Thomas Helliker (sometimes spelled Hilliker) (23 March 1784 – 22 March 1803), known as the Trowbridge Martyr, was a figure in early English trade union history who was

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

, aged 19, for his alleged role in machine-breaking at a Wiltshire woollen mill. His conviction has been challenged as controversial and faulty, and he is now regarded as a victim of anti-

Luddite The Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers who opposed the use of certain types of automated machinery due to concerns relating to worker pay and output quality. They often destroyed the machines in organ ...

sentiment.

Arrest and trial

Helliker had been employed as a shearman's colt at a woollen mill owned by a Mr Naish at

Semington Semington is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about south of Melksham and about northeast of Trowbridge. The parish includes the hamlets of Little Marsh and Littleton.Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England; situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, close to the border with Somerset. The town lies south-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, south-west of Swindon and south-east of Brist ...

in Wiltshire. As such he was close to the most highly skilled workers who stood to lose most from mechanisation and therefore were well-organised in resisting it. The workers had organised an anti-machinery mill-burning riot that destroyed the mill on 22 July 1802 and Helliker was accused of waving a pistol at a night-watchman during this attack. Heath, the tenant of the mill, witnessed this attack and gave a description similar to Helliker's to a police officer, Read; furthermore, Helliker had been heard praising the attacks on the machines. He was arrested in Trowbridge on 3 August 1802. Heath later picked him out in an identification parade although Helliker was the only mill employee in the line-up and already known to him. He was taken before the

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

s and denied the offence, however the magistrate, Mr Jones told him Despite Helliker having an alibi from his friend Joseph Warren, to the effect that they had both got drunk on the night in question and had locked themselves inside a house until the morning, he was charged and lodged in Salisbury gaol. Thomas Helliker was tried in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

despite the fact that many people at the time believed his statements that he was innocent, and tried to get him to name the actual culprit. He refused to do so; Warren failed to attend the court to support the alibi, having been taken to Yorkshire by colleagues who had felt that he would not withstand questioning. The only evidence against Helliker was that of Heath's identification, although he had also been given £500, a very large sum at that time, as a reward. Helliker's

counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...

, a Mr Garrow, failed to undermine Heath's identification, and a newspaper report of the time said Helliker was hanged on his 19th birthday; his colleagues claimed his body and carried it across

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, but st ...

back to Trowbridge. On 22 March 2003, the anniversary of his hanging was marked by a ceremony by the side of his tomb, and it was then said that

Final letter

A handwritten copy of the last letter written by Helliker (signed Hiliker) is on display at Trowbridge Museum. In 2010 it was selected as one of 100 objects in the BBC's ''A History of the World'' project, in partnership with the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and 350 museums and institutions across the country.

Tomb

Helliker's tomb is in the churchyard of

St James's Church, Trowbridge St James's Church is the main Church of England Church of England parish church, parish church for the town of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. The 15th-century Grade I listed building is the town's most prominent landmark. Those buried in the c ...

, a short distance from the town centre. A second inscription was added later:

Notes and references

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Helliker, Thomas English trade unionists 1784 births 1803 deaths