THE HISTORY |
Dic Penderyn (1808 – 13 August 1831), also known as Richard Lewis, was a Welsh labourer and coal miner who lived in Merthyr Tydfil who was involved with the Merthyr Rising of 3 June 1831. In the course of the riot he was arrested alongside Lewis Lewis, one of the primary figures in the uprising, and charged with stabbing a soldier with a bayonet. The people of Merthyr Tydfil doubted his guilt, and signed a petition for his release; however, he was found guilty and hanged on 13 August. After his death he was treated as a martyr in Merthyr and across Britain.
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THE MERTHYR RISING |
It has been described by historians as one the most bloody and ferocious event in the history of industrialized Britain. A depression in 1829 led to wage cuts and huge numbers of unemployed labourers across the iron and coal industries, and increased poverty and threat of starvation encouraged the local communities to unionise and fight back. In 1831 a large group of iron workers and coal miners marched into Merthyr Tydfil holding aloft a red flag of rebellion, the first time it was to be so used in Britain.
Soldiers from Brecon, who had been sent for to protect the iron masters, opened fire, killing over two dozen protestors and wounding hundreds more. Sixteen soldiers lost their lives and the rioters were made an example of. Lewis Lewis, accused of inciting others towards revolution, was transported to Australia for the rest of his life. Richard Lewis (Dic Penderyn) was sentenced to be hanged for attempted murder of a soldier. Popular opinion is that Richard was in fact innocent but his violent death at the hands of the establishment made him a martyr and hero of the Welsh working class. |