Cragg Vale Coiners

Last updated

Cragg Vale Coiners
'King' David Hartleys grave - geograph.org.uk - 1516644.jpg
Hartley family gravestone, Heptonstall; the inscription "David Hartley 1770" is legible at the top
FoundedAlso known as Yorkshire Coiners
Founded by "King" David Hartley
Founding location Cragg Vale, Hebden Royd, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Years active1760s
Territory Yorkshire
EthnicityBritish
Membership (est.)40 - 200
Criminal activitiesCounterfeiting

The Cragg Vale Coiners, sometimes the Yorkshire Coiners, were a band of counterfeiters in England, based in Cragg Vale, near Hebden Bridge, West Riding of Yorkshire. They produced debased gold coins in the late 18th century to supplement small incomes from weaving.

Contents

Activities

The Dusty Miller public house, Mytholmroyd, where the Coiners often met; it was here that they plotted the murder of William Dighton. Dusty Miller public house, Mytholmroyd - geograph.org.uk - 36393.jpg
The Dusty Miller public house, Mytholmroyd, where the Coiners often met; it was here that they plotted the murder of William Dighton.

Led by "King" David Hartley, the Coiners obtained real coins from publicans, sometimes on the promise that they could "grow" the investment by smelting the original metals with base ores. They "clipped" the edges of genuine coins, leaving them only very slightly smaller, and collected the shavings. They then melted down the shavings to produce metal for counterfeits. Designs were punched into the blank "coins" with a hammer and a "coining kit". The coiners then had their accomplices place the fakes into circulation. Most of the counterfeit coins had French, Spanish or Portuguese designs.

The success of the Cragg Coiners was in part due to the remoteness of the isolated region of Yorkshire where they operated.

Downfall

In 1769, William Dighton (or Deighton), a public official, investigated the possibilities of a counterfeiting gang in Cragg Vale. A coiner by the name of James Broadbent betrayed the gang by turning King's evidence and revealing the gang's existence and operations to authorities. Dighton had Hartley arrested.

Isaac Hartley, "King" David's brother, engineered a plan to have Dighton murdered, with a number of coiners subscribing a total of 100 guineas in support of the plan. On 10 November 1769, two farm hands employed by the Coiners, Matthew Normanton and Robert Thomas, ambushed Dighton in Halifax and shot him dead in Bull Close Lane.

Charles Watson-Wentworth (the Marquess of Rockingham and former Prime Minister) was tasked with hunting down the killers. He had 30 coiners arrested by Christmas Day. David Hartley was hanged at 'York Tyburn' near York on 28 April 1770, and buried in the village of Heptonstall, West Riding of Yorkshire. [1] His brother Isaac escaped the authorities and lived until 1815. Dighton's murderers were also caught [1] and hanged, Thomas on 6 August 1774 and Normanton on 15 April 1775.

Known members

Bell House, home of David Hartley Bell House, Cragg Vale - geograph.org.uk - 26496.jpg
Bell House, home of David Hartley

Other Coiners included John Wilcock, Thomas Clayton, Matthew Normanton, Thomas Spencer and James Oldfield.

The Cragg Coiners were the subject of a children's novel Gold Pieces by Phyllis Bentley. The story is seen through the eyes of a fictitious 12-year-old boy who lives nearby and who befriends the son of David Hartley. All the places and the main characters such as David Hartley and William Dighton are given their real names. Gold Pieces was reprinted in 2007.

The story of the gang was used as a basis in the independently published graphic novel, The Last Coiner , written by Peter M. Kershaw. [2] [3] David Hartley is renamed "David Hawksworth" and is portrayed, through manipulated photography, by the actor Keith Patrick.

The Chumbawamba song, "Snip Snip Snip", from the album Shhh, is inspired by the story of the Cragg Coiners.

The story of the coiners is told in a song called "King of the Coiners" written by UK singer/songwriter/guitarist Steve Tilston published in his 2008 album Ziggurat.

During a 2016 episode of the BBC's Last Tango in Halifax , the story was part of an evening dinner conversation at Caroline McKenzie-Dawson's (played by Sarah Lancashire) new house. One of the characters (Harry played by Paul Copley) retold the story of the Cragg Vale Coiners and mentioned that Matthew Turnton was known to haunt the house.

The story of David Hartley and the Coiners is the subject of a researched novel entitled The Gallows Pole by author Ben Myers, published in 2017. It received a Roger Deakin award for writing concerned with "natural history, landscape and environment" and won the Walter Scott Prize 2018. [4] The novel has been translated into several languages. Director Shane Meadows adapted the novel as a BBC television drama, co-produced by Element Pictures and A24, [5] first broadcast on BBC Two on 31 May 2023. [6] The popularity of the series led to a large surge in visitors to the nearby large village of Mytholmroyd, and the smaller Heptonstall where most of the Shane Meadows series was filmed. [7]

In 2023 a stage play, The Coiner's Wife, about the Cragg Vale Coiners was written by Maurice Claypole as part of the 37 Plays project instigated by the Royal Shakespeare Company and published in February 2023. [8] [9] It focuses on the story of Grace Hartley, wife of "King" David Hartley. According to a synopsis, [9] the play presents the events from a woman's point of view. "The Coiner's Wife" is to be performed at The Halifax Playhouse in July 2024. [10]

Related Research Articles

David was the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mytholmroyd</span> Village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England

Mytholmroyd is a large village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hebden Royd, in the Calderdale district, in West Yorkshire, England, 2 miles (3 km) east of Hebden Bridge. It lies in the Upper Calder Valley, 10 miles (16 km) east of Burnley and 7 miles (11 km) west of Halifax. The village, which has a population of approximately 4,000, is in the Luddendenfoot Ward of Calderdale Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heptonstall</span> Village and civil parish in West Yorkshire, England

Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack Top, is 1,448, increasing to 1,470 at the 2011 Census. The town of Hebden Bridge lies directly to the south-east. Although Heptonstall is part of Hebden Bridge as a post town, it is not within the Hebden Royd town boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hebden Bridge</span> Town in West Yorkshire, England

Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Calderdale district of West Yorkshire, England. It is in the Upper Calder Valley, 8 miles (13 km) west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden Water. The town is the largest settlement in the civil parish of Hebden Royd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calderdale</span> Metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England

Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the upper river flows, while the actual landform is known as the Calder Valley. Several small valleys contain tributaries of the River Calder. The main towns of the borough are Brighouse, Elland, Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Sowerby Bridge and Todmorden.

David Hartley may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cragg Vale</span> Village in West Yorkshire, England

Cragg Vale is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, located south of Mytholmroyd on the B6138 road which joins the A58 and the A646. The village is part of Luddendenfoot Ward of Calderdale Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counterfeit money</span> Imitation currency produced without the legal sanction of a state or government

Counterfeit money is currency produced outside of the legal sanction of a state or government, usually in a deliberate attempt to imitate that currency and so as to deceive its recipient. Producing or using counterfeit money is a form of fraud or forgery, and is illegal in all jurisdictions of the world. The business of counterfeiting money is nearly as old as money itself: plated copies have been found of Lydian coins, which are thought to be among the first Western coins. Before the introduction of paper money, the most prevalent method of counterfeiting involved mixing base metals with pure gold or silver. Another form of counterfeiting is the production of documents by legitimate printers in response to fraudulent instructions. During World War II, the Nazis forged British pounds and American dollars. Today, some of the finest counterfeit banknotes are called Superdollars because of their high quality and imitation of the real US dollar. There has been significant counterfeiting of Euro banknotes and coins since the launch of the currency in 2002, but considerably less than that of the US dollar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mytholmroyd railway station</span> Railway station in Northern England

Mytholmroyd railway station serves the communities of Mytholmroyd, Luddendenfoot, Midgley, Cragg Vale, and surrounding areas in West Yorkshire, England. It has disabled access via ramps instead of steps on both platforms, unusually as the station is built on a viaduct. It lies on the Calder Valley Line operated by Northern and is situated 7.5 miles (12 km) west of Halifax and 25 miles (40 km) west of Leeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slaidburn</span> Human settlement in England

Slaidburn is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers just over 5,000 acres of the Forest of Bowland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Meadows</span> English director, screenwriter and actor

Shane Meadows is an English director, screenwriter and actor, known for his work in independent film, most notably the cult film This Is England (2006) and its three sequels (2010–2015).

Benjamin Myers is an English writer and journalist.

Phyllis Eleanor Bentley was an English novelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halifax, West Yorkshire</span> Minster and market town in West Yorkshire, England

Halifax is a minster and market town in the metropolitan borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woollen manufacture. Halifax is the largest town in the wider Calderdale borough. Halifax was a thriving mill town during the Industrial Revolution. In 2011, it had a population of 88,134.

<i>The Last Coiner</i> Graphic novel

The Last Coiner is a graphic novel, written by RTS Award-winning filmmaker Peter M. Kershaw, with comicbook artist Vince Danks whose credits include the Torchwood Official Magazine, the independently published Harker and Critchley from Ariel Press, and Fleetway Editions Ltd. Red Dwarf Smegazine.

William Chaloner was a serial counterfeit coiner and confidence trickster, who was imprisoned in Newgate Prison several times and eventually proven guilty of high treason by Sir Isaac Newton, Warden of the Royal Mint. He was hanged on the gallows at Tyburn on 22 March 1699.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Socha</span> English actor

Michael Robert Socha is an English actor, known for his roles in the films This Is England and Summer, and the television series This Is England '86, '88, '90, Being Human, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland and the BBC Three miniseries Our World War. He is the godson of magician’s assistant Debbie McGee.

Thomas Crowther was an evangelical clergyman in the Church of England who served as perpetual curate of St John in the Wilderness at Cragg Vale from 1822 until 1859. He was a friend of the Brontë family and an outspoken critic of the working conditions for children employed in cotton factories.

The Gallows Pole is a three-part television series made for the BBC by Element Pictures, Big Arty Productions, and A24. It is a Shane Meadows adaptation of the novel of the same name by Benjamin Myers. According to Meadows, the series is a prequel to Myers's novel. It premiered on 31 May 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 "News item". Leeds Intelligencer. 10 April 1770. p. 3. ...three coiners are ordered be drawn on a ſledge to the place of execution; and 'tis ſaid the other ten will be reprieved till next aſsizes. Normanton, Folds, Thomas, and Broadbent, on ſuſpicion of murdering Mr Dighton, officer of exciſe, to remain in the caſtle till the next aſsizes. Article available from British Newspaper Archive on subscription: Archive search Article
  2. "Coiners could soon be back in Calderdale". Halifax Courier. 5 October 2006. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. Laing, Duncan (29 November 2006). "Telling the Coiners' story". BBC North Yorkshire.
  4. "Benjamin Myers wins the 2018 Walter Scott Prize". Walter Scott Prize. 1 June 2018. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019.
  5. Bley Griffiths, Eleanor (19 May 2021). "BBC announces new Shane Meadows drama The Gallows Pole, based on "the biggest fraud in British history"". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021.
  6. Richardson, Hollie; Davies, Hannah J.; Verdier, Hannah; Virtue, Graeme (31 May 2023). "TV tonight: Shane Meadows's first period drama is about the Cragg Vale Coiners". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  7. Vinter, Robyn (16 June 2023). "'Definitely a lot busier': TV show lures visitors to coin gang's Yorkshire home". The Guardian.
  8. "About". 37plays.co.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  9. 1 2 Claypole, Maurice (21 February 2023). The Coiner's Wife - A play in five acts: The untold story of Grace Hartley of Cragg Vale, wife of the infamous counterfeiter, 'King' David Hartley of the Yorkshire Coiners. LinguaBooks. ISBN   978-1-911369-62-2.
  10. http://www.halifaxplayhouse.org.uk/page_contents/2024SpringSummerBrochure.pdf