8 June 1607: The Newton rebellion against enclosure of common land

On this day in 1607, 50 people were killed when a rebellion against the enclosure of common land was quashed by landowners at Newton in Northamptonshire.

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Landowners have been enclosing fields for centuries

Enclosure fencing off common land and handing it to private landowners has been going on in England since the 1200s. It increased substantially in the Tudor period, and then again with the Enclosure Acts of the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, almost half of Britain is owned by just 0.06% of the population.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

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