Bicentenary Commemorative Prints
1. Meetings at The White Horse
This artist's impression represents a meeting in a small pub in the village of Pentrich in Derbyshire taking place in early 1817. The White Horse was a stone-built public house situated opposite the church in Pentrich. For a long time, it had been the meeting place for those who wished for political and social change. The pub was owned by widow Nanny Weightman. In this picture, working class people are discussing armed revolution against the government. While there was lots of talk of revolution, this rising will actually happen – and will come to be known as the Pentrich Rising. How did this small village in the middle of England become a hotbed of sedition? Why did people at the bottom of society decide that armed revolution was the only way to change things? And how did things go once armed men marched on Nottingham? This exhibition aims to uncover some of the facts behind this little-known incident in English history.
The Artist - Lynn Smith
Lynn was born and grew up in Belper Derbyshire. She married and lived for a short while in Ambergate then moved with her family in 1987 to Swanwick. As a child she enjoyed to draw and paint, but it was in 1992 that she started to paint in watercolours. She traveled through Pentrich regularly as a child visiting grand parents in Sutton-in-Ashfield, and over the years has seen the village change, houses being built and renovations on the older properties. Now living near the village she was very pleased to paint for the Bicentenary of The Pentrich Revolution.
2. Volcanic eruption Mount Tambora, Indonesia
On 5 April 1815, after sleeping quietly for over 5,000 years, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted. Amazingly, this natural phenomenon contributed to context for the Pentrich Revolution two years later. The eruption lasted for several days and blew an enormous slab off the mountain almost a mile wide. It was heard over 620 miles away. Tambora was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history. It directly or indirectly caused the death of millions of people. In the immediate area, the pyroclastic flow alone killed more than 10,000 people in its path and the tsunamis it created killed many more. Most significantly for our story, it resulted in two years of terrible harvests around the world, due to 200 million tons of sulphur dioxide floating around the stratosphere. The sulphur stopped sunlight from reaching the earth's surface, lowering overall temperatures, destroying crops and killing fauna and flora over a large area.
The Artist - Iris Keyworth
A brief description of me - Iris Keyworth nee Turner, descendent of the Revolutionaries, retired designer. I have been a member of Matlock Artists Society for seventeen years.
3. Meeting at the Crown and Anchor
A second reason for the revolution was the growing acknowledgement for the need for political reform. Only land owners had the vote and many counties had no representation. The push for political reform had been gathering momentum for a number of years; as more and more people realised that the current system of representation was flawed and, in some areas, corrupt. Thomas Bacon, a veteran of the Napoleonic wars, and a framework knitter living in Pentrich, was active in the reform meetings. He travelled to various meetings around the Midlands and the North and reported back that men from Yorkshire, Nottingham and elsewhere were planning to march on London and overthrow the government. (After the Pentrich Rising was put down, the call for reform was temporarily silenced and it was to be almost 20 years before reform was achieved.)
The Artist - Mick Pollard
My name is Michael (Mick) Pollard I live in Ilkeston and now retired, I paint in watercolour which suits my style of painting, I paint Harbours, Buildings, Landscapes and Wildlife. My favourite wildlife subjects are Butterflies and Birds, I am a member of the RSPB and Butterfly Conservation, I have painted all 52 British Butterflies in their natural habitat, they were painted over a period of about 3 years painting them between my other subjects, I have also painted several pet portraits.
4. Mill Yard, Cromford
A third reason for the revolution was the continuation of the Industrial Revolution. The effects of new manufacturing processes using machines affected Derbyshire, and in particular the Cromford and Derwent Mills, causing a loss of work in specialised framework knitting, taking the jobs of most of the local people. This created a rise in cheap labour through the use of children and women, with the knock on effect of putting the main earners out of work. Framework knitters were earning less in 1817 than in 1800. The industrialisation of the workforce also meant many men, women and children had to travel to work as opposed to working from home. This caused much discontent to the framework knitters, such that some workers took to framebreaking which had become a capitol offence and resulted in the death penalty. Butterley Engineering also industrialised the metalwork industry in our area.
The Artist - Ruth Gray
Ruth Gray graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in International Fashion Business from Nottingham Trent University and for the last 10 years has worked as a professional artist. Her favoured materials include 'Atelier Interactive Acrylics' because they have the quality of watercolours and dry to a beautiful matt finish avoiding the harsh shine often associated with acrylic paints. She also uses mixed media in her unique depictions of urban and rural landscapes. To date, Ruth has taken part in around 100 exhibitions nationally and internationally and admits she has been very lucky to have lived and worked in some areas of outstanding natural beauty including six years in the Alpine region of Victoria, Australia and currently resides just south of the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire.
5. Dun me best dad, but glad you're 'ome
The fourth reason for the revolution was the end of the Napoleonic wars. The UK had 747,670 men under arms between 1792 and 1815, and had about 250,000 personnel in the Royal navy, all of whom needed to be armed and clothed. After the war ended, production of weapons and military clothing was significantly cut back, causing loss of work in these areas. Another problem was that at the end of the Napoleonic wars, those soldiers who survived found an economic crisis at home and very few jobs to return to. At this time all responsibility for poor relief fell on parish authorities. The Speenhamland system, intended to reduce rural poverty, dated from 1795. This was a 'top-up system' based on the price of a loaf of bread and the number of children in the household. In practice, the wages of those in work, especially in agriculture, remained low, as employers left it to the parish authorities to augment starvation wages.
The Artist - Betty Norton
I've always loved painting, and I have lived in Derbyshire for almost 40 years. Much of my work is inspired by this beautiful county. I work in most media, Pastels, Oils, Watercolours, Acrylics etc, and my work can be seen locally. At present some of it is at the Derby Royal Hospital. I run regular painting classes, and workshops. The end of the Napoleonic wars, soldiers arriving back in England after the wars. I've tried to depict the result of the volcanic eruption, resulting in a year without a summer, no crops, poverty and misery. (A young lad tried to look after the family, while his dad was away).
6. Look, no crops, the baskets empty what now
The crop failure in 1816 and 1817 occurred because of the 200 million tons of sulphur dioxide in the stratosphere from the Tambora Volcanic eruption. Dust and ash from this eruption travelled the globe. In 1816 there was still snow on the ground in June and frosts were recorded in Canada and England for every month of the year. 1816 was named 'The year without a summer'. On top of this food shortage, the British government also added a tax on the price of imported corn (corn laws), raising the price of food and making bread unaffordable for many. This was mainly to insure that landowners did not suffer, but meant many working people in the countryside whose lifestyle depended on farming were thrown out of work.
The Artist - Eileen Harris
(awaiting further details)
7. Lord Castlereagh and the 1st Viscount Sidmouth meet their spy Oliver
The fifth reason for the revolution was the use of government spies, particularly William Oliver. In 1816, disturbances, discontent and radical ideas were festering everywhere. Working class people were under pressure and hungry. Soldiers back from the Napoleonic wars demanded their old jobs back. Talk of rebellion was rife. The government solved the problem of how to find out what was going on by using spies. This centuries-old approach saw government agents and, in many instances agents provocateurs, who were paid for results. The inscrutable William Oliver, the villain of the piece, is seen here with Lord Castlereagh and Lord Sidmouth. His actions caused the men from Pentrich and the north to rise, to the extent that the government set the date of the rising! Oliver delivered working class men to prison, transportation and even the gallows.
The Artist - Jayne Thynne
I went to Epsom and Ewell School of Art [foundation course] then Newport College of Art [Dip A D].plus Chelsea School of Art [H Dip A D], then Brighton Uni. [Art Teachers' Certificate]. I then came up to Derbyshire and taught Art at Swanwick Hall School for 36 years. I now am the Art co-ordinator of Ripley and District U3A, which I enjoy. I have exhibited prints at a Swedish Print exhibition and of course my degree shows, but not much else, teaching and bringing up children didn't leave me much energy for my own work.
8. Making pikes in Thorp Woods
This painting represents the Derbyshire hamlet of Fritchley. According to the depositions of the trial, the young men of the villages of Pentrich and South Wingfield took the job of making the pikes for the revolution. These young men were seen collecting the shafts for the pikes and carrying them from Thorp Wood near Crich where Benjamin & Joseph Massey, James, Benjamin & Joseph Taylor and Isaac Ludlam Jnr. Men witnessed making pikes were Isaac & William Ludlam, Benjamin & Joseph Massey, James Taylor, Edward Turner. Men seen sharpening them were James Weightman, Alexander Johnson & Charles Booth. William Ludlam took a quantity of pike heads to James Taylors from Edward Taylor. The completed pikes were stored in Isaac Ludlam Snrs Coalburn Quarry.
The Artist - Mick Orpin
My name is Mick Orpin, I was born in Arnold, Nottingham 70 years ago. My interest in painting began when I was at Secondary School, but when I left school at 15 work, then married life came along and painting got put on the shelf. We moved to Derbyshire 12 years ago when I retired, and with time on my hands my wife suggested I take up painting again. So along with my other interest in steam engines, both real and model variety, I find my time pretty well occupied.
9. Jeremiah Brandreth, Stockinger and Nottingham Captain
This artist's impression represents the town of Sutton in Ashfield, home to Jeremiah Brandreth, who made stockings by trade. He was also very radical, taking over leadership of the Pentrich Rising at the last minute from the aging Thomas Bacon. Jeremiah had two small children with a third on the way, and knew what the consequences of being involved could be. So taking on leadership of this uprising must have been a difficult decision for him. Jeremiah had been a reservist in the 28th North Gloucestershire Regiment of foot, an elite regiment during the Napoleonic War, before he absconded and returned to Nottinghamshire. Whilst in the army he had witnessed the hanging of Colonel Despard and six guardsmen on February 21st 1803 in London. Despard had conspired to assassinate King George III and overthrow the Bank of England, he was convicted of High Treason. It was possibly Jeremiah's military training and experience that made him a prime candidate to lead the Pentrich Revolution fourteen years later.
The Artist - Roger Morton
Roger Morton was born at Leeds in 1951. Art education at Wakefield Tech., Sunderland Polytechnic(Fine Art) and Birmingham School of Art Education. Taught art in Nottinghamshire comprehensive schools 1974-2006. Has exhibited work widely and has work in public and private collections. Has lived in Sutton-in-Ashfield since 1974.
10. The Beginning of the End
This artist's impression represents the City of Nottingham Much of the planning for the Pentrich revolution took place in Nottingham in public houses like The Sun Inn, the Plough, The Punchbowl, the Rose Inn, The Golden Fleece, the Sir Isaac Newton, the Three Salmons and the Blackamoors Head, where Oliver the spy stayed on his visit to Nottingham. Most of the literature supporting reform which was written in this area at the time came from Nottingham, including The Nottingham Review. At least twenty of the revolutionaries who were captured on 10 June were kept in the Shire Hall on High Pavement prior to their trial. The convicted men ate better while in prison than they had before being arrested
The Artist - Mandy-Jayne Ahlfors
Mandy-Jayne Ahlfors© Award Winning Artist Artist Just loving Art Iconic Faces & Places, thoughts & memories & natures wonders Details of the Fine Art Limited Edition Print:Art By Mandy-Jayne Ahlfors© Title: The Beginning of The End.Limited Edition Fine Art Prints Signed & Numbered Certificate of Authenticity. Mounted Price £175 (Price as of 2016) 20% of every purchase of The Fine Art Limited Edition Prints will be funded to The Pentrich Revolution Book.