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Merthyr Rising
Date1–6 June, 1831
Location
Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Casualties
Death(s)24+
Injuries70+
Arrested28+

The Merthyr Rising involved several days of work stoppage and violence in the area surrounding Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, in 1831. The Rising was the culmination of years of simmering unrest among the town's working class population, occurring just after the 1831 United Kingdom general election.

Violent protest erupted in Merthyr on 1 June, with soldiers of the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot clashing with crowds of angered workers. More soldiers were ordered upon the town, and the workers held it for four days until they were defeated. At least 24 protestors were killed, over 70 were injured, and four were transported to Australia. One man was hanged for his part: Richard Lewis, a young coal miner, is often considered a martyr and was given the name Dic Penderyn by the town.

Within weeks of the end of the Merthyr Rising, the first trade union lodges had appeared within Wales.

Background[edit]

In 1830, members of the Swing Riots, a similar uprising in southern England, protested for better wages and working conditions.[1] The riots encouraged the demand for reform, resulting in the 1830 and 1831 general elections.[2] After Whig prime minister Earl Grey failed to get the Parliamentary Reform Bill through Parliament in March 1831, the latter election was called.[3] The election was fought and won by Grey on the idea of reform.[4]

Since the Industrial Revolution, a large part of Merthyr's workforce was employed at the various ironworks of the town.[5] Charles K. Hyde suggested that the ironworks produced a yearly total of 40,000 tons of pig iron in the years around 1810.[6]: 122  The owner of Cyfarthfa Ironworks, William Crawshay II, was allegedly the largest ironmaster in the British Empire, and John Edwards-Vaughan presented a March 1819 parliamentary petition on his behalf against coal taxes.[7]

In 1816, a violent general strike occurred in the South Wales Coalfield due to rising food costs and lower wages. Ironworks owners in Merthyr, such as Crawshay, went into hiding;[8]: 76–77  on 19 October, soldiers were called in to disperse over 8,000 workers who had assembled outside Merthyr's Castle Hotel.[9][10]

Before the Rising[edit]

1829 – Falling wages and rising tensions[edit]

William Crawshay II, owner of Cyfarthfa Ironworks

In early 1829, the price of pig iron fell to £3.63 from £7.50 in 1825,[6]: 137  forcing Merthyr's ironworks to lower workers' wages.[8]: 88  William Crawshay II was the last ironmaster to lower wages, although he still paid higher than the rival ironworks of Penydarren, Dowlais, and Plymouth.[8]: 90  Following the decrease in wages, the use of the truck system increased and Dowlais' John Josiah Guest attempted to remain charitable,[8]: 91  involving himself in local affairs:[11]: 10  he built a school, a church, and housing for his community of workers.[8]: 38 

By September of that year, debt had increased within the town's working class, and the Court of Requests was required to give more credit to struggling workers.[8]: 89  Further wage cuts and the closure of a quarter of the town's furnaces continued to hit throughout the year, forcing ironworkers and shopkeepers further into debt and at risk of their belongings being seized. The Court of Requests was strongly criticised for its harsh actions in seizing property, though little could be done: the Court was too powerful for any formal complaints to succeed.[8]: 89  However, the workers' anger towards the Court pushed them towards the need to reform.[8]: 90 

1830 – Crawshay/Unitarian alliance[edit]

Edward Littleton, MP for Staffordshire

In 1830, Crawshay began to take an active part in local politics, chairing parish meetings and allowing Joseph Coffin, the Unitarian president of the Court of Requests, to become churchwarden.[8]: 91  Coffin had previously been overseer of the poor from 1812, and was responsible for lowering relief in various acts of retrenchment.[12]: 195  At the same time, the poor rate had begun to climb from three shillings and sixpence,[8]: 91  and on 16 March, Edward Littleton presented his anti-truck bill to the Commons.[13] Littleton stated that the accompanying petitions had more than 20,000 signatures from "practical administrators of the law, and merchants engaged in business".[14] With the truck system seen as a serious threat to Crawshay and Plymouth's Anthony Hill, due to its prominence in Dowlais and Penydarren, they began to set up petitions against it;[15] from this formed Crawshay's alliance with the Unitarian democrats who opposed truck.[8]: 92 

While Joseph Hume defended Dowlais' reliance on truck in the Commons, Littleton was assisted by many "radicals" in his pursuits against it: Hill and Crawshay supplied anti-truck evidence; Job James, a former naval surgeon and a member of one of Merthyr's most influential Unitarian families,[11]: 14–15  supplied medical evidence;[8]: 58–59  William Milburne James (again of the James family)[8]: 92  and Edward Lewis Richards, of Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn respectively, gave the MP legal assistance. In June, Richards published an attack in The Cambrian on truck-using ironmasters like Dowlais' John Josiah Guest, while also praising Crawshay and Hill.[8]: 92  Both Richards and Guest were Freemasons and members of Loyal Cambrian Lodge No.110, with Guest being appointed Worshipful Master in 1840.[16]

The summer months were disastrous for the town: Dowlais and Penydarren both shut down furnaces, and Crawshay's parish reforms collapsed as Merthyr ran out of poor relief. Anger against the Court of Requests returned and ironworkers like Crawshay, whose profits were considerably down, considered parliamentary action against it.[8]: 92 

John Josiah Guest, Member of Parliament and owner of Dowlais Ironworks

On 18 September, the anti-truck radicals returned with an article in The Cambrian,[17] written by "XYZ" (assumed to be William Milburne James) and supported by "E" (Edward Lewis Richards), which criticised William Thomas the Court, a leading Merthyr Tory, and the town's "truck-doctors".[8]: 92–93  Specifically, it pointed out the single surgeon who was responsible for serving five ironworks (Dowlais, Penydarren, Plymouth, Rhymney and Bute) and his inability to care for such a wide-reaching area of patients.[8]: 93  The article was met with a series of retorts from "ABC" and "ET",[18][19] attacking Job James' credibility as a doctor and criticising the radical texts of Paine and Cobbett that James had distributed.[8]: 93  Colonel Brotheron himself described the radical thoughts of The Cambrian article as being "much dangerous trash" in their attempts to stir up violence.[8]: 94  He suggested that Cobbett's Twopenny Trash, which James had given out,[8]: 92  had a monthly circulation of almost two hundred, which showed the prominence of radical thought in Merthyr.[8]: 94 

The final few months of the year were marked with political discussion and public demonstrations: Crawshay was motivated again to fight against the truck system, and his London connections worked to support Littleton's parliamentary bill. On 13 November, William Milburne James chaired a meeting in the parish church in which he condemned the truck system and put forth a parliamentary petition which gained 5,000 signatures.[8]: 94  By the end of November, the radicals had received over 9,000 votes on a separate petition against the Corn Laws: while Crawshay had backed the earlier petition against the truck system, he was an adamant supporter of the Corn Laws because "he that knocks down corn knocks down iron". However, John Josiah Guest supported the anti-Corn Law petition due to his belief in free trade, which the Corn Laws would stop.[8]: 95  The petition was presented to parliament on 19 November.[20]

On 6 December, Lord Gower presented his anti-truck petition to the House of Lords.[21] On 14 December,[22] Littleton's bill had its second reading in Parliament and was supported by Crawshay and Hill's petitions. Guest, who was then MP for Honiton, proved that Dowlais' workers largely supported the truck system despite any complaints.[8]: 94 

On 23 December, the radicals called a meeting at the Bush Inn: due to 800 people attending they relied upon Joseph Coffin letting them use the parish church instead.[8]: 95  Several prominent members of the local area spoke in support of the radicals and parliamentary reform, including: Christopher James, the patriarch of the Unitarian James family;[11]: 14  E. L. Hutchins, Guest's own nephew;[8]: 95  and Dr David Rees, the former Unitarian minister.[8]: 96  David John, the current Unitarian minister and "father of Chartists",[8]: 74  launched a tirade against bishops for their lack of support for the poor, and read passages from Wade's Black Book. John's words were not received well by all, due to his strong anti-clerical views; some walked out from the meeting and others threatened action against him.[8]: 96 

1831 – We're almost there now[edit]

By February, Crawshay's Unitarian allies held power over most parts of Merthyr: after complaints of corrupt constables, the Unitarians tried them for blackmail and harassment; when the poor rate went over 5 shillings, they threatened the parish clerk with dismissal.[8]: 96 

On 1 March, the Reform Bill was presented to the Commons and published: while it was not exactly what the radicals had hoped for, they supported it nonetheless.[8]: 97 

A week later on 9 March, Taliesin Williams and the James brothers called a meeting to conduct a private census of the town. After gathering population and housing information from Merthyr's 27,000 people, they prepared a petition for Guest to submit in support of reform.[8]: 97  (ALSO SEE pages 182 and 201)

On 8 April, a general meeting was called to discuss the idea of Merthyr being given a parliamentary seat, with radicals and ironmasters attending, alongside J. B. Bruce, a land-owning Tory in Aberdare,[8]: 50  and William Thomas the Court.[8]: 97 

Meeting on the Waun[edit]

The Rising[edit]

Aftermath[edit]

In order to prevent any further disorder, the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot set up a barracks in Dowlais.[8]: 37 

Anti-truck sentiments continued within the town even after the Rising: in January 1832, Christopher James founded the Society for the Abolition of the Truck System in a town meeting, raising over £200 from the outset.[8]: 95 

Parliamentary Representation[edit]

On 14 March 1832, John Wood presented parliament with a petition from the people of Merthyr, calling for parliamentary representation.[23]

After Guest was elected the first MP for Merthyr, he closed his truck shop within Dowlais ironworks.[8]: 95 

Legacy[edit]

According to the historian John Davies, the Merthyr Rising was the "most bloody event in the history of industrial Britain",[24]: 366  outnumbering the Peterloo Massacre twelve years earlier. The Rising is often seen as the first instance of the red flag being used in Britain.[25]

Penderyn pardon[edit]

Main article: Dic Penderyn § Campaign for a pardon

In the years since the Rising, there have been several unsuccessful calls for Dic Penderyn to receive a posthumous pardon. On 30 June 2015, Cynon Valley) MP Ann Clwyd presented a petition in the House of Commons, arguing there was a "strong feeling in Wales that [he] was wrongly executed" and he should "be granted a pardon".[26] Stephen Kinnock, MP for Aberavon, has also called for a pardon and delivered a petition to the Ministry of Justice in July 2016.[27]

Some experts, such as former South Wales Police chief superintendent Gerry Toms, have maintained that Penderyn was guilty of the crimes and should not be pardoned, but as a "symbolic figure [he] will always be a hero for many people".[28]

Popular culture[edit]

In August 2006, BBC Cymru Wales aired a documentary on BBC One called Crimesolver:Dic Penderyn - Hero or Villain? which explored the story of Dic Penderyn and the Merthyr Rising in general.[29]

In 2013, a musical festival named after the Rising was started in Merthyr Tydfil.[30] It described its aims as celebrating the "working-class culture" and "tradition of radicalism" present within the town.[31][32]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Leslie, Kim; Short, Brian (2010). An Historical Atlas of Sussex. Phillimore. pp. 74–75. ISBN 9781860771125.
  2. ^ Hammond, J. L.; Hammond, Barbara (1912). "The Last Labourers' Revolt". The Village Labourer, 1760-1832. Sutton. ISBN 9780862993450.
  3. ^ May, Erskine (1895). The Constitutional History of England Since the Accession of George the Third, 1760-1860. Armstrong. pp. 422–423. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  4. ^ Eliot, George (1994). Roberts, Doreen (ed.). Middlemarch. Wordsworth Editions. p. 689. ISBN 9781853262371. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  5. ^ Dickins, Sarah (9 May 2018). "£50m vision for Merthyr heritage tourism". BBC News. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  6. ^ a b Hyde, Charles K. (2019). Technological Change and the British Iron Industry, 1700-1870. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691656342. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  7. ^ "COAL DUTIES. (Hansard, 8 March 1819)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak Williams, Gwyn A. (1988). The Merthyr Rising. University of Wales Press. ISBN 9780708310144.
  9. ^ O'Sullivan, Caitlin (2 October 2018). "200 years ago the people of Carmarthen rioted to protect their cheese". walesonline. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  10. ^ Jones, D. J. V. (1 Dec 1966). "The Merthyr Riots of 1831". Welsh History Review. 3 (2). University of Wales Press: 173–206. ISSN 0043-2431.
  11. ^ a b c Williams, Glanmor (1966). Merthyr Politics: The Making of a Working-Class Tradition. University of Wales Press. ISBN 9780708300671. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  12. ^ Evans, Chris (1993). The Labyrinth of Flames: Work and Social Conflict in Early Industrial Merthyr Tydfil. University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0708311592.
  13. ^ "TRUCK SYSTEM. (Hansard, 16 March 1830)". api.parliament.uk.
  14. ^ "TRUCK SYSTEM. (Hansard, 17 March 1830)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  15. ^ Crawshay, William; Hill, Anthony (19 March 1830). "National Library of Wales - The Cambrian". The Cambrian. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  16. ^ "FREEMASONRYATMERTHYR - The Merthyr Express". Harry Wood Southey. 1 October 1910. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  17. ^ "THETRUCKDOCTORSYSTEM - The Cambrian". T. Jenkins. 18 September 1830. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  18. ^ "at - The Cambrian". T. Jenkins. 9 October 1830. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  19. ^ "TotheEDITORofTluCAMBRIAN - The Cambrian". T. Jenkins. 25 September 1830. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  20. ^ "MINUTES. (Hansard, 19 November 1830)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  21. ^ "IMPERIALPARLIAMENT - The Cambrian". T. Jenkins. 11 December 1830. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  22. ^ "THE TRUCK SYSTEM. (Hansard, 14 December 1830)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  23. ^ "REFORM—CASE OF MERTHYR TYDVIL. (Hansard, 14 March 1832)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  24. ^ Davies, John (1994). A History of Wales. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140145816.
  25. ^ Ward, J. T., ed. (1970). Popular Movements, c. 1830-1850. Macmillan. p. 39. ISBN 0333111370.
  26. ^ "Dic Penderyn 'wrongly executed'". BBC News. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  27. ^ James, David (26 July 2016). "Welsh working class martyr Dic Penderyn must be pardoned, says MP". walesonline. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  28. ^ "Expert's Penderyn guilty verdict". BBC News. 22 August 2006. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  29. ^ "BBC One - Crimesolver: Dic Penderyn - Hero or Villain?". BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  30. ^ "About Merthyr Rising Festival". www.merthyrrising.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  31. ^ Ings, Tomos; Mills, Ben (27 April 2018). "12 UK music festivals in summer 2018 well worth the journey". walesonline. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  32. ^ Owens, David (20 May 2015). "Merthyr Rising Festival aims to provide the perfect antitode to Skint". walesonline. Retrieved 30 January 2019.


Sources to use[edit]


Articles for style/guideline[edit]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Williams was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Davies was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jones1966 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Evans was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPolitics was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hyde2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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