NOVEMBER is the month when I always think of the Chartist uprising. for it is an important event in the history of Newport and marked every year with large numbers of people marching down Stow Hill carrying banners and shouting suitable commands such as ‘Fight for the Charter’ or ‘Votes for all’.

When Alexander Cordell wrote his best-selling novel Rape of the Fair Country in 1959 he made this event the climax of his story and it not only brought to life a strong reminder of this historic event but ensured that it would not be forgotten.

The Chartist uprising was largely caused by the Great Reform Act of 1632 which extended voting rights to the wealthy middle class , but left out working-class people who still could not vote because they did not own property.

Throughout the country thousands of men supported the Chartists’ cause for they believed that this was the way to obtain higher wages, better food and living conditions. Their petition drawn up in 1837 was known as the ‘Peoples’ Charter and it contained the following six demands: ‘that every man of full age should have a vote; that the property qualifications for entry to Parliament should be abolished; that Members of Parliament should be paid; that voting should be by secret ballot; that there should be equal electoral districts; and that Parliament should be re-elected every year.

They succeeded in obtaining more than a million signatures to their petition, but when it was presented to Parliament the members refused to give it consideration. Subsequently riots broke out throughout Britain and the Chartists decided that the only way to achieve their demands would be through force and bloodshed.

In Monmouthshire they held meetings at Newport, Pontypool, Blackwood, Tredegar and many other places. Eloquent speakers explained the principles of the Charter and urged communities to arm themselves to obtain their demands by force.

A plan of attack was drawn up at a secret meeting at the Coach & Horses pub in Blackwood and it was decided that all supporters of the Charter should arm themselves and assemble on the night of Sunday November 3rd 1839 and march on Newport in three divisions, from Blackwood, Pontypool and the Ebbw Vale area. They would rendezvous at Cefyn, about 2 miles from Newport and then march on the sleeping town, where it was foolishly believed that the inhabitants would be completely unaware of the impending attack.

They would take possession of the town, destroy the bridge across the river Usk with explosives, to prevent the Welsh Mail from reaching Birmingham. When the mail failed to arrive there, it would represent a signal to the Chartists that the Monmouthshire uprising had been successful. Similar campaigns would then be extended throughout the country.

plaque on a stone wall
St Woolos plaque (C Barber)

Whenever I walk down Stow Hill from St Woolos Cathedral I try to imagine 5,000 Chartists flooding down in front of me. Wet and weary for it had rained continuously through the night, the leading group reached the Westgate Hotel at 9.20 am, with the intention of opening their initial attack. But inside was Thomas Phillips the Mayor, who had been well informed by spies of their plans and 28 men of the 45th Regiment of Foot.

The Mayor bravely stood in the entrance, and faced the mass of men who were armed with muskets, picks, pitchforks and cudgels. He demanded to know their grievances, but a Chartist opened fire at one of the Special Constables and inspired the mob into action. An opening volley from the Chartists wounded several soldiers and Mayor Phillips received a shot in the hip and right arm. The door was slammed shut and the soldiers fired a few volleys from the windows causing the Chartists to quickly disperse. They had little heart for a fight after their long march and fled in all directions. Their weapons were thrown on the ground and they bolted, leaving their wounded companions groaning and dying. It was all over in 26 minutes.

Twenty-two Chartists were killed and many more wounded, while scattered in the street was a wide assortment of weapons which included: pistols, swords, bayonets, pikes, billhooks, axes, pitchforks, sledgehammers and mandrills.

It was not many days before the leaders were captured and brought to trial on 31st December 1839 at the Shire Hall in Monmouth. Fourteen Chartists were charged with High Treason., and John Frost, Zephaniah Williams and William Jones were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, but their lives were subsequently spared, and they were sentenced to transportation for life. However, in 1854 they were granted a free pardon.

The dead Chartists were buried in unmarked graves on the north side of St Woolos Churchyard. Set into a bank near the lychgate is a plaque commemorating their memory which was unveiled in 1989 by Alexander Cordell. It reads:

‘ON NOVEMBER 4th 1639 MORE THAN TWENTY SUPPORTERS OF THE CHARTIST MOVEMENT WHICH SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS FOR ALL MEN DIED IN AN EXCHANGE OF SHOTS AT THE WESTGATE HOTEL NEWPORT. TEN WERE BURIED IN THIS CHURCHYARD IN UNMARKED GRAVES. THIS STONE IS DEDICATED TO THEIR MEMORY.’

For many years red roses were left on the burial place of these men on the anniversary of their death. It is perhaps more than coincidence that the Labour Party adopted the red rose as their new symbol in 1987.

Mayor Phillips as a reward for his bravery received a knighthood and was presented with a silver plate valued at 800 guineas. He was also awarded the freedom of the city of London. Before he died in 1867, he spent his final days in Llanelen, where his grave can be seen in the churchyard.

The present Westgate Hotel stands on the site of the old Westgate Inn and the wooden pillars of the old porch have been preserved for they show bullet holes made by the Chartists’ muskets.

Outside the Westgate Hotel are some modern sculptors, commissioned, by Newport Borough Council to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Chartist uprising and the tragic events that took place here. The three groups take their title from the motto of the Chartist convention: ‘Union,, Prudence, Energy’ and they were unveiled on the 4th of November 1989.

Britain eventually adapted five of the Six demands made by the Chartist movement but not during its active lifetime. It was not until 1918 that the vote to all men over the age of 21 years was allowed, and a decade later through the efforts of the suffragette movement all women over the age of 21 were given the vote as well. The request for Annual Parliaments was a non-starter for no one would want the upheaval of elections every year. There is no doubt that we owe our democracy to the aims of the Chartist movement.