No one knows for sure who Ned Ludd was. This semi-
mythical figure has most often been described as a
half wit apprentice boy who smashed his employer's textile machinery in frustration or
clumsiness. He was the inspiration for, rather than the leader of, the
Luddites.
During the violent protests of the
Industrial Revolution, after a factory had been broken into and attacked industrialists would often find the names "King Ludd", "Ned Ludd", "Ludlam", or "Ludlum" scribbled on the walls. The
Luddite name stuck to the group.