I gave a talk today about the Swing Riots in 1830 and it struck me how similar the country is now to those former times.
In the first place, the climate was changing drastically with extreme events occurring on an increasing basis. This resulted in a disastrous harvest in 1829 and another meagre one a year later. There were regular “hurricanes” during the winter and one diarist recorded on 3 April that: “It was so cold to-day that cartloads of ice were brought in.”, but four days later “It was so hot by day as to be quite overpowering ; and so warm at night that one could scarcely bear any clothes, beyond the sheet, over one in bed.”
Secondly, there was something akin to the current cost of living crisis. Farm labourers earned eight shillings a week (40 pence), which left them with nothing after their rent and food was paid. Their clothes were in shreds and there were no treats for their children.
Thirdly, technology was putting people out of work. For example, the introduction of threshing machines meant that many families found no work in the winter months.
Fourthly, there was a sense that the political elite were out of touch and that ordinary people had no say in the decisions that affected them. This was particularly the case in the countryside where changes such as “Enclosure” were restricting the traditional freedoms and rights of ordinary folk.
There were many protest movements, which inconvenienced ordinary people, who were going about their daily business. Some of these turned ugly and were known as the Swing Riots.
And immigration from Europe was at its peak with the French and Belgium revolutions increasing this flow of refugees and displaced people. With a new king (William IV) and a national election that was hotly contested, there was a real worry about revolution being imported from abroad.
The good news was that within a decade, most of these ills had been resolved and the revitalised country embarked on a period of tremendous growth and prosperity.
The question is – Will history repeat itself?
Rupert Wieloch 