BARRICADES PROJECT

Ecrite en décembre 1833 de sa prison par le chef de barricade Charles Jeanne, cette lettre est composée de 58 feuillets d’une écriture fine et soignée, avec quelques ratures. Ici est reproduite la dernière page, numérotée 57 (il y a deux pages numérotées 31). La grande majorité du texte porte sur les combats du cloître Saint-Merry. Sa fiabilité est certes relative : Jeanne écrit 18 mois après l’événement, il s’auto-justifie et défend sa réputation face aux attaques de certains de ses codétenus. Il se révèle néanmoins très précieux car il permet de se faire une idée de la vie à la barricade heure par heure. L’usage récurrent de la ponctuation (notamment les points d’exclamation) et du soulignement accentue le côté percutant du contenu où il est question de la construction de l’édifice, des insurgés et des relations qu’ils entretiennent, de leur enthousiasme ou de leur découragement, d’affrontements et de mort. La lettre de Jeanne est une pièce décisive pour comprendre ce qui s’est passé les 5 et 6 juin 1832, un événement que Louis Blanc (Histoire de dix ans) ainsi que Victor Hugo (Les Misérables) ont restitué eux aussi selon d’autres perspectives. Charles Jeanne naît en 1800 à Paris. Si les trente premières années de son existence sont mal connues, il se distingue pendant les combats des Trois Glorieuses de Juillet 1830 (il y reçoit plusieurs blessures, ce qui lui vaut la décoration de Juillet). Il semble bien exercer un temps le métier de commissionnaire mais en tout état de cause il est sans emploi au printemps 1832. Déterminé le 5 juin 1832, à l’occasion des funérailles du général Lamarque, à manifester contre Louis-Philippe et ses ministres puis à prendre les armes, il combat inlassablement contre les forces de l’ordre. Il parvient à fuir la barricade de Saint-Merry avec quelques autres insurgés dans l’après-midi du 6, peu avant l’assaut final. Arrêté quelques semaines plus tard, il revendique pleinement sa responsabilité pendant son procès. Il est condamné à la déportation. Il séjourne successivement dans plusieurs prisons : la Conciergerie, Sainte-Pélagie, le Mont-Saint-Michel (c’est là qu’il écrit sa lettre), Bicêtre, Clairvaux, Doullens enfin. Soutenu par ses proches et en particulier par ses parents, Jeanne obtient progressivement des assouplissements dans ses conditions de détention. Il bénéficie de l’amnistie de 1837 mais il en profite peu : il meurt à Doullens le 11 juillet 1837. En 1833 Jeanne adresse sa lettre à sa chère sœur. Nul ne sait si ses pages lui sont parvenues ou si elles ont été interceptées par les autorités pénitentiaires. Nul ne sait non plus quel chemin elles ont parcouru jusqu’à leur découverte, au 20e siècle, dans un marché aux puces. Le document, dont aucune page n’a été perdue ou détruite, est conservé actuellement dans une collection privée. Bibliographie Jeanne (Charles), À cinq heures nous serons tous morts ! Sur la barricade Saint-Merry, 5-6 juin 1832, présenté et commenté par Thomas Bouchet, Paris, Vendémiaire, 2011.

Au citoyen Guizot Sur l’air de : Les anguilles et les jeunes filles Les affaires sont terminées, Je crois que tu ne pensais pas Que l’on pouvait, en trois journées, Te faire ainsi sauter le pas. La France, jadis monarchique, Menant les choses au galop, Est maintenant en République. Qu’en dis-tu, citoyen Guizot ? Ton cher ami, ton vieux compère, Pressé, s’est montré négligent. Je crois sa douleur bien amère, Car il a laissé de l’argent ; Cet argent qu’il a dû nous prendre Sur la denrée et sur l’impôt. On parle qu’on va nous le rendre, Qu’en dis-tu, citoyen Guizot ? Pour la garde nationale, Tu sais qu’elle a tourné le dos, Seule on vit la municipale, Vouloir soutenir tes drapeaux. Jusqu’au fantassin malhonnête Qui, connaissant ton vil tripot, Tourna vers toi sa baïonnette. Qu’en dis-tu, citoyen Guizot ? Le beau château des Tuileries, Que tu visitais si souvent, N’a plus ses belles galeries, Ses dorures sont en plein vent ; La chambre à coucher de Philippe Possède au mur plus d’un accroc, Tous les salons sentent la pipe, Qu’en dis-tu citoyen Guizot ? Enfin, au pied de la Colonne, Après tous s’en être affublés, Ils ont osé porter le trône, Et là, joyeux, ils l’ont brûlé. Puis autour se pâmant d’aise, Car ça brûlait comme un fagot, Ils ont chanté la Marseillaise, Qu’en dis-tu, citoyen Guizot ? Si jamais tu revois ton maître, Dis-lui qu’on a goûté son vin, Qu’un gaillard qui doit s’y connaître M’a dit l’avoir trouvé divin. Bien qu’encore au sein de ces caves On dût l’oublier aussitôt, Car on trinquait toujours aux braves, Qu’en dis-tu, citoyen Guizot ? Dans ton hôtel du ministère, Sabre en main, chacun te cherchait, Tous les yeux brillaient de colère, Penses-tu ce qu’on te voulait ! Mais déjà du beau sol de France Tu fuyais sans doute au grand trot, Ton hôtel nous sert d’ambulance, Qu’en dis-tu, citoyen Guizot ? Eugène Baillet, Au citoyen Guizot, [Toute fin février ou tout début mars 1848] Lendemains immédiats de révolution : dans l’élan des trois journées victorieuses de février 1848 le jeune chansonnier parisien Eugène Baillet fait entendre sa voix en produisant un texte à lire mais aussi – et surtout – à chanter. Né le 20 octobre 1829 dans le monde de l’artisanat, Baillet quitte l’école à dix ans et il fait deux ans plus tard son apprentissage chez un bijoutier. Il devient ouvrier bijoutier. Très tôt il fréquente les goguettes, notamment les Enfants du temple où il se lie avec les principaux chansonniers de la monarchie de Juillet – notamment Charles Gille, son aîné, un chef de file de la goguette militante d’opposition, et qui connaît déjà le succès. La première chanson de Baillet a pour titre Les Héros de la Bastille et selon toutes les apparences elle est diffusée en 1847 sous forme de feuille volante. Âgé de dix-huit ans en février 1848, Baillet prend fait et cause pour la révolution et pour la république. Au citoyen Guizot et d’autres créations signées de lui (Le Cri des Français et Ventôse), en témoignent. Sur un ton à la fois moqueur et vindicatif, Au citoyen Guizot évoque les causes et les caractéristiques de la chute brutale de la monarchie de Juillet. Le président du Conseil Guizot, sur la route de l’exil, est la cible principale de Baillet. Dans la deuxième strophe le texte vise aussi le « vieux compère » de Guizot, Pierre-Sylvain Dumon, ministre des Finances entre mai 1847 et le 23 février 1848, exécuteur de la politique du président du Conseil sur diverses questions sensibles (tarifs postaux, impôt sur le sel, rentes). Bien entendu Au citoyen Guizot éreinte aussi le roi déchu Louis-Philippe 1er, contraint à fuir les Tuileries. Chacune de ces trois figures de la monarchie est tournée en dérision par un peuple goguenard dans un processus de retournement carnavalesque des rôles politiques : déchéance du roi et de son entourage, souveraineté et légitimité du peuple. Ce peuple, c’est celui de Février et aussi celui de Juillet 1830 : le trône est brûlé au pied de la « Colonne » commémorant les Trois Glorieuses. Baillet, sur le ton familier de la poésie populaire (« On parle qu’on va nous le rendre »), tutoie Guizot et rebaptise le roi « Philippe ». Pour dénoncer Guizot et les siens Baillet évoque dès le premier vers la question des « affaires » qui dans les domaines politique, économique et moral empoisonnent les dernières années de la monarchie de Juillet ; il met à jour la confusion entre affaires publiques et affaires privées : le peuple qui entre aux Tuileries dévoile la luxueuse intimité de la chambre, des salons et des caves du roi. Par la révolution, la France – terme employé à la fois dans la première et dans la dernière des strophes – a repris ses droits. Au Citoyen Guizot, qui laisse résonner La Marseillaise dans sa cinquième strophe, est fait pour être chanté. Dans la tradition du vaudeville Eugène Baillet fait usage de la pratique du timbre (« réutiliser des airs anciens pour y adapter des paroles nouvelles » selon les mots de Romain Benini). Chanté sur un air connu et bien rythmé, son texte n’en circule que mieux. Mais les paroles correspondant à l’air d’origine ont également ici toute leur place. L’air « Les anguilles et les jeunes filles » renvoie à une œuvre de la fin de la Restauration (1827) intitulée Masaniello ou le Pêcheur napolitain. Le pêcheur Matteo y chante : « Les pêcheurs de toutes nos rades / Devant moi baissent pavillon. / De mon talent, chers camarades, / Vous voyez un échantillon : / Saumons, turbot, fines anguilles, / Tour à tour tombent dans mes rêts ; / Et même jusqu’aux jeunes filles… / Moi je prends tout dans mes filets. » Matteo est le frère de Masaniello (Tommaso Anielo), un pêcheur néopolitain qui a accédé au pouvoir en 1647 grâce à un soulevement populaire, mais qui était alors considéré comme poursuivant son propre avantage et a été renversé par le peuple Si l’on s’appuie sur la riche analyse de Romain Benini, on peut considérer que le comportement de Guizot fait écho à celui de Matteo : l’ex-président du Conseil est « un beau parleur et un voleur » ; dans cette perspective, « chaque couplet nargue l’allocutaire à propos d’un élément du faste monarchique qui lui est retiré. D’ailleurs, la représentation commune et stéréotypée de Guizot au lendemain de Février est bien entre autres celle d’un voleur ou d’un complice des vols de Louis-Philippe. » Romain Benini conclut que, de la sorte, Baillet accentue « la signification subversive et narquoise de sa chanson ». Références : Masaniello ou Le Pêcheur napolitain, drame historique en 4 actes de Mrs Moreau et Lafortelle, représenté pour la première fois sur le théâtre royal de l'Opéra-Comique le jeudi 27 X.bre 1827, par Michele Carafa (https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k91166750/f64.item). Romain Benini, Filles du peuple ? - Pour une stylistique de la chanson au XIXe siècle, Lyon, ENS éditions, 2021. Philippe Darriulat, "Baillet Eugène", dans Le aitron (https://maitron.fr/spip.php?article25589)

The plate depicts Matthew Wood, twice Lord Mayor of London and supporter of Queen Caroline during her trial. He wrote to her, encouraging her return and met her at Calais to welcome her back from exile. The plate refers to him ‘patriotically’ housing her upon her return to England before the trial. This appears to be quite the understatement, with Wood’s involvement in the affair going further than this. Wood had a history of being openly critical of the government. During his mayoralty, he consistently refused to attend his own Lord Mayor’s dinners. After being elected as an MP in 1817, Wood became known for paying keen attention to the concerns of his constituents. He spoke openly and critically of the government concerning the Peterloo massacre and its aftermath. He made a bid to interrogate those imprisoned in Newgate for the Cato Street Conspiracy, obtaining information about the government’s informer through his role as a magistrate, and he accused the government of purposefully entrapping the conspirators. Wood played a significant part in the Queen’s return to England in 1820. He assured Queen Caroline that there would be popular support for her return and he used this to encourage her to do so. When she did return on the 6th June, he rode in an open carriage alongside her, waving to a crowd. She then lived at his home for two months, resulting in him becoming satirised as ‘Mother Wood’ in a print by Isaac Cruikshank, linking him to a woman who ran a famous brothel. The image depicts him holding a bottle labelled ‘popularity,’ to suggest that his actions in support of Caroline were far from altruistic. Radical involvement in the Queen Caroline affair has faced differing judgements from historians, but regardless of his motivations, this plate suggests that Wood’s thirst for popularity could be both immortalised and caricatured in a way that would sell to the public. Wood continued to support the Queen’s cause throughout the trial, signing a petition in her support during the trial; and after the abandonment of the bill, in 1821, he presented petitions to restore her name to the liturgy. A number of ceramics produced to celebrate and memorialise the successful defeat of the bill survive. Other key figures represented included Henry Brougham, the Whig Lawyer who defended her, and Thomas Denman, who also helped to defend her. Brougham features more frequently on objects produced to celebrate the passing of the 1832 Reform Act. Historians have highlighted the gendered dynamics of the debate and the melodramatic stereotypes employed as the affair played out in a range of printed material produced during the affair. Caroline was painted as an innocent woman in need of defence. Although several men came to this call, the plate chooses rather to highlight Wood’s actions as ‘patriotic.’ This demonstrates the extent to which the affair was framed not only as a gendered one, but nationalistic. The plate is made of earthenware, one of the cheaper materials, and transfer printed- a method of decoration growing in popularity in the mass production of ceramics at this time. The style of the portrait, with a slimmer face than how Wood appears in engravings, is consistent with the representations of other politicians in transfer printing from this period. Wood’s connection with Caroline, immortalised on the plate, is significant for both representing the gendered and patriotic defence of her as an injured woman and the adoption of the Queen Caroline Affair by radical politicians across the spectrum. Additionally, it can be seen to mark a growing public perception of those in politics as public figures to be commodified and consumed through objects, almost as celebrities.

The French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 1808 put Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother Joseph on the Spanish throne. As the reactive war of Independence broke out, from May 1808 the political élites of the cities and provinces of Spain established juntas, which could form political and military authorities. A central junta in Seville was established in 1810, deputies from Spain and the colonies in the Americas were invited to participate in the Cortes (parliament) and the process of drawing up a new liberal constitution began. These juntas claimed to represent the sovereignty of the nation and the will of the people in opposition to the usurper Joseph Bonaparte. They created a precedent by which a group of individuals through the publication of proclamations, pseudo –legal decrees and eventually a constitution claimed to be the legitimate authorities. The Cádiz Constitution was inaugurated on 19 March 1812 and was one of the most liberal constitutions of the day. The people and the nation were the locus of sovereignty, powers were given to the regions through ayuntamientos (town councils) as representatives of the people and recourse to the right to insurrection could be used to defend the social pact. When the French were finally defeated, Ferdinand VII was restored to the throne in March 1814 on the back of a coup, sometimes referred to as a proto-pronunciamiento. This coup was the result of conspiracy and was accompanied by the Manifiesto de los Persas, signed by a group of individuals. It resulted in the abolition of the Constitution of Cádiz and the restoration of absolutism in Spain. This created a precedent by which a group of individuals through the bureaucratic procedure of drawing up and proclaiming a political plan authorised themselves to participate in politics and to determine the form of the state. Between 1814 and 1820, through a process of conspiracy in Masonic lodges, liberal officers worked continually to restore the constitution using strategies similar to those used in the proto-pronunciamiento and the Manifiesto de los Persas. It was in this context that a new bureaucratic, liberal and subversive form of demanding political change was developed, the pronunciamiento. The first intervention to be called a pronunciamiento was launched by Rafael Riego in January 1820 calling for the restoration of the Cádiz constitution. Due to the abolition of the constitution, Spanish liberal officers were obliged to resort to extra-constitutional methods in order to restore representative government. On 1 January 1820, after an extended process of conspiracy, Rafael del Riego launched his grito (cry) and pronunciamiento in Cabezas de San Juan, which demanded the reestablishment of the Constitution of 1812. In the text of the pronunciamiento, Riego gave himself powers to establish an ayuntamiento (town council) in Cabezas de San Juan thus creating a precedent by which the power to establish new laws or new authorities lay in the hands of the people. Riego and his co-conspirators rode through the towns of Andalusia to garner more support and garrisons in other parts of the country in Zaragoza, Pamplona, Cartagena and Murcia launched supporting plans or actas de adhesión. In March, the King recognised and swore in the Constitution justifying his actions with the contractual argument that he was responding to the petitions of his subjects. With the restoration of the 1812 constitution a provisional governing junta was formed, elections to the Cortes were called and the Supreme Court was restored. Riego and his co-pronunciado Antonio Quiroga had set a powerful precedent for the use of pronunciamientos as a way of effecting political change in Spain. Through the use of a pronunciamiento it was possible to bring about revolutionary change with little bloodshed and without major social upheaval. For this reason, pronunciamientos became a feature of political life in Spain. Most of the major political changes in Spain between 1820 and 1874 would be precipitated by a pronunciamiento including; the introduction of the Estatuto Real in 1834, the instigation of the development of the constitution of 1837, the declaration of Isabel II as being of age to rule in 1843, the process which led to the progressive government of Leopoldo O’Donell and the constitution of 1856, the overthrow of Isabel II and the constitution of 1869. The parliamentary republic was brought to an end and the monarchy restored through the pronunciamientos of 1874. The majority of the pronunciamientos launched were unsuccessful in effecting political change. After the liberal government of 1820-23 had failed and Ferdinand VII had abolished the Cádiz constitution once again, José María Torrijos and his co-conspirators in 1831 made the last of a long line of attempts to reinstate the constitution via a pronunciamiento, which they aimed to launch from Malaga. However, they were betrayed by Vicente González Moreno who set an ambush, which led to their capture and execution. Pronunciamientos generally followed the format of Riego’s 1820 plan. A group of individuals gathered to draw up and sign a pseudo-legal, petition-like document outlining their demands with which they aimed to represent the will of the people and challenge the legitimacy of the existing authorities who had broken the social contract. The plan would be carefully circulated in an extensive period of conspiracy to garner support. Once the conspirators were convinced of sufficient support the pronunciamiento would be declaimed in a grito (cry) in a public space. Pronunciados would travel to neighbouring towns and villages for further support. The rebels would then wait for supporting documents known as actas de adhesión to emerge from other regions. The desired effect was that a domino effect of actas de adhesión from military and civilian authorities would provide enough evidence of political and military support to hold the government to ransom, force negotiation with the pronunciados and thus coerce the government into acquiescing to their demands without the need to resort to the threatened use of military force. This formula for bloodless revolution inspired liberal revolutionaries throughout Europe, in Naples, Greece and Russia and in the newly independent nations of Latin America, particularly Mexico.

In 1820, following the death of George III, Caroline of Brunswick, the estranged wife of the Prince Regent – now King George IV – returned to Britain from her continental exile, despite attempts to bribe her to stay away. The new king pressured the government to bring her to trial on a Bill of Pains and Penalties, in an attempt to deny her the status of Queen Consort. She became a cause célèbre for popular radicalism, especially in London, fuelling opposition to the much-derided George IV. This performance aims to situate the events and to convey some of the evidence informing the drama that unfolded in the House of Lords, as the government of the day sought to follow the king’s instructions to them. A fuller discussion of the affair is given in The Matrimonial Ladder. The dramatization is avaulable at: https://lofttheatrecompany.com/the-trial-of-queen-caroline/

The Teetotal Pledge, written by Henry Vincent, was one of the most important texts within the teetotal Chartist movement. Vincent had been imprisoned for a year in Monmouth Gaol in August 1839 for attending a riotous assemblage in Newport, Wales – an event which played an important role in provoking the Newport rising in November 1839. His time in gaol seems to have further convinced him of the importance of temperance as a way to achieve the points of the charter, such that by 28 February 1840 he foresaw ‘a moral combination of the people that that will achieve our every desire.' Vincent was a committed teetotaller, having been abstinent from 1836. He believed that a drunkard could never be an effective radical campaigner and commented to a friend in late 1840 that ‘I am a real down, upright, slanting, and octagonal Tea-totaller.’ Henry Vincent wished to promote these beliefs within the wider Chartist movement. This led to him composing the teetotal pledge, which was first published on 28 November 1840. He begins the pledge by stating that he wishes to improve the condition of the working classes of Britain, and that he believes the most effective means of doing this is through the realisation of the six points of the People’s Charter. However, he goes onto say that this progress is being frustrated by ‘an invidious and powerful enemy – an enemy continuously weakening you, and adding to the strength of your profligate oppressors. That enemy is the love of intoxicating drinks.’ While the address does acknowledge that there are many social and structural issues which have caused the poverty of the working-classes which the Charter would address and remedy, it nevertheless asserts that ‘no state of freedom can improve the man who is the slave to his own vices.’ No matter how much political change occurs, should the working classes persist in degrading habits, no amount of legislation could improve their condition. The pledge then proceeds to outline some examples of individuals, families, and communities who have been impoverished due to alcohol. For example, Vincent describes the families of ‘skilled workmen, in London and other large towns, ragged, hungry, diseased, ignorant, and vicious’ due to excessive alcohol consumption; as well as other families reduced to ‘wants and rags by the insane habits of moderate drinking and smoking.’ Vincent ends the address with the rousing cry that ‘NO GOVERNMENT CAN LONG WITHSTAND THE JUST CLAIMS OF A PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD THE COURAGE TO CONQUER THEIR OWN VICES.’ The pledge received much support from the time its publication in late 1840. It was reprinted in many regional newspapers throughout the country, evident in the different publications above; and was warmly received by many of the moral force chartists who thought that it supported their belief in political change through peaceful persuasion rather than violent insurrection. Furthermore, other articles were published praising and defending the principle expressed within the pledge, for example in the Scottish 'Chartist Circular' in January 1841. There were a number of reasons as to why Teetotalism was so popular during this period. The chartists had been preoccupied with the poverty of the working classes during this time due to poor economic circumstances, and many, especially Vincent, condemned alcohol for exacerbating the pre-exisiting poverty. Furthermore, many believed that teetotalism would encourage more support from elements of society who may previously have been wary of or indifferent to Chartism – such as the middle-classes and women. The Pledge can be found at the top of the fourth column in the Carlisle Journal, the top of the fifth column in the Reading Mercury, and halfway down the second column in the Shrewsbury chronicle.

Among the efforts to thwart Rebecca, there were attempts to get information from local people concerning the Rioters and their identities so they could be arrested. For example, this declaration offers a £100 reward for such information. Though claiming a reward like this may seem like easy money (indeed, adjusting for inflation shows the reward totalling c. £12,000 in today's money), giving information to the authorities was a risky proposition. This was because if it was found out in local circles that someone had been talking to the authorities, there was a strong chance of that person being socially ostracized or even becoming a target of Rebecca herself. Indeed, one letter claiming the reward for a £50 bounty reads that the 'Applicant has experienced much annoyance and difficulty in remaining in the neighbourhood since he laid the information against the Prisoners, and their subsequent conviction, and will ultimately be obliged to leave this part of the country'.Full transcript:'GLAMORGANSHIRE. At a Meeting of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace, held at Swansea, on Saturday, the 8th day of July, 1843: PRESENT, THOMAS EDWARD THOMAS, ESQ. F. FREDERICKS, ESQ. W.I. JONES, ESQ. REV. SAMUEL DAVIES J.D. BERRINGTON, ESQ. J.D. LLEWELYN, ESQ. G.G. BIRD, ESQ, M.D. C.H. SMITH, ESQ. JOHN GROVE, ESQ. L. LL.DILLWYN, ESQ. RICHARD FRANKLEN, ESQ. Resolved Unanimously- That the following ADVERTISMENT be printed and published with the least possible delay:--- £100 Reward WHEREAS some evil disposed Persons did, in the night time of the Sixth, or early in the morning of the Seventh day of July instant, unlawfully and maliciously throw down and destroy the Toll Bar and House for the Collection of Turnpike Tolls at BOLGOED, in the Parish of Llandilo-Talybont, in the County of Glamorgan, against the form of the Statute in the case made and provided;--- NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That the above reward of £100 will be paid to any Person or Persons who shall give such Information as will lead to the Conviction of the Offender of Offenders, upon application to Mr. THOMAS ATTWOD, Clerk to the Justices. MORGANWG. Mewn Cyfarfod o Ynadon ei Mawrhydi, a gynnaliwyd yn Abertawy, ddydd Sadwrn, Gorphenaf 8, 1843: YN BRESENNOL, THOMAS EDWARD THOMAS, YSW. F. FREDERICKS, YSW. W.I. JONES, YSW. PARCH. SAMUEL DAVIES J.D. BERRINGTON, YSW. J.D. LLEWELYN, YSW. G.G. BIRD, YSW. M.D. C.H. SMITH, YSW. JOHN GROVE, YSW. L.LL.DILLWYN, YSW. RICHARD FRANKLEN, YSW. Penderfynwyd yn unfrydol,--- Fod i'r Ilyspysiad canlynol gael ei argraffu a'l gyhoeddi yn ddioedi:--- GWOBRWY O £100! YN gymmaint ag i ryw Berson neu Bersonau drwg eu tuedd yn nos y Cwechfed, neu yn foreu y Seithfed o'r mis hwn, sef Gorphenaf, mewn modd anghyfreithlon a maleisus daflu i lawr a distrywio y TOLL-BORTH a' TY i gasglu y Tollan yn y BOLGOED, yn mhlwyt Llandilo-Talybont, swydd Forganwg, yn erbyn y Gyfraith a wnaed at yr achos hwn ;-- Rhoddir Rhybudd trwy hyn, Y caiff y Wobr uchod o £100 ei thalu i unrhyw Berson neu Bersonau ag a roddo y eyfryw Hysbysrwydd i brofi yn euog y Troseddwr neu y Troseddwyr, ond ymofyn a Mr. THOMAS ATTWOOD, Ysgrifenydd yr Ynadon. E.GRIFFITHS, PRINTER, HIGH-STREET, SWANSEA.'

Henry Hetherington (1792-1849) was a writer, publisher, and radical activist who played a prominent role within Chartism. He became involved in radical politics during the 1820s, joining radical political organisations, establishing a publishers to print pamphlets and texts, and becoming influenced by the political ideas of Robert Owen. He founded the very successful ‘Poor Man’s Guardian’ Newspaper in 1831 which campaigned against excessive government taxes upon publishing newspapers, claiming that it was a tax on knowledge. Moreover, he was a religious free-thinker and vehemently critical of religion and religious beliefs, this resulted in several prosecutions for blasphemy. He was a founding member of the London Working Men’s Association and was present at a meeting in February 1837 at the Crown and Anchor Tavern on the Strand which eventually led to the drafting the ‘People’s Charter’ – the foundational document of the Chartist movement. During the late 1830s and 1840s he was dedicated to realising the points of the charter through speaking, writing, and campaigning in favour of its implementation. He was sympathetic to the ‘moral force’ wing of the chartist movement who advocated campaigning for the Charter through peaceful methods of persuasion. This is in contrast to the ‘physical force’ chartists – those who wanted to campaign for the charter through both threats and acts of violence. An aspect of such moral force Chartism was a belief in self-help and the moral improvement of the working classes. Hetherington was therefore a signatory of The Teetotal Pledge, imploring them to abstain from alcohol due to its corrupting and degrading effects upon individuals. Moreover, he supported Lovett and Collins's plan for a national association that would be dedicated to educating the working classes. He defended these positions against criticisms from those who thought it divided the movement or detracted from the primary goals of Chartism – for example in the article above attacking Feargus O’Connor, published on 8 May 1841. While in his later years he began to focus on other campaigns such as Owenism and religious freethought, he remained a Chartist until the end of his life, establishing the (rather unsuccessful) ‘People’s Charter Union’ in 1848 a year before his death. In 1849 Hetherington fell ill following an outbreak of cholera in London. Ironically, his strong belief in teetotalism was ultimately the source of his final undoing. He refused to take any medicine to treat the illness, believing that his strict temperance would protect him from the disease. He died on 24 August 1849 aged 57. Before his death he wrote his ‘Last Will and Testament’, reaffirming his long-held atheism, Owenite political ideology, and insisting that his funeral be non-religious. He was buried the next day in Kensal Green cemetery in west London where two-thousand mourners attended. His Epitath reads as follows: HENRY HETHERINGTON DIED AUG. 24. 1849 THE POOR MAN’S GUARDIAN HIS VIEW OF TRUE RELIGION WAS THAT IT CONSISTED IN PROMOTING THE HAPPINESS OF EVERY HUMAN BEING IRRESPECTIVE OF CLASS, CREED, COUNTRY, OR COLOUR. ‘WE OUGHT TO ENDEAVOUR TO LEAVE THE WORLD BETTER THAN WE FOUND IT’

Following the failure of Chartist activism in 1839, most notably the Newport Rising, many Chartists were increasingly convinced that the most effective way of realising the Charter would be through ‘moral force’ – trying to attain political change through peaceful persuasion rather than violent insurrection. This gave rise to several sub-movements within Chartism, an example being the ‘New Move’, which emphasised the importance of the moral reform and improvement of the working classes as an essential precondition to realising the Charter. An important aspect of this new move was ‘Knowledge Chartism’ – the belief that the working classes ought to be sufficiently educated prior to receiving suffrage. This was advocated most notably by William Lovett and John Collins, who laid out their ideas and beliefs in a work they jointly wrote in Warwick Gaol (having both been imprisoned for Libel and Sedition following the Bull Ring riots in Birmingham in 1839), published in September 1840, entitled ‘CHARTISM; A NEW ORGANIZATION OF THE PEOPLE EMBRACING A PLAN FOR THE EDUCATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE POLITICALLY & SOCIALLY.’ In the preface to their work, they laid out their join conviction that the most effective way to achieve the points of the Charter would be ‘a peaceful combination of the millions, founding their hopes on the might and influence of intellectual and moral progress.’ They laid out plans for ‘The National Association for Promoting the Political and Social Improvement of the People.’ The aims of the organisation would be to unite all people who wanted to improve the condition of the people, encourage public support of the Charter, create schools to educate working class children, and to disseminate informative texts on philosophy, history, and sociology. Above can be seen a design for a district hall where such activities would take place, in which no alcohol would be permitted. They planned to fund this scheme by thousands of small donations from those who enlisted to join. However, when this method initially proved unsuccessful, Lovett increasingly sought support from sympathetic elements of the middle class – despite the fact that he was ideologically opposed to such help. Despite the high hopes of its founders and the membership of several high-profile Chartists such as Henry Vincent, James Watson, Richard Moore, and Richard Spurr, the organisation ultimately proved unsuccessful and failed to have a significant impact. Lovett and Collins barely received enough funds to open the National Hall in High Holborn in July 1842 and attracted very few working-class adherents. The localities were largely opposed to the ‘New Move’ and sympathetic to O’Connor’s subsequent condemnation of it as needlessly dividing the movement. Indeed, John Watkins, a middle-class Chartist, was so incensed by the scheme that he preached a sermon in 1841 calling for Lovett and other ‘New Movers’ to be assassinated. W.J. Linton, himself a member of the organisation, said of it that ‘after receiving a few hundred members, it dwindled into a debating club, and their hall became a dancing academy, let out occasionally for unobjectionable public meetings.’

Filippo Giuseppe Maria Ludovico Buonarroti (1761-1837) was born in Pisa, developed connections wth Freemasonry, and declared his commitment to the French Revolution on its outbreak.  He went to Corsica shortly thereafter where he joined a Jacobon Club and formed connections with the Bonaparte family.After being expelled from Corsica in 1791 he was arrested and imprisoned in Tuscany, and then went to Paris in 1793, where he was placed in charge of organising Italian exiles.  After the fall of Robespierre he was recalled to Paris and imprisoned until October 1795, during which time he met Gracchus Babeuf, and became an enthusiastic supporter of his insurrectionary egalitarian ideaology.  Following the collapse of Babeuf's 'Conspiracy of Equals' in May 1796.  He was sentenced to departation but languished in jail until the Consulate.  He was eventually released and allowed to live in Geneva in 1806.  He remained there for much of the next fifteen years and became active in a number of radical societies.  His account of Babeuf's project in his Conspiration pour l'egalité dite de Babeuf (History of Babeuf’s 'Conspiracy of Equals) was published in 1828 and became a founding text for insurrectionary movements in Europe.  The distinctive feature of Buonarroti's account was that insurrection was conceived of as instigated and led by a revolutionary élite, rather than as a function of a popular uprising.  This accentuated and legitimized the use of secret societies and conspiratorial methods, and forged a link between the masonic activities of the late 18th century, and the conspiratorial carbonari of the 19th century. From 1815 he became active in establishing a network of secret soieties across Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany through the Sublimes Mâitres Parfaits, whose activities were exposed to the Austrian authorities in 1821.  Buonarroti was ordered to leave Switzerland, but remained under a false name before leaving for Belgium in 1824.  He set up a further set of societies and remained there until the revolution of 1830, when he went back to Paris.  He was arrested briefly in 1833, but remained in France and died there in 1837.J. M. Roberts, describes Buonarroti as 'a pest to European policemen' in his The Mythology of the Secret Societies (London, 1972) p. 233.

In 1816-17 a series of events, linked to the Spa Fields Meetings in London, and in Nottingham, Lancashire and Yorkshire (respectively the Pentridge rising, the Manchester 'plot' to free the arrested 'blanketeers', and the aborted rising in Huddersfield), were all in part prompted by, encouraged, or infiltrated by government spies.  Most notoriously, Castles in London, Oliver (W. J. Richards) in the North, and Reynolds in Ireland.The case against the London 'conspirators', Dr Watson, Arthur Thistlewood, Thomas Preston, and John Hooper - for high treason relating to the Spa Fields demonstration on December 2 1816- collapsed after the evidence given by Castle was undermined by revelations about his past nefarious activities. The Manchester Blanketeers scheme - to march to London to protest against the exclusion of their petitions (only 13 of the 600 submitted had been deemed to meet accepted standards) - was forestalled by the arrest of the first marchers and their imprisonment without trial for the next eight or nine months. That further encouraged talk of a more general rising. On 9 June 1817, there was a gathering of several hundred workers near Huddersfield, which dispersed before military intervention. In Derbyshire, near Nottingham, a contingent marched on Notingham only to be overpowered by the military. Fourteen men were sentenced to transportation and Jeremiah Brandreth, Isaac Ludlam, and William Turner were hanged and beheaded - the defence having failed to call Castle to the stand. George Cruikshank's caircature, published on 1 July 1817, satirises the entrapment of poor and needy working men.Three Ministers sit at a council table along with three rough-looking agents or spies. On the extreme left sits Sidmouth and opposite is Thomas Reynolds, who was active in Ireland, indicated by a paper beside him: 'Reynolds Ireland'. The bag beside him is labelled 'Blood Money'. At the right sits Castlereagh, with a paper 'To Mr Reynolds'. To his right is George Canning, who says, "Don't you think my Lord that our friends, Castle & Oliver should be sent to Lisbon or somewhere as Consul Generals, or Envoys?" Castlereagh replies: "Can't you negotiate for some boroughs—" The two men have papers addressed respectively to 'Oliver Leeds' and 'Castle Spafields'; in the latter's hat is a bundle of 'Forged notes' . Papers in the green bag are labeled: 'An Oath to be Proposed to the distressed'; 'Plan for the Attack on the Regents Carraige' [see No. 12864]; 'Treasonable papers to be sliped into the pockets of some duped artisans'; 'Plans for a General Row'. On the table: 'Toast to be given in the Company of moderate men & then Swear they drank them' [Castle's evidence]; 'Every means to be taken to implicate Sr F. Burdett Ld Cochrane & —'. Beside Sidmouth lie: 'Instructions for Entrapg the poor & needy', and 'under santion [sic] of Government'. Beside Castlereagh areflags and favours labelled 'Tricolord Flags &c &c for Spa Fields', and a stocking labelled: 'A Waggon Load of Ammunition!!! Vide Mr Cannings Speech in ye House of Coms'. At a window on theright, behind Castlereagh, John Bull, exclaims: "Oh! Oh I have found out the Conspirators at last, poor Starving John is to be enslaved into Criminal acts & then the Projectors & perpetrators are brought forward as principal evidences! This is another Vaughan, Brock & Pelham business, and I suppose they are to be made Consuls too, the high road to Ld Castlereigh's particular favor—Canning travelled it." The print exemplifies the deep mistrust that existed between those agitating for reform and the government, who were suspected of fabricating evidence of conspiracy and sedition in the increasingly febrile atmosphere of British popular politics following the hardships faced by the British people at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Suspicion of conspiracy is turned on its head and directed against a government that was seen as increasingly insouciant to the problems of the public. There was, nonetheless, some evidence of more insurrectionary attitudes in the winter of 1816-17, especially around the Spa Fields Meetings (qv).

Most historians agree the Rebecca Riots ended in 1844. However, this newspaper article from 1879 complicates that idea. It opens, "...the "Rebbecaites" have again brought themselves into prominent notice in the country, and their movements form a subject much discussed not only in the localities where they exist but throughout the kingdom..." This refers to an ongoing rural contestation focussed on the River Wye in Radnorshire, sometimes called the 'second' Rebecca riots. Local people, frustrated with restrictions on salmon poaching, took on the title and dress of Rebecca and her Daughters and hunted for salmon despite regulation and efforts by authorities. This contestation lasted, on and off, from around 1856 until 1879, increasing in severity over time. Indeed, this article elaborates of the later period in this contestation that, 'The measures taken by the Chairman and the Board of Conservators to secure the protection of the fish in the fisheries in 1878 and 1879 have...resulted in other and more extensive outbreaks of Rebeccaism than have occurred for many years past. Every increase in watchers seems to bring forth increased strength on the part of the poachers.' Three things are especially notable here. The first is that Radnorshire is fairly far from the epicentre of the original Rebecca riots. This stands as testament to the reach of Rebecca's meaning as an identity of protest. Second, that this largely concerned fishing freedoms and not toll gates demonstrates how Rebeccaism had become a versatile outlet for protest. Third, that even over a decade later these poachers took on the mantle of Rebecca speaks to the riots' temporal reach. In essence, the dress and name had evolved past simple disguises; Rebecca had become a recognised (sometimes feared, sometimes renowned) identity of Welsh protest.

This newspaper article gives some general information about the Rebecca Riots while taking a handful of political stances concerning them. A few features stand out. This is from the newspaper's front page, demonstrating the prominence and interest in the riots as far as London. Indeed, as the article later mentions writing in the Times about the Riots, we can see they spread fairly far in English reporting. The article also assumes existing knowledge of the riots, opening by saying, 'The tumults which are now disturbing society, agitating the population, and destroying all social order in South Wales have at last assumed an aspect which may no longer be regarded without a profound anxiety, a watchful solicitude, and we fear we must add, also, a natural and justifiable inquiet and alarm'. As the reader is assumed to have some basic knowledge of these 'tumults', this further demonstrates the riots had established notoriety. The article also constructs a fairly nuanced opinion towards the Riots. While it disavows the methods of the rioters (particularly in breaking laws), it also tries to understand why the Rioters would be driven to such lawlessness. '...we are all emphatically bound to deprecate and abhor their actions, to regret their disloyalty and bad violence, to lament that their festering turbulence has been allowed to grow to head, and to join in hearty aspiration that they may now speedily crushed —not without such retribution either as the law will temper with mercy, such punishment as justice will administer with humanity—as an example to the future from the past. But at the same time it becomes also a social duty, for our own example's sake, to look into the source of the evils by which this rude and impetuous people have really been oppressed ; and when these riots are crushed utterly, to seek legislative redress for them' This article identifies many factors causing this 'turbulence', but above all judges the Poor law to be the most influential in fuelling Rebecca. It then uses this as a chance to criticise the government and advise towards the abolition of the policy. It closes by saying that  'the way to crush rebellions is not to let them grow till they are worth crushing', or that through the right governance, such risings as Rebecca would not become problems to begin with. Therefore, Rebecca was not just of interest in London as pure spectacle; it came to strike at the heart of contemporary political discourse regarding far-reaching policies and government positions.   The full transcript follows below: '29 July 1843. THE RIOTS IN WALES.  The tumults which are now disturbing society, agitating the population, and destroying all social order in South Wales have at last assumed an aspect which may no longer be regarded without a profound anxiety, a watchful solicitude, and we fear we must add, also, a natural and justifiable inquiet and alarm, by every one professing to be at all regardful of the common peace of the community and the general tranquillity of the slate. We do not mean weakly and flimsily to assume that the wild daring and half romantic turbulence of the Welsh districts—a turbulence which has now indeed become as wicked as mischievous, by darkening its hardy boldness with the crimson stain of blood —is per se a thing to thicken horrors upon the public imagination, or to make the hair of the nation "stand on end ;" but we do take up these organized and insurrectionary movements as signs of the times which are multiplying much too rapidly, and which are much too readily made the resort of either disaffection and discontent, with that sort of dangerous defiance of the spirit of the constitution and the power of the law which every true lover of rational liberty in the British Empire must earnestly deprecate and deplore. That species of argument which is balanced upon a threat is always most dangerous when admitted or tolerated in the most remote degree—as dangerous to the conscious independence of good governments as it would be to the personal honour and character of true gentlemen; and yet this is the very style of “extorting justice” which the spirit of the times seems to have hit upon, and which is equally dishonest in its motive, and demoralizing in its effect. It depreciates the efficacy of the executive in the public respect, and tends to a prestige for tumult, and a defiance of every consideration of social equity and the prescriptive rights of peace. It is vain to say, however, that, with marks of distinction in their nature and tendency, crusades against the law and the constitution have not been suffered to grow ahead amongst us, and that, too, without half enough resistance on the part of those who should have quelled the storm in its rising, have stemmed the torrent before it grew to strength. Who will say that these remarks do not apply to Ireland, whence the threat of repeal has been literally brandished in the face of the British Government, or in the very teeth of the Saxon, as O’Connell would more emphatically shout? There physical force has been arrayed with moral forbearance, and with a display of power systematic, organized, concentrated, but perilous in the extreme ; there the literal wolf of rebellion has howled forth his hypocrisy in the sheep’s clothing of peace. And now that he has done this, it may be the best policy of the Government to conciliate him into impotence—by calm, untroubled reserve of authority to bind him with silken fetters within his jacket of fleece, and so give the wolf no pretext for escape into his natural atmosphere of ferocity. This we say may be, and perhaps is, the best policy now ; but we much question the wisdom, nay, censure the indifference, of allowing an insurrectionary spirit, whether passive or active in its principles, so far as actual violence is concerned, to have grown into so formidable a presence—to have spoken with so bullying a voice.  So, in a lesser degree, of the Welsh riots. They ought not to have been supinely permitted to have swelled to what they are-- to have grown into a wild, bold, powerful, spreading disaffection. Rebecca, while her family were yet young and few, might have been despoiled of her hopeful progeny —might have been left “like Niobe all tears”—no children tied to her revolutionary apron-strings-- not one son or daughter of turbulence at her side. Not so now. South Wales is shaken as by an earthquake—the amazonian who traded against turnpikes has become a leader of a thousand yeomen acting in defiance of constables, artillery, and troops. Under the magic of Rebecca’s name a regular and organized combination has sprung up, and in its boldness has conceived and matured a system of predatory warfare. Its conspirators are as numerous, as rapid, and as harassing as the far-famed guerillas of Spain. Suddenly and imperceptibly, at the start of rockets and firesignals upon the hills, they gather into wild freebooting throngs —storm property, destroy turnpikes, and threaten all peaceful dwellers upon the soil who will not participate in their design. Do the military arrive—one flash of flame from the signal mountains, and they are dispersed without leaving trace or track. They are gone with reckless energy to their hiding-places—the lone cottage—the rock chasm—the dark coal-pit--the bush--the ditch--the brake—the barn—the sheltering hedge. The troops are nonplussed—the work of mischief has been completed, but the authorities are successfully defied.  Once within the last week, however, there has been a scene of conflict. Some drunken peasant, bribed to betray his comrades with a hundred pounds, disclosed one isolated rendezvous, but the Rebeccaites fought desperately, and in their affray with the constabulary blood was shed and human life sacrificed. Some of the consequences will be prosecution, transportation, and death ! This is a dreadful state of things—the whole country is plunged into mad alarm-- the participators the wild movement are many —the non-participators few and insecure. Soldiers, exasperated with fruitless adventure, march the highways and track the fields in vain—justice trembles and is paralyzed—juries dare hardly keep their oaths upon the trials ; and at last Government will be forced to the alternative of special commissions, and of sending down London magistrates to sift the ramifications of the frightful conspiracy that is alive.  Yet with all this, be it remembered, the mass of the Rebeccaites do not consist of the idle or depraved lower classes ; they are not even confined to the aggrieved peasantry, who suffer under poor law legislation in the agricultural districts ; or the sullen, grumbling labourers who have been thrown loose and penniless upon the country from the coal and iron works and mines ; but they have their ranks swelled and strengthened and rendered important by the accession of whole bodies of farmers, who frame a set of general grievances as the reasons of their revolt, and who seek only the alleviation or withdrawal of those grievances to lure them back to order and their allegiance to the laws.  Of course it would ridiculous to countenance any palliation of the outrageous conduct of these disorderly creatures upon any other ground than that of pitiable ignorance ; and whe [sic.] the shedding of blood ensues not even upon that. No—we are all emphatically bound to deprecate and abhor their actions, to regret their disloyalty and bad violence, to lament that their festering turbulence has been allowed to grow to head, and to join in hearty aspiration that they may now speedily crushed —not without such retribution either as the law will temper with mercy, such punishment as justice will administer with humanity—as an example to the future from the past. But at the same time it becomes also a social duty, for our own example’s sake, to look into the source of the evils by which this rude and impetuous people have really been oppressed ; and when these riots are crushed utterly, to seek legislative redress for them, as the English people will seek legislative redress for Ireland the moment her cry for the dismemberment the empire is hushed in peace, and loyalty becomes truthful in its allegiance to the throne.  In both countries the most just and violent complaints seem to be of the poor-laws—of that dreadful system of grinding poverty, and never blessing it with comfort or benevolence, of which we murmured so bitterly in our last. In Wales they fret of tithes too, from which Ireland is exempt ; and the heavy tolls are no doubt iniquity which ought in honesty to be removed. But the Poor-law is the monster grievance—there, here, everywhere ; and why will Government blind itself to the incalculable benefits of its extirpation? Why will they cling to this one madness, when they know that it broods disaffection, and feel that disaffection is raging into revolt?  ln Wales the farmer and the labourer complain of the poor-law alike--it torments, crushes them both. No doubt, too, there are many other complications of distress in the farm population of the Welsh districts now in insurrection ; and these have been well set forth at one of their organized meetings, and doubt faithfully reported by the correspondent of the Times. They should be carefully perused and considered by ministers and members of Parliament, when even these unhappy disturbances may be brought to end ; and Heaven speed the hour.  Although the discussion of Welsh riots has induced the mention of Irish agitation in this article, yet it is meet the reader should by no means identify the two disturbances in character. The Times has properly pointed out the distinction between them. “In Wales,” says our contemporary, "we have a very different case from that of Ireland. We have here no trusted and recognised leader, possessed himself, and endeavouring to inflame others, with a blind hostility of race, a bitter and revengeful animosity against everything English : it is not against the British connection that the Welsh farmer lifts his hand. It is a local quarrel, in which he has some right on his side, though his way of seeking it is unendurable in any country professing be governed by law ; and were that right clearly acknowledged he would probably be led to accept, not unthankfully, the intervention of Government between himself and the hated turnpikemen and rate-collectors. We do not mean that the state is to intermit its efforts to put down, by such force and activity as can command, the outrages which now disgrace the county of Carmarthen—far from it. Without a display of firmness and power, effectual conciliation is impossible. But let action and inquiry—prosecution of offenders and redress of grievances —go hand in hand. Let the Welsh peasantry learn how much they risk by persevering—how much they may gain by desisting from disturbance. But, above all, to repeat what have before enforced, let the conduct both of the coercion and of the conciliation be assigned to some one who has a head on his shoulders, and we shall then become somewhat less anxious than can now profess ourselves to be as to the issue of this dangerous and provoking conspiracy.”  The last sentence implies a just rebuke. The chief magistrates and others should have been sent before to the disturbed districts-- before, in fact, they were disturbed so fearfully—and then we might never have had to propound reproachfully to the Government the old story that prevention is better than cure, and that the way to crush rebellions is not to let them grow till they are worth crushing’ Further reading More articles like this one can be found at the British newspaper archive: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ NB: An account is required and free article views are limited to 3 per day. Alternatively, to save you a little work, the below link will take you to the BNA search engine, where the appropriate year range for Rebecca has been selected and 'rebecca riots' has been searched. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1800-01-01/1849-12-31?basicsearch=rebecca%20riots&exactsearch=false&retrievecountrycounts=false

This short piece in the Welshman asks 'WHO ARE THE CONSPIRATORS ? According to the Times there is a strong suspicion that some men of rank are at the bottom of the Rebecca riots. Who are they ? is the general question. To answer this inquiry, and to detect one of the culprits, we have only to refer back to events of great notoriety. Who was it who commenced the resistance to turn- pikes ? Who set the example of war with the gates ? Who was the first to set the toll-taker at defiance ? The distinguished member of Sir Robert Peel's Cabinet, the illustrious statesman, Sir Edward Knatchbull. At the time when he made his stand against the gate we hailed him as a second Hampden but little did we imagine that a rebellion would follow in the train of his example. As in the case of Hampden, the Judges decided against him; but the question was otherwise settled by a people ultimately driven to arms for the assertion of their rights. The resemblance to Hampden fails in the particular of the open part taken in the field, but still stronger are the traces of identity between the great first mover of war with the gates and the actors in the Welsh insurrection. If there has been a leader in petticoats in Carmarthen, has there not been an undoubted old woman in the Cabinet ? But there is stronger evidence of identity. In the last riot some of the leaders, says the report, had their coats turned inside out, a circum- stance which almost conclusively directs suspicion against the Kentish Baronet, who has so lately turned his coat on the Corn-law question. —Examiner.' This allegation is almost certainly untrue. However, the truth this does reveal is that many people (both past and present) have suspected that powerful parties had hands in directing the Rebecca riots. For example, prominent solicitor Hugh Williams has often been considered the guiding hand for the riots, despite there being no real evidence connecting him to Rebecca.  This rather sensationalised source also helps us capture the social atmosphere of the Riots' peak, when opinions about Rebecca flew fast in the air regardless of their credibility. Further Reading For more examples of Welsh newspaper coverage of the Rebecca riots, the below digital archive is a great place to look. https://newspapers.library.wales/home Particularly, searching the Welshman for 'Rebecca' during the year 1843 provides a buffet of material to chew on.

Though there was a place for reconciliation in efforts to quell the riots, so too was there place for authoritative, sometimes aggressive proclamations which often made appeals to religious scripture such as this one. This letter from a landowner responding to threats from the Rebeccaites largely speaks for itself, so a full transcript is below: 'TO THE PERSON CALLING HIMSELF REBECCA AND TO THOSE UNLAWFULLY CONSPIRING WITH HIM, NAMING THEMSELVES The Daughters of Rebecca. I have just received a Notice, threatening that if I do not give back to my tenants, at the next rent day, five shillings in the pound, you will injure my Stock, and my Farm, and my Premises. Probably some of my neighbours have had similar notices. Now, I am willing to believe that you had nothing to do with such an act, and that it is in no part of your intention to meddle with the private affairs of others ; but that some cowardly rascal has ventured to send Notices of that sort, thinking to frighten us. I recommend to all persons carefully to preserve them, for most certainly the writers of Law, and the guilty parties will pass the rest of their days in disgraceful servitude in a foreign land. Transportation for life, is the penalty awarded by law, for writing or causing to be sent, a threatening letter of that nature. And if you have sent me such a Notice, I tell you no that I will not comply with it ; and further, had I not send, a month ago, unasked, to my farm tenants, to inform them, that at the ensuing rent day I would return them 10 per cent. of their rents, I would not now do that- so much for your interference. Whatever injury you might do to my property, would ultimately fall upon many of those you pretend to serve. By a statute of the 7th and 8th Geo. IV., it is declared "that in every such case, the inhabitants of the Hundred in which such offence shall be committed, shall be liable to yield full compensation to the person so injured, not only for the damage so done, but also for any damage which may, at the same time be done, by any such offenders, to any fixture, furniture, or goods whatever."   The Act of Parliament would entitle me to immediate payment for the damage, from all the inhabitants of this, and many surrounding parishes, comprising the extensive Hundred of Troedyraur: and I would take care never to spend one shilling of it in this country : so that instead of serving my tenants, you would throw a heavy additional burden upon them. You may also rely upon it, that if you make the attempt, you will meet with a very warm reception, and the statute declares, that any one committing such offence, "shall be judged guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall suffer death as a felon. Any attempt to injure me in the manner threatened, would destroy the confidence I have had in the character of Welshmen, and would induce me not to live amongst my tenants, but to employ an attorney to collect my rents, to be spent elsewhere, instead of giving daily employment, as I have heretofore done, sufficient to maintain some 30 or 40 persons in honest industry, in all seasons. The Rates and other Taxes which I now pay, as some of the principal occupiers and charge bearers in the parish, would fall upon others, with encreased force, from the numbers that would be thrown out of employ, by my non-residence here ; thus, my tenants would again by injured by your acts, they would cease to have a friend whom they have never resorted in vain for advice and assistance. By continuing your lawless acts, you will induce the Gentry of this country, to become absentees, and in that respect make this country like Ireland. You will bring the working classes to your misery and want, whereas it is notorious they are now better off than they have been for many years, being able to buy bread and butter at nearly half the prices of 1832, and many preceding years, cheese at 2d. per lb., and all other necessaries of life in the same reduced proportion. Several small occupiers & cottagers have been threatened by your people, to have their houses burnt, if they do not join in your unlawful practices. They and you may now know that for any such injuries, two Justices can order them full compensation, to be levied from all the inhabitants of the Hundred ; so that they have nothing to fear for refusing to join you, but if they do join you, they render themselves liable to transportation for life. Now, they will understand how to act rightly, and may God guide them to do so : they may rely on the Magistrates with full confidence for support. It is said that you have imposed upon many ignorant persons, by pretending to have scripture authority for your acts, and that you rely on the 60th verse of the xxiv. chapter of Genesis, which is in these words : "And they blessed Rebecca, and said unto her," (her brother Laban speaking for his mother and self,) "be thou the mother of thousands and millions, and let thy seed possess the gates of those which hate them." What an abuse of the Holy Scriptures ! ! All learned Divines are agreed, that the meaning of those words is, that the mother and brother of Rebecca prayed God to make her fruitful , that her posterity might be victorious over their enemies. Rebecca was really a woman, a good and pious woman, having the fear of God before her eyes, observing all his holy commandments, and carefully avoiding such a gross violation of them as "to do evil unto others." But, if you will adhere to the literal words of the text, and put your own interpretation on them, the next verse must be taken in the same meaning, "And the servant took Rebecca and went his way," which would signify that Rebecca was taken, and the servant that took her was not interrupted in so doing. And this will be your case : you will be captured, and the misguided persons whom you have drawn in, will not help you, but return to their peaceful homes. They ought not to trust strangers whom they do not know, who dare not show their faces, to go against those amongst whom they have passed their lives ; they may have looked upon the breaking of gates as a piece of mere mischief, and never intended to commit felony, as many have done. It is to be hoped, that the Clergy and Ministers of all denominations, will feel it their sacred and bounden duty, to exhort their congregations and friends to resist the influence of such wicked examples, to the utmost of their power : that they will point out the evil consequences which must follow such practices : and the necessity of joining together to put down that which has brought such disgrace upon the country. It is to be hoped that you and your followers will depart from your wicked ways, before the Law overtakes you, which otherwise it most assuredly will do, and your lives will be ended in misery and disgrace. ED. LLOYD WILLIAMS  Gwernant, near Newcastle-Emelyn July 9th, 1843. WILLIAM JONES, PRINTER, BRIDGE-STREET, NEWCASTLE-EMLYN:'

This notice for a meeting about local grievances and their potential resolution shows us Rebecca was addressed not only by force; offers of reconciliation and attempts to strike at the motivations for rioting were also made. However, the notice underlines that, though negotiation is possible, authority still lies firmly in the hands of the Queen and government, calling the southern counties one of 'Her Majesty's Dominions'. Additionally, the notice only guarantees that grievances will be 'considered', and is rather less promising in terms of their resolution, bringing into question how successful such a meeting was expected to be, and even if holding one at all was more posturing by local authorities than anything. Transcript: 'NOTICE. A PUBLIC MEETING will take place AT LLECHRYD, On Monday, the 9th instant, at Eleven in the forenoon, to Vote a dutiful and loyal Address to the Queen, expressive of the devoted attachment of the Meeting to Her Majesty's Person and Government, pledging itself, to the utmost of its power and influence, to preserve the Peace of this part of Her Majesty's Dominions. At the said Meeting, all local Grievances will be CONSIDERED; and it is hoped, amicably, and satisfactorily adjusted. The attendance of the Magistrates of the District, and also, of the Public at large, is requested. IT IS EXPECTED THATE. Lloyd Williams, Esq., WILL TAKE THE CHAIR. Signed, THOMAS JENKINS, H.E.I.C.S.'

Part-time constable's batons used during the Rebecca Riots 1839-43  When we think about the riots being opposed by the authorities through force in a general sense, objects like these are useful for grounding us in reality by reminding of the material realities such force.Iron bolt from Carmarthen gaol, 1800sWhile this bolt is not certain to have been used to imprison any Rebecca rioters, this was in use at around the time of the Riots and there are several cases of Rebecca Rioters being imprisoned in gaols like Carmarthen jail. As such, even if this is not an exact article, it can still indicate to us the kinds of technologies which were used to secure apprehended Rebeccaites.

These letters, one copy in Welsh and another in English, are addressed from Rebecca. Typical of many letters from the rioters, it threatens the addressee with violence unless they meet some demands. The English reads, 'Avenging of Blood June 19 1843. As thy soul liveth and as we live if thou do not come out thou and the paupers that are under thy care before next Wednesday we are determined to destroy it wholly and woe be to thy body for we shall take care of thee that thou shalt not escape (!Beware!) joke we do not any more Rebecca...' Beyond demonstrating Rebecca's leveraging of fear and offering nonviolent outlets as well as the duality of language in Wales, this letter is also a testament to the sophistication and organisation of Rebecca, hardly typical of what one might think of as 'riots'.

The Rebeccaites relied on swift coordination so they could act faster than the authorities and evade head-on confrontation. This item, a conch shell used in Talog, Carmarthenshire for communication between Rebeccaites, reveals one of the ways they achieved such a level of coordination; sound. Additionally, the use of a conch shell reflects the coastal area of the riots and the Rebeccaites' use of an improvised and diverse arsenal; axes, saws, guns, and women's dresses were variously used by the daughters to create an inventory that while somewhat muddled, was incredibly effective.

On May 1st 1820, four men, Arthur Thistlewood, John Thomas Brunt, William Davidson, James Ings and Richard Tidd, were hanged and then decapitated by the public executioner in punishment for a conspiracy to attack the Cabinet at dinner on 23 February, earlier that year. Five others had their sentences commuted, and a further man was given a free pardon and released. Several other men went into and remained in hiding and escaped arrest. Six others turned king’s evidence, and still others, such as the radicals Robert Wedderburn and Thomas Preston were suspected of involvement and arrested but not tried. The leader of the conspiracy, Thistlewood, was a tenant farmer’s son, who had been active in the Spa Fields Riots in 1816, and although arrested then his trial collapsed alongside others because of the evidence that the spies providing the evidence had also incited the actions. He subsequently served a year in prison for challenging the Home Secretary, Lord Sidmouth, to a duel in 1818. A great deal of the forestalling of the attack and the capture and conviction of the conspirators was the result of infiltration of their organization by Home Office spies. The experience of the trials following the Spa Fields Riots had to some extent been learned, but there were still concerns about the contribution of the spies to the events. For example, the dinner was a lure, advertised in the press, but intended only ever as bait for the government’s quarry. It does, nonetheless, seem clear that there was a concerted conspiracy, involving a number of seemingly ordinary working people, living in the warrens of London, and renting a meeting space above a stable in Cato Street, at which they planned the elimination of the Cabinet and the subsequent seizure of the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange and the Tower of London, and then the calling to arms of the radical movements in the North. This is, as Vic Gatrell’s forthcoming book The Cato Street Conspiracy 1820 argues, the first insurrection uprising planned since Guy Fawlkes, and it was not repeated until the activities of the IRA in the 1970s. It is not difficult to see how reformers might have turned desperate. Peterloo in August 1816 was followed in October by Richard Carlile’s near six-year imprisonment for blasphemous libel for publishing the works of Tom Paine, in November by the launch of the Six Acts strengthening the government’s hands against reformers, and the preparations of the trials of the victims of Peterloo were underway. This was a moment in which government seemed most determined to silence extra-parliamentary opposition, and in which the customary forms of petitioning, meetings, and organization were both ignored and, increasingly, persecuted. The tactics of opposition in the late 1810s were, for the most part, essentially traditional. Nonetheless, the number and size of meetings called to deliberate and advocate for reform, the emergence of a strong strand of industrial radicalism, the mobilization against poverty and hardship by the victims themselves, as in ‘Blanketeers march’ to London in March 1817 (disrupted by arrests almost before it had started), and the on-going Spencean undercurrents of millenarian and radical reform, were all developments of aspects that had been in evidence in the 1790s. There was increasing anger and frustration as post-war hardship intensified and as the government took no action, save against those who challenged it. In his Reminiscences Samuel Bamford emphasizes how he always sought to air his views in public – that he feared secrecy for the opportunities it provided for infiltration by spies whose accounts of proceedings were potentially fatal, and it is difficult to believe that was not a shared fear. Perhaps only the size and press of London, with its labyrinths of alleys and lodgings, and the possibilities it offered of anonymity, could have fostered such a plot, but it also needed a tradition, which the Spencean societies provided. The mood in 1819, even before Peterloo, had become more belligerent, there was disaffection with Hunt’s leadership for its failure to countenance more active measures after Peterloo, and strands of radicalism in London, with the Spenceanism led by Dr Watson and with Wedderburn offering a new radicalism in his Hopkins Street debating chapel, fueled both the participation of lower ranks of society and their willingness to consider other measures. The measures contemplated were largely for armed resistance – not for assassination and insurrectionary plotting – although resistance moved from self-defence at meetings to reacting actively to the proposed ‘Six Acts’. The key issues for those involved were to avoid detection, and to feel confident that they would be much more widely supported throughout the country, rendering their action of lasting effect. But as plotting became thicker, and as concerns about spying were constant, the opportunities for assuring themselves of wider support were very much diminished. The revolutionary cell both accelerated people’s commitments, and cut them off from the rest of those they hope to lead. The Cato Street Conspiracy has been under-researched – a neglect to be rectified by Gatrell’s forthcoming work – although the world from which it grew is a central element in Iain McCallman’s Radical Underworld: Prophets, Revolutionaries and Pornographers in London, 1795-1840 (Cambridge, 1988). These works demand attention because they demonstrate a depth of anger and frustration emerging among members of the working classes in the late 1810s which the more traditional histories of the period tend to underplay. In Britain, as in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, the late 1810s and early 20s opened a new era of protest and dissention. And, in all of these cases, one relatively new factor is the conspiratorial society and the mustering of arms. This is a threatening letter addressed to Thomas Monument who gave evidence at the trial for Treason of Arthur Thistlewood and James Ings, two of the Cato Street Conspirators in their trial in April 1820. The Judge strictly limited reporting but the London Observer broke ranks on Sunday 23 April releasing details to a wider public. The Monument brothers gave evidence in the Thistlewood trial on 19 April, Ings on the 23, and Brunt on the 24. The date of this letter, according to reports in the Morning Chronicle and Morning Post, Thomas Monument actually gave very little evidence, largely corroborating that given by his brother James as to the collecting of arms by Thistlewood. Nonetheless, this letter is addressed to him and was postmarked 24 April 1820. It expresses itself in no uncertain terms: 'you Dand vilion yu have Been Swearing against those Poor men things that you know nothing of and you Shall have your Reward as you Duly Deserves and as for your hellfire brother England shall never hold him there is no place of Safety for him for we are deteremed to finish his work and Shortly If he is in England we are Deteremed to Drag him to Some please [place] and Burne, Burne him or flea [flay] him alive for there was not one amongst them that thried to Do more than he and we will finish you Both If we are hanged on the Cross of St Pauls you Damd vilions.' Description In the winter of 1819-1820, following Peterloo and the clear resolution of the Government to resist all reform, a strand of insurrectionist radicalism emerged that operated largely underground, although some of the leaders were those who had been in the break-away sections of the 2 December 1816 Spa Fields meeting that went to attack the Bank of England but were quickly dealt with. A range of plans were discussed, with the guards at the Bank being watched to judge the most favourable time for an assault; but the settled plan became to use a dinner of the Cabinet as the occasion for a bombing and an attack. As part of the preparations for the attack, it was agreed to prepare a statement for release when the group overthrew the government. Two versions of this remain. The first draft ran: 'Englishmen Justice is triumphant, and your Tyrants are destroyed, a glorious destiny awaits your patriotic endeavours a Provisional Government is appointed to succeed the Oligarchy which have for more than 100 years enslaved and borne you down. Obedience to the Decrees of the Prov. Government will insure to each Individual the full enjoyment of his property and Protection – and as a Guarantee for the Amelioration of the conditions of our Country it is decreed that every act passed by the Borough Mongering Usurpation shall from and after this date cease to be obeyed as such – but to afford an [239r] opportunity for the people to adopt a Government congenial to their feelings and the interest of their posterity it desired that measures will be adopted to form in one month from this date a convention of the presentative delegacy the right of voting in all males having attained the age of 21 years. Such of the Army who join the Ranks of their Country receive an addition or part advancement according to merit. Those who wish to return to their Families are called on to deposit their Arms for [240/] which they shall immediately be paid in the most liberal manner.' This draft then seems to have been further edited by Dr James Watson, who removed the last section respecting the military and made other changes. Thistlewood also solicited responses among the main participants, asking them to submit them in code on slips of paper, although he subsequently complained that he could not read what they had sent. A second draft read: 'Justice is at last triumphant, your Tyrants are destroyed A glorious destiny awaits your patriotic Energies - a Provisional Government is appointed to guard you from the Evils and Wrongs of a vile + wicked Oligarchy that has for more than Century enslaved + borne you down by the most partial [/244v] and oppressive manner. Obedience to the Decrees of the Prov. Government will ensure to each Individual protection of persons and property United Britains and Irishmen Civil and religious liberty is decreed. The acts of the Borough Mongering Usurpations shall from hence forward cease to have any effect. The People are called on to form that System of Government most congenial to their feelings and the best interest of Posterity.' The aim was to ensure that this was printed before the attack - but there are no printed versions in the papers of either the Home Office or the Treasury Solicitor. These declarations, if they were not in fact the product of the agent provocateur George Edwards, leave little doubt as to the group's intentions.

Thomas Rees, also known as 'Twm Carnabwth', is thought to have been the first leader of an attack against a toll gate and the first to take on the name and dress of Rebecca. The dress choice was possibly the result of him being too large for any petticoat to disguise him properly, so he used an old woman's dress instead.  Any research into Rees will foremost bring up his role in the riots. Surely then, one would expect his grave to memorialise such a role. Surprisingly, that is not the case; it reads: 'ER COF AM  THOMAS REESTRIAL OR PLWYF HWNBU FARW MEDI 17 1876YN 70 OED"TWM CARNABWTH" Nid oes neb ond Duw yn gwybodBeth a ddigwydd mewn diwornodWrth gyrchu bresych at fy nginioDaeth angau i fy nga(r)dd i'm taro.'  (In English) 'IN MEMORY OF THOMAS REES TRIAL OF THIS PARISH DIED SEPTEMBER 17 1876 AT AGE 70 "TWM CARNABWTH" No one but God knows What will happen in a day While fetching cabbage for my lunch Death came to my garden to strike me.' This indicates that though Rebecca might have been an important chapter of Rees' life, it did not necessarily become his identity. Therefore, his deep association with the riots today may be more of a posthumous construction. Indeed, more broadly, this grave reminds that these rioters were more than just 'Rebbeccaites', 'protesters', or 'dissenters'. Each one was an individual with their own stories. Stories which, though most are lost to us, shaped decades to come.

Painting with the broadest brush, the story of Wales in the nineteenth century is one of industrialisation. Ironworking and coal mining expanded, especially in the south, allowing urban areas to become industrialised and connect to the whole world via trade. The population increased dramatically; and it moved: some areas saw relative demographic decline as the proportion of the population living in the south east of the country skyrocketed. History is rarely straightforward. Just as Wales ventured into the new, so too did it maintain the old. Davies writes of this contrast, 'Villages that were so lost in time that no map marked them existed a few miles from towns that were world leaders in a range of different industrial undertakings. Industrialists of incalculable wealth lived close to beggars dying of starvation, while world-leading mathematicians and scientists coexisted with bearded, messianic preachers, who believed, preached, looked, sounded, and smelt like Old Testament prophets...Although they worked in modern industries, many Welsh people perpetuated the Middle Ages. In that most novel of industries, the railways, workers brought with them into their workplace older beliefs. If a bird, especially a robin, was seen in a carriage then it forewarned fearful tidings. Thousands of Welsh people believed in the physical reality of unearthly beings such as angels and cherubs.' A strong strand of religious non-conformity ran through the less affluent communities, separating their chapels from the Anglican churches with their wealthier congregations. This period was not without contestation. There was friction between Welsh workers and a predominantly English bourgeoisie: there was an uprising in Merthyr Tydfil in 1831 when several thousands of workers called for reforms against worker exploitation; in 1839, as part of the Chartist movement, there was an armed rebellion in Newport. However, the most notorious of Welsh contestations during this period was agrarian; the Rebecca Riots, which took place in South Wales from 1839-1844. South Wales 1830-1850 South Wales is typified by hills, valleys, and often rugged coastlines; travel was often taken via winding country paths on multiple elevations. While weather of course fluctuated year by year, the summertime was largely temperate and winters were especially wet, windy, and cold.  To live in South Wales during this time was, for most, to live with many burdens. As the old agricultural economy was eroded by ambitious anglicised landowners, the livelihoods and ways of life of entire communities were threatened or destroyed. Tithes and high rent rates stripped people's money away and the 1834 Poor law made living even more difficult as it reduced government provisions to the poor. All the while, population increases placed stress on the food supply, which was exacerbated by weak harvests from 1838-41. Limestone carting was vital to agriculture. Lime was used for fertilisation of crops and neutralising acidic soil; however, it could only be obtained in certain areas, meaning farmers had to use carts to transport the lime. The turnpike roads used for this transport had several toll gates, partly to raise money for road maintenance. Needless to say, paying tolls to move lime was unpopular, and many farmers did their best to avoid paying tolls either by taking alternate routes or timing their travel so they would pay the minimum number of tolls. However, in 1839 the turnpike trusts (of which there were many in operation across South Wales) began to build new gates to crack down on such workarounds.

If you take a trip around South Wales today, you might notice a few oddities; a mural fixed into a moss-covered stone depicting figures charging at what looks like a fence gate, a signpost jutting out the side of a clothes shop depicting a gruff man wearing a dress which advertises that the building was used as a gaol in times past, or a waxwork of a similarly dress-clad man standing awkwardly next to a museum's leaflet board. Ask around, and you would find these all connect to 'Rebecca', a subject many people in South Wales know of or have heard about, but, when pressed, are unlikely to know about in much detail. 'Rebecca' refers to a series of agrarian protests during the mid-nineteenth century, also known as the 'Rebecca Riots'. The name most likely comes from the bible: 'And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, by thou the mother of thousands of millions and let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate them' (Genesis 24:60). However, despite the biblical grounding for the name of the Rebecca Riots, its motivation was far from ecclesiastical.   The rise of Rebecca rioting from 1839-1844 emerged from communities in Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire, and Pembrokeshire who were struggling with tithes, rent rates, and overpopulation. These communities needed only a spark to elevate their discontent to outrage, and in this instance the 'spark' was the construction of avaricious toll gates by Turnpike Trusts (hence the relevance of the biblical reference to 'possessing the gate'). What followed this spark was years in which toll gates and associated properties were destroyed by mobs of local people. Moreover, as time went on, the wrath of Rebecca turned to tackle some of the broader economic and moral concerns of the community until the riots finally died down during 1844. This bears similarity to many agrarian uprisings of times past; however, closer inspection reveals the unique character of Rebecca, indicated by the source below, a letter from local law enforcement: 'The [rioters] are... dressed in a loose garment resembling female attire, bound with a sash, and their faces masked or blackened: several were armed…' It is this visage of Rebecca that has become the immortal image of the riots. What this does not illuminate, however, was the effectiveness with which the 'Rebeccaites' operated. Using their knowledge of the landscape, convening in secret meetings, making extensive use of written correspondence, and operating under the cover of night, the rioters out-manoeuvred local authorities and government enforcers alike at almost every turn. Indeed, so organised were the Rebeccaites that the leader of any given excursion was dubbed 'Rebecca', while the others were known as 'Rebecca's daughters'. In the first months of the riots, Rebecca and her daughters focused mainly on toll gates. To defend them the British Government sent Colonel Love and the 4th Light Dragoons in the wake of flailing local resistance to the riots. Love's strategy was simple but ineffective; if there was a disturbance, he would make haste to the scene. This reactionary approach meant that Love repeatedly arrived long after the rioters had left. Indeed, Sir James Graham, the Home Secretary, commented that 'If a crime is committed...[Love] instantly sends soldiers to the place the following day.' Although this spurred debate in parliament and drew the attention of the newspapers, little was done to address the situation. Rebecca's horizons expanded as time went on. By the summer of 1843, Rebecca was exercising a 'moral economy' - punishing people for immoral behaviour (such as adultery), blocking bailiffs from collecting debts, and generally preventing the normal execution of law. This fundamentally challenged the financial and legal authority of the British government. Realising Love's ineptitude and concerned about setting a precedent for other rebellions, the home secretary reconsidered the strategic options. This led to Major General George Brown, a veteran of wars in Spain, America, and Crimea, being called on and introduced into the Welsh situation. Love was not replaced but Brown took control over much of the Welsh situation. At great financial cost, he distributed police officers across the three counties in dozens of assignments. Broadly speaking, this strategy worked; it marked the beginning of a steady decline in riotous activities as arrests and punishments increased. At the same time, the government reformed the toll gates' administration and pricing in 1844 to a fairer model, remedying one of Rebecca's key grievances. While Brown's strategy was too expensive to be sustained, the government continued to make reforms in following years to address some of the issues raised by the riots.   This said, many grievances still remained in Welsh life. In the 1850s, provoked by changes to fishing policy, new riots broke out in Radnorshire, wearing the mantle of Rebecca, demonstrating that the spirit of Rebecca and her Daughters did not truly die in 1844; it only lay dormant. Finding more about Rebecca: places to visit National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth Carmarthenshire County Museum, Carmarthen Narberth Museum, Narberth National Archives, Kew, London

Feargus O’Connor (1796-1855) was perhaps the most important and influential leader in the Chartist movement. He came from a prominent, radical, Irish Protestant family. His father, Roger O’Connor, was an Irish Nationalist who had been involved in the United Irishmen, while his brother, Francis, would become a general in Simon Bolivar’s army during the liberation of Latin America. He became involved in radical politics during the 1820s, eventually being elected to parliament in 1832 as a ‘repeal’ candidate – a supporter of Daniel O’Connell and the repeal of the Act of Union 1801 that united the Kingdoms of Ireland and Britain. He campaigned for factory reform, a repeal of the 1834 poor law amendment act, and other radical policies throughout the 1830s. However, he is best remembered for his role within Chartism. O’Connor was at the forefront of Chartism throughout its lifespan. Charismatic, confrontational, and controversial, he had the ability to command respect and support from many who listened to him – especially amongst the working classes. R.G. Gammage, an early historian of the Chartist movement writing in 1854, described him as ‘Upwards of six feet in height, stout and athletic, and…invested with a sort of aristocratic bearing, the sight of his person was calculated to inspire the masses with a solemn awe.’ It was even rumoured amongst his admirers that he was a descendent of the high kings of Ireland. He was an excellent public speaker and became a focal point of Chartism, establishing The Northern Star in 1837 which became the de facto voice of the movement. He was imprisoned in York Castle on 11 May 1840 after being found guilty of seditious libels published in The Northern Star in July 1839. Throughout his time in prison he nevertheless continued to influence the movement by smuggling letters to The Northern Star to be published. He was released from prison in 1841. Feargus O’Connor was profoundly opposed to the ‘New Move’ of Lovett and Vincent in 1840. O’Connor denounced the alliance of church, teetotal, knowledge, and household suffrage Chartism as ‘trick, farce, cheat, or humbug.’ This can be seen in the extract above from an article he wrote for The Northern Star published on 13 March 1841. Former Labour party leader Hugh Gaitskell attributed this opposition to the supposed fact that O’Connor ‘cared neither for education nor morals’ and it was therefore unsurprising that ‘having neither in great measure himself, he was not likely to wish to see them in others.’ However, such opposition was more likely tactical than based upon a dislike of such ideas per se. He feared that failure to sign up for the scheme may suggest that an individual was not worthy of receiving the vote, and that it unnecessarily divided the movement in factions. He was committed to maintaining unity of purpose within Chartism, and worried that such moves would distract from the primary aim of the movement – to realise the 6 points of the People’s Charter. He outlined his views in a famous attack on Lovett’s ‘National Association for the Moral, Social and Political Improvement of the People’ in The Northern Star on 3 April 1841 in his article ‘Knowledge Chartism, Christian Chartism, and Temperance Chartism’.

The Northern Star Newspaper was one of the most important focal points of the Chartist movement. It provided a forum through which many of its most prominent individuals could express their opinions and concerns and it commanded considerable authority among working class people across Britain who were grieved by rapid economic and social changes. It also provided a degree of continuity and unity to a movement that may otherwise have been merely a series of unconnected and intermittent bouts of popular discontent. The Northern Star was founded by Feargus O’Connor alongside printer and publisher Josiah Hobson, with its first edition being printed on 18 November 1837. It was named in honour of the newspaper of The Society of the United Irishmen who were involved in the Irish rebellion of 1798, and who O’Connor’s family had supported at the time. He saw it as providing a mouthpiece to voice the concerns of the working classes and campaign for radical political and social reform. However, many writers, both during the period and subsequent historians, have criticised O’Connor for using the Newspaper to impose his personal ascendency upon Chartism, establish a quasi-cult of personality, and sidelining other voices which dissented from his own. Indeed, the great Irish campaigner for Catholic Emancipation, Daniel O’Connell, commented in 1842 that, 'Upon my word, this paper of Feargus's is a literary curiosity… What a notion of the fellow to set up a newspaper praising himself!' Moreover, some saw it as excessively populist by too readily engaging in demagoguery and pandering to the prejudices of its readers, with fellow prominent chartist Francis Place complaining that it degraded the whole tone of the Radical Press. Notwithstanding these criticisms, The Northern Star experienced an unprecedented level of success for a radical newspaper. Following the publication of the People’s Charter in 1838 its popularity exploded. In April 1839 it enjoyed a weekly circulation of over 60,000 and a much larger number of readers – a fact unthinkable anywhere else in Europe! It continued to provide commentary, debate and news on the Chartist movement, and radical politics more generally, throughout the 1840s. However, its popularity declined alongside the fortunes of Chartism. With a weekly circulation of only 1,200 by the end of 1851, O’Connor sold the paper to George Julian Harney in April 1852. Harney merged it with The Friend of the People to form The Star of Freedom. Although Feargus O’Connor was personally sceptical of the ‘New Move’ in 1840, believing that it unnecessarily divided the movement when many Chartists began to promote self-help and moral improvement, The Northern Star was willing to publish articles – many of which were written by its working-class readers - promoting such ideas. This can be seen in John A. Lawson’s poem called ‘The Irish Exile’s address to his Country on hearing of the progress of Temperance.’ While another extract entitled ‘The Sin of Drunkenness’ describes the corrupting influence of alcohol on individuals. Both these pieces were published in The Northern Star on 28 November 1840, the same date as the publication of the 'Teetotal Pledge', which encouraged Chartists to abstain from alcohol.