Blaenau Gwent Chartists
Four plaques placed to commemorate 150 years since the march on Newport.
BRYNMAWR – commemorating David Lewis, ‘King Crispin’ and leader of the Brynmawr Chartists
NANTYGLO – commemorating four local men who were killed in the Chartist Rising
CWMTILLERY – in memory of William Williams who died during the Chartist Rising
TREDEGAR – in memory of William Evans, Reece Meredith, and David Morgan. Reece Meredith was actively involved in the organising of forces, estimated as 5-6,000 who mustered at the Twyn-y-Star field on Sunday 3 Nov 1839.
Zephaniah Williams
Nantyglo
Master collier, mineral agent, innkeeper of the ‘Royal Oak’ and Chartist campaigner.
Zephaniah Williams, (1795 – 1874) one of the leaders of the Newport Rising, found guilty of high treason, and condemned to death, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in Tasmania. Eventually he was pardoned, and his discovery of coal on that island earned him a very good income.
