Prosecution, precedence and official memory: Judicial responses and perceptions of Swing in Norfolk

Wallis, Rose

Abstract

This chapter offers a different perspective on the themes of the politics of memory and contested meanings of protest. It considers the perceptions and responses of the authorities to social unrest, and their role in shaping subsequent understandings of protest. Focused on the Swing disturbances of 1830, this analysis draws on Norfolk as a case study. The county’s experience of repeated unrest between 1816 and 1830 provides an opportunity to address the impact of the memory of popular protest: it informed both the resort to protest and the responses of the authorities. The prosecution of Swing is presented here as part of a process of simplifying or condensing ‘the messy historical realties’ of protest to establish an official narrative or memory of social upheaval.

Citation

Wallis, R. (2018). Prosecution, precedence and official memory: Judicial responses and perceptions of Swing in Norfolk. In C. J. Griffin, & B. McDonagh (Eds.), Remembering Protest in Britain since 1500: Memory, Materiality and the Landscape (159-185). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74243-4_7

• Acceptance Date: Jan 18, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jul 10, 2018
• Publication Date: Jul 20, 2018
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 159-185
• Book Title: Remembering Protest in Britain since 1500: Memory, Materiality and the Landscape
• ISBN: 9783319742427
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74243-4_7
• Keywords: politics of memory, contested meanings of protest, social unrest, Swing disturbances 1830, Norfolk
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1494146
• Publisher URL: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319742427