The people of Newport and communities along the Heads of the Valley Road are being invited to explore their Chartist heritage and to interpret the events of November 1839 when a Chartist uprising laid siege to the town.The event, on 12 April, is the latest in a series of activities organised by a team funded by the Welsh Assembly Government. Previous activities included a gathering of people descended from the Chartist rebels. More than 20 people involved in the rising (pictured left) were shot dead and the leaders transported to Australia (after initially being sentence to death).
Kim Colebrook of the Can Do team at Heritage in Action explains:
"We are specifically
working with Merthyr and Aberdare to make them aware that they have a very
strong Chartism story, with Blaenavon to discover why they didn’t march on the
4 Nov 1839, and with Blaina to promote their Chartism exhibition
and to improve the educational materials."
Everyone is welcome to the event, which is free. But do book in advance by phoning 01685 723968 or emailing info@herian.org. Alternatively, you write to HERIAN, Ynysfach Engine House, Ynysfach Rd, Merthyr Tydfil CF48 1AG.
You can read more about the Chartist uprising in Newport on Chartist Ancestors.
Full details of the programme are below...
Community Chartist Stories – Our Chartist Ancestors
12 April 2008 10am to 4.30pm
MERTHYR TYDFIL
at the Market Square Church Hall in the town centre
Programme
10.00 - Coffee/Tea
10.30 – Introduction, Les James (South Wales Centre for Historical & Interdisciplinary Research, University of Wales, Newport)
10.45 - Chartism in Merthyr Tydfil’s radical political history, Huw Williams (Dic Penderyn Society)
11.30 - Locating Merthyr Tydfil’’s Chartist story in its landscape. Talk and walk, Viv Pugh (Dic Penderyn Society)
12.30- Buffet lunch (no charge, contributions welcome)
1.30 - Chartist Ancestors Stories led by Les James
- Progress report on future publication
- Sylvia Taylor tells the story of her ancestor, Wright Beatty, one of the insurgents at Newport 1839 (to be published in the BBC Who Do You Think You Are? magazine)
- Colin Gibson (Gwent Record Office) reveals new research on John Frost’s Descendants
02.30 - The Heads of the Valleys Chartist Project, Kim Colebrook (HERIAN – Heritage in Action)
2.45- Tea
03.00 - Community Stories Symposium, led by Kim Colebrook
Community Groups participating in the Chartist Project – Aberdare, Blaenavon, Blaina, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouth, Newport - share their Chartist stories
4.15- Summing up, Pat Drewett (Newport Accent) and Viv Pugh (Dic Penderyn Society)
04.30 - Close
FREE ENTRY & REFRESHMENTS – OPEN TO ALL by prior booking
Guarantee your place: Tel 01685 723968
E mail info@herian.org
Or write to HERIAN, Ynysfach Engine House, Ynysfach Rd, Merthyr Tydfil CF48 1AG
Hosted by the Dic Penderyn Society
Supported by HERIAN – Heritage in Action; SWCHIR, University of Wales, Newport; Voluntary Action Merthyr Tydfil (VAMT); Newport Accent Trust
Funded by the Heads of the Valleys Programme
