The Miners Strike of 1910-11 was a violent attempt by coal miners to maintain wages and working conditions in parts of South Wales, where wages had been kept low by a cartel of mine owners.
What became known as the Tonypandy riots[1] of 1910 and 1911 (sometimes collectively known as the Rhondda riots) were a series of violent confrontations between the striking coal miners and police that took place at various locations in and around the Rhondda mines of the Cambrian Combine, a cartel of mining companies formed to regulate prices and wages in South Wales.
The disturbances and the confrontations were the culmination of the industrial dispute between workers and the mine owners The term "Tonypandy riot" initially applied to specific events on the evening of Tuesday, 8 November 1910, when strikers smashed windows of businesses in Tonypandy. There was hand-to-hand fighting between the strikers and the Glamorgan Constabulary, which was reinforced by the Bristol Constabulary.[2]
Home Secretary Winston Churchill's decision to agree to the government's decision to send the British Army to reinforce the police shortly after 8 November riot caused rumours that generated much ill feeling towards him in South Wales.[3] Historians such as Paul Addison however, argue that Churchill did his best to prevent violence; he promised miners that peaceful conduct would be rewarded with sympathetic arbitration. When major riots erupted he sent troops in but "made strenuous efforts to avoid direct confrontation."[4][5][6][7]
Background
The conflict arose when the Naval Colliery Company opened a new coal seam at the Ely Pit in Penygraig. After a short test period to determine what would be the future rate of extraction, owners claimed that the miners deliberately worked more slowly than possible. The roughly-70 miners at the seam argued that the new seam was more difficult to work than others because of a stone band that ran through it.[8]:[p175]
On 1 September 1910, the owners posted a lock-out notice at the mine that closed the site to all 950 workers, not just the 70 at the newly opened Bute seam.[8]:[p175] The Ely Pit miners reacted by going on strike. The Cambrian Combine then called in strikebreakers from outside the area to which the miners responded by picketing the work site. On 1 November, the miners of the South Wales coalfield were balloted for strike action by the South Wales Miners' Federation, resulting in the 12,000 men working for the mines owned by the Cambrian Combine going on strike.[8]:[p175] A conciliation board was formed to reach an agreement, with William Abraham acting on behalf of the miners and F. L. Davis for the owners. Although an agreed wage of 2s 3d per ton was arrived at, the Cambrian Combine workmen rejected the agreement.[8]:[p175]
On 2 November, the authorities in South Wales were enquiring about the procedure for requesting military aid in the event of disturbances caused by the striking miners.[9]:[p109] The Glamorgan Constabulary's resources were stretched, as in addition to the Cambrian Combine dispute, there was a month-old strike in the neighbouring Cynon Valley, and the Chief Constable of Glamorgan had by Sunday, 6 November, assembled 200 imported police in the Tonypandy area.[9]:[p111]
Riots at Tonypandy
By this time, strikers had successfully shut down all local pits, except Llwynypia colliery.[2] On 6 November, miners became aware of the owners' intention to deploy strikebreakers to keep pumps and ventilation going at the Glamorgan Colliery in Llwynypia. On Monday, 7 November, strikers surrounded and picketed the Glamorgan Colliery to prevent such workers from entering. That resulted in sharp skirmishes with police officers posted inside the site. Although miners' leaders called for calm, a small group of strikers began stoning the pump-house. A portion of the wooden fence surrounding the site was torn down. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued between miners and police. After repeated baton charges, police drove strikers back towards Tonypandy Square, just after midnight. Between 1am and 2am on 8 November, a demonstration at Tonypandy Square was dispersed by Cardiff Police, using truncheons, resulting in casualties on both sides.[8]:[p175] That led Glamorgan's chief constable, Lionel Lindsay, supported by the general manager of the Cambrian Combine, to request military support from the War Office.[9]:[p111]
Home SecretaryWinston Churchill learned of that development and, after discussions with the War Office, delayed action on the request. Churchill felt that the local authorities were overreacting and believed that the Liberal government could calm matters down. He instead despatched Metropolitan Police officers, both on foot and mounted, and sent some cavalry troops to Cardiff.[9]:[p111][10] He did not specifically deploy cavalry but authorised their use by civil authorities if it was deemed necessary. Churchill's personal message to strikers was, "We are holding back the soldiers for the present and sending only police".[9]:[p111] Despite that assurance, the local stipendiary magistrate sent a telegram to London later that day and requested military support, which the Home Office authorised. Troops were deployed after the skirmish at the Glamorgan Colliery on 7 November but before rioting on the evening of 8 November.[9]:[p111]
Residents standing outside the now-boarded shops after the events of 8 November.
During the evening of rioting, properties in Tonypandy were damaged, and some looting took place.[8]:[p175] Shops were smashed systematically but not indiscriminately.[9]:[p114] There was little looting, but some rioters wore clothes taken from the shops and paraded in a festival atmosphere. Women and children were involved in considerable numbers, as they had been outside the Glamorgan colliery. No police were seen at the town square until the Metropolitan Police arrived around 10:30pm, almost three hours after the rioting began, when the disturbance subsided of its own accord.[9]:[p114] A few shops remained untouched, notably that of the chemist Willie Llewellyn, which was rumoured to have been spared because he had been a famous Welsh internationalrugby footballer.[11]
A small police presence might have deterred window-breakages, but police had been moved from the streets to protect the residences of mine owners and managers.[8]:[p176]
At 1:20am on 9 November, orders were sent to Colonel Currey at Cardiff to despatch a squadron of the 18th Hussars to reach Pontypridd at 8:15am.[9]:[p122] Upon arrival, one contingent patrolled Aberaman and another was sent to Llwynypia, where it patrolled all day.[9]:[p122] Returning to Pontypridd at night, the troops arrived at Porth as a disturbance was breaking out, and then maintained order until the arrival of the Metropolitan Police.[9]:[p123] Although no authentic record exists of casualties since many miners would have refused treatment for fear of prosecution for their part in the riots, nearly 80 police and over 500 citizens were injured.[12] One miner, Samuel Rhys, died of head injuries that were said to have been inflicted by a policeman's baton, but the verdict of the coroner's jury was cautious: "We agree that Samuel Rhys died from injuries he received on 8 November caused by some blunt instrument. The evidence is not sufficiently clear to us how he received those injuries." Similarly, the medical evidence concluded, "The fracture had been caused by a blunt instrument—it might have been caused by a policeman's truncheon or by two of the several weapons used by the strikers, which were produced in court."[13] Authorities had reinforced the town with 400 policemen, one company of the Lancashire Fusiliers, billeted at Llwynypia, and the squadron of the 18th Hussars.
Thirteen miners from Gilfach Goch were arrested and prosecuted for their part in the unrest. The trial of the thirteen occupied six days in December. During the trial, they were supported by marches and demonstrations by up to 10,000 men, who were refused entry to the town.[2] Custodial terms of two to six weeks were issued to some of the respondents; others were discharged or fined.
Reaction to riots
Purported eyewitness accounts of alleged shootings persisted and were relayed by word of mouth. In some instances, it was said that there were many shots and fatalities. There are no records of any shots being fired by troops. The only recorded death was Samuel Rhys. In the autobiographical "documentary novel" Cwmardy, the later communist trade union organiser Lewis Jones presents a stylistically romantic but closely-detailed, account of the riots and their agonising domestic and social consequences. The account was criticised for its creative approach to truth. For example, in the chapter "Soldiers are sent to the Valley", he narrates an incident in which eleven strikers are killed by two volleys of rifle fire in the town square after which the miners adopt a grimly-retaliatory stance. In that account, the end of the strike is hastened by organised terror directed at mine managers, leading to introduction of a minimum-wage act by the government that is hailed as a victory by the strikers. The accuracy of the account is disputed.[14]
A more official version states, "The strike finally ended in August 1911, with the workers forced to accept the 2s 3d per ton negotiated by William Abraham MP prior to the strike... the workers actually returning to work on the first Monday in September",[2] ten months after the strike began and twelve months after the lock-out that had started the confrontation.
Criticism of Churchill
Churchill in 1911
Churchill's role in the events at Tonypandy during the conflict left anger towards him in South Wales that still persists today. The main point of contention was his decision to allow troops to be sent to Wales. Although this was an unusual move and was seen by those in Wales as an overreaction, his Tory opponents suggested that he should have acted with greater vigour.[9]:[p111] The troops acted more circumspectly and were commanded with more common sense than the police, whose role under Lionel Lindsay was, in the words of historian David Smith, "more like an army of occupation".[9]:[p111]
The incident continued to haunt Churchill throughout his career. Such was the strength of feeling, that almost forty years later, when speaking in Cardiff during the general election campaign of 1950, this time as Conservative Party leader, Churchill was forced to address the issue, stating: "When I was Home Secretary in 1910, I had a great horror and fear of having to become responsible for the military firing on a crowd of rioters and strikers. Also, I was always in sympathy with the miners..."[9]:[p122]
A major factor in the dislike of Churchill's use of the military was not in any action undertaken by the troops, but the fact that their presence prevented[clarification needed] any strike action which might have ended the strike early in the miners' favour.[9]:[p112] The troops also ensured that trials of rioters, strikers and miners' leaders would take place and be successfully prosecuted in Pontypridd in 1911. The defeat of the miners in 1911 was, in the eyes of much of the local community, a direct consequence of state intervention without any negotiation; that the strikers were breaking the law was not a factor with many locals. This result was seen as a direct result of Churchill's actions.[9]:[p112]
Political fallout for Churchill also continued. In 1940, when Neville Chamberlain's war-time government was faltering, Clement Attlee secretly warned that the Labour Party might not follow Churchill because of his association with Tonypandy.[9]:[p112] There was uproar in the House of Commons in 1978 when Churchill's grandson, also named Winston Churchill, was asking a question, during Prime Minister's Questions, on miners' pay; he was warned by the Labour leader and Prime Minister James Callaghan not to pursue "the vendetta of your family against the miners of Tonypandy".[15][16] In 2010, ninety-nine years after the riots, a Welsh local council made objections to an old military base being named after Churchill in the Vale of Glamorgan because of his sending troops into the Rhondda Valley.[17]
Historical myth
The Tonypandy riots are subject of a popular historical myth that troops fired on the miners.[18][19][20]Josephine Tey refers to this in her novel The Daughter of Time, and coined the term "tonypandy" to refer to "when a historical event is reported and memorialized inaccurately but consistently until the resulting fiction is believed to be the truth."[21]
The only bloodshed in the whole affair was a bloody nose or two. The Home Secretary was severely criticised in the House of Commons incidentally for his “unprecedented intervention”. That was Tonypandy. That is the shooting-down by troops that Wales will never forget... It is a completely untrue story grown to legend while the men who knew it to be untrue looked on and said nothing.
David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda, PC, was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician. He was UK Member of Parliament (MP) for Merthyr Tydfil from 1888 until the January 1910 general election, then MP for Cardiff until the December 1910 general election, when he left politics to concentrate on his business interests. He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1916. He later held office, notably as "Food Controller" in Lloyd George's wartime coalition government.
Maerdy is a village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.
Treorchy is a town and community in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of the 16 communities of the Rhondda. It includes the villages of Cwmparc and Ynyswen.
Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town was the scene of the 1910 Tonypandy riots.
Llwynypia is a village and community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. Before 1850 a lightly populated rural farming area, Llwynypia experienced a population boom between 1860 and 1920 with the sinking of several coal mines after the discovery of large coal deposits throughout the Rhondda Valleys.
Vernon Hartshorn was a Welsh trade unionist and Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1918 until his death.
Rhondda, or the Rhondda Valley, is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley – so that the singular "Rhondda Valley" and the plural are both commonly used. The area forms part of the South Wales Valleys. From 1897 until 1996 there was a local government district of Rhondda. The former district at its abolition comprised 16 communities. Since 1996 these 16 communities of the Rhondda have been part of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough. The area of the former district is still used as the Rhondda Senedd constituency and Westminster constituency, having an estimated population in 2020 of 69,506. It is most noted for its historical coalmining industry, which peaked between 1840 and 1925. The valleys produced a strong Nonconformist movement manifest in the Baptist chapels that moulded Rhondda values in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also known for its male voice choirs and in sport and politics.
The South Wales Coalfield extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales Valleys.
Tylorstown is a village and community located in the Rhondda valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is neighboured by the villages of Blaenllechau, Ferndale, Penrhys, Pontygwaith and Stanleytown.
Dinas is a village near Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Dinas is often referred to as Dinas Rhondda to avoid confusion with Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan. The word dinas in Modern Welsh means "city", but here it means "hill fort".
Clydach Vale is a village in the community of Cwm Clydach, northwest of Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the Rhondda Valley, Wales. It is named for its situation on the Nant Clydach, a tributary of the River Rhondda. The village is deemed part of the Tonypandy built-up area by the Office for National Statistics and comes under the Tonypandy post town.
William Abraham, universally known by his bardic name, Mabon, was a Welsh trade unionist and Liberal/Labour politician, and a member of parliament (MP) from 1885 to 1920. Although an MP for 35 years, it was as a trade unionist that Abraham is most well known. Initially a pioneer of trade unionism, who fought to enshrine the principle of workers' representation against the opposition of the coal-owners, he was regarded in later life as a moderate voice believing that disputes should be solved through conciliation rather than industrial action. This drew him into conflict with younger and more militant leaders from the 1890s onwards. Although the defeat of the miners in the Welsh coal strike of 1898 was a clear defeat for Mabon's strategy, his prestige was sufficient to ensure that he became the first president of the South Wales Miners' Federation which was established in the wake of the dispute. Abraham was noted for his powerful speaking voice, and was a renowned orator in English and Welsh.
Cymmer is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley, Wales. It is so named because of being located at the 'confluence' of the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach river valleys. Several collieries were opened here in the middle part of the nineteenth century. A coal mine disaster in 1856 resulted in 114 casualties, and the lack of payment of any compensation to the miners' families caused bitter feelings in the community.
Penygraig is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. As a community Penygraig contains the neighbouring districts of Dinas, Edmondstown, Penrhiwfer and Williamstown. Penygraig is within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. The name Penygraig is Welsh for 'head of the rock'.
The Miners' Next Step was an economic and political pamphlet produced in 1912 calling for coal miners through their lodges, to embrace syndicalism and a new 'scientific' trade unionism. The pamphlet was written by the 'Unofficial Reform Committee' a group of syndicalist and socialists involved in the Plebs' League and the Cambrian Combine strike of 1910-11. The main author is recognised as Noah Ablett.
Nantgarw Colliery was a coal mine and later developed Coking coal works, located in the village on Nantgarw, Mid Glamorgan, Wales located just north of Cardiff.
The Cambrian Colliery was a large coal mine that operated between 1872 and 1967 near Clydach Vale in the Rhondda Valley, south Wales. It is notable for its huge production and for two infamous explosion disasters, in 1905 and 1965, in which a total of 64 miners were killed. Its owners sank the first pits into a rich coal seam in the 1870s from which, within 20 years, over 700 tons were being extracted daily. The complex was connected to the Taff Vale Railway and had room in its sidings for over 840 wagons. The colliery's workforce, which numbered over 4,000 in 1913, was prominently involved in the Tonypandy Riot of 1910.
Mid Rhondda Football Club was an association football team, based in Tonypandy, Wales that was formed in 1912. Mid Rhondda were one of the earlier South Wales teams to form, as competition from rugby union within the Rhondda Valleys was very strong. The team played in both the Southern and Welsh Leagues, and should have been promoted to the first division of the Southern League after topping the second Division during the 1919–20 season. This though was denied them by a restructuring of the league, which in turn saw the club flounder and collapse by 1928.
Cwm Clydach is a community and electoral ward to the northwest of Tonypandy in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The community and ward covers the valley of the Nant Clydach, which includes the cojoined villages of Clydach Vale and Blaenclydach.
The Rhondda & District League is a football league covering the Rhondda and surrounding areas in South Wales. The leagues are at the seventh and eighth levels of the Welsh football league system.
References
↑ Evans, Gwyn; Maddox, David (2010). The Tonypandy Riots 1910–11. Plymouth: University of Plymouth Press. ISBN978-1-84102-270-3.
↑ "Blow on the Head - Tonypandy man's death". Evening Express and Evening Mail: Welsh Newspapers Online - The National Library of Wales. 15 December 1910. p.3. Retrieved 14 February 2019.(The deceased's name is given as Samuel Rays in this report)
↑ Jones L Cwmardy (first published 1937), reissued by Lawrence & Wishart 1978, ISBN978-0-85315-468-6
Smith, David. "Tonypandy 1910: definitions of community." Past & Present 87 (1980): 158-184. online
Smith, David. "From Riots to Revolt: Tonypandy and The Miners’ Next Step," in Trevor Herbert and Gareth Elwyn Jones (eds), Wales 1880–1914 (University of Wales Press, 1988)
Stephenson, Charles. "Chapter 2: South Wales Strife (2): Tonypandy" in Churchill as Home Secretary: Suffragettes, Strikes and Social Reform, 1910–1911 (Pen and Sword, 2023) ch. 3
External links
Rhondda—the story of coal pp.124–126 of 126-page download at Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Service (37mB)
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