William Felkin Reports that Luddism Began with the Destruction of Stocking Frames about 1710

In William Felkin's A History of Machine-Wrought Hosiery and Lace Manufactures (Cambridge, 1867) we read the following in the beginning of Felkin's Chapter XVI, Luddism, on p. 227:

"The war of 1803 brought yearly increase of taxation, and being attended by bad harvests, the whole nation suffered, but especially the midland district. The times became troublesome and dangerous, issuing in the revival of Luddism. Frame breaking, as a mode of intimidating employers into compliance with the views and wishes of their workpeople, did not originate in the midland counties and in the present century, as is generally supposed, but was practised in London at least 150 years ago, when the disputes which had occurred for some years respecting the number of apprentices taken by master stocking-makers, came to a point, because one Nicholson had gotten very many of them. The unemployed and irritated journeyman proceed to break about 100 frames thus worked by him and others, throwing them out of the windows, beating both the obnoxious masters and their apprentices. This occurred about the year 1710, and was confined to Old Street Square, Bunhill Row and the neighbourhood in St. Luke's Shoreditch, and Cripplegate. The masters were deterred by these proceedings, and agreed to abide by the trade rules as to apprentices in future; while of the rioters were punished, it is said not even apprehended. But one of the masters who had thus promised, named Fellows, decided to remove his frames to Nottingham, where he set at nought the rules, and, it is said, had at one time forty-nine apprentices, of whom many were bound by their parishes to him; the practice being to pay at least £5 each to the masters on thus getting rid of them.

" This system of apprenticing by parishes to the weaving trades throughout the country, besides causing much suffering and demoralization to the oppressed and friendless youths of both sexes who were the victims, gradually so overloaded the trade with wondering unemployed journeymen, as to cause serious riots in various manufacturing populations.

"A committee of the House of Commons, after sitting to hear evidence on the subject, instead of stopping the malpractice of parish officers, passed an act in 1727 punishing with death those who destroyed the machinery used in making cloth or hosiery of woollen materials. Whether from the terrible penalty thus threatened, or the greater area over which frame-work-knitting was rapidly spreading in England, acts of violence to the persons or property of hosiery employers seem to have practically ceased for forty years...."