Benjamin Hancock and George Green

There was a lull in Luddite activity of several months during the summer of 1811, as the framework knitters awaited some concessions from their employers following the widespread frame breaking of the spring. However, little was forthcoming and to compound their hardships the harvest that year was poor.

So it was that on the evening of Wednesday 6th November 1811 about a 1000 men from Arnold, Hucknall and other surrounding villages gathered at the seventh milestone on the Mansfield to Nottingham road to launch a new wave of attacks. They were heavily armed with about 300 carrying muskets or pistols, and amongst the crowd were Ben Hancock and George Green, both aged 22 and from Hucknall, although at the time Green was living in Arnold.

Why Betts was targeted is not stated, but it is likely he was using wide frames to produce 'cut ups' and operating them using 'colts'. These were men employed as framework knitters without first having served an apprenticeship.

It was to be a typical lightening strike under cover of darkness, and the target was the premises of a Mr Francis Betts, several miles to the north-west in Sutton in Ashfield.

The movement of so many men did not go unnoticed by the authorities and the Mansfield Troop of Volunteers, a local militia, were called out to intercept. They were joined by seven dismounted Dragoons, who were also in the vicinity escorting two French prisoners. Before the troops arrived, however, somewhere between 50 and 70 of Betts's frames valued at around £400 had been destroyed.

What followed the meeting of these two heavily armed groups of men appears to have been nothing more than a skirmish. The Luddites often had considerable local support and were able to disperse quickly when confronted by troops, but this night between 8 and 12 arrests were made. Amongst them were Hancock and Green who were charged with frame breaking together with three other men: Gervas Marshall (17), Robert Poley (16) and Joseph Peck (17). The following day they were examined before the magistrates in Mansfield and then escorted by cavalry to the county gaol in Nottingham.

Their trial took place at Nottingham Assizes on 18th March 1812 before Mr Justice Bayley. Hancock was alleged to have been the leader of the raid, and Marshall said to be one of a group of men who had entered the workshops and lifted frames out into the street to be smashed by the mob.

The mixture of politics and criminal activity which characterised the Luddite years created an atmosphere were the truth was often one of the principal victims in a trial. The authorities had uncovered little of the Luddites chain of command and were desperate to bring one of their leaders to trial. In this light what followed Hancock's arrest can be viewed either as a show trial or a major breakthrough by the authorities.

In Nottinghamshire the legal authorities did not welcome the Frame-Breaking Bill of 1812. What little success they had in bringing luddites to trial relied heavily on a network of paid informants, but many were reluctant to continue now the information they provided could lead to a man found guilty being hung.

In February 1812 the penalty for frame breaking was increased by act of Parliament from transportation to death. Fortunately for Hancock and his associates the death penalty could not be passed on those in custody awaiting the March Assizes, unless burglary could also be proven against them.