53 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



16. Stockport. — The rioters have 

 continued llieir depredations on tlie 

 factories. T!ie town in conse- 

 quence had been placarded, begging 

 the people to desist from outrages ; 

 and that no means should be left un- 

 tried to reduce the price of provi- 

 sions by tiie next market day. The 

 rioters were not hmited to tlie 

 weavers alone, the lower classes of 

 mechanics in general were inter- 

 mixed with them. On Wednes- 

 day morning, upwards of 2,000 of 

 them assembled on Cheadle Heath, 

 to plan their measures for the day. 

 They proceeded to major Parker's, 

 and broke every window in the 

 house. This gentleman had no- 

 thing to do with the weaving trade ; 

 and it could not be supposed he was 

 in any respect obnoxious to their 

 vengeance. Information had been 

 conveyed to them that Mr. Good- 

 air's gardener had been the means 

 of saving the lives of his mistress 

 and children, by informing them 

 of the danger with which they were 

 threatened; the consequence was, 

 that they sought his life. He took 

 refuge at a farm-house, where he 

 remained secreted until the arrival 

 of a party of horse (o escort him out 

 of their reach. It appears that 

 about thirty of the Scotch Greys 

 arrived in time to save several arti- 

 cles of furniture in Mr. Goodair's 

 cottage, after it had been set on fire, 

 and also succeeded in securing two 

 of the incendiaries. 



19. Carlisle. — On Friday night, 

 a body of about 300 men and 

 women, the men armed with guns 

 and pitchforks, proceeded to Dais- 

 ton, about four miles f.'om Carlisle, 

 ajid broke open the warehouses of 

 Messrs. Richardson and Dugdale, 

 and carried away hams, bacon, and 

 flour, to the amount of 500/. The 



military immediately marched lo 

 disperse the rioters, anii succeeded 

 in taking into custody sibout forty, 

 chiefiy girls. The plan of the 

 rioters appears to have been organ- 

 ised, as they had scouts stationed 

 to watch the movements of the 

 military; for long before the sol- 

 diers could reach the place of desti- 

 nation, the ringleaders, with the 

 greatest part oftheir associates, had 

 decamped with their booty through 

 the fields, and it is believed, lodged 

 it safely in their homes. The 

 horse are at present patrolling the 

 streets, and the 55th regiment are 

 under arms. 



20. The last letters from Shef- 

 field state, that the town was per- 

 fectly tranquil on Thursday after- 

 noon. Huddersfield was also in a 

 state of quiet. In the neighbour- 

 hood of Stockport, unfortunately 

 a spirit of turbulence continued. 

 A letter, dated on Thursday even- 

 ing, says, they had been tolerably 

 quiet all day, but had received 

 alarming accounts from the coun- 

 try. The weavers still assembled 

 in great numbers, and proceeded 

 in bodies to the houses of gentle- 

 men and farmers, from whom they 

 extorted mone)' and victuals. Many 

 carried arms openly. Dr. Mitchel's 

 house was attacked on Wednesday 

 night, and several bullets fired at 

 him without any effect. Letters 

 of the same date represent the 

 meeting of the Luddites, the day 

 before, on Cheadle Heath, to have 

 been held, not merely with a view 

 to the outrages which immediately 

 ensued, but also for the purpose of 

 arranging future operations on a 

 larger scale. They were assembled 

 by a party of weavers, the majority 

 of whom had been discarded for 

 misconduct. Several harangued the 



mob, 



