This talk is part of this year’s Dic Penderyn Society, Annual History Day on Saturday 31st May at the Merthyr Labour Club, 1 Court Street, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8DU.
Solidarity across the Severn: Newport, Merthyr and the Bristol reform riot of 1831
Five months after the Merthyr rising, in October 1831, Bristol experienced the most serious urban ‘riot’ of the nineteenth century in Britain. Authorities in the city urgently requested the help of military units stationed in south Wales as a result of the Merthyr insurrection, but their way was blocked by hostile crowds in Newport. This talk explores the background to this extraordinary incident, setting it in the context of the reform crisis in the wake of the defeat of the Second Reform Bill in the House of Lords.
This talk comes out of research several years ago between Bristol Radical History Group (BRHG) and the Newport Chartist historians. It was then further researched in 2023-24 and written up as part of the ESRC funded project Intergroup dynamics in the 1831 reform riots. Six Points Press then kindly published the case study as a book in November 2024.
The full programme for the day is:
9.45-10.00am REVOLUTIONARY SONGS BY THE COR COCHION CAERDYDD
10.15-11.00am HUW WILLIAMS: “ART REPRESENTING REALITY” IMAGES OF MERTHYR TUDFUL
11.00-11.15am TEA / COFFEE BREAK
11.15-12.00am ROGER BALL: ‘SOLIDARITY ACROSS THE SEVERN’: Merthyr, Newport and the Bristol Riot of 1831
12.00am-1.00pm BREAK FOR LUNCH
1.15-2.00pm COLIN THOMAS: “PUTTING WORKERS ON FILM”
2.00-2.15pm TEA / COFFEE BREAK
2.15-3.00pm DR. BLOOMFIELD: “1911 THE DAY THE VALLEYS CAUGHT FIRE”
3.00-3.30pm Open Discussion on the Talks
3.30-3.45pm Closing Address by Society Vice-Chair Huw Williams
TEA / COFFEE RAFFLE AND PRIZES BOOK STALLS
NOMINAL ENTRANCE FEE £5.00
ALL ARE WELCOME