Bedfordshire has not been a county prone to violent outbreaks or apt to support lost causes. Its risings or riots have been small and sporadic. After the Conquest, though some villages resisted the Conqueror on his march, there was nothing comparable with Hereward the Wake’s venture. The peasants’ revolt scarcely touched the county, and that is true also of the incipient Lollard rising of 1414. The disorder at Bedford in 1439 was trifling compared with the large-scale fighting elsewhere by armies of baronial retainers in the Wars of the Roses. Bedfordshire did not rise to support the old religion at the time of the Pilgrimage of Grace. There was no large-scale resistance to enclosure, such as was a factor in Ket’s rising of 1549, though in 1607 some disturbance spread from Northamptonshire. In the Civil War there was effective organisation in the county on the parliamentary side, but the Civil War is in a class by itself.

Partly this seems due to the fact that in Bedfordshire everything is on a small scale. No Bedfordshire baron was important enough to be a major factor in a baronial rising (by the 18th century when the 4th Duke of Bedford was powerful enough to be a national figure, parliament was the amphitheatre). The 14th century manors were many and small; hence labour problems were less pressing. Something may be due to the Bedfordshire character, if one may postulate such a thing; slow but stoical, it is not apt to flare up; yet it can endure under stress, as 17th century nonconformity shows.

No people are perfectly peaceable all the time. What then has caused such outbreaks as have occurred? The main occasions have been: common rights; the militia act; distress; and the poor law.

Common rights

This question is a very complicated one, and no attempt is here made to unravel the rights in each case quoted; but the incidents are given as examples of the kind of violence that could occur.

The first is at Blunham, probably in 1604. The Earl of Kent of Wrest (he alleges it was by agreement with “the better sort”) had enclosed 10 acres near the manorhouse where he sometimes stayed, and as recompense had relinquished his common right.

P.R.O. ref: S.C.6 Henry VIII 8

Lands & possessions late pertaining to Priory of Caldwell

Accounts of Edw. Copley, bailiff & collector Arrears

This book has looked at the changes in education and employment prospects for girls in Luton and has tried to demonstrate how these two aspects of their lives were inter-related.

Increased opportunities

The date chosen for the commencement of this study (1874) was an important one for girls in Luton because it marked both the establishment of the School Board and the introduction of compulsory education. Whereas girls’ time had once been dominated by the demands of the hat industry and their educational prospects had been at the mercy of parents’ ability to pay fees and forgo their children's income, regular attendance at school was now obligatory.

Women in Luton had traditionally received education in less formal organizations and this kind of initiative was still alive, for example private commercial courses were available. Organizations such as the Sunday and adult schools no longer needed to teach basic literacy but continued to receive loyal support in classes which extended interests and stimulated discussions. Lectures given under the auspices of groups such as the Workers’ Education Association (WEA) were also supported by Luton women. Middle-class families who were conscious of their status and who wished to have their daughters educated as young ladies, supported private establishments throughout the years covered in this book.

However, the fee-paying day secondary school which had been set up by Bedfordshire County Council (BCC) was open to all and became increasingly popular. Children whose parents were unable to pay could earn a free place, but there were other financial constraints such as purchasing uniforms and supporting charities. It was therefore inevitable that this school was seen to be for the privileged few. It also seems likely that some kind of selection existed within the girls’ school itself when the emphasis became decidedly academic. However, by 1924 there was, for a small minority, the very real possibility of a university education.

There were also increased opportunities for girls in the employment market. Changes in the hat industry had required local businessmen to welcome other industries into the town, with the result that women had wider choices. Census figures show that, while the hat industry dominated the scene, many women were taking advantage of opportunities to work in local factories and offices. By the 1920s, a Juvenile Advisory Committee had been set up to offer advice to boys and girls who were leaving school. This would hardly have been necessary when one industry dominated women's lives, but times were changing.

The development of elementary education was always closely linked with child employment. This was especially so when there was work that children could do from a very early age. The Langford School log book contains the following entry for 4 November 1872: ‘Jane Dines aged 5 and Hannah Dines aged 4 are withdrawn from school because in the words of their mother, “It is time they were earning something at plait.” ‘ There was no school attendance law that could do anything about such a situation. It should be remembered that the 1870 Education Act only empowered the passing of bye-laws for attendance in those districts which had school boards and Langford School Board had not yet been formed. For those areas where there were not school boards, attendance bye-laws did not become possible until after the 1876 Education Act, while bye-laws compelling attendance did not become mandatory until after the 1880 Education Act.

The first hesitant steps towards enforcing school attendance came through factory legislation which controlled the hours children were allowed to work and which imposed educational requirements that had to be met before they could begin work in the first place. The drawback as far as Bedfordshire was concerned was that the early child employment acts covered a restricted range of occupations, none of which was practised in the county.

Bedfordshire’s cottage industries were first scrutinised in the early 1840s but nothing was done. A further commission looked at pillow lace and straw-plaiting and similar industries in the 1860s, and although there was no specific act passed to cover them directly, they were brought under the provisions of the Factory and Workshop Act of 1867. It was one thing, however, to pass an act, it was another to make it effective. It was at first left to local authorities to administer the workshops side of the Act, and this was a failure; so, in 1871 it was changed and the factory inspectors took on the responsibility. Alexander Redgrave had overall responsibility for Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and he had James Wood as his sub-inspector, with R. Macleod as junior sub-inspector. These names, or just the term factory inspector, begin to appear in the school log books of the area from 1872 onwards.

Before incorporation in 1876 the most powerful of Luton's public institutions was the local Board of Health. General questions of power are dealt with separately, in chapter four, but the local Board's history forms an undercurrent to the development of the town in this period. In this respect it warrants a chronological account as the Board served as a bridge between the medieval and modern systems of local government for the town, beginning as a health authority but developing into Luton's ‘little parliament in Stuart Street’. It came to be regarded as a shadow town council, a role for which it was ill-equipped and for which it received more brickbats than bouquets. The more that the Board became involved in various areas of the town, the more was expected of it. The local Board of Health came, therefore, to exemplify Luton's inadequate administrative structure and political impotence: it became the focus for frustrated criticism for perceived failings in areas which were far beyond its remit. The Board also became a focal point of public debate, just one of the former functions of the Vestry, which it steadily superseded in relevance. The only other public body of similar significance was the Board of Guardians (see also chapter four).

A second distinctive feature punctuated the period in which the local Board was operational. This was the way in which it served as a vehicle for the promotion of the interests of certain sections of Luton's social structure - interests not always in harmony with those of their fellow citizens. As such, it became a forum for occasional power struggles between the new urban elite of professionals and bigger employers on the one hand and the old market town circles, such as the farmers (supported by smaller tradesmen) on the other. The occasional nature of these struggles must be stressed and the limitations of power and influence of each of the above groups were made apparent by the battles which were fought around and beyond the Boardroom.

CHRISTOPHER SAXTON 1576

Size: 39.4 x 53.1 cms. Scale: 1:352000

Scala Miliarium 10 (8 cms) 11

Editions:

• (i) The title is engraved top left in an ornamental panel surmounted by the Royal arms: NORTHAMTON Bedfordice Cantabrigia Huntingdonice et Rutlandice Comitatuum Vicinarumq 3 regionum partium adiacent’ noua veraq3 descriptio A° 1576. Bottom left are the arms of Thomas Seckford with motto Pestis Patrice Pigricies.

• A proof impression of each map was sent to Lord Burghley when it was printed and these, showing a number of differences from the final state as described under edition (ii) and with some MS additions and corrections, were bound in a set which is now in the British Museum. In the same volume is a manuscript map of about 1570, perhaps a rough draft for the engraver, on which the shape of Bedfordshire is distorted, the county is named as PART OF BEDFORD SHIRE, shows nothing south of Toddington and names fewer places than the proof. A scale bar of 12 miles (14.5 cms) is in the lower left corner.

• British Museum

• (ii) The signature Christophorus Saxton descripsit on a scroll has been added behind the dividers above the scale bar, and a scroll has been added to the crest of Seckford’s arms with the words Industria Naturam Ornat. The following additions have been made in Bedfordshire: Ryseley and Eaton [Bray], a park containing a church symbol and three trees at Eaton Bray, a church symbol at Whipsnade, and a cross-bar converting the l in Segnowals to a t. The spelling of Anihill has been changed to Anthill.

• Issued in an atlas containing general maps of England and Wales and county maps all by Saxton. There is no title page or frontispiece. The atlas was probably first put on sale in 1579 but the definitive edition was not published until about 1590. At least one early copy was printed on vellum. Also sold as loose sheets.

• BL, RGS

• Bod

• (iii) A ring fence enclosing two trees has been added at Woodende and the names Merston and Taternall have been added, with church symbols.

DECR. 6, 1810

• 1. Overseer of Ampthill. Complaint of Redman against the contractor. I ordered the overseer to look over the contractor’s house.

• P 30/18/2: 30 July 1810: contract for building a poorhouse at Ampthill: Evan Jones and Robt. Furze, carpenters and builders.

• 2. Huckle about the Bell.

• 3. Mr. G. Inskip, Neal & Taylor about Tuck’s business.

• W 1/279-99: 9 Aug. 1810-28 Nov. 1810: farm drainage dispute, Sam. Tuck v. Stephen Thornton: S. W. appointed arbitrator at Summer Assizes.

• 4. Robinsons about the summons to come on Monday morning, (cf 17, 28).

• 5. Mr. Peppercorn, delivered him the cup.

• X 136/1: 26 Oct. 1810: Beds. Agricultural Society prize, 8 guinea silver cup for “greatest improvement of under-drainage” on a farm between 1809-10, won by Jn. Peppercorn of Southill. Peppercorn was S.W.’s tenant of Stanfordbury farm: W 1/1490-1.

DECR. 9, 1810

• 6. Hannah Thody of Langford to apply for a part of her husband’s bounty. Refused till she obtains an order from her husband signed by his officer. Gave an order for is 6d per week to the overseer of Langford.

• P 99/12/1: 8 Dec. 1810: Langford overseers: “paid James Thody’s wife 10 weeks pay 15s.”

• 7. James Tingay from Meppershall: complaint against John Field of Polehanger for an assault. Granted a warrant, (cf 15).

• 8. Mr. Petwyn about the Clophill road to enquire whether the fencing by the side of the road is to be done at the public expense. Answered that it was; wrote a note to that effect. Gave directions for a hand-post opposite the Flying Horse and a board at Beadlow.

• QSM 29 p.171: 16 Jan. 1811: presentment of road by S.W. at Easter Sessions, 1809; Sam. Taylor, Clophill, and Thos. Hare, Upper Gravenhurst, both farmers, appeared for Clophill; presentment respited. The presentment is QSR 1811/288. For various letters and plans, see W 553-9.

• 9. Sent a note by Mr Petwyn to the surveyor of Maulden to come tomorrow morning by eight o’clock, (cf 14).

• 10. Mr. Parry to make application for a farm. Mr. Partridge asks £980 per ann. He now pays ¿500. Inskip took it off Tingay. Tingay had 21 years lease at £280. Now expiring.

• W 1/1564-79: 6 May - 31 Dec. 1813: S.W.’s purchase of Shefford Hardwick farm from Partridge