Newport Rising
Encyclopedia
The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain
, when on 4 November 1839, somewhere between 1,000 and 5,000 Chartist
sympathisers, including many coal-miners, most with home-made arms, led by John Frost
, marched on the town of Newport, Monmouthshire, intent on liberating fellow Chartists who were reported to have been taken prisoner in the town's Westgate Hotel
.
for illegal assembly and conspiracy on 2 August.
Some kind of rising had been in preparation for a few months and the march had been gathering momentum over the course of the whole weekend, as Frost and his associates led the protesters down from the industrialised valley towns above Newport. Some of the miners who joined the march had armed themselves with home-made pikes
, bludgeons and firearms.
The march was headed by John Frost leading a column into Newport from the west, Zephaniah Williams
leading a column from Blackwood to the north-west and William Jones
leading a column from Pontypool
to the north.
The exact rationale for the confrontation remains opaque, although it may have its origins in Frost's ambivalence towards the more violent attitudes of some of the Chartists, and the personal animus he bore towards some of the Newport establishment. The Chartist movement in south east Wales was chaotic in this period and the feelings of the workers were running extremely high.
in Rogerstone
. Jones and his men from Pontypool in fact never arrived, delaying the final march into Newport into the daylight hours and thus contributing to its defeat. As the march progressed down the valleys on the Sunday morning, even one entire chapel congregation was pressed into swelling the ranks of the marchers.
After spending Sunday night mostly out of doors in the rain, the commitment of many of the marchers was lukewarm. Many had been ambivalent to the Chartist cause in the first place, more concerned with the immediate problems of their own employment conditions. Thus many marchers did not participate in the final assault on Newport and simply waited in the outskirts of the town.
Rumours of a possible Chartist rising and previous violence elsewhere, following the earlier arrest of Chartist leader Henry Vincent
and his imprisonment at the gaol in Monmouth
, meant that the authorities had suspected there might be a riot. The sheer scale of the rising, however was not fully appreciated until November 3, the day before the riot. The authorities then quickly started to prepare. The Mayor of Newport
Sir Thomas Phillips had sworn in 500 Special Constables and asked for more troops to be sent. There were about 60 soldiers stationed in Newport already, and he gathered 32 soldiers of the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot
in the Westgate Hotel where the Chartist prisoners were held.
Amongst the defenders of the hotel, Mayor Thomas Phillips was badly wounded and one soldier was seriously hurt, along with two of the special constables. As the chartists fled they abandoned many of their weapons, a selection of which can still be seen in Newport Museum
.
An eye-witness report spoke of one man, wounded with gunshot, lying on the ground, pleading for help until he died an hour later.
Some of the Chartist dead were buried in Cathedral Church of St Woolos
in the town where there is still a plaque to their memory. Some of the bullet holes from the skirmish remained in the masonry of the hotel entrance porch until well into modern times.
. All three main leaders of the march, John Frost, Zephaniah Williams, and William Jones
, were found guilty on the charge of high treason and were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered
at the Shire Hall
in Monmouth
.
After a nationwide petitioning campaign and, extraordinarily, direct lobbying of the Home Secretary by the Lord Chief Justice, Viscount Melbourne
, the government eventually commuted the sentences of each to transportation for life
. Others chartists involved in some way included James Stephens
, John Lovell, John Rees and William Price
, and according to some accounts Allan Pinkerton
.
Testimonies exist from contemporaries, such as the Yorkshire Chartist Ben Wilson
, that a successful rising at Newport was to have been the signal for a national uprising. Older histories suggested that Chartism slipped into a period of internal division after Newport. In fact the movement was remarkably buoyant (and remained so until late 1842). Initially, while the majority of Chartists, under the leadership of Feargus O'Connor
, concentrated on petitioning for Frost, Williams and Jones to be pardoned, significant minorities in Sheffield
, East End of London
and Bradford
planned their own risings in response. Samuel Holberry
led an aborted rising in Sheffield on 12 January; police action thwarted a major disturbance in the East End of London on 14 January, and on 26 January a few hundred Bradford Chartists staged a rising in the hope of precipitating a domino effect across the country. After this Chartism turned to a process of internal renewal and more systematic organisation, but the transported and imprisoned Newport Chartists were regarded as heroes and martyrs amongst workers.
Meanwhile The Establishment
and middle classes became convinced that the rising meant all Chartists were dangerously violent. Newport Mayor Thomas Phillips was proclaimed a national hero for his part in crushing the rising and was knighted by Queen Victoria barely six weeks later.
near Bristol
, where he continued to publish articles advocating reform until his death, aged 93, in 1877.
Today the Chartist-inspired murals in Newport and "John Frost Square" at the centre of the city, proudly commemorate the rising and local activities are often held to mark the anniversary.
The events of the rising are portrayed in Alexander Cordell
's novel Rape of the Fair Country
.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, when on 4 November 1839, somewhere between 1,000 and 5,000 Chartist
Chartism
Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
sympathisers, including many coal-miners, most with home-made arms, led by John Frost
John Frost (Chartist)
John Frost was a prominent Welsh leader of the British Chartist movement in the Newport Rising....
, marched on the town of Newport, Monmouthshire, intent on liberating fellow Chartists who were reported to have been taken prisoner in the town's Westgate Hotel
Westgate Hotel
The Westgate Hotel is a historic building in Newport city centre and is famous as the scene of the 1839 Chartist riot, the so-called Newport Rising.It is located at the bottom Stow Hill.-Building history:...
.
Causes
Among the factors that precipitated the rising were the House of Commons' rejection of the first Chartist petition on 12 July 1839 and the conviction of the Chartist Henry VincentHenry Vincent
Henry Vincent was active in the formation of early Working Men's Associations in Britain, a popular Chartist leader, brilliant and gifted public orator, prospective but ultimately unsuccessful Victorian MP, and later an anti-slavery campaigner.- Early life :Henry Vincent was born in High Holborn,...
for illegal assembly and conspiracy on 2 August.
Some kind of rising had been in preparation for a few months and the march had been gathering momentum over the course of the whole weekend, as Frost and his associates led the protesters down from the industrialised valley towns above Newport. Some of the miners who joined the march had armed themselves with home-made pikes
Pike (weapon)
A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...
, bludgeons and firearms.
The march was headed by John Frost leading a column into Newport from the west, Zephaniah Williams
Zephaniah Williams
Zephaniah Williams was born near Argoed, Sirhowy Valley, Monmouthshire, with much of his childhood spent near the then village of Blackwood, also living for some periods in Caerphilly and Nantyglo...
leading a column from Blackwood to the north-west and William Jones
William Jones (Chartist)
William Jones was a political Radical and Chartist, who was a former actor, working as a watchmaker at Pontypool in Monmouthshire and was also keeping a beer house....
leading a column from Pontypool
Pontypool
Pontypool is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales....
to the north.
The exact rationale for the confrontation remains opaque, although it may have its origins in Frost's ambivalence towards the more violent attitudes of some of the Chartists, and the personal animus he bore towards some of the Newport establishment. The Chartist movement in south east Wales was chaotic in this period and the feelings of the workers were running extremely high.
Events leading up to the Rising
Heavy rainfall delayed the marchers and there were delays in the planned meeting of each contingent at the Welsh OakWelsh Oak (pub)
The Welsh Oak is a pub located in Pontymister, Caerphilly County Borough, Wales.This was the final meeting place of John Frost, Zephaniah Williams and William Jones, all members of the Chartist movement in South Wales in the 1830s prior to and during the Newport Rising of 1839.Each man headed up a...
in Rogerstone
Rogerstone
Rogerstone is both a ward and community of the city of Newport, south-east Wales. The area is governed by the Newport City Council.The parish lies at the gateway to the Sirhowy valley, to the north of Newport on the eastern side of the Ebbw River...
. Jones and his men from Pontypool in fact never arrived, delaying the final march into Newport into the daylight hours and thus contributing to its defeat. As the march progressed down the valleys on the Sunday morning, even one entire chapel congregation was pressed into swelling the ranks of the marchers.
After spending Sunday night mostly out of doors in the rain, the commitment of many of the marchers was lukewarm. Many had been ambivalent to the Chartist cause in the first place, more concerned with the immediate problems of their own employment conditions. Thus many marchers did not participate in the final assault on Newport and simply waited in the outskirts of the town.
Rumours of a possible Chartist rising and previous violence elsewhere, following the earlier arrest of Chartist leader Henry Vincent
Henry Vincent
Henry Vincent was active in the formation of early Working Men's Associations in Britain, a popular Chartist leader, brilliant and gifted public orator, prospective but ultimately unsuccessful Victorian MP, and later an anti-slavery campaigner.- Early life :Henry Vincent was born in High Holborn,...
and his imprisonment at the gaol in Monmouth
Monmouth
Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
, meant that the authorities had suspected there might be a riot. The sheer scale of the rising, however was not fully appreciated until November 3, the day before the riot. The authorities then quickly started to prepare. The Mayor of Newport
Mayor of Newport
The Mayor of Newport is the civic figurehead and first citizen of the city of Newport in the United Kingdom. The position is now largely ceremonial, but it still has high-profile rôle in maintaining and promoting the interests of the city and its people...
Sir Thomas Phillips had sworn in 500 Special Constables and asked for more troops to be sent. There were about 60 soldiers stationed in Newport already, and he gathered 32 soldiers of the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot
45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot
The 45th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment. During the Childers Reforms it was united with the 95th Regiment of Foot to form the The Sherwood Foresters ....
in the Westgate Hotel where the Chartist prisoners were held.
Climax of the Rising
The Chartists were convinced that some of their fellows had been imprisoned at the Westgate Hotel. Filing quickly down the steep Stow Hill, the Chartists arrived at the small square in front of the hotel at about 9.30 a.m. The flash point came when the crowd demanded the release of the imprisoned Chartists. A brief, violent and bloody battle ensued. Shots were fired by both sides, contemporary accounts indicating that the Chartists attacked first. But the soldiers defending the hotel despite being greatly outnumbered by the large and very angry crowd, had vastly superior fire-power, training and discipline, all of which soon broke the crowd. The Chartists did manage to enter the building temporarily, but were forced to retreat in disarray. After a fiercely fought battle, lasting approximately half an hour, between 10 and 24 of their number (a fair estimate is 22) had been killed by the troops and upwards of 50 had been wounded.Amongst the defenders of the hotel, Mayor Thomas Phillips was badly wounded and one soldier was seriously hurt, along with two of the special constables. As the chartists fled they abandoned many of their weapons, a selection of which can still be seen in Newport Museum
Newport Museum
Newport Museum is a museum and art gallery in the city of Newport, Wales. It is located in Newport city centre on John Frost Square and is adjoined to the Kingsway Shopping Centre.-The museum collection:...
.
An eye-witness report spoke of one man, wounded with gunshot, lying on the ground, pleading for help until he died an hour later.
Some of the Chartist dead were buried in Cathedral Church of St Woolos
Newport Cathedral
Newport Cathedral in the city of Newport in South Wales is the cathedral of the Diocese of Monmouth, in the Church in Wales, and seat of the Bishop of Monmouth. The full title is Newport Cathedral, Woolos, King & Confessor...
in the town where there is still a plaque to their memory. Some of the bullet holes from the skirmish remained in the masonry of the hotel entrance porch until well into modern times.
Aftermath
In the aftermath 200 or more Chartists were arrested for being involved and twenty-one were charged with high treasonHigh treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
. All three main leaders of the march, John Frost, Zephaniah Williams, and William Jones
William Jones (Chartist)
William Jones was a political Radical and Chartist, who was a former actor, working as a watchmaker at Pontypool in Monmouthshire and was also keeping a beer house....
, were found guilty on the charge of high treason and were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
at the Shire Hall
Shire Hall, Monmouth
The Shire Hall in Monmouth was the centre for the Assize Courts and Quarter Sessions for Monmouthshire. It was also used as a market place. Shire Hall is currently used as the offices for Monmouth Town Council.-History:...
in Monmouth
Monmouth
Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
.
After a nationwide petitioning campaign and, extraordinarily, direct lobbying of the Home Secretary by the Lord Chief Justice, Viscount Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary and Prime Minister . He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria, at ages 18-21, in the ways of politics...
, the government eventually commuted the sentences of each to transportation for life
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
. Others chartists involved in some way included James Stephens
James Stephens (trade unionist)
James Stephens was a stonemason, Chartist, and Australian trade unionist.-Early years:Stephens was born in Chepstow, Monmouthshire in south east Wales...
, John Lovell, John Rees and William Price
William Price (doctor)
William Price was a Welsh physician who achieved notoriety for his support of Welsh nationalism, Chartism and his involvement with the Neo-Druidic religious movement...
, and according to some accounts Allan Pinkerton
Allan Pinkerton
Allan Pinkerton was a Scottish American detective and spy, best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.-Early life, career and immigration:...
.
Testimonies exist from contemporaries, such as the Yorkshire Chartist Ben Wilson
Ben Wilson
Ben "Benji" Wilson was an American basketball player who was shot to death on the eve of the start of his senior season in high school.Born Benjamin Wilson Jr. in Chicago, Illinois....
, that a successful rising at Newport was to have been the signal for a national uprising. Older histories suggested that Chartism slipped into a period of internal division after Newport. In fact the movement was remarkably buoyant (and remained so until late 1842). Initially, while the majority of Chartists, under the leadership of Feargus O'Connor
Feargus O'Connor
Feargus Edward O'Connor was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan.- Background :Feargus O'Connor was born into a prominent Irish Protestant family, the son of Irish Nationalist politician Roger O'Connor...
, concentrated on petitioning for Frost, Williams and Jones to be pardoned, significant minorities in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
and Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
planned their own risings in response. Samuel Holberry
Samuel Holberry
Samuel Holberry was a prominent Chartist activist.-Early years:Holberry was born in Gamston, Nottinghamshire, the youngest of nine children...
led an aborted rising in Sheffield on 12 January; police action thwarted a major disturbance in the East End of London on 14 January, and on 26 January a few hundred Bradford Chartists staged a rising in the hope of precipitating a domino effect across the country. After this Chartism turned to a process of internal renewal and more systematic organisation, but the transported and imprisoned Newport Chartists were regarded as heroes and martyrs amongst workers.
Meanwhile The Establishment
The Establishment
The Establishment is a term used to refer to a visible dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation. The term suggests a closed social group which selects its own members...
and middle classes became convinced that the rising meant all Chartists were dangerously violent. Newport Mayor Thomas Phillips was proclaimed a national hero for his part in crushing the rising and was knighted by Queen Victoria barely six weeks later.
Historical significance
Frost himself was eventually given an unconditional pardon in 1856 and allowed to return to Britain, receiving a triumphant welcome in Newport. But he never lived in Newport again, settling instead in StapletonStapleton, Bristol
Stapleton is an area in the north-eastern suburbs of the city of Bristol, England. The name is colloquially used today to describe the ribbon village along Bell Hill and Park Road in the Frome Valley. It borders Eastville to the South and Begbrook and Frenchay to the North...
near Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, where he continued to publish articles advocating reform until his death, aged 93, in 1877.
Today the Chartist-inspired murals in Newport and "John Frost Square" at the centre of the city, proudly commemorate the rising and local activities are often held to mark the anniversary.
The events of the rising are portrayed in Alexander Cordell
Alexander Cordell
Alexander Cordell was the pen-name of George Alexander Graber, a prolific Welsh novelist and author of thirty acclaimed works including Rape of the Fair Country, The Hosts of Rebecca and Song of the Earth....
's novel Rape of the Fair Country
Rape of the Fair Country
Rape of the Fair Country is a novel by Alexander Cordell, first published in 1959. It is the first in Cordell's "Mortymer Trilogy", followed by The Hosts Of Rebecca and Song of the Earth...
.