NORFOLK-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: Computer glitches
Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 16:40:53 EST

My message about the Swing Riots came back to me a bit garbled, so it seems
likely it did to everyone else. It should have begun:

Yesterday I went back to the newspaper archives to consult the East
Anglican for more details on those arrested in connection with the Swing
Riots in November 1830. The cases came to trial in January 1831, mostly at
the Quarter Sessions, where the judges were much harsher than the magistrates
and local attitudes. But then, when you compare their sentences to those of
petty thieves, they were treated relatively lightly.

Most were up on charges of destroying threshing machines, which cost
90 - 100 pounds, while others were charges with threatening the clergy and
demanding they reduce their tithes to allow the farmers more money to pay
in wages.

One of the complainants was a minister who stated that his income from
tithes was 700 pounds per year. Yet the average wage for an agricultural
labourer was 11 shillings per week (20 shillings to the pound).

Regards,
Jessica

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