Some of you may have heard of Thomas Helliker, the 19 year old woolworker hanged in 1803 for his supposed part in the burning of Litleton Mill, Semington. It is a sad story rising from the growing worries of poverty for workers during the early years of the industrial revolution in England.

 It was thought that labour saving machinery would result in mass unemployment of workers (in Helliker’s case cloth workers). There were only inadequate poor relief schemes and workers thought it would soon lead to poverty and starvation; organised resistance flared into violence. Read on to find out more.....

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