Talk – Different perspectives upon the 1830 Swing Riots in Emsworth and Havant

Neil Spurgeon will talk about the 1830 swing riots following our recent exhibition on the subject. This is the story of a riot, of destruction and defiance, when a number of threshing machines in the immediate area were destroyed.

Research into the events that happened at the time reveals that the farm workers faced a perfect storm created by the death of King George IV. After the end of the wars with France, and as an unintended consequence of the Poor Laws, the Corn Laws and a flood of workers from the military, farm workers were inflamed by draconian punishment.