In the cases of Hughes, Vaughan and Thomas, in obedience to the suggestion of the learned judge, an immediate reprieve was granted, together with a commutation of punishment. In that of Lewis Lewis, the huntsmnan, a respite for a week was at the same time allowed. The same favour was almost immediately afterwards accorded to Richard Lewis, but the most painful doubts were entertained as to his ultimate fate. 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. Several other persons, committed to Cardiff jail for having participated in the riots, were acquitted. Prior to the Rising, a mass meeting of ironworkers was held at Waun Common on 30 May 1831, which was considered to be the largest political meeting of workers held in Wales. Dic Penderyn should be pardoned, MPs told in petition". BBC. 30 June 2015 . Retrieved 25 March 2022.

THESE riots, as alarming in their nature as they were distressing and mischievous in their consequences, occurred at Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, on the 3rd of June 1831. The district surrounding Merthyr Tydfil was at that time, as it is now, densely populated by persons engaged in the iron manufactories with which that district abounds, and the alleged in sufficiency of the wages was the immediate cause of the desperate riot which took place.

The History of a Riot: Class, Popular Protest and Violence in Early Colonial Nelson

The prisoner persisted in a denial of his guilt, and declared that he would do so with his dying breath. The circumstances attending the conviction of these unhappy men procured for them almost universal commiseration, and petitions, signed by many thousands of persons unconnected with them in any way, were presented to the Crown, with a view to obtain for them a mitigation of punishment. of rebellion, the first time it was to be so used in Britain. On its staff was impaled a loaf of bread, the symbol of the needs of the marchers. It had a magical effect.

The Napoleonic Wars fed the rapid industrialisation of South Wales, naturally rich in coal and metal deposits. The ‘Welsh method’ of puddling, pioneered in the 1780s, utilised coal to make malleable iron – essential for the production of machinery, infrastructure and weaponry. The demand for iron and coal transformed the rural and sparsely populated South Wales valleys (stretching from Carmarthenshire in the West to Monmouthshire in the East) into one of the industrial centres of British capitalism, with several massive coalpits and ironworks. The level of industry was highly developed. The world’s first steam locomotive left Penydarren in Merthyr Tydfil in 1804. By 1830, South Wales was producing 40 percent of British pig iron. Despite the heavy military presence, the ruling class was not confident about maintaining the peace in Merthyr, which they feared would rise up in rebellion again at any moment. This in part explains the relatively lenient treatment of the captured ringleaders of the Rising, coupled with Merthyr’s importance to British capitalism. The authorities were eager not to provoke the populace into another strike. In total, 28 people were charged with various offenses connected to the Rising, including one 62-year-old woman. But only two faced the death penalty: Lewis Lewis, and Dic Penderyn. In the end, a petition from the miners and a desperate series of letters from Bruce to the presiding judge meant Lewis’ sentence was commuted to transportation. It is clear from these correspondences that the presence of the unions in Merthyr, which were gaining strength by the day, left Bruce fearful for his health should Lewis hang. In short, it was the collective power of the working class that rescued Lewis from the scaffold.On the night before the execution, the unhappy convict was urged to make a confession of his guilt, but he positively denied that he had been in any way connected with the transaction in which he was alleged to have been an actor. He continued firm in this declaration up to the time of his death, and Lewis Lewis, who so narrowly escaped the same fate and who was his brother, subsequently confirmed the assertion which he had made, and stated that he could have given satisfactory evidence of his brother having been altogether absent from the affray. And even before legal union lodges made their way to south Wales, the Merthyr workers were renowned for their capacity for self-organisation, meeting attempts to cut wages or raise the prices of essentials with fierce collective resistance. In the 1810s and 20s, there were food revolts and strikes in Merthyr in which colliers and miners naturally assumed a leading role. This was a town destined to play an important early role in the British working-class struggle. The middle classes By 1831, over 30,000 people lived in Merthyr as most people looked for employment in the iron works.