The Pentrich Rising: Jeremiah Brandreth

On the night of 9 June 1817, Jeremiah Brandreth led about 60 rebels armed with guns and makeshift pikes from Pentrich ( Derbyshire) towards Nottingham.

Jeremiah (1786-1817) was a suspected former Luddite. Born at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Jeremiah worked as a stockinger making ‘Derby ribs’. He married Ann Sutton in 1811 and six years later the family lived in Nottingham. They had two children, with another on the way.

Times were hard. Derby ribs were unfashionable and hundreds of people unemployed. Britain’s main manufacturing districts were suffering a trade slump. The working classes couldn’t vote and Parliament was indifferent to their plight.

Poverty led several groups to plot rebellion. Jeremiah and his men mistakenly believed they would be joined by uprisings in other counties. Unfortunately for the plotters, their ranks were full of government spies and their plans were known. The rebels met at Pentrich and began their fateful march. When they tried to drum up recruits, a servant was shot and killed. Mounted troops arrived, and the rebels fled, but were later arrested. Jeremiah and the others were found guilty of high treason. While in prison, Jeremiah told a magistrate: “I need not care whether I live or die, as there are no Derbyshire ribs now.” Jeremiah, Isaac Ludlam, and William Turner were hanged at Derby on 7 November 1817. Fourteen other Pentrich rebels were transported for life. The Pentrich Rebellion website has genealogies of the families involved ( bit.ly/ PentrichRG).