The confession of Daniel Diggle. click on image to enlarge
Daniel Diggle (1796-1817)
Daniel Diggle was hung in April 1817 for the shooting of George Kerry in a bungled Luddite raid in Radford in December of the previous year. He was only 21 years old.
Diggle was born in Basford but at the time of his arrest was apprenticed as a framework knitter to Luke Rhodes, a relative, in Hucknall High Street. In an account of the trial in the Nottingham Date Book, he is described as a 'stout, good-looking man but extremely illiterate'. He was also according to witnesses a rather reckless individual who had a reputation for being what would be referred to today as 'trigger-happy' with guns. It would seem Diggle provided the Luddite cause with muscle rather than brains.
The heading at the top of this page is from a broadsheet published at the time of Diggle's execution and gives a detailed account of the incident as protrayed during the trial:
On the Sunday 22nd of December 1816 at about 8.20 in the evening, Diggle together with William Burton and two other men named Henfrey and Woolley approached the house of George Kerry in Radford on a frame-breaking raid. The men wore long greatcoats, were armed with pistols and, in true Luddite tradition, hid their faces with handkerchiefs. The front door was unlocked and Diggle and Woolley lifted the latch and entered. Diggle ordered the family into the parlour at which point the women in the house began to scream, and in the confusion of the moment Kerry attempted to grab Woolley's pistol and it went off. Seeing a struggle between the two men Diggle fired wounding Kerry in the head. The injury was not serious but the men ran off in panic believing him to be dead.
No arrests were made in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and it is unclear whether the authorities had any evidence to link Diggle to the crime, but fortunately for them, Diggle had no intention of lying low.
On January 2nd a group of nine men including Diggle, his brother Nathan, and his companions from the Radford raid were arrested for wildy shooting through the bedroom window of Lord Middleton's gamekeeper's house during a poaching trip near Trowell. Once in custody the group began to accuse each other and, in return for presumably a lighter sentence, Burton agreed to testify against Diggle for the shooting of Kerry. Amongst the men arrested was also John Blackburne, who in the previous year had participated in the largest Luddite raid staged in the East Midland at a Loughborough lace factory (see next page). To save his skin he gave a full account of this raid and his testimony assisted the conviction of some very senior figures in the Luddite movement.
The trial began on March 18th at Nottingham County Hall. Diggle initially pleaded guilty but withdrew his plea on the advice of the judge. The authorities were determined to get a conviction and make an example of Diggle and to his end the case received much publicity. The verdict was never in doubt and Diggle was found guilty of wounding with intent to kill and sentenced to death.