Annual graveside ceremony for Kintbury Martyr, executed in 1831

A small congregation gathered at St Mary's Church, Kintbury, yesterday at noon to commemorate the death of a local folk hero.

William Winterbourne, born 1798, was executed at Reading Gaol on January 11, 1831, for his leading role in the agricultural 'Swing Riots' of 1830.

The commemoration came at an apt time considering the ongoing disputes between the state and trade unions today.

Rural life in the 1830s was far from idyllic. Poverty wages, new agricultural machinery and the third bad harvest in succession all added to the common labourer's plight. By mid-November 1830, rioting across the South of England had spread into West Berkshire.

The authorities soon quashed the uprising. Around 134 men from Kintbury, Hungerford and the Aldermaston area were dealt various sentences, some up to 14 years imprisonment in the penal colonies.

The three Kintbury ringleaders – Alfred Darling, William Oakley and William Winterbourne – were sentenced to death. But only Winterbourne ended up facing the hangman's noose, even though no deaths had resulted from the riots.

Now, 192 years later, local parishioners, representatives of the Museum of English Rural Life and descendants of Winterbourne himself gathered to commemorate his death.

Parish safeguarding officer Teresa Lock delivered a short account of the rioting in Kintbury and their legacy. One attendee proceeded to read a passage from Norman Fox's book, From Berkshire to Botany Bay, which was followed by a song recounting Winterbourne's story.

Rosemary and forget-me-nots were also laid at his grave.

As the clock struck 12 – the time Winterbourne was hung – the rains came down and everyone bowed their heads in prayer.

"It is such a unique piece of our local history," said licensed lay minister, Jenny Veasey. "To have living descendants attend the ceremony brings the history to life and reminds us he is not just a random name on a gravestone."

Ms Lock also spoke on the subject after conducting her own research. "What MP Charles Dundas (of Barton Court) said in Parliament did not always translate to the locality," she said.

Charles Dundas mustered troops to capture the ringleaders who were bound for Newbury.

She further argues that the Rev Fulwar Craven Fowle – whose brother was engaged to Jane Austen's older sister – has become unjustly vilified since the riots despite arranging for Winterbourne's body to be returned to Kintbury and buried in the churchyard with a proper headstone – sparing him the indignity of an unmarked grave at Reading Gaol.

One theory why the authorities singled out Winterbourne for capital punishment suggests the 'captain' designation he gained was responsible.

"It is such a wonderful occasion," said Michael Winterbourne, a descendent of William Winterbourne. "We would love to see a film made about him."

The congregation will meet again the same time next year, as it has done every year since Winterbourne's grave was re-discovered in 1984.