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The Great Rising
The leader of the protestors, reputed to be Thomas Rees was known locally as Twm Carnabwth. He disguised himself in the clothes of a local woman named Rebecca, and thus the term "Rebecca Riots' came to designate the disturbances, burning and destroying of tollgates and work houses that continued for some years in Southwest Wales.
A statement in The Welshman of September, 1843 expressed the feelings of those who took part in the demonstrations:
The people, the masses, to a man throughout
the counties of Carmarthen, Cardigan, and
Pembroke are with me. O yes, they are all my
children...Surely, say I, these are members
of my family, these are the oppressed sons and
daughters of Rebecca.
It was not until a government commission recommended reduction of tolls, especially on lime and other agricultural products that the riots finally came to an end. The rise of the movement known as Chartism constituted a far more serious threat to public order throughout Britain.
The Chartists were part of a new popular movement named after the radical London reformer Williams Levett, who drafted a bill known as The People's Charter in May 1838. With the early failure of the unions, much of the energy of the disgruntled workers was channeled into the ranks of the Chartists. They believed, mistakenly, that they could somehow bring about a democratic parliament and an enfranchised working class that would be able to solve some of their problems and redress their grievances. Like the unionists, they were far too premature in their hopes in spite of their impressive strength.
In the Welsh industrial valleys, however, the movement received a warm welcome, attracting a large following among the largely immigrant miners and iron workers, many of them Irish, and not as reticent as many of their Welsh fellow-workers to challenge authority. Henry Vincent, an early Chartist leader and a fiery orator, issued a call to arms in The Western Vindicator in April 1839:
I could not help thinking of the defensible nature
of the country in the case of foreign invasion.
A few thousand of armed men on the hills could
successfully defend them. Wales would make an
excellent republic.
There were many that were emboldened by such appeals. The Cambrian of May 11, 1839 noted that a large number of colliers in the hills of Tredegar had given notice to discontinue work, and the leaders of the Chartists were to give a demonstration requesting many of those who were out of employment to join them. A meeting was to take place at Duke's Town, about a mile beyond Tredegar.
The inhabitants felt considerable apprehension, and Mr. Samuel Homfray, acting magistrate, took efforts to preserve the public peace, including the banning of all sales of alcohol from mid-day until six the following morning. A serious riot was averted, however, when the arrival of the military led to a rapid dispersal of the crowd. Despite its early enthusiasm, the editors of the Cambrian labeled the whole event a complete disaster.
The newspaper badly underestimated the strength of the movement and the anguish of the workers. The Tredegar fiasco had closely followed another attempt to stir the conscience of those in power that had taken place also during April at Llanidloes, a mid-Wales center of the woolen industry. The newspaper reported that the Chartists, having previously been apprehended for rioting, came armed with guns, pistols, pikes and bludgeons to the Trewythen Arms, where they broke doors and windows to force their way in.
Chapter 16 Continued
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