Graffiti in Merthyr Tydfil showing a person raising a red flag
The Merthyr Rising, also referred to as the Merthyr Riots,[1][2] of 1831 was the violent climax to many years of simmering unrest among the large working class population of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales and the surrounding area. The Rising marked the first times the red flag was used a symbol of working class rebellion in the United Kingdom.[3][4]
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.[5]
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 caws a bara ('cheese and bread') and i lawr â'r Brenin ('down with the king').
On 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 order. 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 at the Castle Inn, a group led by Lewis Lewis (known as Lewsyn yr Heliwr, '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, 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 rioters.
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 and ironmasters were under siege in the Castle Hotel, and the protesters effectively controlled Merthyr.[6]
For eight days, Penydarren House was the sole refuge of authority. With armed insurrection fully in place in the town by 4 June, the rioters 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, and drove 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.
Organising a mass demonstration against Penydarren House.
Having sent messengers, who had started strikes in Northern Monmouthshire, Neath and Swansea Valleys, the riots reached their peak. However, panic had spread to the family oriented and peaceful town folk, who had now started to flee what was an out-of-control town. With the rioters arranging a mass meeting for Sunday 6th, the government representatives in Penydarren House managed to split the rioters' council. When 450 troops marched to the mass meeting at Waun above Dowlais with levelled weapons, the meeting dispersed and the riots were effectively over.
Outcome
Plaque to Dic Penderyn, executed after the Merthyr Rising, outside Cardiff Market
By 7 June the authorities had regained control of the town through force with up to 24 of the protesters killed.[7] Twenty-six people were arrested and put on trial for taking part in the revolt. Several were sentenced to terms of imprisonment, others sentenced to penal transportation to Australia, and two were sentenced to death by hanging – Lewis Lewis (Lewsyn yr Heliwr) for Robbery and Richard Lewis (Dic Penderyn) for stabbing a soldier (Private Donald Black of the Highland Regiment) in the leg with a seized bayonet.
Lewsyn yr Heliwr's sentence was downgraded to a life sentence and penal transportation to Australia when one of the police officers who had tried to disperse the crowd testified that he had tried to shield him from the rioters. He was transported aboard the vessel John in 1832 and died 6 September 1847 in Port Macquarie, New South Wales.[citation needed]
Following this reprieve, the Grey ministry was determined that at least one rebel should die as an example of what happened to rebels. 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. 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.[8][9] 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.[8]
Legacy
In 2015, Welsh Labour 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."[10]
In creative works
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.[11][12][13]Meic Stevens' song "Dic Penderyn" on his 1972 album Gwymon celebrates Richard Lewis. Radical singer-songwriter David Rovics included a song about the Merthyr Rising, entitled "Cheese and Bread", in the 2018 album Ballad of a Wobbly.[14] 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 Musical Theatre society in February 2022.[15] In 2024, Ferocious Dog released a song titled "Merthyr Rising" in their album Kleptocracy.
In 2015, stylist Charlotte James and photographer Tom Johnson published a series titled Merthyr Rising, showcasing residents of the town.[16][17]
The 2022 poetry anthology Gwrthryfel / Uprising contained two poems about Dic Penderyn and the Merthyr Rising.[18]
Merthyr Tydfil is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about 23 miles (37 km) north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, who according to legend was slain at Merthyr by pagans about 480 CE. Merthyr generally means "martyr" in modern Welsh, but here closer to the Latin martyrium: a place of worship built over a martyr's relics. Similar place names in south Wales are Merthyr Cynog, Merthyr Dyfan and Merthyr Mawr.
Mid Glamorgan is a preserved county of Wales. From 1974 until 1996 it was also an administrative county with a county council.
Alexander Cordell was the pen name of George Alexander Graber. He was a prolific Welsh novelist and author of 30 acclaimed works which include, Rape of the Fair Country, Hosts of Rebecca and Song of the Earth.
Harri Webb was a Welsh poet, Welsh nationalist, journalist and librarian.
Merthyr Town Football Club is a Welsh semi-professional football club based in Merthyr Tydfil, currently playing in the Southern League Premier Division South, in the seventh tier of the English football league system.
Richard Lewis, known as Dic Penderyn, was a Welsh labourer and coal miner who lived in Merthyr Tydfil and was involved with the Merthyr Rising of 3 June 1831. In the course of the riot he was arrested alongside Lewis Lewis, one of the primary figures in the uprising, and charged with stabbing a soldier with a bayonet. The people of Merthyr Tydfil doubted his guilt, and signed a petition for his release. However, he was found guilty and hanged on 13 August 1831. After his death he was treated as a martyr in Merthyr and across Wales.
Penydarren Ironworks was the fourth of the great ironworks established at Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.
Penydarren Park is a sports stadium in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, that is the present home ground of Merthyr Town Historically used for varying sports, it has been the home to two professional football teams, Merthyr Town and Merthyr Tydfil F.C.
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1831 to Wales and its people.
Shoni Sguborfawr or Sioni Ysgubor Fawr (1811–1858) was a Welsh criminal, most notable for his part in the Rebecca Riots and his subsequent attempts to blackmail fellow rioters.
Penydarren is a community and electoral ward in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales.
Penderyn is a rural village in the Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, located near Hirwaun.
Penderyn may refer to:
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. In 2022, it had an estimated population of 58,883, making it the smallest local authority in Wales by population. It is located in the historic county of Glamorgan and takes its name from the town with the same name. The county borough consists of the northern part of the Taff Valley and the smaller neighbouring Taff Bargoed Valley. It borders the counties of Rhondda Cynon Taf to the west, Caerphilly County Borough to the east, and Powys to the north.
The Fire People is a historical novel by Alexander Cordell, first published in 1972. It forms part of the 'Second Welsh Trilogy' of Cordell's writings. It tells of events leading up to the 1831 Merthyr Rising in Merthyr Tydfil and surrounding areas in South Wales.
The Quarries of Vaynor refer to the limestone quarries around Vaynor, a village in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales.
St Mary's Church, Aberavon, is an Anglican church in Port Talbot, South Wales. It is part of the Rectorial Benefice of Aberavon. It has been a Grade II listed building since 31 January 2000., It had its last service on 21 April 2024 and it is intended to deconsecrate and repurpose the building.
Merthyr Tydfil Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, is a Grade II* listed building.
The Industrial Revolution in Wales was the adoption and developments of new technologies in Wales in the 18th and 19th centuries as part of the Industrial Revolution, resulting in increases in the scale of industry in Wales.
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