Image ID: 21172

Letter from Captain Swing

Courtesy of Mansfield Museum and Art Gallery

Mansfield
England

In the 18th century, one of the main autumn and winter jobs for farm labourers was threshing. With the advent of industrialisation in the late 1820's and the early 1830's, farmers began to introduce threshing machines to do this work. This left large numbers of agricultural labourers without a job and with very little money. In the past, money earned by threshing had allowed farm workers to buy clothes and other important items for the winter months. Low wages and unemployment resulted in protests and disturbances in many country areas. Farmers were sent threatening letters which demanded that wages were increased or at least kept at their current level. These letters often told farmers to stop using threshing machines. Farmers and landowners also had their hayricks and farm buildings set alight to 'encourage' them to take on more workers. The rioters used the name 'Captain Swing'. This was a made up name which was designed to spread fear among landowners and avoid the real leaders being detected. The reaction of the government to the Swing disturbances was harsh. Following several riots, 19 people were executed, 505 transported to Australia and 644 imprisoned.

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Keywordscaptainswingriotingcivilunrestdisturbancessocialfarmlabourersagricultureworkersletter

Mansfield Library