Wokingham Blacks

[jericho]

I am wondering if anyone in the Berkshire area has any idea of where I would be able to find out any information about William Shorter, who was the leader of a group of vicious eighteenth century bandits known as the Wokingham Blacks. I believe that William was hung on the county boundary at Wishmoor Cross. Does anyone know when William was hung and what age he was.  Also does anyone know of any books written about this notorious group.


jericho

[ricky1]

Hi Jericho
Found this bit of info while googling about. Might give you a rough idea when he was hung. at Wishmoor Cross

In 1723, a white paper was passed in parliament, making it a criminal offence to undertake blacking, the painting of one's face black in order to commit unlawful acts. It was know as the Black Act and was so called after the infamous Wokingham Blacks, a band of footpads who infested Windsor Forest. They began as mere poachers, but soon expanded their list of nefarious activities to encompass such crimes as robbery, blackmail and even murder. Their little base at one William Shorter's house in Wokingham soon commanded nearly all criminal activity in Eastern Berkshire. The locals were afraid to speak out against them, for retaliation was swift and merciless. Even the local magistrates were not safe.

ricky

[jericho]

Hi ricky

I had already found that, along with some other reference to  the group it was really what sparked my interest in the subject and of course the fact that I have 10 William Shorter in my tree and all from Wokingham, and I have three who lived in Wokingham at the time of the Wokingham Blacks ........... so I was interested to find out if it could be any of my ancestors Thanks for your help.

[jorose]

There's a paper on them:

    The Waltham Blacks and the Black Act
        Pat Rogers
        The Historical Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3. (Sep., 1974), pp. 465-486.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0018-246X%28197409%2917%3A3%3C465%3ATWBATB%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8 - if you can't access this link it's because you probably need to be on an IP with access (university or library possibly).

In summary: this paper refers to Mr Shorter's group as the Berkshire Blacks, and he was a farmer said to rent an estate of £200 a year and worth £80 of his own.  Their principle target was first Earl Cadogan's estate at Caversham Park.  Late in April 1723, the government took action and managed to bring to London three of the leaders by subterfuge around May 1st, intending to interrogate them - but William Shorter, described as 'King John of the Blacks', escaped by breaking through the wall of the room he was held in (it also mentions here that William Shorter's son, also William, was also a Black, but not an important one).  The other two, George Wynne, a clockmaker and Edward Collier, feltmaker, were held and further members were questioned, some of whom gave evidence against a number of others.  32 Blacks were tried at Reading: a caravan of 23 prisoners arrived on 3 Jun followed by 9 more two days later.  Four were convicted of murder for a killing at Old Windsor (Thorne, Hawthorne, Gilbert and Hatch), and were executed of 15th June.  Three were transported for deer stealing and assault, three more for deer stealing only (although two of these gained a respite).

One of these men was Robert Shorter, who died in prison sometime before 17th June.

William Shorter was still at large, and this article does not mention him ever being brought up for trial or hanging; perhaps he had enough influence to avoid having anything pinned on him.

[Little Nell]

Hi jericho,

A little bit about him here:

http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/wokingham.html

http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/easthampstead.html

Nell

[jericho]

Hi jorose and Nell


Thank-you both for the links, they proved to be a very interesting read, jorose I will check out that link at the University Library after New Year, and hopefully it will be able to give me some more information that I haven't see yet. I was hoping to be able to put the connection together with my Shorter family as the names William and Robert appear several times  around the time of the Workingham Blacks era.


jericho

[Sotonian]

Hi and we share an interest in the Wokingham Blacks who were a much maligned group who I would put on a par with the 1830 Berkshire Machine Breakers. They are frequently referred to as footpads or felons and they were neither. As usual history has been unkind and less than truthful to those who have been wronged but are powerless.

The reference to the article by Professor Pat Rogers in the Historical Journal is well worth following up and any half-decent university library should be able to help there. However the best thing I can recommend is that you read E P Thompson’s marvelous book “Whigs and Hunters” which you should be able to get for a few pounds from ABE Books or even through your local library.  This book provides the full historical background to the management of Windsor Forest at that time and provides all the detail you need to better understand the behaviour of those referred to as the Wokingham Blacks and their persecution.

One of my ancestors was arrested in 1723 as a supposed ringleader. He was tried and sentenced to seven years transportation to America but he escaped and hid in the Forest. When he eventually gave himself up he was pardoned and returned to his family. Just as well for me or I would be an American!

This was the time of George 1 and Walpole and they used the Blacks as a means of introducing one of the most draconian pieces of English legislation ever.

Do get the book and read it carefully from cover to cover. E P Thompson is academically rigorous but as a Marxist historian he writes with an understanding of the experiences of the ordinary people affected which made the book fascinating for me.

The story of the Wokingham Blacks is a story about power, politics and greed and the suppression of ordinary people. To suggest they were lawless thugs and common criminals is a gross injustice even greater than the injustice they experience in 1723. When you have read it let us know what you think.

[jericho]

Hi Sotonian

As I know very little about the history of Berkshire and even less about the Berkshire Machine Breakers or about the Wokingham Blacks.  I'm not sure if I can comment on either group at this stage. I was very interested in your description about the book "Whigs and Hunters" and will check to see if it is available here in Australia. Thanks for your help, I look forward to finding out more.


jericho

[Sotonian]

Hello Again Jericho,

ABE Books for Australia lists copies in Australia of Thompson's book and they are very good value.

The Machine breakers were agricultural workers who were suffering great hardship in 1829/30 because of failed crops, high prices, competition for labour from returning soldiers from the Napoleonic Wars and improved farming methods including the mechanisation of farming. Many had lost common grazing and other rights due to enclosures and thousands were starving. The agricultural workers responded to their impossible position by breaking the hated threshing machines (manual threshing had been an important employment in the winter months) belonging to local farmers and demanding money. No one was killed and the workers although angry and starving were still deferent to the farmers and landowners. Local magistrates were in the main lenient to offenders as the magistrates themselves were aware of their plight. The government were not happy with this and set up a set of courts to deal with the rioters and they came down very hard on them. Many were transported to Australia, some were imprisoned with hard labour and one, John Winterbourne, was hanged in Reading jail. He is buried at Kintbury. The riots took place mainly in southern rural counties. Hope that helps.