Frame breaking from the Penny Magazine, 1844

The Luddite movement plays a part of my Dragonblade Publishing series, with book 4, Lost in the Lyon’s Garden, coming out in mid March. Throughout the series, we have seen Lord Aaran Graham, infiltrating the group, and, with the climax of book 3, we find the British government sentencing many of the Luddites to death or transportation. But who were the Luddites? For what did they protest?

The Luddites were textile workers afraid that automated machinery would replace them, just as many of us in this modern day world worry that artificial intelligence is coming for our jobs. The Luddites also held concerns regarding pay and output quality. If you have ever read Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South or have seen the miniseries for the book, you have an idea of the conditions in the factories. Of course, Gaskell’s novel takes place closer to the end of the Industrial Revolution, while my story takes place in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars, specifically in 1812.

The Luddites opposed the use of certain types of automated machinery due to concerns relating to worker pay and output quality. They often destroyed the machines in organised raids. [“Who were the Luddites?”. History.com.] Members of the group referred to themselves as Luddites, self-described followers of “Ned Ludd“, a legendary weaver whose name was used as a pseudonym in threatening letters to mill owners and government officials. [Binfield, Kevin (2004). “Foreword”. Writings of the Luddites. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. xiv.]

Beginning in Nottinghamshire, the sentiments and the violence associated with the Luddite movement spread to the north and west, as well as to Yorkshire. The mill owners began to hire men to keep the protestors out, and even the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, had troops move against the protestors. Perceval was assassinated in 1812, but such did not slow down the government’s attack on the Luddites. Those who were caught were either executed (as was the situation in my series, being hanged at York Castle) or were transported to penal colonies. [“Luddites in Marsden: Trials at York”]

Eventually, the term “Luddite” came to mean any who were opposed to the use of new technologies. Should we begin to use the term as we privately “curse” the use of A/I in taking over the world?

The movement was believed to have been founded by Ned Ludd, but he was never identified, and may well be mythical. Some authorities claim his surname to be Ludlam. The movement was dedicated to destroying machinery, not people

Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minister after Spencer Perceval, instigated severe measures, culminating in a mass trial at York in 1813. [This trial is the background for the climax of book 3 of my series.]

The Luddites in Marsden

Marsden is located in West Yorkshire, England, in the Colne Valley, near Huddersfield and the Peak District National Park, and in Marsden, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, food was scarce and unemployment high.

Living in Marsden were two brothers, James and Enoch Taylor, both blacksmiths by trade. These brothers built a cropping machine that could do the work of 10 croppers. Obviously, the mill owners realized the innovation could save them both money and time and began installing the machines in their mills.

There was also a man, another “Enoch,” who make sledgehammers, which were naturally called “Enochs.” The Luddites used a rallying cry of “Enoch made the, and Enoch shall break them!” when they attacked the different mills to destroy the cropping machines.

“Apparently, the law-abiding menfolk of Marsden were stirred to riot by “desperate men of Longroyd Bridge!” The first riot was at the scene of William Horsfall’s mill, which had been fortified.

“The leader of the Marsden Luddites was George Mellor. He could read and write, and while in prison signed a petition calling for Parliamentary reform. He worked at John Wood’s finishing shop at Longroyd Bridge, along with Benjamin Walker, who, according to some, was to betray them eventually. New documentary evidence, however, seems to suggest that this may not be altogether true. Regular troops and cavalry were brought in and quartered in the village.” [Marsden History]

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Enjoy this 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