The broadside below is from the Luddite period. "The movement was named after General Ned Ludd or King Ludd, a mythical figure who, like Robin Hood, was reputed to live in Sherwood Forest... The movement began in Nottingham in 1811 and spread rapidly throughout England in 1811 and 1812." wiki

--General Ludd's Triumph
Tune "Poor Jack"
Chant no more your old rhymes about bold Robin Hood,
His feats I but little admire
I will sing the Atchievements of General Ludd
Now the Hero of Nottinghamshire--

Does this not suggest that Robin Hood ballads were known, & being sung, at the time ~ 2nd decade of C19?

As I understand, though I canot recollect the source of this, the movement's name came from a somewhat mentally defective youth called Ned Lud, from Leicestershire not Notts, who destroyed his master's stocking-frames due to some grievance about his working hours{?}, & was transported; all some 30 years before the Luddites chose his name for their mythical leader. Anyone know more of this story, or can offer any explanation why his name should have been so adopted? Wiki has nothing to say on the subject in its article on the Luddites I quote above.

~M~

I know this is a bit of a drift; but seems to me relevant here, as the Robin Hood ballads, topic of this thread, are explicitly mentioned at the very beginning of that Broadside ~ IIRC sung by Roy Harris on one of his albums, and quoted in full by Teribus in a thread called 'Lyr Req: Songs of the industrial Revoloution [sic]' seven years ago, which qv if interested.