#aberavon

The first time a red flag was ever flown in the name of revolution; a symbol of Welsh oppression by the Crown; a most notorious miscarriage of justice - this is the story of the Merthyr Rising and Dic Penderyn, the Martyr of Merthyr.

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Threads of Deprivation

The second war of independence was won by the Americans in February 1812, with the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent. Simultaneously with this, the Napoleonic wars were in full swing as the tensions were rising up to the famous Waterloo Campaign where Napoleon was decisively beaten bringing the wars to a close.

Fighting two wars simultaneously, whilst dealing with the trials and tribulations of the Industrial Revolution pushed Britain's government, and the populace into difficult territory.

Significant economic deprivation occurred within the twenty years as the Conservative Government attempted to balance the books through extreme austerity. High levels of unemployment was the 'norm' across Britain, significantly affecting working-class areas up and down the country. This unemployment was particularly prevalent amongst those soldiers returning from either the Napoleonic wars of the Second War of Independence.

Britons began to express their dissent, and the Government became more authoritarian as a result to attempt to quell violent uprising. Afraid of the country turning to despair as it did in France during the only-recently-resolved French Revolution, the dominant Conservative party government, led by The Earl of Liverpool slapped down attempts at parliamentary reform with harsh refusals.

The notorious Peterloo massacre followed, counting 18 deaths amongst the 60,000 protesters. This massacre, which occurred in Manchester on 16th August 1819, became the government's catalyst to enact the repressive 'Six Acts' laws which prohibited unsanctioned military training, gatherings of more than 50 people, dictatorial search and seizure laws and punished the press and writers who wrote opinion on church and state matters.

There was a deep tension amongst the working class, whose lives were insecure and expendable in the eyes of their employers, and largely ignored by those in power. This resulted in what can only be described as simmering unrest - a general distaste for those of wealth, and those with authority and power.

The Crawshay Catalyst

William Crawshay was one of the main employers in Merthyr Tydfil in the 1800s. His empire stretched across the Welsh Valleys in the form of coal mines, and the famous Cyfartha Ironworks. Given the Valleys populace featured a significant amount of people who moved to the region specifically for the employment, it meant that changes to employment circumstances affected the population of the region as a whole.

If a factory or employer went into administration in the present day, only the workers at that employer would be affected, but since so many people in the region worked for Crawshay in the 1800s in one form or another, the moment economic deprivation began to affect his bottom-line, he looked to pinch his workers in order to maintain his profits. This was not a situation specific to William Crawshay; numerous big-names of the industrial revolution across Britain made similar moves, resulting in loyal workers all across the country being unable to acquire food or security.

Merthyr Tydfil and the surrounding regions were one of the main producers of Iron in the UK at the Cyfartha Ironworks, Hirwaun Ironworks and numerous other ironworks in the area, all were fuelled by the nearby affiliated coal mines. By 1831, most were owned by William Crawshay, or his son Henry. Richard Trevithick's revolutionary steam trams, which ran through the centre of town of Merthyr Tydfil acted as a centralisation of the industry in the Valleys. Merthyr Tydfil became the centre of the universe for much of the working-class, and when this centre began to strain, the effects were felt by the population all the more keenly than elsewhere because of this fact.

In 1829, the price of iron fell, so the Crawshays, and the other industrial owners in the region began closing down furnaces in response to the slowing demand. Wages were cut and the price of local goods began to increase, forcing many previously working families into poverty. The Court of Requests, which acted in the interests of lawmakers and the King, was seen as one of the major antagonists in the eyes of the working class during this time; the ruthless bailiffs would seize any personal possessions of those in debt.

Crawshay defied all other ironmasters by keeping wages high, and co-founding the Political Union of Merthyr. He began to stockpile Pig Iron, convinced he could outlast the recession and bounce back. Unfortunately, his confidence was misplaced, the rocky political climate extended the recession beyond predictions, the battles amongst the liberals and the Conservatives in Westminster caused a dissolution of parliament. Crawshay's hands were tied, and in March 1831, announced a pay cut for his workers. The Crawshay workers were some of the last families in Merthyr who joined the hordes of others towing the poverty line.

Elimination of Debt & The Shutting of the Mines

In May of 1831 the rumblings of dissent were being felt across Merthyr and the surrounding communities. Local coal miners began to protest against their employers demanding working conditions, lowered wages and the large proportion of unemployed workers. Small localised protests soon became larger centralised protests as word began to spread. Merthyr Tydfil became the battleground for these protests.

Flags doused in calf blood were waved, alongside the burning effigies of prominent Conservatives, by the protesters that filled the streets of Merthyr, calling for "Caws a Bara" (cheese and bread) as so many of the town's unemployed were fast approaching starvation. This is widely regarded as the first time that red flags were flown to represent workers rights specifically. Nowadays the symbol exists as a representation of socialism, even communism, Marxism and anarchism; almost the left-wing working class symbol of protest.

During the protests, dissenters spilled into the Court of Requests in Merthyr town centre and began burning ledgers containing the details of debts incurred by the people of the region, effectively attempting to eliminate debt - removing the weapon of Merthyr's bailiffs against the working class. Rallying under the cries of "I lawr â'r Brenin" (down with the King), the protests continued throughout the month of May.

At the beginning of June, the protesters sought to involve the working local miners in the rebellion, resulting in the shuttering of many of the mines as the workers absconded from their shifts.

All of this caught the eye of the British Government, who responded in characteristic Conservative authoritarian manner and sent in the army to attempt to disperse the crowds and keep order in the town. The 93rd Regiment of Foot were amongst the responders to the call, and they marched on Merthyr to engage the protesters. However the crowd was far larger than they were equipped for, so to prevent being overrun they were ordered to protect some key buildings and people.

A Fateful Engagement

3rd of June, 1831, a meeting was held in the Castle Inn on Castle Street in Merthyr town centre. The High Sheriff of Glamorgan amongst local employers, ironmasters, magistrates and other important people in the town sought to bring to an end the conflict. Understanding the importance of this meeting, a large group of protesters led by Leswyn yr Heliwr (Lewis "The Huntsman", or more likely "The Haulier") as he was known descended upon the Castle Inn to make demands.

Lewis Lewis was Leswyn yr Heliwr's real name, a haulier from Penderyn, a town roughly 10 miles away whose job it was to haul coal from the pits in Llwydcoed to the lime kilns in Penderyn. If this rebellion had any such leader, then Lewis Lewis was it, as one of the most outspoken agitators of the crowd.

Lewis Lewis was effectively one of the 'spokespersons' of the crowd, and the following demands were communicated to those meeting in the Castle Inn - abolition of the Court of Requests, the abolition of all imprisonment for debt, new laws against price gouging, and no hiring new colliers and miners on lower wages than their predecessors. These demands were regarded as 'mild' and somewhat 'reasonable'. Unfortunately, despite the lawmakers acquiescing on the abolition of the Court of Requests, their refusal to protect workers rights, and ensure the freedom and safety of debtors without a guarantee for industrial reform meant that largely the workers demands were summarily rejected. The crowd did not take the news well.

A struggle ensued. The magistrates read aloud the Riot Act, and warned the crowd to disperse. The crowd became more agitated. Magistrates threatened the crowd with the use of force; the 93rd Regiment of the Foot were standing by. The crowd became even more agitated.

The exact blow-by-blow details of the following moments are up for debate, but what we do know is that Lewis Lewis through the anger and adrenaline, encouraged the crowd to disarm the soldiers, and the crowd surged forward, grasping at the rifles of the soldiers. Some were disarmed, others were injured and bludgeoned by the crowd. One soldier, Donald Black, was stabbed in the leg with a bayonet that had been wrestled from a soldier. The soldiers began to fire upon the crowd. 24 protestors were killed, hundreds more were injured on both sides of the conflict.

A source describes the following: "The street outside the Inn was dreadfully covered in blood, women were screaming and looking for their husbands and sons and the soldiers, too, were in a sorry state, injured and some seemed near death. Altogether 16 soldiers were wounded, 6 of them severely, and up to 24 of the rioters had been killed."

The soldiers retreated to Penydarren House, leaving the town entirely in the hands of the rebellion.

Protracted Occupation

Over the course of the next few days, Penydarren House became the only point of authority in the region, where the town itself was being occupied entirely by the rioters.

From the soldiers, the rebellion managed to commandeer arms, explosives and used these to great effect setting up roadblocks, and taking full control of the town. They began to prepare the town for a protracted occupation, a siege.

Reinforcements were requested and were answered in the the form of both the East Glamorgan Yeomanry and the Swansea Yeomanry. The East Glamorgan Yeomanry, were prevented from reaching Merthyr where they were escorting essential supplies for Penydarren House, via an ambush on the baggage train by the rebellion, forcing them to retreat to the Brecon hills. The Swansea Yeomanry, upon entering the town of Hirwaun, they were surrounded by dissenters. In an apparent peaceful engagement, the Yeomanry were disarmed of their sabres which were then forced to return to their garrison at Swansea in order to re-arm. Their return to Merthyr following their rearming, was hitch-free and they finally added to the numbers gathering at Penydarren House.

Penydarren House sent a detachment of 100 cavalry to try and re-take Merthyr Tydfil, however, since the town had been geared up for a siege, the cavalry were surprisingly outmatched, where again they were forced to retreat.

During this time, the news of the town's violent engagements began to spread to the outlying towns and outside the region of Merthyr, spreading panic amongst the populace. The lack of clear leadership amongst the dissenters led to many absconding from the rebellion. Families began to flee from the riots, and the town of Merthyr began to descend into disarray.

The Ending of the Rising

In an attempt to restore the public confidence in their rebellion, the rioters called a mass meeting. The authorities at Penydarren House managed to send messages to their agents who had joined the rebellion, and those messages began to spread throughout the rioters. The authorities had announced that involvement in the rebellion amounted to high treason and clearly, that all dissenters would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This was enough to destabilise the shaky ground already faced by the rebels.

The meeting went ahead at Waun above Dowlais, on the outskirts of Merthyr town, and Penydarren House sent a large detachment of soldiers to the meeting. Some 12,000 unarmed, unconfident, scared rebels faced 450 well-armed and organised troops.

There was allegedly no violent confrontation at this event, but faced with the force of troops, the crowd immediately dispersed into the countryside, all going their own way. It was this 'conflict' that represented the end of the Merthyr Rising; the troops re-took the town, and the industry began to start working again.

The aftermath saw many of the dissenters, including Leswyn yr Heliwr being sentenced harshly for their part in the rebellion. Leswyn yr Heliwr was initially sentenced to death by hanging before being commuted to exile to Australia after a police officer testified that Lewis had personally shielded him from angry rebels at the Castle Inn conflict. The wealthy and royalists in England, in particular Charles Gray, the 2nd Earl Gray (yes, of the variety of tea-fame), was determined that someone should pay the ultimate price by example, so there was no further reprieve for any of the other sentences. Unfortunately, of the two death sentences in result of the rebellion, the one who did not have his sentence commuted was Dic Penderyn.

Dic

Amongst the crowd at the Castle Inn engagement of the 3rd of June 1831, and one of the twelve dissenters who were granted access to the Castle Inn to deliver the list of demands to the magistrates, was Richard Lewis, a miner who was born in Aberavon, in a cottage called Penderyn, but resided in Merthyr Tydfil at the time. Richard Lewis was 23 years old, a large man, and known for being a heavy drinker amongst his friends. He is also purported to be intelligent, and a strong debater, known for fighting for workers rights, sometimes physically. He was known affectionately by his friends as Dic Penderyn (short for Richard, and in reference to the cottage he grew up in).

Penderyn was arrested for stabbing Private Donald Black during the Castle Inn conflict. This stabbing was one of many injuries across the soldiery during this conflict, and was by all accounts, not serious. However, Dic Penderyn was sentenced to death.

Contributing to his prosecution was James Abbott, a local hairdresser and Special Constable for the Police, who testified that he'd personally saw Dic Penderyn stab Private Donald Black.

Private Black however, went on record to say categorically, the man that stabbed him was not Dic Penderyn. However, at this point, the ruling class wanted someone to answer for the Rising. Since they gave Lewis Lewis a reprieve with his sentence being commuted; this move was in-part because they didn't want his hanging to trigger another rebellion - so with Lewis Lewis out of the firing line of the magistrates, they sought to try, convict and sentence someone for the crime as an example to the workers of Merthyr. Dic Penderyn was their scapegoat.

They had one testimony from James Abbott aligning him with the crime, but a conflicting testimony from the victim himself that Dic was not the perpetrator, as well as many outspoken members of the public who saw Dic Penderyn elsewhere in the crowd during the conflict. None of this mattered, all that was required was James Abbott's testimony, and a judge was convinced, and he was therefore sentenced to hang.

His sentence triggered an outpouring of support, from many working-class and their wealthy landowners and employers alike. A petition was signed 11,000 people in the region, and was supported by the likes of Joseph Tregelles Price, the Quaker philanthropist. All this support was hoped to move Lord Melbourne the Home Secretary at the time of the Rising, especially when Price petitioned him personally to commute sentence, but the petition was refused.

On the 13th of August, having been transported to Cardiff, Dic uttered the famous line "O Arglwydd, dyma gamwedd" (O Lord, there is an injustice) prior to being hanged for the 'crimes'. The hanging reportedly caused his pregnant wife to suffer an immediate miscarriage.

He was laid to rest in St Mary's Church in Aberavon, and his body was accompanies on the funeral march by thousands of mourners.

Conspiracy

At the point when Joseph Tregelles Price sought to petition the Lord Melbourne, it very much appeared (and was later reported as) the arrest and subsequent sentence were ordered personally by Lord Melbourne in order to make an example of the rioters, and as such, Price's petition was summarily refused, and the hanging was to go ahead. It appeared to onlookers that the wheels of justice were directed at Dic Penderyn purposefully, and through no sense of the reality of 'justice', but as revenge for the workers of Merthyr's audacity of rebelling against the ruling class. Dic Penderyn was officially convicted of stabbing, but his sentence was to single-handedly bear the entirety of the consequence across the whole of the Merthyr Rising rebellion event.

More evidence of a conspiracy to convict emerged in later years when hairdresser and one-time Special Constable for the Police admitted that he lied under oath, and that he was directly instructed to do so by Lord Melbourne.

In 1874, in America, a high-regarded minister named Evan Evans communicated that a man by the name of Ianto Parker had been the person to stab Private Donald Black, which was confessed to him as part of a deathbed confession. Parker had, upon committing the crime, immediately fled to America to escape justice.

It looks like the Crown and the Parliament got their revenge for the riots by killing an innocent man, when they knew full well the extent of his innocence.

Legacy

Dic Penderyn's legacy is that he is a martyr. He is viscerally representative of the Crown, the wealthy, and Parliaments campaign against the poor and working-class of the country. His ascension to martyr was immediate, and far-reaching. Nearly 200 years after his death, his name is still known. There is a plaque on the wall of Cardiff Market where the gallows once stood, and even as recently as 2016, MP for Aberavon, alongside MPs for the Cynon Valley where much of the conflicts took place, are campaigning parliament to officially extend an exoneration.

Dic Penderyn is innocent.

Dic Penderyn was killed unlawfully by the Crown.

Dic Penderyn is a martyr.

Cofiwch Dic Penderyn.

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Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dic_Penderyn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merthyr_Rising

https://biography.wales/article/s-LEWI-RIC-1807

https://biography.wales/article/s-LEWI-LEW-1793

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_Kingdom#Postwar_reaction:_1815%E2%80%931822

https://libcom.org/library/1831-merthyr-tydfil-uprising

https://www.socialist.net/the-merthyr-rising-1831-rage-rebellion-and-the-red-flag.htm

Merthyr Tydfil sits within the South Wales coalfield which covers an area of around 1000 miles squared. Merthyr is described by T.E. Clarke in his travel guide to the area, originally published in 1848  as lying amongst ‘bleak mountains’ and surrounded by the by-products of the iron industry creating large mounds that frame the town. Merthyr was very much a town created by the Industrial Revolution and the Iron Industry, but it’s existence is much older. 

Merthyr had been established in Glamorganshire since Medieval times but it did not become a significant settlement until the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Its name comes from the Welsh for martyr (Methyr) and the name of a Welsh saint named Tydfil. She was the twenty-third daughter of King Brychan of Brycheiniog in the 5th Century. He tale says that she was murdered around 480 on the site of the settlement by pagans along with her brother Rhu. I don’t know an awful lot about early Welsh history so I don’t know how well informed of a judgement this is, but I find it rather interesting that the site took the name of Tydfil and not her brother. She was also thought to be buried on the site. The word merthyr in fact is thought to mean a mausoleum of a martyr in old Welsh rather than martyr itself. Either way, the same meaning applies. 

Merthyr was rich in coal, limestone and iron ore, allowing for this to be a prime location for industry even before the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Small scale industry had been established since the Elizabethan age but ultimately it would be the beginning of mass industry that would see Merthyr explode. The Industrial Revolution caused Merthyr Tydfil, and other industrial towns on the coalfield, to grow in size rapidly due to migration from the surrounding counties for work at the many new factories and mines. The town had become greatly significant to the Iron Industry in Wales. There were four major ironworks in the town which were Dowlais, Cyfarthfa, Plymouth and Penydarren. Charles Wilkins described Merthyr as an ‘El Dorado’ filled with the riches of iron production and trade.

Within a century the settlement boomed into a significant industrial town, unimaginable to the people who inhabited the small village for the centuries prior.Between 1801 and 1831 the population of Merthyr has grown by about 14,000 people. In 1801, the town had a population of only 7,705. It was still one of the largest parishes in Glamorganshire, with most of the others lingering beneath the 1,000 mark. By 1831, the population was around 22,000 and more than doubled in 20 years to 46,378 in 1851. This was not an experience unique to Merthyr or even the South Wales area, but this was growth on an unimaginable scale within the area. The closest to it was Swansea, growing from 6,831 in 1801 to a measly 24,902 in 1851. Some of the tiny parishes of 1801 experience large growth but not to the heights of Methyr. Aberafan, where Dic Penderyn (mentioned in the latter portion of the Merthyr Tydfil series) was from, grew from 275 in 1801 to 2,380.

The nature of the settlement allowed it to be a hotbed for dissent and radicalism. Large settlements naturally allowed for ideas to spread, leading themselves to be breading grounds for radical ideas in both politics and religion. Wales itself in the 19th Century became a Nonconformist nation, with the majority of the people belonging to Nonconformist and Dissenting congregations such as Baptists, Unitarians and Congregationalists, while the landowning, often English, elite were mainly Anglicans. Merthyr was no exception. This radical and dissenting tradition can be seen quite clearly in some of the buildings of Merthyr, such as what is supposedly the oldest purpose-built synagogue in Wales. During a time of religious toleration these types of buildings would of course have been something that large settlements would have had. However, this was still something that dissenters and radicals would be more welcoming towards. In fact, Merthyr had a sizeable Jewish population. Merthyr was a very Welsh town with the 1841 census declaring that 91% of the population had roots in other counties across Wales. However, that leaves a 9% non-Welsh population. I am unsure how this figure separates between different groups, however, it is linkely that the majority of these probably would have been English, Scottish and Irish. However, people certainly came from further afield, with evidence of migration from across Europe such as Germany, Northerin Italy and Russia. This experience is echoed by other industrial areas across Wales such as the copper works at Swansea, mines and iron works at Blanafon and slate mining in Snowdonia. 

As with many other large settlements, Methyr had its rich and its poor. The poorer sections of society were concentrated in a slum with names and connotations that would not be acceptable by today’s standards. The slum was called China with the inhabitants known as ‘the Chinese’. Despite the name, the majority of the population would have likely been Irish. It was a hotbed for crime, mainly out of necessity. Those who lived in the China slum were seen as entirely separate class to the other inhabitants, labelled as a kind of criminal underclass. The living conditions were exceptionally poor, with diseases that plagued the 19th century such as cholera raging rampant through the area. The inhabitants of ‘China’ formed their own society which became known as ‘the Empire’ with an ‘Emperor’ and ‘Empress’ which were seen to be the leaders of the town. In fact, different sections had their own names, Rodnies were juvenile criminals, Nymphs were prostitutes and Bullies their pimps.  

You can read about the details of the rising, its precursors, events and ramifications in these series of posts below. Each one when clicked should take you to a different post about the rising.

The Prelude to the Merthyr Rising (Long term causes)

The Immediate Sparks of the Merthyr Rising (Short term causes)

The Events of the Merthyr Rising (1): 31 May -  June 1831

The Events of the Merthyr Rising (2) 3 June - 6 June 1831

It's gross and cold.