Tuxford man’s new book ‘Rogues, Vagabonds or Heroes? The story of the Rufford Park Poachers’ tells story of 18th century poachers from Sherwood Forest
After being inspired by Morris dancing songs describing the lives of poachers, a Tuxford enthusiast has brought their story to the masses.
Sam Millard’s new book ‘Rogues, Vagabonds or Heroes? The story of the Rufford Park Poachers’ goes in-depth into the lives of poachers who lived in and around the Sherwood Forest in the 19th century.
After previously publishing a booklet about the poachers some years ago, which sold out quickly and he had to leave out a lot of details and stories, Sam decided to expand on his original research, and turned it into ‘Rogues, Vagabonds or Heroes?’
Sam, a member of the Morris dancing troupe based in Retford, would dance to many songs from the 1820s, one of which described a Robin Hood-type figure from this period called Captain Swing and another about the infamous Rufford Park Poachers.
Sam explained: “Life for working class families in the early years of Queen Victoria’s reign was anything but easy. “Work was difficult to find and very poorly paid. One Nottinghamshire doctor reported that the people were, ‘ill fed and ill clothed, demoralised and living in extreme poverty’.
“Meanwhile, families were struggling to feed themselves, in the forest and heath lands of Sherwood there was an abundance of wildlife, enough to supplement any diet.
“New laws, however, made the taking of this wildlife a criminal offence that could lead to severe punishment.”
Sam’s research took him to an area off the A614 where the incident took place, and found out more information about the incident and the poachers in Rufford Abbey’s archives and Mansfield Museum to add to the information that wasn’t included in his original booklet, which grew and grew into his new book.
He found out more about the infamous incident which saw the Poachers do battle with the gamekeepers in Rufford Park estate, an incident which was reported in newspapers across the country.
A number of men were arrested and sentenced to 14 years of hard labour — but not in Australia, where many criminals were shipped off to in those days, but Bermuda, and much of the foundations of the island today were built by these men.
Sam explained: “The big question I leave the readers with is - what would you have done if you were in the poachers’ situation? Let your family starve, when there’s all this food available?
“The same can be said of the game keepers — would you have done your job and stopped the poachers, or let those families go hungry?”
‘Rogues, Vagabonds or Heroes? The story of the Rufford Park Poachers’ is available to buy from Newark National Civil War Centre Museum, Rufford Park, Mansfield Museum, and the Hub in Retford.
