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Liversedge in the parish of Birstall, wapentake of Morley and honour of Pontefract. 11 miles west of Leeds. Population 4259.
Here the Neviles had for many ages a manor, park and principal mansion. Of the latter, which, from its architecture, carries us back to the age of Henry VII, sufficient remains to show that it has been a noble house, with a centre and two wings.
In modern times the most remarkable event in the history of this township relates to those unhappy disturbances which took place in some of the manufacturing districts of the kingdom, in the year 1812, and which had for their object to put down by violence and intimidation the use of certain machines, used in the manufactures, which diminished, for a time at least, the demand for manual labour. These commotions first broke out in Nottinghamshire, about the close of the year 1811, and were there directed against the use of machines used in the fabrication of lace and hosiery; and in early 1812 they spread into Yorkshire, where machines for the dressing of woollen cloth were attacked. The lawless system under which the workmen in these branches of business acted was called Luddism, and an imaginary personage styled General, alias Ned Lud, was their reputed commander.
To effect the destruction of machinery, and to attack the buildings in which it was contained, firearms became necessary, hence bands of men confederated for the purpose, and bound by illegal oaths, were found prowling through the disturbed districts by night, rousing the inhabitants from their beds, and demanding the arms provided for the defence of their dwellings. In the West Riding several mills were entered by night, and the shears, employed in the dressing of woollen cloth, by the new system, broken and destroyed. Amongst the latest and most desperate attacks of this kind was that made upon the mill of Mr. William Cartwright, at a place called Rawfolds, in the parish of Liversedge. For this hostile visit, which Mr. Cartwright had anticipated, he stood prepared, and had for several weeks taken up his lodgings in the mill, the doors of which, were by night, strongly barricaded.
On the night of the 11th of April 1812, the long meditated assault was made. A considerable body of men, to the number of some hundreds, principally, but not wholly cloth dressers by trade, having assembled in a field at Kirklees, marched in companies, some of them armed with pistols, others with hatchets and others with bludgeons and many of them unprovided with any weapon whatever. On their arrival at Rawfolds, a little after midnight, they instantly commenced a furious attacked upon the mill, which Mr. Cartwright, supported by four of his own workmen, and five soldiers, met by a vigorous and well sustained discharge of musketry. In the course of the engagement, several desperate attempts were made to break down the doors and force a way into the mill, but none of them proved successful, and after a conflict of twenty minutes, in which twp of the assailants were killed and a considerable number wounded, they withdrew in confusion, leaving the gallant little garrison masters of the field.
Crime and violence are always progressive, and often rapid in their gradations. The first intention of the Luddites was simply to destroy an obnoxious piece of machinery; the next step was nocturnal plunder of arms; this was followed by the assembling of a sort of insurrectionary army; and after the defeat at Rawfolds, George Mellor, the General Lud of the district, announced to his infatuated followers that the system of operations must be changed, and that instead of attacking mills, they must shoot the masters. The first victim marked out for assassination was Mr. William Horsfall, a considerable manufacturer at Marsden by whom a quantity of the obnoxious machinery was employed. Mr. Horsfall, it appears, had expressed himself in strong terms against the delusions under which the workmen labourer, and was probably, on this account selected out for destruction. To effect the diabolical purpose, George Mellor, William Thorpe, Thomas Smith and Benjamin Walker, being each of them provided with pistols, repaired in the afternoon of Tuesday the 28th of April, to a small plantation near Crosland Moor, on the way from Huddersfield to Marsden, and as Mr. Horsfall returned from the market, about 6 o'clock in the afternoon, two of the assassins discharged their pistols, and inflicted upon him a number of wounds, of which he languished till the morning of the Thursday following, when he expired.
Crimes so atrocious nerved the retributive arm of justice; under a vigorous system of police, established by a neighbouring magistrate, 66 persons were, in the course of the year, apprehended and committed to the county gaol, on various charges connected with these disturbances, and in the January following, a Special Commission of oyer and terminer was held at York, for the purpose of trying the offenders. The proceedings of the court were of the most solemn and impressive kind, Eighteen of the prisoners, including three of the murderers of Mr. Horsfall, were capitally convicted and seventeen of them were executed. Of the others, six of them were convicted of simple felony and transported for seven years, and the remainder were either liberated on bail or acquitted. So terrible an example extinguished every vestige of Luddism and from that time to the present, not one act of popular excess has been committed in the county on account of the use of machinery in the manufacture of woollens.
The township of Liversedge consists of Mills Bridges (MIllbridge), Roberttwon, Littletown and Hightown.
Hightown - in the parish of Birstall and wapentake of Morley; 4 miles west of Dewsbury.
Ashley, John - Surgeon
Binns, George - Blanket maker
Binns, James - Blanket maker
Binns, Joseph - Smith & farrier
Birkby, Henry - Card maker
Blackburn, William - Gardener
Blackburn, William - Stone mason
Brearley, John - Currier
Briggs, Richard - Plumber & glazier
Brook, Joseph & John - Joiners
Brook, William - Cabinet maker
Carver, Joah . Card engine maker
Cupper, William - Grocer
Charlesworth, John - Fancy mfr.
Charlesworth, Thomas - Card maker
Chew, George - Tailor
Dearnley, John - Constable
Dixon, John - Dyer
Dixon, William - Hat mfr.
Fearnside, William - Cloth dresser
Fisher, Mark - Shoemaker
Goodaire, Joseph - Tailor
Hall, John - Butcher
Hall, Samuel - Victualler, Shoulder of Mutton
Halmshaw, Daniel - Blanket maker
Halmshaw, George - Mechanic
Hammond, William - Victualler, White Hart
Hemingway, R. - Card maker
Hirst, Joseph - Grocer
Holdsworth, William - Card maker
Howarth, John - Card maker
Jackson, Abraham - Currier
Jackson, Joseph - Gentleman
Jagger, Joseph - Corn dealer
Lee, Samuel - Currier
Lee, Thomas - Wire drawer
Lister, G. & J. - Card makers
Lister, George - Card maker
Lister, James - Victualler, Shears inn. Sheriff and honour officer, auctioneer and appraiser
Lister, lames & Son - Card makers
Lister, William - Card maker
Mallison, John - Wheelwright
North, Charles - Blanket maker
North, George - Currier
North, Joseph - Blanket maker
Nowell, John - Card maker
Parkin, Benjamin - Coal owner
Pinder, John - Card maker
Ramsden, John - Wheelwright
Smith, John - Merchant
Stead, Edward - Card maker
Townsend, John - Card maker
Walker, Richard - Wheelwright
Walker, William - Joiner
Watkinson, Henry - Card maker
Watkinson & Lister - Curriers
Wear, William - Cooper
Whitehead, James - Card maker
Whitehead, James - Victualler, Cross Keys
Wood, Joseph - Grocer
Woodcock, Joseph - Blanket maker
Woodcock, William - Blanket maker
Littletown - in the parish of Birstall, wapentake of Morley and township of Liversedge; 9 miles SW of Leeds.
Here is a handsome new church of the Gothic order of architecture, founded by the Rev. Hammond Roberson of Healds Hall, in whom and his heirs for ever is vested the patronage. This church is endowed with five acres of land and it is the intention of the founder to complete his plan, by the erection of a parsonage house.
Armitage, Joseph - Butcher
Armitage, Martha - Victualler, Star
Armitage, Samuel - Woollen mfr.
Barrons, John - Blacksmith
Cartwright, W. - Cloth dresser (Rawfolds)
Clarkson, Rev. - Curate
Cockill, Joseph - Tanner
Cockill, Thomas & John - Dyers
Cordingley, John - Stone mason
Eyre, Edward - Woollen mfr.
Hawkyard, Matthew - Plumber & Glazier
Hay, John - Worsted spinner
Hey, Edward - Woollen mfr.
Hey, John - Carpenter
Hopkinson, John - Stone mason
Kitchen, Richard - Plasterer
Lang, John - Woollen mfr.
Lang, Joseph - Woollen mfr.
Lee, J.g. & H. - Stone masons
Lister, John - Card maker
Littlewood, Daniel - Grocer
Milns, Jonas - Woollen mfr.
Morton, William - Worsted spinner
Ogden, William - Grocer
Oldroyd, William - Stone mason
Pierson, Benjamin - Woollen mfr.
Pierson, Samuel - Woollen mfr.
Ramsden, Richard - Wheelwright
Redfern, Gabriel - Woollen mfr.
Roberson, Rev. Hammond - Incumbent
Smith, David - Card maker
Smith, David - Victualler, White Hart
Spedding, Joshua - Cattle dealer
Standering, S & B - Comb plate makers
Thornton, Samuel - Butcher
Walker, Edward - Corn dealer
Walker, Paul - Woollen mfr.
Waller, Joseph - Commercial traveller
Wharton, John - Woolen mfr.
Wharton, Robert - Woollen mfr.
Wilby, Joseph - Woollen mfr.
Woodhead, John - Woollen mfr.
Mill-Bridge - in the parish of Birstall, wapentake of Morley and honour of Pontefract. 2.5 miles NW of Dewsbury.
Chadwick, Joseph - Hat mfr.
Cowburn, James - Post master (Letters arrive 7am and 6pm.)
Humble, George - Victualler, Globe Inn
Lang, John - Tallow chandler
Lawford, Abraham & Sons - Worsted spinners & blanket mfrs.
Marsland, Thomas - Victualler, Black Bull
Peel, William - Tallow chandler
Popplewell, David - Millwright, engineer and appraiser
Senior, John - Maltster
Sykes, John - Corn miller
Thompson, Abraham - Gentleman
Wadsworth, John Horsfield - Solicitor
Roberttown - in the parish of Birstall, wapentake of Morley; 5.5 miles NE of Huddersfield. Here is a handsome and spacious school, but unendowed.
Beaumont, Thos. - Butcher
Bowell, J. Wood - Merchant
Bowell, Samuel - Merchant
Brook, Joseph - Blanket maker
Brook, T. & Sons - Merchants
Exley, Jeremiah - Blanket maker
Fawcett, Joseph - Wheelwright
Fearnside, Thomas - Coal owner
Firth, Joshua - Shoemaker
Gregory, Edward & Co. - Corn millers and dealers
Haigh, John - Grocer
Hemingway, David - Card maker
Hemingway, John - Card maker
Hemingway, William - Card maker
Hirst, John - Wheelwright
Hutchinson, William - Card maker
Knowles, George, Shoemaker
Longbottom, Benjamin - Grocer
Mitchell, James - Carrier to Leeds and Manchester etc. daily.
Mitchell, James - Victualler, Yew Tree
Oates, Samuel - Grocer
Oddy, Joseph - Shoemaker
Parker, James - Grocer
Parker, Joseph - Blanket maker
Pawson, John - Bricklayer
Peel, George - Chandler
Peele, George - Card maker
Sands, William - Blanket maker
Sheard, Susannah - Victualler, Star
Spedding, Robert - Butcher
Sykes, John - Blanket maker
Waite, S. & S. - Dressmakers
Waller, Michael - Coal owner
Wilby, S. - Commission dealer in wool
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