LUDDITES

This article appears in Volume V17, Page 111 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: LOB-LUP

LUDDITES , the name given to organized bands of English rioters for the destruction of machinery, who made their first appearance in Nottingham and the neighbouring districts to-wards the end of 1811. The origin of the name is given in Pellew's Life of Lord Sidmouth (iii. 8o). In 1779 there lived in a

village

VILLAGE

in Leicestershire a person of weak intellect, called Ned Ludd, who was the butt of the boys of the

village

VILLAGE

. On one occasion Ludd pursued one of his tormentors into a

house

where were two of the frames used in stocking manufacture, and, not being able to catch the boy, vented his anger on the frames. Afterwards, whenever any frames were broken, it became a common saying that Ludd had done it. The riots arose out of the severe distress caused by the war with France. The leader of the riotous bands took the name of " General Ludd." The riots were specially directed against machinery because of the widespread prejudice that its use produced a scarcity in the demand for labour. Apart from this prejud oe, it was inevitable that the economic and social revolution implied in the

change

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. 冠 urmu', to bend)

from

manual

MANUAL

labour to work by machinery should give rise to great misery. The riots began with the destruction of stocking and lace frames, and, continuing through the winter and the following

spring

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

, spread into Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. They were met by severe repressive legislation, introduced by Lord Liverpool's government, a notable feature in the opposition to, which was Lord Byron's speech in the

House

of Lords. In 1816 the rioting was resumed, caused by the depression which followed the peace of 1815 and aggravated by one of the worst of recorded harvests. In that year, although the centre of the rioting was again in Nottingham, it extended over almost the whole kingdom. The rioters were also thoroughly organized. While part of the band destroyed the machinery, sentinels were posted to give warning of the approach of the military. Vigorous repressive

measures

MEASURES

, and, especially, reviving prosperity, brought the

movement

MOVEMENT

to an end.
See G. Pellew, Life and Correspondence of H. Addington, isf Viscount Sidmouth (London, 1847) ;

Spencer

SPENCER
SPENCER,
HERBERT
(1820-1903)
SPENCER, JOHN CHARLES SPENCER, 3RD
EARL
- EARL
(1782-1845)
SPENCER, JOHNPOYNTZ SPENCER
SPENCER, WILLIAM ROBERT (1769-1834)

Walpole, History of England, vol. i. (London, 189o) ; and the Annual Register for 181I, 1812 and 1816.

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