Reginald James Blewitt (1799–1878) was a British MP. He built up the ''Monmouthshire Merlin'' newspaper and refurbished

Llantarnam Abbey Llantarnam Abbey is a Grade II*-listed abbey of the Sisters of St Joseph of Annecy and a former Cistercian monastery located in Llantarnam, Cwmbran in the county borough of Torfaen in southeast Wales. History It was founded as a daughter house ...

Biography

Blewitt was born in 1799 to Edward and Amelia Blewitt. His father was descended from the powerful Morgan family of Newport. In 1827 Blewitt published a satirical poem that was published as a 106-page book about the characters of the

Chancery Court The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

. Blewitt obtained ownership of

which had historically been a Catholic home for centuries. Blewitt restored the abbey as his home in 1836. In 1837, he was elected as an M.P. for the Monmouthshire Boroughs.

Newport Uprising

Blewitt played a minor role in the

Newport Rising The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rising in Wales, by Chartists whose demands included democracy and the right to vote with a secret ballot. On Monday 4 November 1839, approximately 4,000 Chartist sympathisers, under the le ...

when three groups of

Chartists Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, w ...

descended onto Newport to release from custody a fellow chartist. Two of the groups arrived at the Hotel in Newport and they were turned back by armed soldiers who fired on the rioters. The third group from

Pontypool Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970. Location It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ...

led by William Jones was too late and it had been met on the road by Blewitt who cautioned the men against insurrection. Blewitt was a well known critic of Chartism via his Newport paper. However the group continued and only scattered after they were told of the chartists shot dead and wounded in Newport. Meanwhile, Blewitt had travelled through Caerleon to the site of the riot where he took over the role of Mayor as he had been wounded. Jones and two others were eventually

transported ''Transported'' is an Australian convict melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It is considered a lost film. Plot In England, Jessie Grey is about to marry Leonard Lincoln but the evil Harold Hawk tries to force her to marry him and she w ...

for their part in the uprising.

Cwmbran iron works

The growth of the iron works at Cwmbran in the middle of the nineteenth century was due to Blewitt's ownership. In 1847 he was establishing a patent for a method of creating malleable iron. This iron works continued as a major employer in the area until 1970.

Politician, journalist and writer

Blewitt had financial trouble in 1851. His effort to have his seat taken over by a shipping entrepreneur named

William Schaw Lindsay William Schaw Lindsay (19December 181528August 1877) was a British merchant and shipowner who was the Liberal Member of Parliament for Tynemouth and North Shields from 1854 to 1859 and for Sunderland from 1859 until his resignation on grounds o ...

was unsuccessful. Blewitt resigned from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in March 1852 recommending Lindsay as his successor, but it was

Crawshay Bailey Crawshay Bailey (1789 – 9 January 1872) was an English industrialist who became one of the great iron-masters of Wales. Early life Bailey was born in 1789 in Great Wenham, Suffolk, the son of John Bailey, of Wakefield and his wife Susannah. ...

who took the seat. It was Blewitt who created the ''Monmouthshire Merlin'' which grew to have the largest circulation in Wales in 1854, despite the

Monmouthshire Beacon The ''Monmouthshire Beacon'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper covering the areas of Monmouthshire, south Herefordshire and western Gloucestershire. It has been in continuous publication since 1837. Since 1980 the newspaper has been part of the ...

targeting him personally. The ''Beacon'' had been organised several years after the ''Merlin'', started by Sir Joseph Bailey and other Monmouthshire conservatives, and it embarrassed other newspapers with the ferocity of its attacks on Blewitt. However Blewitt described anonymously

Octavius Morgan Charles Octavius Swinnerton Morgan DL, JP, FRS, FSA (15 September 1803 – 5 August 1888), known as Octavius Morgan, was a British politician, historian and antiquary. He was a significant benefactor to the British Museum. Background and ...

, who was a fellow M.P. and distant cousin, as flippant "in his youth", overbearing, arrogant, short, squeaky voiced and effeminate.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blewitt, Reginald James 1799 births 1878 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 Whig (British political party) MPs for Welsh constituencies