The term Luddite now refers to a person who is afraid of or unwilling to use technology. However, the original Luddites were groups of working-class men and women protesting the advent of machinery in the UK textile trade that was making their skills obsolete and destroying their livelihoods. The name Luddite was taken from General Ned Ludd, or King Lud, a mythical figure who supposedly led the workers and whose name appeared on threatening letters sent to mill owners. The workers initially tried to air their fears and grievances through official channels but received little sympathy and no action. In order to gain some acknowledgment of their position and keep their livelihoods, they turned to breaking up the machines that were taking their jobs. Initially, great care was taken by the protestors to damage only the machines, but during 1812 and 1813 the outbreaks escalated into violence. The militia were called in, protestors were shot, and a mill owner was murdered on his way home from Huddersfield market. The government, terrified that a revolution like the “French Terror” was about to happen in England, responded with great brutality through the militia. In 1813, seventeen men were hanged (three for the murder of the mill owner) and seven men were transported. After such savage suppression, the Luddite movement more or less disbanded.

The Mercury Poisoning on the HMS Triumph and HMS Phipps, and Blue Mass Pills

The mercury poisoning on the HMS Triumph and HMS Phipps that Lord Evan mentions to Gus really did happen, although Lord Evan’s correct conclusion about the poisonous effects of ingested mercury did not occur until much later in the history of medicine. Unfortunately, the mercury-based blue mass pills and other mercury-based medicines were still being used up until the late nineteenth century, and it is even thought that Abraham Lincoln suffered from medicinal mercury poisoning from blue mass pills, which greatly affected his health and mental state.

The Sex Clubs of Georgian England