Swing Riots

The Swing Riots took place in eastern and southern England in the years between the Luddite uprising and the Rebecca Riots. One of the hallmarks of the riots was the destruction of threshing machines – but that’s just part of the story.

Research:

• Caprettini, Bruno and Hans-Joachim Voth. “Rage Against the Machines: Labor-saving Technology and Unrest in England, 1830-32.” American Economic Review: Insights. Vol. 2, no. 3, September 2020. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aeri.20190385
• Carl J. Griffin, “Luddism, Machine-Breaking and the Swing Riots”, Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique [Online], XXX-1 | 2025, Online since 13 January 2025, connection on 14 April 2026. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/12984 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/133dc
• Chiltern Open Air Museum. “What were the Swing Riots?” https://www.coam.org.uk/blogs/swing-riots
• Cobbett, William. “Selections from Cobbett's political works : being a complete abridgment of the 100 volumes which comprise the writings of ‘Porcupine’ and the ‘Weekly political register.’” London. Anne Cobbett. 1835.
• Dyck, Ian. "Cobbett, William (1763–1835), political writer and farmer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. September 23, 2004. Oxford University Press. Date of access 22 Jul. 2026, https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-5734
• Griffin, Carl J. “Swing, Swing Redivivus, or Something After Swing? On the Death Throes of a Protest Movement, December 1830-December 1833.” International Review of Social History. Vol. 54, No. 3. December 2009. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44583279
• Griffin, Carl J. “The Violent Captain Swing?” Past & Present, Nov. 2010. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40960936
• Hampshire History. “The Swing Riots in Hampshire.” https://www.hampshire-history.com/the-swing-riots/
• History Hub. “William Cobbett: a champion of the rural poor and the reform of Parliament | Documentary.” YouTube. 10/22/2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWO4wjfqJBw
• Jones, Peter. “Finding Captain Swing: Protest, Parish Relations, and the State of the Public Mind in 1830.” International Review of Social History. Vol. 54, No. 3. December 2009. Via JSTOR. http://www.jstor.com/stable/44583278
• Kellett, Ian. “’Swing’ Rioters Smash Machinery at Pythouse near Tisbury.” Shaftesbury Gold Hill Museum. https://goldhillmuseum.org.uk/swing-rioters-smash-machinery-at-pythouse-near-tisbury/
• Navickas, Katrina. “Captain Swing in the North: the Carlisle Riots of 1830.” History Workshop Journal. No. 71. Spring 2011. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41306809
• Navickas, Katrina. “Rural Resistance and the Swing Riots.” Protest and the Politics of Space. http://protesthistory.org.uk/moors/rural-resistance-and-the-swing-riots
• Randall, Adrian. “‘The Luddism of the poor’: Captain Swing, machine breaking and popular protest.” Southern History, 32, 2010, pp. 41-61.
• Randall, Adrian. “Captain Swing: A Retrospect.” International Review of Social History. Vol. 54, No. 3. December 2009. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44583277
• Wells, Roger. “Mr William Cobbett, Captain Swing, and King William IV.” Agricultural History Review, Volume 45 Part 1 (1997), pp. 34–48. https://www.bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLE.html?ID=439&MOD=this

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