The Swing Riots in 1830 – and Leigh

Not everyone has heard of the Swing Riots.  And yet, if you lived in Leigh in 1830, you would know all about them and why they were happening.  And if you were from an ordinary family – probably 90% of the people – you would have sympathized with the ‘rioters’.  However, there were no reported rioting incidents in Leigh (see A Historical Atlas of Kent pages 146, 153/4, 159 – the Society has a copy that you can borrow).

The 1820s and 1830s were in general very tough for the rural population.  Around 1815-20 the army and navy had been paid off (actually they didn’t get paid).  Thousands then had no jobs; the country was broke after the long war with Napoleon; the price of basic food, particularly bread, had rocketed (English corn was even being exported which meant bread prices went up further); new farming machinery was still being introduced which put more farm workers out of a job; and many landlords – often absentee – were unsympathetic.  The anti-Corn Law reformers had not yet got into action.

The result was outbreaks of lawlessness, arson, machine breaking and riots on an occasional basis throughout most of southern and eastern England and certainly in most parts of Kent where the troubles had started.  In 1830 the Swing Riots happened.  The name came from the so-called Swing letters which were sent to the richer Kent farmers through the county.  There were over a dozen arson incidents in the Sevenoaks district; nearly as many in Edenbridge; two in Weald and even one in Penshurst.  There was a wage riot too in Sevenoaks.

Reforms – although limited – came later during the 1830s, including the Poor Law Reform Act of 1834.  The newly appointed Guardians of the Poor had increasing responsibilities placed upon them and although there were various incidents later in the 1830s (including ‘the Battle of Bossenden Wood’), the lot of the rural poor became better in the 1840s – even the weather improved.

However, to return to the 1830 Swing Riots and Leigh.  Why was it that, as far as the records show, there were no arson incidents, no destroying of farm machinery, no wage riots and, on the surface at least relative calm in Leigh?  There are a number of likely reasons.  First, was the gunpowder mill.  By 1830, it had got into its stride and employed a good number of men (and boys).  Not only were the workers at the mill paid more than a farm worker, but there were spin-off jobs – house builders, carpenters, bakers, blacksmiths, carters and so on.  Secondly, there was Hall Place and the Farmer Baily family.  They may not have been quite as rich as the Morley family but they were one of the better off families around.  (At one stage they owned the biggest yacht in the country!).  And in spite of the various Baily generations often not being in residence, they employed a large number of men and women and were comparatively good landlords of the houses in the village and the local farms – many of which they (or Penshurst Place) owned.  The Bailys also built a good number of cottages in the village.  The third reason for Leigh’s seeming good behaviour is probably the Leigh Vestry – the equivalent to our Parish Council but with much more power, which was very well run, with its own ‘policemen’, road builders and ‘social services’, including an excellent young doctor, sick pay and a school.

Chris Rowley  (Jan 2021)