‘Swing’ was a movement led by impoverished labourers. They took action by machine-breaking and arson, campaigned for increased wages, and called for more generous poor relief.
In 1829 there was a wet summer and autumn, which led to record applications for poor relief. An extremely cold winter meant that there was no outdoor employment. The price of coal increased. Some landowners set up soup kitchens and supplied blankets, clothing and a little fuel to labourers. Poor relief, however, was not increased.
The first Swing Riot took place at Wingmore Court Farm in the Elham Valley, a hamlet in East Kent, on the 24th of August 1830. The rural labourers destroyed the threshing machine, which is used in farming wheat. They then proceeded to the nearby village of Lower Hardres. Some of the Elham labourers were former smugglers; they were well organised and helped many other villagers destroy the threshing machines.
The Swing riots were so named because, as the insurrection continued, letters were sent to local landowners, clergy and farmers informing them that their threshing machines or haystacks were going to be destroyed. The letters were signed ‘Swing’, a fictitious name thought to be related to the sticks used in hand threshing.
The reasons for the Swing Riots were manifold. Around 1780, poor relief in the south was reduced due to unemployment and rising poor rates. This was followed, in 1815, by an agrarian depression, caused by poor harvests and the cost of bread. Threshing machines in particular were targeted as labourers believed they had worsened their wages and conditions. Although threshing machines were in operation from the 1790s, the small numbers in East Kent were initially tolerated. In 1803, many labourers went to fight in the Napoleonic Wars. On their return in 1816 they found that there was no work, as the use of horse-drawn threshing machines was now widespread. The availability of threshing machines for hire increased their affordability and further increased their usage. The problem of unemployment was exacerbated in 1824 by the arrival of Irish immigrants and their families, who would work for lower wages than the local population. These grievances were in addition to the high cost of rents and tithes which local labourers had to pay. The poor law was managed by vestries, mainly composed of yeoman farmers who formulated social policy, and therefore controlled the amount the amount of poor relief to be paid.
The Swing Riots continued into Sussex and hence to the rest of the South East and East Anglia. Fires were set on hilltops so that they could be seen for miles. This encouraged further arson attacks. Potential rioters were also encouraged by the light punishment received by the Elham men, who had admitted being guilty of destroying the Wingmore threshing machine. They were jailed for only four days. However, the magistrate, Sir Edward Knatchbull, said future machine breakers would receive the full force of the law and, as the rioting increased, labourers were sentenced to transportation or hanging.
The rioters received support from William Cobbett, who was a journalist, farmer and political reformer. He travelled through South East England and the Midlands to ascertain the plight of rural workers and farmers and wrote a book entitled Rural Rides, recording his observations. He also published Two-Penny Trash, a newspaper aimed at the literate poor, and held meetings to air his political views.
Political activists, who were school masters or literate rural workers, were involved with and encouraged the Swing Riots. Cobbett’s claim that country labourers aided the passing of the 1832 Reform Act has been upheld by historians. The Act abolished ‘rotten boroughs’ and introduced representation for the new industrial towns. Swing led to the collapse of the Duke of Wellington’s government and Lord Grey’s pro-reform administration taking power in November 1830.
The landowners and yeoman farmers in Kent agreed to increase wages and reduce tithes and rents. However, many reneged on their agreements. Due to the Swing Riots, a Royal Commission was set up in 1832 to investigate the current system of poor relief. This led to the “Poor Law Amendment Act” of 1834 which established workhouses. Money was no longer given to the poor unless there were exceptional circumstances. In the workhouses, families were divided. The parents had to work for several hours, often picking hemp for rope-making or breaking rocks. The children had some schooling but living conditions were bad and the food poor. Applicants only entered the workhouse as a last resort.
The Swing Riots did little to help the poor initially and it took a long time before conditions improved. However, they meant that many people became aware of the rural poor and campaigned on their behalf.
By Maggie Smith, a U3A Shared Learning Project researcher for the Citizens Project
Featured Image
‘An Original Portrait of Captain Swing,’ 1830. Credit: British Museum, available under Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Bibliography
Carl J Griffin, The Rural War. Captain Swing and Political Protest
Barry Reay, The Last Rising of the Agricultural Worker
David Downes, “Barns Ablaze”. Ash in the 1830s, compiled from material from Ash Heritage Group
National Archives, Kew
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