The Pentrich Rebellion - A talk by David Speed

About

Tuesday 21 May 2024 I 7pm
Venue: Arnold Methodist Church
Tickets: £1.00 for members and £3.00 for non-members

Image Credit: University of Nottingham

The Pentrich Rebellion also occasionally referred to as the Pentrich Rising, was an armed uprising in 1817 that began in and around the village of Pentrich in Derbyshire.

It occurred on the night of the 9th to the 10th of June 1817. While much planning of the revolution took place in Pentrich itself, two of the three ringleaders were from South Wingfield, just over the border in Derbyshire. The other was from Sutton in Ashfield. The 'revolution' itself started at Hunt's Barn in South Wingfield. The only person killed during hostilities died in Wingfield Park. 

Between two to three hundred men (stockingers, quarrymen and iron workers), gathered together led by Jeremiah Brandreth, who was referred to as ‘The Nottingham Captain'. Brandreth was an unemployed stockinger. The men set out from South Wingfield to march to Nottingham and were lightly armed with pikes, scythes and a few guns, which had been hidden in a quarry in Wingfield Park. They had a set of rather unfocused revolutionary demands, which included wiping out the National Debt. However, it transpired that one amongst them, William J. Oliver, was a government spy, and the uprising was quashed shortly after it began. Three of the men were later hanged and then beheaded at Derby Gaol for their part in the uprising: Jeremiah Brandreth, Isaac Ludlam and William Turner. 

All are welcome to come and listen to David’s fascinating account of the Pentrich Rebellion.