Short answers, pulled from the story.
Ned Ludd was a fictional figurehead of the Luddites who allegedly smashed two knitting frames in 1779 near Anstey. The story claims he acted after being whipped for idleness or taunted by local youths, though no independent evidence exists to verify this tale.
Organized frame-breakers adopted King Ludd or Captain Ludd as their mythical leader and founder by 1812. Letters and proclamations signed by Ned Ludd circulated among the movement during the early 1810s across England.
Authorities arrested hundreds of participants between 1811 and 1813 for destroying machinery they believed threatened their livelihoods. Courts sentenced many men to transportation or execution for their actions while government forces deployed troops to suppress the unrest throughout the Midlands region.
Robert Calvert released Ned Ludd on his 1985 album Freq while Steeleye Span included a five-part section about Ned Ludd on their 2006 album Bloody Men. Neil Hannon referenced the figure in You'll Never Work in This Town Again from Office Politics released in 2019 and Italian band Ludd Rising! continues the tradition from Rome.
Edmund Cooper set The Cloud Walker in 1973 where a hammer became a divine symbol representing Ned Ludd as a messianic figure. Edward Abbey dedicated The Monkey Wrench Gang published in 1975 to Ned Ludd and David Liss created Ned Ludd as a character in The Twelfth Enchantment novel released in 2011.