Today (Thursday 4th November 2020) is the 121st anniversary of the Chartist Rising - where in 1839 some 10,000 people from Newport and the surrounding valleys marched on the Westgate hotel in the city. They marched to establish representative democracy and sought to overthrow an undemocratic government on Thursday 4th November 1839.
Today in Newport there would normally be commemorations of the Chartist struggle and remembrance of the high price they paid for it. The Chartists struggle was part of on-going attempts to reform the electoral system and to make it more representative. In the early 1800's, there were persistent calls to reform to the elitist controlled decidedly unrepresentative electoral system - this struggle led to the The Reform Act of 1832 which made the existing electoral system more representative to a degree.
The act left many working class people without a vote, as voters were still required to possess property worth £10, a substantial sum at that time, to vote. This decision split the reform movement, separating the more middle class property owning elements off from the working class. This led to development of the Chartist Movement, which demanded further reform, including:
* The right to vote for men over 21 years of age.
* A Secret Ballot
* No property qualification to be an MP.
* Payment for MPs, so that the poor were not debarred.
* Equally sized constituencies.
* Annual Parliamentary elections.
Organised petitions were ignored, peaceful meetings were disrupted, or ignored by the government.
In pre-emptive strike, in May 1838, Henry Vincent, an exceptionally articulate leading Chartist orator, was arrested for making inflammatory speeches, tried, and sentenced to twelve months in prison. This led to outbreaks of popular violence, and Chartist John Frost called for a action to demand his release.
The march on Newport took place on 4th November 1839, with 3,000 men marching with pikes, clubs and firearms from Pontymister to Newport. Troops had been called in, and were waiting when the chanting crowd arrived at the Westgate Hotel, the order was given to open fire, after the Riot Act was read in both English and Cymraeg.
In the fighting that followed, at least twenty men were killed and fifty more seriously injured. The true figure remains unknown as some of the wounded were spirited away and treated secretly concealed in local communties out of the sight of the authorities. In the repression that followed, John Frost, and other Chartist leaders, was arrested and charged with high treason. They were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
The savagery of the sentences was universally shocking, and the ensuing outcry forced Prime Minister Lord Melbourne to commute the sentence to life transportation. The convicts were eventually granted a complete pardon in 1856 and John Frost received a hero's welcome on his return to Newport. By the time of his death, aged 91, the vast majority of the reforms for which the Chartists had campaigned had been enshrined in law.
While much of the Chartist legacy remain safely historic, at least in Newport it remains controversial, and it can be heated at times. Until fairly recently, local Conservatives used to hold an annual fund raising dinner, to commemorate the crushing of the rising, and the courage of the mayor who was wounded in the fighting at the Westgate. The Labour party in Newport, proclaimed themselves the heirs of the chartists and has endeavoured to monopolise the memorial side commemorations as their own.
In the 1960s controversial redevelopment in the heart of Newport, led to the creation of a public square which was named John Frost Square. Alongside the square a 35 metres long mosaic mural was created spectacularly along one wall of a pedestrian walkway leading through to John Frost square.
When the area was redeveloped again, there was some discussion about what to do with the mural (which was very popular with many Newport residents). The labour council refused to protect the mural, refused to assist residents attempts to protect it, and generally ignored popular protests. Elected labour representatives, at all levels, made mumbling excuses and refused to engage with residents and protestors.
The Labour in Wales City Council then panicked, especially after a well attended well published and understandably angry protest march and rally in John Frost Square, they acted decisively and ordered the destruction of the mural at after 4.30 pm on the 3rd October 2013, in the knowledge that any protests would be insignificant given the short notice. More than a few residents have neither forgiven or forgotten what the Labour Party in Wales representatives did and the manner in which it was done.
