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Tonypandy riots

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98-458: Employers Police Armed forces William Abraham F. L. Davis Lionel Lindsay Winston Churchill The Miners Strike of 1910-11 was a violent attempt by coal miners to maintain wages and working conditions in parts of South Wales, where wages had been kept low by a cartel of mine owners. What became known as the Tonypandy riots of 1910 and 1911 (sometimes collectively known as

196-532: A steelworks close to the docks at East Moors, which Lord Bute opened on 4 February 1891. Cardiff became a county borough on 1 April 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 . The town had grown rapidly and had a population of over 123,000. It retained its county borough status until 1974. King Edward VII granted Cardiff city status on 28 October 1905. It acquired a Roman Catholic cathedral in 1916. Later, more national institutions came to

294-643: A British rather than exclusively Welsh identity . The relative lack of local support for the Assembly and difficulties between the Welsh Office and Cardiff Council in acquiring the originally preferred venue, Cardiff City Hall , encouraged other local authorities to bid to house the Assembly. However, the Assembly was eventually located at Tŷ Hywel in Cardiff Bay in 1999. In 2005, a new debating chamber on an adjacent site, designed by Richard Rogers ,

392-543: A District Fund. The Cambrian Miners' Association was reorganised and with Abraham as leader the membership grew from nothing in 1877 to 14,000 members in 1885, making it the largest of the seven district in the South Wales coalfield . In 1874 Abraham was briefly mentioned as a possible candidate in the Carmarthen Boroughs constituency in opposition to Arthur Stepney and Charles Nevill , although there

490-487: A history going back to the 11th-century Norman Conquest . The region that may be called "Rural Cardiff" contains the villages of St Fagans , Creigiau, Pentyrch , Tongwynlais and Gwaelod-y-garth . In 2017, plans were approved for a new suburb of 7,000 homes between Radyr and St Fagans , known as Plasdŵr . St Fagans, home to the Museum of Welsh Life , is protected from further development. Since 2000, there has been

588-486: A marked change of scale and building height in Cardiff, with the development of the city centre 's first purpose-built high-rise apartments. Tall buildings have been built in the city centre and Cardiff Bay, and more are planned. Cardiff, in the north temperate zone , has a maritime climate ( Köppen : Cfb) marked by mild weather that is often cloudy, wet and windy. Cardiff is one of the warmest and wettest cities in

686-481: A massive improvement in the quality of the built environment, although it had "failed "to attract the major inward investors originally anticipated". In the 1997 Welsh devolution referendum , Cardiff voters rejected the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales by 55.4% to 44.2% on a 47% turnout, which Denis Balsom partly ascribed to a general preference in Cardiff and some other parts of Wales for

784-513: A minimum-wage act by the government that is hailed as a victory by the strikers. The accuracy of the account is disputed. A more official version states, "The strike finally ended in August 1911, with the workers forced to accept the 2 s 3 d per ton negotiated by William Abraham MP prior to the strike... the workers actually returning to work on the first Monday in September", ten months after

882-722: A new business district. Caerdydd (the Welsh name of the city) derives from the Middle Welsh Caerdyf . The change from -dyf to -dydd shows the colloquial alteration of Welsh f [v] and dd [ð] and was perhaps also driven by folk etymology . This sound change probably first occurred in the Middle Ages ; both forms were current in the Tudor period . Caerdyf has its origins in post-Roman Brythonic words meaning "the fort of

980-411: A new local authority vote, 134 out of 161 voted for Cardiff. Cardiff therefore celebrated two important anniversaries in 2005. The Encyclopedia of Wales notes that the decision to recognise the city as the capital of Wales "had more to do with the fact that it contained marginal Conservative constituencies than any reasoned view of what functions a Welsh capital should have." Although the city hosted

1078-537: A population of only 1,870, making it only the 25th largest town in Wales, well behind Merthyr and Swansea . In 1793, John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute was born. He spent his life building the Cardiff docks and was later hailed as "the creator of modern Cardiff". A twice-weekly boat service between Cardiff and Bristol opened in 1815, and in 1821, the Cardiff Gas Works was established. After

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1176-461: A power-base beyond the Liberal association which was dominated by those who had opposed him in 1885. Although he championed the cause of labour he believed that it could be accommodated within the Liberal programme. In 1898 he was one of the chief negotiators on behalf of the colliers in the Welsh coal strike of 1898 , and although the miners were unsuccessful in their action it saw the creation of

1274-521: A rate of nearly 80 per cent per decade between 1840 and 1870. Much of this was due to migration from within and outside Wales: in 1841, a quarter of Cardiff's population were English-born and more than 10 per cent born in Ireland. By the 1881 census, Cardiff had overtaken Merthyr and Swansea to become the largest town in Wales. Cardiff's status as the premier town in South Wales was confirmed when it

1372-609: A tinplate works in Swansea . It was around the 1870s that he became known as a singer and poet, adopting the eisteddfod name Gwilym Mabon, soon Mabon was the title by which he would be best known. Abraham continued working in the mining industry and by 1871 was working at the Caergynydd Pit in Waunarlwydd , near Swansea . In 1871 Abraham became a representative for the cause of his fellow miners, when he negotiated for

1470-583: A wider pattern of counter-urbanisation in Britain. However, it recovered to become one of the few cities outside London where population grew in the 1990s. During this period the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was promoting the redevelopment of south Cardiff; an evaluation of the regeneration of Cardiff Bay published in 2004 concluded that the project had "reinforced the competitive position of Cardiff" and "contributed to

1568-548: A wooden palisade in the early 12th century. It was of sufficient size and importance to receive a series of charters, notably in 1331 from William La Zouche, Lord of Glamorgan through marriage with the de Clare family, Edward III in 1359, then Henry IV in 1400, and later Henry VI . In 1404, Owain Glyndŵr burned Cardiff and took possession of the Castle. As many of the buildings were made of timber and tightly packed within

1666-596: Is a major centre for television and film production (such as the 2005 revival of Doctor Who , Torchwood and Sherlock ) and is the Welsh base for the main national broadcasters. Cardiff Bay contains the Senedd building and the Wales Millennium Centre arts complex. Work continues at Cardiff Bay and in the centre on projects such as Cardiff International Sports Village , BBC drama village , and

1764-570: Is at the summit of the Garth , within the county's northern boundary. Four Iron Age hill fort and enclosure sites have been identified within Cardiff's county boundaries, including Caerau Hillfort , an enclosed area of 5.1 hectares ( 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 acres). Until the Roman conquest of Britain , Cardiff was part of the territory of the Silures – a Celtic British tribe that flourished in

1862-585: Is known of the fort and civilian settlement in the period between the Roman departure from Britain and the Norman Conquest. The settlement probably shrank in size and may even have been abandoned. In the absence of Roman rule, Wales was divided into small kingdoms; early on, Meurig ap Tewdrig emerged as the local king in Glywysing (which later became Glamorgan ). The area passed through his family until

1960-534: Is relatively flat and bounded by hills to the east, north and west. Its location influenced its development as the world's largest coal port, notably its proximity and easy access to the coalfields of the South Wales Valleys . The highest point in the local authority area is Garth Hill , 307 m (1,007 ft) above sea level . Cardiff is built on reclaimed marshland on a bed of Triassic stones. This reclaimed marshland stretches from Chepstow to

2058-496: Is represented by four constituencies: Cardiff East , Cardiff North , Cardiff South and Penarth , and Cardiff West . The Welsh Government is headquartered in Cardiff's Cathays Park , where most of its civil servants are based, with smaller numbers in other central locations: Cathays , Canton , and Cardiff Bay . There are other Welsh Government offices in other parts of Wales, such as Llandudno and Aberystwyth, and there are international offices. Between 1889 and 1974 Cardiff

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2156-650: Is the capital and largest city of Wales . Cardiff had a population of 372,089 in 2022 and forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff (Welsh: Dinas a Sir Caerdydd ). The city is the eleventh largest in the United Kingdom . Located in the southeast of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region , Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan . It belongs to

2254-517: Is the main commercial centre of Wales as well as the base for the Senedd , the Welsh Parliament. At the 2021 census, the unitary authority area population was put at 362,400. The population of the wider urban area in 2011 was 479,000. In 2011, it ranked sixth in the world in a National Geographic magazine list of alternative tourist destinations. It is the most popular destination in Wales with 21.3 million visitors in 2017. Cardiff

2352-465: Is the only part of the Celtic Sea with exposed Jurassic ( blue lias ) geology. This stretch of coast with its reefs, sandbanks and serrated cliffs was a ship graveyard ; many ships sailing to Cardiff during the industrial era were wrecked on this hostile coastline during west/south-westerly gales. Smuggling, deliberate shipwrecking and attacks on ships were also common. "Inner Cardiff" consists of

2450-585: The Battle of St Fagans , between Royalist rebels and a New Model Army detachment, was a decisive victory for the Parliamentarians that allowed Oliver Cromwell to conquer Wales. It was the last major battle in Wales, with about 200, mostly Royalist soldiers killed. Cardiff was at peace throughout the ensuing century. In 1766, John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute married into the Herbert family and

2548-683: The Commonwealth Games in 1958, Cardiff became a centre of national administration only with the establishment of the Welsh Office in 1964, which later prompted the creation of various other public bodies such as the Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh Development Agency , most of which were based in Cardiff. The East Moors Steelworks closed in 1978 and Cardiff lost population in the 1980s, consistent with

2646-514: The Ely Estuary , which is the natural boundary of Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. Triassic landscapes of this part of the world are usually shallow and low-lying, consistent with the flatness of the centre of Cardiff. The classic Triassic marl , sand and conglomerate rocks are used predominantly throughout Cardiff as building materials. Many of these Triassic rocks are purplish, especially

2744-458: The Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales . Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth . Cardiff

2842-691: The Iron Age – whose territory included the areas that would become known as Breconshire , Monmouthshire and Glamorgan. The 3.2 ha (8-acre) fort established by the Romans near the mouth of the River Taff in AD ;75, in what would become the north western boundary of the centre of Cardiff, was built over an extensive settlement that had been established by the Romans in the 50s AD. The fort

2940-595: The Naval Colliery Company opened a new coal seam at the Ely Pit in Penygraig . After a short test period to determine what would be the future rate of extraction, owners claimed that the miners deliberately worked more slowly than possible. The roughly-70 miners at the seam argued that the new seam was more difficult to work than others because of a stone band that ran through it. On 1 September 1910,

3038-478: The Rhondda Valley . The Tonypandy riots are subject of a popular historical myth that troops fired on the miners. Josephine Tey refers to this in her novel The Daughter of Time , and coined the term "tonypandy" to refer to "when a historical event is reported and memorialized inaccurately but consistently until the resulting fiction is believed to be the truth." The only bloodshed in the whole affair

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3136-603: The Rhondda riots ) were a series of violent confrontations between the striking coal miners and police that took place at various locations in and around the Rhondda mines of the Cambrian Combine, a cartel of mining companies formed to regulate prices and wages in South Wales . The disturbances and the confrontations were the culmination of the industrial dispute between workers and the mine owners The term "Tonypandy riot" initially applied to specific events on

3234-498: The Saxon Shore forts of the 3rd and 4th centuries, a stone fortress was established at Cardiff. Similar to the shore forts, the fortress was built to protect Britannia from raiders. Coins from the reign of Gratian indicate that Cardiff was inhabited until at least the 4th century; the fort was abandoned towards the end of the 4th century, as the last Roman legions left the province of Britannia with Magnus Maximus . Little

3332-861: The South Wales Miners' Federation of which Abraham became president. Before his re-election at the January 1910 general election , he and most other Lib–Lab MPs from the Miners' Federation of Great Britain joined the Labour Party . He held the Rhondda seat until its abolition at the 1918 general election , when he was elected for the new Rhondda West constituency. He resigned his seat in 1920, and died two years later aged 79. Cardiff Cardiff ( / ˈ k ɑːr d ɪ f / ; Welsh : Caerdydd [kairˈdiːð, kaːɨrˈdɨːð] )

3430-408: The South Wales Miners' Federation , resulting in the 12,000 men working for the mines owned by the Cambrian Combine going on strike. A conciliation board was formed to reach an agreement, with William Abraham acting on behalf of the miners and F. L. Davis for the owners. Although an agreed wage of 2 s 3 d per ton was arrived at, the Cambrian Combine workmen rejected the agreement. On 2 November,

3528-739: The St Lythans burial chamber near Wenvoe , (approximately four miles or six km west of Cardiff city centre); the Tinkinswood burial chamber , near St. Nicholas (about six miles or ten km west of Cardiff city centre), the Cae'rarfau Chambered Tomb , Creigiau (about six miles or ten km northwest of Cardiff city centre) and the Gwern y Cleppa long barrow , near Coedkernew , Newport (about eight miles or thirteen km northeast of Cardiff city centre). A group of five Bronze Age tumuli

3626-479: The Taff ". The fort probably refers to that established by the Romans . Caer is Welsh for fort and -dyf is in effect a form of Taf (Taff), the river which flows by Cardiff Castle, with the ⟨t⟩ showing consonant mutation to ⟨d⟩ and the vowel showing affection as a result of a (lost) genitive case ending. The anglicised Cardiff is derived from Caerdyf , with

3724-457: The 1890s onwards. Although the defeat of the miners in the Welsh coal strike of 1898 was a clear defeat for Mabon's strategy, his prestige was sufficient to ensure that he became the first president of the South Wales Miners' Federation which was established in the wake of the dispute. Abraham was noted for his powerful speaking voice, and was a renowned orator in English and Welsh . Abraham

3822-549: The 18th Hussars to reach Pontypridd at 8:15 am. Upon arrival, one contingent patrolled Aberaman and another was sent to Llwynypia, where it patrolled all day. Returning to Pontypridd at night, the troops arrived at Porth as a disturbance was breaking out, and then maintained order until the arrival of the Metropolitan Police. Although no authentic record exists of casualties since many miners would have refused treatment for fear of prosecution for their part in

3920-411: The 2004 and 2012 local elections, no individual political party held a majority on Cardiff County Council. The Liberal Democrats held the largest number of seats and Cllr Rodney Berman was Leader of the council. The Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru formed a partnership administration. In the 2012 elections the Labour Party achieved an outright majority, after gaining an additional 33 seats across

4018-652: The Napoleonic Wars Cardiff suffered some social and industrial unrest, starting with the trial and hanging of Dic Penderyn in 1831. The town grew rapidly from the 1830s onwards, when the Marquess of Bute built a dock , which eventually linked to the Taff Vale Railway . Cardiff became the main port for coal exports from the Cynon , Rhondda , and Rhymney valleys, and grew in population at

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4116-1043: The Senedd; the constituencies for the Senedd are the same as for the UK Parliament. All of the city's electors have an extra vote for the South Wales Central regional members; this system increases proportionality to the Senedd. The most recent Senedd general election was held on 6 May 2021 . In the Senedd, Cardiff is represented by Jenny Rathbone (Labour) in Cardiff Central , Julie Morgan (Labour) in Cardiff North , former First Minister Mark Drakeford (Labour) in Cardiff West and former First Minister Vaughan Gething (Labour) in Cardiff South and Penarth . At Westminster, Cardiff

4214-651: The Tonypandy area. By this time, strikers had successfully shut down all local pits, except Llwynypia colliery. On 6 November, miners became aware of the owners' intention to deploy strikebreakers to keep pumps and ventilation going at the Glamorgan Colliery in Llwynypia. On Monday, 7 November, strikers surrounded and picketed the Glamorgan Colliery to prevent such workers from entering. That resulted in sharp skirmishes with police officers posted inside

4312-536: The UK, with an average annual temperature and rainfall of approximately 11°C and 1200mm respectively. Summers tend to be warm and sunny, with average maxima between 19 and 22 °C (66 and 72 °F). Winters are fairly wet, but excessive rainfall as well as frost are rare. Spring and autumn feel similar, with mild temperatures averaging around 15°C as daytime maxima. Rain is unpredictable at any time of year, although showers tend to be shorter in summer. The northern part of

4410-472: The United Kingdom. With the exception of some outlying privately built estates at Michaelston-super-Ely , this is an economically disadvantaged area with high numbers of unemployed households. Culverhouse Cross is a more affluent western area of the city. Fairwater , Heath , Birchgrove , Gabalfa , Mynachdy , Llandaff North , Llandaff , Llanishen , Radyr , Whitchurch & Tongwynlais , Rhiwbina , Thornhill , Lisvane and Cyncoed lie in an arc from

4508-462: The Welsh f [v] borrowed as ff / f / , as also happens in Taff (from Welsh Taf ) and Llandaff (from Welsh Llandaf ). The antiquarian William Camden (1551–1623) suggested that the name Cardiff may derive from * Caer-Didi ("the Fort of Didius"), a name supposedly given in honour of Aulus Didius Gallus , governor of a nearby province at the time when the Roman fort

4606-556: The advent of the Normans in the 11th century. In 1081 William I, King of England , began work on the castle keep within the walls of the old Roman fort. Cardiff Castle has been at the heart of the city ever since. The castle was substantially altered and extended during the Victorian period by John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute , and the architect William Burges . Original Roman work can, however, still be distinguished in

4704-493: The anthracite district remained loyal to Mabon. The miners were forced back to work and the A.A.M. became bankrupt and was dissolved. This left Abraham as the only miners' agent in the entire South Wales area, as the other agents were forced to find other forms of employment. Abraham left Waunarlwydd and travelled to the Rhondda, a rapidly growing mining area, and in 1877 joined the Cambrian Miners' Association , one of

4802-488: The authorities in South Wales were enquiring about the procedure for requesting military aid in the event of disturbances caused by the striking miners. The Glamorgan Constabulary 's resources were stretched, as in addition to the Cambrian Combine dispute, there was a month-old strike in the neighbouring Cynon Valley , and the Chief Constable of Glamorgan had by Sunday, 6 November, assembled 200 imported police in

4900-408: The chemist Willie Llewellyn , which was rumoured to have been spared because he had been a famous Welsh international rugby footballer. A small police presence might have deterred window-breakages, but police had been moved from the streets to protect the residences of mine owners and managers. At 1:20 am on 9 November, orders were sent to Colonel Currey at Cardiff to despatch a squadron of

4998-860: The city of Newport; to the north by the South Wales Valleys , and to the south by the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel . The River Taff winds through the city centre and together with the River Ely flows into the freshwater Cardiff Bay. A third river, the Rhymney , flows through the east of the city directly into the Severn Estuary. Cardiff lies near the Glamorgan Heritage Coast , stretching westward from Penarth and Barry – commuter towns of Cardiff – with striped yellow-blue Jurassic limestone cliffs. The Glamorgan coast

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5096-400: The city, are built of Portland stone from Dorset. A widely used building stone in Cardiff is the yellow-grey Liassic limestone rock of the Vale of Glamorgan, including the rare "Sutton Stone", a conglomerate of lias limestone and carboniferous limestone. Cardiff is bordered to the west by the rural district of the Vale of Glamorgan, also known as the Garden of Cardiff, to the east by

5194-411: The city, including the National Museum of Wales , the Welsh National War Memorial , and the University of Wales Registry Building, but it was denied the National Library of Wales , partly because the library's founder, Sir John Williams, considered Cardiff to have "a non-Welsh population". After a brief post-war boom, Cardiff docks entered a prolonged decline in the interwar period . By 1936, trade

5292-411: The city. Cardiff is divided into communities, several with their own community council and the rest governed directly by Cardiff City Council. Elections are held every five years. The last contested elections would have been held at the same time as the 2017 Cardiff Council election had there been more candidates standing than available seats. Those with community councils are: The centre of Cardiff

5390-400: The coastal marl found near Penarth. One of the Triassic rocks used in Cardiff is "Radyr Stone", a freestone which as its name suggests is quarried in the Radyr district. Cardiff has also imported some materials for buildings: Devonian sandstones (the Old Red Sandstone ) from the Brecon Beacons has been used. Most famously, the buildings of Cathays Park , the civic centre in the centre of

5488-412: The district at national conferences in Manchester and Wallsend. Despite helping to enroll 8,000 miners into the A.A.M. for his district, funds for the union were severely stretched after a series on strikes during the early to mid-1870s. In 1875, during another strike, the (mine) Owners' Association, discovering the A.A.M. was low on funds, ruthlessly switched a 10 percent wage cut to a 15 percent cut. Only

5586-798: The evening of Tuesday, 8 November 1910, when strikers smashed windows of businesses in Tonypandy . There was hand-to-hand fighting between the strikers and the Glamorgan Constabulary , which was reinforced by the Bristol Constabulary . Home Secretary Winston Churchill 's decision to agree to the government's decision to send the British Army to reinforce the police shortly after 8 November riot caused rumours that generated much ill feeling towards him in South Wales. Historians such as Paul Addison however, argue that Churchill did his best to prevent violence; he promised miners that peaceful conduct would be rewarded with sympathetic arbitration. When major riots erupted he sent troops in but "made strenuous efforts to avoid direct confrontation." The conflict arose when

5684-434: The few union wings of the A.A.M. to survive the parent union's collapse. Despite now being a prominent unionist, the spirit of the miners' within the Rhondda Valley was so low, that when he first addressed a meeting in Pentre in 1877 only 30 people attended. Abraham continued speaking to the miners, and by April 1877, at a meeting in Llwynypia it was agreed that the union should be rebuilt and contributions should be made to

5782-406: The local authorities were overreacting and believed that the Liberal government could calm matters down. He instead despatched Metropolitan Police officers , both on foot and mounted, and sent some cavalry troops to Cardiff. He did not specifically deploy cavalry but authorised their use by civil authorities if it was deemed necessary. Churchill's personal message to strikers was, "We are holding back

5880-470: The medical evidence concluded, "The fracture had been caused by a blunt instrument—it might have been caused by a policeman's truncheon or by two of the several weapons used by the strikers, which were produced in court." Authorities had reinforced the town with 400 policemen, one company of the Lancashire Fusiliers , billeted at Llwynypia, and the squadron of the 18th Hussars. Thirteen miners from Gilfach Goch were arrested and prosecuted for their part in

5978-453: The north-west to the north-east of the centre. Lisvane, Cyncoed, Radyr and Rhiwbina contain some of the most expensive housing in Wales. Further east lie the wards of Pontprennau and Old St Mellons, Rumney, Pentwyn , Llanrumney , Llanedeyrn and Trowbridge . The last four are largely public housing stock, although much new private housing is being built in Trowbridge. Pontprennau is the newest "suburb" of Cardiff, while Old St Mellons has

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6076-404: The other hand, Gabalfa, Plasnewydd and Cathays north of the 'arc' have large student populations, and Pontcanna (north of Riverside and alongside Canton) is a favourite for students and young professionals. Penylan , to the north east of Roath Park, is an affluent area popular with older parents and the retired. To the west lie Ely and Caerau , which have some of the largest housing estates in

6174-413: The owners posted a lock-out notice at the mine that closed the site to all 950 workers, not just the 70 at the newly opened Bute seam. The Ely Pit miners reacted by going on strike . The Cambrian Combine then called in strikebreakers from outside the area to which the miners responded by picketing the work site. On 1 November, the miners of the South Wales coalfield were balloted for strike action by

6272-425: The police, whose role under Lionel Lindsay was, in the words of historian David Smith, "more like an army of occupation". The incident continued to haunt Churchill throughout his career. Such was the strength of feeling, that almost forty years later, when speaking in Cardiff during the general election campaign of 1950, this time as Conservative Party leader, Churchill was forced to address the issue, stating: "When I

6370-417: The riots, nearly 80 police and over 500 citizens were injured. One miner, Samuel Rhys, died of head injuries that were said to have been inflicted by a policeman's baton, but the verdict of the coroner's jury was cautious: "We agree that Samuel Rhys died from injuries he received on 8 November caused by some blunt instrument. The evidence is not sufficiently clear to us how he received those injuries." Similarly,

6468-425: The ship had to avoid both storms and the Spanish Navy who were attempting to block trade with their rebel colonies in South America. When they arrived at the mine there was no work and so Abraham returned to the coast and managed to gain working passage on a ship back to Britain. After being away for thirteen months he was fortunate to regain his old job. After a slump in 1869 he was placed on short time, he switched to

6566-416: The site. Although miners' leaders called for calm, a small group of strikers began stoning the pump-house. A portion of the wooden fence surrounding the site was torn down. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued between miners and police. After repeated baton charges, police drove strikers back towards Tonypandy Square, just after midnight. Between 1 am and 2 am on 8 November, a demonstration at Tonypandy Square

6664-513: The soldiers for the present and sending only police". Despite that assurance, the local stipendiary magistrate sent a telegram to London later that day and requested military support, which the Home Office authorised. Troops were deployed after the skirmish at the Glamorgan Colliery on 7 November but before rioting on the evening of 8 November. During the evening of rioting, properties in Tonypandy were damaged, and some looting took place. Shops were smashed systematically but not indiscriminately. There

6762-476: The streets of Cardiff". From 1901 coal exports from Barry surpassed those from Cardiff, but the administration of the coal trade remained centred on Cardiff, in particular its Coal Exchange , where the price of coal on the British market was determined and the first million-pound deal was struck in 1907. The city also strengthened its industrial base when the owners of the Dowlais Ironworks in Merthyr (who would later form part of Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds ) built

6860-547: The strike began and twelve months after the lock-out that had started the confrontation. Churchill's role in the events at Tonypandy during the conflict left anger towards him in South Wales that still persists today. The main point of contention was his decision to allow troops to be sent to Wales. Although this was an unusual move and was seen by those in Wales as an overreaction, his Tory opponents suggested that he should have acted with greater vigour. The troops acted more circumspectly and were commanded with more common sense than

6958-429: The strike early in the miners' favour. The troops also ensured that trials of rioters, strikers and miners' leaders would take place and be successfully prosecuted in Pontypridd in 1911. The defeat of the miners in 1911 was, in the eyes of much of the local community, a direct consequence of state intervention without any negotiation; that the strikers were breaking the law was not a factor with many locals. This result

7056-487: The title. Welsh local authorities had been divided: only 76 out of 161 chose Cardiff in a 1924 poll organised by the South Wales Daily News . The subject was not debated again until 1950, and meanwhile Cardiff took steps to promote its "Welshness". The stalemate between Cardiff and cities such as Caernarfon and Aberystwyth was not broken until Cardiganshire County Council decided to support Cardiff; and in

7154-488: The town walls, much of Cardiff was destroyed. The settlement was soon rebuilt on the same street plan and began to flourish again. (Glyndŵr's statue was erected in Cardiff Town Hall in the early 20th century, reflecting the complex, often conflicting cultural identity of Cardiff as capital of Wales.) Besides serving an important political role in the governance of the fertile south Glamorgan coastal plain, Cardiff

7252-479: The unrest. The trial of the thirteen occupied six days in December. During the trial, they were supported by marches and demonstrations by up to 10,000 men, who were refused entry to the town. Custodial terms of two to six weeks were issued to some of the respondents; others were discharged or fined. Purported eyewitness accounts of alleged shootings persisted and were relayed by word of mouth. In some instances, it

7350-720: The wall facings. A town grew up under the castle, consisting mainly of settlers from England. Cardiff had a population of between 1,500 and 2,000 in the Middle Ages – a normal size for a Welsh town in the period. It was the centre of the Norman Marcher Lordship of Glamorgan. By the end of the 13th century, Cardiff was the only town in Wales with a population exceeding 2,000, although it remained relatively small compared with notable towns in England and continued to be contained within its walls, which were begun as

7448-453: The walls of his honours castle and from the north part of the town to the south part where there is a fair quay and a safe harbour for shipping." Cardiff became a borough in 1542 and further Royal Charters were granted to it by Elizabeth I in 1600 and James I in 1608. In 1573, it was made a head port for collection of customs duties. Pembrokeshire historian George Owen described Cardiff in 1602 as "the fayrest towne in Wales yett not

7546-463: The wards of Plasnewydd , Gabalfa , Roath , Cathays , Adamsdown and Splott ward on the north and east of the city centre, and Butetown , Grangetown , Riverside and Canton to the south and west. The inner-city areas to the south of the A4161 road , known as the "Southern Arc", are with the exception of Cardiff Bay some of the poorest districts of Wales, with low levels of economic activity. On

7644-668: The welthiest". It gained a second Royal Charter in 1608. A disastrous flood in the Bristol Channel on 30 January 1607 (now believed to have been a tidal wave) changed the course of the River Taff and ruined St Mary's Parish Church , which was replaced by a chapel of ease dedicated to St John the Baptist. During the Second English Civil War St Fagans , just to the west of the town,

7742-710: The workers of the Caergynnydd Pit in a dispute with the managers. During the dispute, Lewis Morgan of the Abergorchy Colliery, who was the Rhondda advocate of the Amalgamated Association of Miners , travelled to Waunarlwydd to speak to the miners. Lewis persuaded Abraham to form a Union at the colliery, and Abraham was eventually appointed as the miners' agent for the Loughor District of the A.A.M. in 1872, and represented

7840-399: Was Home Secretary in 1910, I had a great horror and fear of having to become responsible for the military firing on a crowd of rioters and strikers. Also, I was always in sympathy with the miners..." A major factor in the dislike of Churchill's use of the military was not in any action undertaken by the troops, but the fact that their presence prevented any strike action which might have ended

7938-560: Was a Welsh trade unionist and Liberal/Labour politician, and a member of parliament (MP) from 1885 to 1920. Although an MP for 35 years, it was as a trade unionist that Abraham is most well known. Initially a pioneer of trade unionism, who fought to enshrine the principle of workers' representation against the opposition of the coal-owners, he was regarded in later life as a moderate voice believing that disputes should be solved through conciliation rather than industrial action. This drew him into conflict with younger and more militant leaders from

8036-539: Was a bloody nose or two. The Home Secretary was severely criticised in the House of Commons incidentally for his “unprecedented intervention”. That was Tonypandy. That is the shooting-down by troops that Wales will never forget... It is a completely untrue story grown to legend while the men who knew it to be untrue looked on and said nothing. William Abraham (trade unionist) William Abraham (14 June 1842 – 14 May 1922), universally known by his bardic name , Mabon ,

8134-669: Was a busy port in the Middle Ages and declared a staple port in 1327. In 1536, the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 led to the creation of Glamorganshire and Cardiff was made the county town , it also became part of Kibbor hundred , around the same time the Herberts became the most powerful family in the area. In 1538, Henry VIII closed Cardiff's Dominican and Franciscan friaries, whose remains were used as building materials. A writer in this period noted: "The River Taff runs under

8232-565: Was a county borough governed by Cardiff County Borough Council (known as Cardiff City Council after 1905). Between 1974 and 1996, Cardiff was governed by Cardiff City Council , a district council of South Glamorgan . Since local government reorganisation in 1996 , Cardiff has been governed by the City and County Council of Cardiff, based at County Hall in Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff Bay. Voters elect 75 councillors every four years. Between

8330-521: Was asking a question, during Prime Minister's Questions, on miners' pay; he was warned by the Labour leader and Prime Minister James Callaghan not to pursue "the vendetta of your family against the miners of Tonypandy". In 2010, ninety-nine years after the riots, a Welsh local council made objections to an old military base being named after Churchill in the Vale of Glamorgan because of his sending troops into

8428-633: Was at less than half its value in 1913, reflecting the slump in demand for Welsh coal . Bomb damage in the Cardiff Blitz of World War II included the devastation of Llandaff Cathedral , and in the immediate postwar years, the city's link with the Bute family came to an end. The city was recognised as the capital city of Wales on 20 December 1955, in a written reply by the Home Secretary , Gwilym Lloyd George . Caernarfon had also vied for

8526-510: Was born in Cwmafan , Glamorgan , the fourth son of Thomas and Mary Abraham. He was educated at Cwmafan National School but left at a young age, becoming a tinplater before finding work at the local colliery as a 'door boy' at the age of ten . In 1864 Abraham, with another eleven Welsh miners, agreed to work in a copper mine in Chile for three years. Sailing to Valparaiso via Cape Horn ,

8624-595: Was chosen as the site for the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in 1883. A permanent military presence was established with the completion of Maindy Barracks in 1877. Cardiff faced a challenge in the 1880s when David Davies of Llandinam and the Barry Railway Company promoted rival docks at Barry . These had the advantage of being accessible in all tides : David Davies claimed his venture would cause "grass to grow in

8722-457: Was criticised for its creative approach to truth. For example, in the chapter "Soldiers are sent to the Valley", he narrates an incident in which eleven strikers are killed by two volleys of rifle fire in the town square after which the miners adopt a grimly-retaliatory stance. In that account, the end of the strike is hastened by organised terror directed at mine managers, leading to introduction of

8820-537: Was dispersed by Cardiff Police, using truncheons, resulting in casualties on both sides. That led Glamorgan 's chief constable , Lionel Lindsay, supported by the general manager of the Cambrian Combine, to request military support from the War Office . Home Secretary Winston Churchill learned of that development and, after discussions with the War Office, delayed action on the request. Churchill felt that

8918-493: Was established. Although some sources repeat this theory, it has been rejected on linguistic grounds by modern scholars such as Professor Gwynedd Pierce. Archaeological evidence from sites in and around Cardiff show that people had settled in the area by at least around 6000 BC, during the early Neolithic; about 1,500 years before either Stonehenge or the Great Pyramid of Giza was completed. These include

9016-414: Was later created Baron Cardiff . In 1778, he began renovating Cardiff Castle. A racecourse , printing press , bank and coffee house opened in the 1790s and Cardiff gained a stagecoach service to London. Despite these improvements, Cardiff's position in the Welsh urban hierarchy declined over the 18th century. Iolo Morganwg called it "an obscure and inconsiderable place" and the 1801 census found

9114-512: Was little looting, but some rioters wore clothes taken from the shops and paraded in a festival atmosphere. Women and children were involved in considerable numbers, as they had been outside the Glamorgan colliery. No police were seen at the town square until the Metropolitan Police arrived around 10:30 pm, almost three hours after the rioting began, when the disturbance subsided of its own accord. A few shops remained untouched, notably that of

9212-633: Was no real prospect of him standing. During a fiercely contrasted election, it was alleged, however, that Abraham was 'specially retained to influence and prejudice the colliers and other men against Mr Nevill.' These efforts were in vain, however, as Nevill won the election. Abraham was elected at the 1885 general election as the Liberal–Labour (Lib–Lab) MP for the new Rhondda constituency in Wales , one of twelve Lib–Lab MPs elected that year. However, following his election, Abraham did not seek to develop

9310-450: Was one of a series of military outposts associated with Isca Augusta ( Caerleon ) that acted as border defences. The fort may have been abandoned in the early 2nd century as the area had been subdued. However, by this time a civilian settlement, or vicus , was established. It was likely made up of traders who made a living from the fort, ex-soldiers and their families. A Roman villa has been discovered at Ely . Contemporary with

9408-471: Was opened. The Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh : Senedd Cymru ) has been based in Cardiff Bay since its formation in 1999 as the "National Assembly for Wales". The Senedd building was opened on 1 March 2006 by The Queen . The Members of the Senedd (MSs), the Senedd Commission and ministerial support staff are based in Cardiff Bay. Cardiff elects four constituency Members of the Senedd to

9506-404: Was said that there were many shots and fatalities. There are no records of any shots being fired by troops. The only recorded death was Samuel Rhys. In the autobiographical "documentary novel" Cwmardy , the later communist trade union organiser Lewis Jones presents a stylistically romantic but closely-detailed, account of the riots and their agonising domestic and social consequences. The account

9604-468: Was seen as a direct result of Churchill's actions. Political fallout for Churchill also continued. In 1940, when Neville Chamberlain 's war-time government was faltering, Clement Attlee secretly warned that the Labour Party might not follow Churchill because of his association with Tonypandy. There was uproar in the House of Commons in 1978 when Churchill's grandson, also named Winston Churchill ,

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