
The Merthyr Rising, also referred to as the Merthyr Riots, of 1831 was the violent climax to many years of simmering unrest among the large
working class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
population of
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...
in
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
and the surrounding area. The Rising marked the first time the
red flag was used a symbol of working class rebellion in the United Kingdom.
Beginnings
Throughout May 1831 the coal miners and others who worked for
William Crawshay, took to the streets of Merthyr Tydfil, calling for reform, protesting against the lowering of their wages and general unemployment. Gradually the protest spread to nearby industrial towns and villages and by the end of May the whole area was in rebellion, and it is believed that for the first time the
red flag of revolution was flown as a symbol of workers' revolt.
Events
After storming Merthyr town, the rebels sacked the local debtors' court and the goods that had been collected. Account books containing debtors' details were also destroyed. Among the shouts were cries of ('cheese and bread') and ('down with the king').
On Tuesday 1 June 1831, the protesters marched to local mines and persuaded the men on shift there to stop working and join their protest. In the meantime, the
Grey ministry had ordered in the army, with contingents of the
93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot dispatched to Merthyr Tydfil to restore control. Since the crowd was now too large to be dispersed, the soldiers were ordered to protect essential buildings and people.
On 2 June, while local employers and magistrates were holding a meeting with the
High Sheriff of Glamorgan
This page is a list of High Sheriffs of Glamorgan. Sheriffs of Glamorgan served under and were answerable to the independent Lords of Glamorgan until that lordship was merged into the crown. This is in contrast to sheriffs of the English shires w ...
at the Castle Inn, a group led by Lewis Lewis (known as , 'Lewis the hunter') marched there to demand a reduction in the price of bread and an increase in their wages. The demands were rejected, and after being advised to return to their homes, the crowd attacked the inn. Engaged by the Sutherland Highlanders, after the rioters seized some of their weapons, the troops were commanded to open fire. After a protracted struggle in which hundreds sustained injury, some fatal, the Highlanders were compelled to withdraw to
Penydarren House, and abandon the town to the protesters.
Some 7,000 to 10,000 workers marched under a
red flag, which was later adopted internationally as the symbol of communists and socialists. For four days,
magistrates
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
and
ironmaster
An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain.
The ironmaster was usually a larg ...
s were under siege in the Castle Hotel, and the protesters effectively controlled Merthyr.
[The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008.]
For eight days, Penydarren House was the sole refuge of authority. With armed insurrection fully in place in the town by 4 June, the protesters had commandeered arms and explosives, set up road-blocks, formed guerrilla detachments, and had banners capped with a symbolic loaf and dyed in blood. Those who had military experience had taken the lead in drilling the armed para-military formation, and created an effective central command and communication system.
This allowed them to control the town and engage the formal military system, including:
*Ambushing the 93rd's baggage-train on the Brecon Road, under escort of 40 of the
Glamorgan Yeomanry, driving them into the Brecon hills.
*Beating off a relief force of 100 cavalry sent from Penydarren House.
*Ambushing and disarming the Swansea Yeomanry on the Swansea Road, and throwing them back in disorder to
Neath
Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...
.
*Organising a mass demonstration against Penydarren House.
Having sent messengers, who had started strikes in Northern
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
, Neath and
Swansea Valleys, the political insurrection reached its peak. However, a number of those uninvolved had now started to flee the town under protestor control. With the protestors arranging a mass meeting for Sunday 6th, the government representatives in Penydarren House managed to split the protestors' council. When 450 troops marched to the mass meeting at Waun above Dowlais with levelled weapons, the meeting dispersed and the political protests were effectively over.
Outcome
By 7 June the government authorities had regained control of the town through force, with up to 24 of the protesters killed. Twenty-six people were arrested and put on
trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
for taking part in the political revolt. Several were sentenced to terms of imprisonment, others sentenced to
penal transportation
Penal transportation (or simply transportation) was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies bec ...
to Australia, and two were sentenced to
death by hanging – Lewis Lewis () for Robbery and Richard Lewis () for stabbing a soldier (Private Donald Black of the Highland Regiment) in the leg with a seized
bayonet
A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...
.
Lewsyn yr Heliwr's sentence was downgraded to a life sentence and
penal transportation
Penal transportation (or simply transportation) was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies bec ...
to Australia after one of the police officers who had tried to disperse the crowd testified that he had tried to shield him from the attack. He was transported aboard the vessel ''John'' in 1832 and died 6 September 1847 in
Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie, sometimes shortened to Port Mac and commonly locally nicknamed Port, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane, on the Tasman Sea coast at the mouth of the ...
, New South Wales.
Following this reprieve, the Grey ministry was determined that at least one civil rights protestor should die as an example of what had happened. However, the people of Merthyr Tydfil were convinced that Richard Lewis (Dic Penderyn) was not responsible for the stabbing, and 11,000 signed a petition demanding his release. Nevertheless, the government refused, and Richard Lewis was hanged at
Cardiff Market on August 13, 1831.
In 1874, a Congregational minister,
the Rev. Evan Evans, said that a man called Ianto Parker had given him a death-bed confession, saying that he had stabbed Donald Black and then fled to America fearing capture by the authorities.
James Abbott, a hairdresser from Merthyr Tydfil who had testified at Penderyn's trial, later said that he had lied under oath, claiming that he had been instructed to do so by
Lord Melbourne.
Legacy
In 2015,
Welsh Labour
Welsh Labour (), formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales (), is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a p ...
MP
Ann Clwyd presented a petition to the House of Commons calling for Dic Penderyn to be posthumously pardoned, stating that there was "strong feeling in Wales that Richard Lewis - Dic Penderyn - was wrongly executed."
In creative works
In 1922,
Lewis Davies wrote a novel, ''Lewsyn yr Heliwr'', inspired by the events of the Merthyr Riot of 1831. The novel won the National Eisteddfod, Caernarfon, 1921. The novel was published by Hughes and Son, Wrexham in 1922.
Meic Stevens' song "Dic Penderyn" on his 1972 album celebrates Richard Lewis.
The Men They Couldn't Hang recorded "Ironmasters" in 1985, which refers to the rising and its aftermath.
Since 2013, a music festival named after the rising has been held annually in Merthyr to promote working class culture and social justice in arts.
In 2015, stylist Charlotte James and photographer Tom Johnson published a series titled Merthyr Rising, showcasing residents of the town.
Radical singer-songwriter
David Rovics
David Stefan Rovics ( ; born April 10, 1967) is an American indie singer/songwriter. His music concerns both topical subjects such as the 2003 Iraq war, anti-globalization, anarchism, and social justice issues, and also labor history. R ...
included a song about the Merthyr Rising, entitled "Cheese and Bread", in the 2018 album ''Ballad of a Wobbly''.
The musical "My Land's Shore" by Robert Gould and Christopher J Orton centres on the riots. It was performed at the
Bloomsbury Theatre by the
University College London
University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
Musical Theatre society in February 2022.
The 2022 poetry anthology '' / Uprising'' contained two poems about Dic Penderyn and the Merthyr Rising.
In 2024,
Ferocious Dog released a song titled "Merthyr Rising" in their album Kleptocracy.
See also
*
List of riots
*
Trade unions in the United Kingdom
References
{{reflist
External links
Old Merthyr Tydfil: Dic Penderyn and the Merthyr Rising- Historical Photographs and Information Relating to the Merthyr Rising.
1831 in Wales
1831 riots
June 1831
Food riots
Coal in Wales
Riots and civil disorder in Wales
Working class in the United Kingdom
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
Mass murder in 1831
1831 murders in the United Kingdom
19th-century mass murder in the United Kingdom