WALTERS FAMILY INFORMATION

THE PENTRICH REVOLUTION - JUNE 1817

There have been at least two publications on this subject and the following
are excepts which mention WALTERS family members.

REF.1 = 'ENGLAND'S LAST REVOLUTION by John Stevens
REF.2 = 'THE PENTRICH REVOLUTION' by John Neil

ROBERT WALTERS
Servant to Mrs.Mary Hepworth (Widow) of Wingfield Park.
Robert Walters was hit in the shoulder as he bent to tie his boots and died ten minutes later. (Ref.1-62)
Born - c1796
Died - 9 June 1817 Aged 21 years
Father - Enoch Walters Buried - 12 June 1817

Hepworth Family :- Joseph (Father - deceased) - Mary (Mother - widow) - Francis (Son - managed Family Farm) - William (Son) -
Emma (Daughter) - Another (Daughter). Two Men Servants - Robert Walters and Robert Fox.

Further information about Mary Hepworth provided by Jayne Alton
She was born Mary Cooke 09-02-1760 to Frances Cooke and Hannah and was Joseph Hepworth's second wife, his first wife dying at childbirth.
They had the following children :- Anne, Francis, Hannah, Elizabeth, William, Maria (married to Thomas Alton 08-09-1812), Frederick and Amath.

Mary was buried in South Wingfield with her parents in 1828.
I believe Thomas Alton was present on the evening when the marrchers arrived at her home.

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SAMUEL WALTERS
Labourer of Pentrich, otherwise called Samuel Dudley. Charged but never came to trial. (Ref.1-11)
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CHARLES WALTERS
Staying with uncle George Turner at Smithy, at Pentrich Lane End, with Cousins William &
Robert Turner and Aunt Sarah (nee Walters). (Ref.1-63)
Hid out back, but were found and forced to join insurgents.
Accidently shot in thigh near Junction Navigation Inn, Langley Mill. (Ref.1-69)
Recovered and later took a job at Heage @ 15s a week. (Ref.1-70)
Witness on 9th day of trial (Friday 24th October 1817) (Ref.2-86)
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CHARLES WALTERS
Servant to George Argyle (different Charles Walters to George Turner's Nephew)
hid in his Master's Bacon Chest, where he was found and forced to go with insurgents. (Ref.1-66)
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The Pentrich Revolution - Report 1

There had been a downturn in the economic fortunes of the district after the Napoleonic Wars leading to dissatisfaction amongst the working class.
Employment was difficult to obtain, many lost their jobs and those in work scarcely made enough to cover their rent, let alone feed their families.
This was coupled by an extremely poor Summer in 1816 resulting in the failure of crops and food shortages. The worst hit were the framework knitters,
whose trade depended on the whims of fashion and who also had to pay a rent on their frame to continue in their livelihood.
A framework knitter at that time earned about eight shillings a week and worked a fourteen hour day.

Pentrich, in Derbyshire, is a village close to Ripley, Butterley and Riddings and served as the cradle for an attempted revolt.
There was much talk of revolution around the country at that time and many local societies met to formate plans for overthrow of the Crown.
The leaders in Pentrich were William Oliver, Thomas Bacon, William Turner and Isaac Ludlum. Oliver was, in fact, a government spy and incited
the leaders to engage in a revolt in order to manufacture evidence against the local society and justify himself to his superiors.
He led them to beleive that revolution would be on a national scale.

Jeremiah Brandreth, who was supposed to have military experience, was recruited to lead the men and on Monday the 9th of June, 1817,
about fifty men from Pentrich, Alfreton and South Wingfield, armed with pikes and guns, assembled in Wingfield Park at midnight.
They began their march on Nottingham, calling at houses on the way demanding arms and men.
At one house, Brandreth shot and killed a servant, Robert Walters.
The men marched through Codnor and Langley Mill and as dawn broke the column was about two hundred strong.
On reaching Eastwood they stopped at the Sun Inn to fortify themselves with ale.

The village of Eastwood had been boarded up and the residents hid themselves in High Park Wood. Morale was flagging until the party was
misinformed by a courier that Nottingham had already fallen, and so encouraged, the men resumed their march on the city.
Stopping at each alehouse on the way along Nottingham Road the men moved slowly toward Giltbrook and as it began to rain on the intoxicated
rabble morale began to flag again. Meanwhile, Lancelot Rolleston, the magistrate, had ridden to Nottingham to warn the authorities who promptly
despatched a small party of the Fifteenth Hussars.
On encountering the soldiers at Giltbrook, the revolutionaries collapsed and scattered in all directions to avoid capture. the military pursued
them and encountered a second force of revolutionaries near what is now Edward Road at Hilltop. A number were taken prisoner, including the leaders.
Brandreth escaped to Bulwell but was later given up for a fifty pound reward.
Brandreth, Turner and Ludlum were charged with high treason and sentenced to death by beheading, which was carried out on the 7th November, 1817.
The incidence of the Pentrich Revolution is importance in national history as the last of the Peasants Revolts to take place in England.

The Pentrich Revolution - Report 2

If we go back to 1817 we find out that another large crowd assembled for an execution. This was to be a slightly different execution however
- it was the execution of Jeremiah Brandreth, William Turner and Isaac Ludlam, otherwise known as the Pentrich Martyrs.
The Pentrich Revolution, as it has become known, began on the 8th of June, 1817 when Brandreth attempted to raise a band of armed men to march
on Parliament in an inn at Pentrich. Around 60 men marched with him in what they believed would be a national uprising for a more democratic
government. At Langley Mill they were met by the 15th. Hussars from Nottingham and a detachment from the Derbyshire Yeomanry.
Many of the men were arrested there and then and most who escaped were captured by the civil authorities later.

The men were brought to Derby and Brandreth, Turner and Ludlam were charged with and found guilty of High Treason.
This was despite a spirited defence Thomas Denman who was later to become a Lord Chief Justice of England.
The three men were sentence to be hanged, drawn and quartered, although the drawing and quartering were later commuted
and they were instead hanged until dead and then beheaded. Many of their colleagues were sentenced to suffer transportation.
Interestingly enough, three months before their execution on November 7th, John Brown, Thomas Jackson, George Boothe and John King were hanged for
setting fire to hay and corn stacks at South Wingfield, the self-same residence as William Turner and Isaac Ludlam. It is more than likely that
if still alive they would have taken part in the Pentrich Revolution.
Brown, Jackson, Boothe and King were convicted largely on the evidence of
Thomas Hopkinson. Hopkinson had taken part in the crime, but when apprehended in Chesterfield on a charge of horse stealing, he turned King's
Evidence on his counterparts and their fate was sealed.

Pentrich Uprising : The Sentencing

Hanged
Jeremiah Brandreath, 31, Framework Knitter, of Sutton in Ashfield
Isaac Ludlam, 52, Stonegetter, of South Wingfield
William Turner, 46, Stonemason, of South Wingfield

Transported for Life
Thomas Bacon, 64, Framework Knitter, of Pentrich
John Bacon, 54, Framework Knitter, of Pentrich
George Brassington, 33, Miner, of Pentrich
German Buxton, 31, Miner, of Alfreton.
John Hill, 29, Framework Knitter, of South Wingfield.
Samuel Hunt, 24, Farmer, of South Wingfield.
John Mackesswick, 38, Framework Knitter, of Heanor.
John Onion, 49, Iron Worker, of Pentrich.
Edward Turner, 34, Stonemason, of South Wingfield
Joseph ' Manchester' Turner, 18, Clerk, of South Wingfield
George Weightman, 26, Sawyer, of Pentrich.

Transported for 14 Years
Thomas Bettison, 35, Miner, of Alfreton.
Josiah Godber, 54, Labourer, of Pentrich.
Joseph Rawson, 32, Framework Knitter, of Alfreton.

Jailed for Two Years
John Moore, 49, Framework Knitter, of Pentrich.

Jailed for One Year
Edward Moore, Shoemaker, of Pentrich.
William Weightman, 27, Labourer, of Pentrich.

Jailed for Six Months
William Hardwick, Collier, of Pentrich.
Alexander Johnson, 24, Labourer, of Pentrich.
Charles Swaine, Framework Knitter, of South Wingfield.

No evidence was offered against twelve who pleaded not guilty, and they were freed.
William Adams, Thomas Ensor, Joseph Savage, Joseph Topham, Robert Turner,
James, Joseph and Thomas Weightman, John Wright all of Pentrich
Isaac, Samuel and William Ludlam of South Wingfield
(Joseph Weightman was only 15 years old.)

Eleven others were charged but never came to trial.
William Barker, Samuel Briddon, Benjamin, James and Joseph Taylor, all of South Wingfield
Samuel Walters, Joseph Weightman the Elder of Pentrich
James Barnes, William Elliot, Edward Haslam and John Horsley, of Alfreton.
Malcolm Godber in Chesterfield

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To contact me:

Malcolm Walters
6 Ash Grove, Skegby, Sutton in Ashfield,
Nottinghamshire NG17 3FH United Kingdom
Telephone/Ansaphone 01623 552530
e-mail malcolm@fackley.co.uk