The name “Luddite” came into use in likely 1811. It originates from the eponym of Ned Ludd, an actual man who supposedly smashed two stocking frames in 1779 after being instructed to change his method. Some say Captain Ludd or General Ludd or King Ludd, or whatever those who were protesting the loss of their jobs because of the installation of machines that could do it faster and with more accuracy (sounds familiar to modern times) wished to call him. Letters of protest were written in Ned Ludd’s name. Action against the mills became more and more destructive, and the government, under Prime Minister Spencer Perceval meant to see the workers’ complaints at an end.

New cotton spinning techniques and machines had been met with violence in 1768 and 1769 because those machines and techniques could produce the textiles faster and cheaper because they could be operated by people with less skill and training and receive a smaller salary. [Brian Merchant. “You’ve Got Luddites All Wrong”] The government, at the time, passed a Parliamentary act in 1788, The Protection of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1788.

Moreover, before the actual onset of Luddism, there were already protests regarding Asset Prices. Asset prices” in the early 1800s in the UK refer to the value of various assets traded or owned in the British economy during that period. These include:

Company Shares (e.g., East India Company): Companies like the East India Company issued shares, which represented ownership stakes and were traded. 

Land: Freehold land was historically a significant long-term investment asset in England. Its value was influenced by factors such as agricultural productivity and location. Land ownership also conferred social, political, and economic authority. By the early 1800s, land values were influenced by evolving economic factors, including increasing urbanization and industrialization.

Government Bonds (Gilts): These were a major type of long-term financial asset available in the market. Different types of government bonds existed, including the Consolidated 3% Annuities of 1751 (Consols) and Reduced 3% Annuities, according to Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

Shares: While not as dominant as in later periods, British stocks were traded on the Amsterdam exchange in the 18th century, and the early 19th century saw the emergence and growth of a domestic share market. According to the Queen’s University Centre for Economic History, the share market in 1829 was dominated by canal and insurance company shares, with railways and banks gaining prominence later in the 19th century.

Mortgages: Mortgages were another long-term financial asset available in the market, offering a source of financing for property acquisition.

Periodic uprisings relating to asset prices also occurred in other contexts in the century before Luddism. Irregular rises in food prices provoked the Keelmen to riot in the port of Tyne in 1710 and tin miners to steal from granaries at Falmouth in 1727. There was a rebellion in Northumberland and Durham in 1740, and an assault on Quaker corn dealers in 1756.

Malcolm L. Thomas argued in his 1970 history The Luddites that machine-breaking was one of the very few tactics that workers could use to increase pressure on employers, undermine lower-paid competing workers, and create solidarity among workers. ‘These attacks on machines did not imply any necessary hostility to machinery as such; machinery was just a conveniently exposed target against which an attack could be made.” Historian Eric Hobsbawm has called their machine wrecking “collective bargaining by riot”, which had been a tactic used in Britain since the Restoration because manufactories were scattered throughout the country, and that made it impractical to hold large-scale strikes. [ “Historical events – 1685–1782 | Historical Account of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (pp. 47–65)”.] British History Online. 22 June 2003.  An agricultural variant of Luddism occurred during the widespread Swing Riots of 1830 in southern and eastern England, centring on breaking threshing machines.’ [Harrison, J. F. C. (1984). The Common People: A History from the Norman Conquest to the Present. London, Totowa, N.J: Croom Helm. pp. 249–53.]”

Lyon in Disguise: Lyon’s Den Connected World 

A handsome rake meets his match in a red-headed enchantress who is his enemy!

They may be on different sides of the law, but Lord Navan Beaufort is not going to permit that to stop him from protecting Miss Audrey Moreau. Navan has never thought truly to love anyone, but when he laid eyes on the red-headed beauty, his world shifted. Unfortunately, the lady appears to prefer Lord Alexander Dutton to him, though Navan has rarely had the opportunity to speak to her privately. That is, until he saves her from a fire one miraculous night. From there forward, she is his hope. His future.

Miss Audrey Moreau depends exclusively on her Uncle Jacobi for a home and protection. The man rescued her from a bayman’s plantation in the West Indies when she was five; yet, she well knows the “Marquis of Honfleur’s” schemes. She thought once Jacobi was caught, all would be well, but even from his jail, the man means to rain down harm upon her.

Can two lost souls find happiness together, when everyone in whom they had previously placed their trust have left them alone in the world?

Tropes You’ll Love:

• Enemies to lovers
• Self-declared bachelor
• Friends to lovers
• Adversaries
• Damsel in distress
• Best friend’s sister
• Different worlds/experiences
• Soul mates
• Emotional scars
• Fish out of water

Read in Kindle Unlimited!

Enjoy book one in a new series within The Lyon’s Den Connected world by Regina Jeffers.

Book 1 – Lyon in the Way

Book 2 – Lyon’s Obsession

Book 3 – Lyon in Disguise

Book 4 – Lost in the Lyon’s Garden

Book 5 – Lyon on the Inside

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G1V963YZ

Please Note: The price of this book will increase to $3.99 on 11/26/2025.