HAT has awarded £2000 towards an exhibition RIOTS ON RECORD The Story of the Captain Swing Riots of 1830 in Hampshire as revealed by records and archive material
The purpose of this project is to provide an account of the Captain Swing Riots (the largest outbreak of unrest among agricultural labourers in the southern counties since the Peasants Revolt) through the documents available in the Hampshire Record Office and the Wellington
Archive of the University of Southampton (supplemented by items held in the national collections at the British Library, British Museum
and elsewhere).
Drawing on reproductions of newspaper articles, letters, diaries, maps and official papers and publications held by the two institutions (plus
others) it is intended the events of 1830 will be addressed through a series of six banner stands focused on the following themes
– A Decade of Agricultural Distress: the
background to the Riots and their current parallels
– Political Turmoil: How radical writers such as
William Cobbett spread their messages
– The Rioting erupts
– The Rioters are suppressed
– The Grand Assize of Winchester 1830
– The Aftermath from Hampshire to Australia
Each banner will also include a Language Information Box drawing attention to features of interest in the use of English within the
reproduced documents
Display programme
In the first instance – in late 2025 for three months (October-December) – the exhibition will be displayed in the atrium of the Hampshire Record Office in Winchester. Thereafter it is envisaged that it would travel around the county for the next five years particularly to schools, museums, libraries and other venues. It will be accompanied by a series of lectures and, ideally, an illustrated catalogue. Learning materials for schools and colleges will also be produced
Do check the English Project website as more details emerge http://englishproject.org/activities/captain-swing-riots-and-grand-assize-winchester