Bridport’s bread riots were unusual for their times because they featured three female rioters. They were Elizabeth Phillips (25), Susan Saunders (22) and Hannah Powell (21) and all three were twine spinners. Twine spinning was part of the rope making process. The riots took place on 23rd April 1816 when hundreds of Bridport people came onto the streets to protest against the high price of bread. In the previous twelve months wheat prices had doubled with the consequential effects on bread prices. This was caused by an extremely poor harvest. Wages were particularly low in Dorset and many men returning from the Napoleonic Wars could not find employment. The weather that year was bad such that the year became known as ‘eighteen hundred and freeze to death!’ Bakers were a particular target because they had a reputation for corruption. As it was usually the women who bought bread they probably knew which bakers overcharged and provided short measure. Some of the Bridport bakers had t...