The Maldon grain riots took place in
Maldon, England in March 1629, during a time of industrial depression and poor harvests.
[John Walter, 'Grain Riots and Popular Attitudes to the Law: Maldon and the Crisis of 1629', p.49.] Starvation and high
food prices in
Essex increased the strain on the area's primarily agrarian economy.
[John Walter, 'Grain Riots and Popular Attitudes to the Law: Maldon and the Crisis of 1629', p.49.] Due to a decline in the English cloth trade in January 1629, exports of grain increased with little left for domestic consumption.
In March 1629, a group of 100-140 rioters led by one "Captain"
Ann Carter, the wife of a butcher, boarded a
Flemish grain ship and removed grain by filling their caps and gowns. The prominent involvement of women in the riot was attributed to the fact that it was common for a husband to be held legally accountable for the actions of his wife at the time.
The popular reaction to these changes in governmental organization and policy took the form of food riots.
After two weeks of attempting to prosecute the rioters, the local magistracy granted a lower purchase price of corn.
Ann Carter toured the local area after the riot to raise local support from clothing workers. A further riot on May 22 attracted the attention of the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
.
[L. J. Reeve, 'Charles I and the Road to Personal Rule', p.131.] A special commission was established, which led to the execution of
Ann Carter as a threat to the social order.
References
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External links
The Maldon Brewing Company named one of their brews after Captain Ann
History of Essex
1629 in England
Feminism and history
Food riots
Protests in England
Riots and civil disorder in England
Maldon, Essex
17th-century riots