Tag: food riots

Gwennap and the 1801 insurrection: Part 2

By March 1801 the price of food in the market towns of Devon had reached an unbearable level. Residents began to adopt the by now familiar tactics of the food riot – imposing a maximum price at the markets and touring local farms with the aim of ‘encouraging’ farmers to send more grain to market. … Continue reading Gwennap and the 1801 insurrection: Part 2 →

Gwennap and the 1801 insurrection: Part 1

In May 1800 a less than crystal clear entry was made in the Gwennap vestry records. The vestry agreed to pay the constables for ‘putting down’ the Cornish Supplementary Militia. The militia was made up of part-time soldiers and had been re-introduced in the 1750s. They were greatly expanded in 1796 during an invasion scare. … Continue reading Gwennap and the 1801 insurrection: Part 1 →