Academic's quest to commemorate 1826 mill massacre
A man who came across a forgotten 200-year-old story of the massacre of starving cotton workers while walking his dog has secured a £170k grant to help commemorate it in its bicentenary year.Dr David Scott stumbled over a memorial to the deaths while walking his rescue dog Flossy in Chatterton a small village in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire."I was out walking my dog when I discovered the Chatterton Peace Park and was shocked to find it had been the site of a massacre," he said.Six people were killed and others seriously injured on 26 April 1826 when troops fired on Lancashire mill workers who were protesting because they were starving.
Dr Scott, a lecturer in criminology at The Open University, was moved to do more research and began learning how the uprising broke out.Thousands of loom workers rebelled in the face of a perfect storm of high food prices, low or no wages, growing poverty and the introduction of much cheaper forms of weaving through machinery.They destroyed equipment before being confronted by 20 soldiers from the 60th Duke of York Own Rifles, who fired into the crowd."These people were starving - they could not even afford bread and those who could eat at all had only oatmeal," Dr Scott said.
"We still don't know exactly how many people were injured or died in the following days."The grant has been awarded from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to the Weavers Uprising Bicentennial Committee, a charity the academic founded and chairs.It will use the money to highlight the weavers' story across the county from next February."Almost immediately an attempt was made to shut down what had happened and call it a riot," the lecturer continued."We in the committee have been working to change that interpretation and correct this injustice."A programme of artistic, creative, and community heritage activities backed by Lancashire County Council will take place as part of the commemorations.Meanwhile, the history of the weavers' uprising will be taught in primary schools across the county for the first time.
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