about the Hampshire riots is already available through local history groups. Do contact your local group to enquire. Other organisations such as the Hampshire Field Club have also published extensively papers connected to the Hampshire riots
The Hampshire Record Office will, of course, be an excellent source of local archive material. https://www.hants.gov.uk/librariesandarchives/archives
The standard works on the SWING RIOTS nationally are:
Captain Swing by Eric Hobsbawm and George Rude published by Phoenix Press
The Rural War: Captain Swing and the Politics of Protest by Carl J. Griffin published by Manchester University Press
A good starting point for the local Hampshire story is
Hampshire Papers: Popular Radicalism and the Swing Riots in Central Hampshire by David Kent published by Hampshire County Council
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.
