Newport Chartists Vol.15, p.78

Description

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[top right hand of page ] 78
him not to do that as the Man
may not be ready & I would come
after. I said that to get out of
the way. I did not go to the
Mountain. I once saw Frost
at Blackwood speaking out of the
Window of the Coach & Horses 5
months ago I was at work with a
Man named Elisha a Mason
at the Rhew . He said Frost was
going to speak at the Coach & Horses
& asked me to go & I went and
__I heard him __ giving up
talk about ^ drinking Tea
Coffee Beer smoking Tobacco & there
would be no Duty & that would
be the way to gain the Charter
It rained pouring and I went
away - I saw some Bullets
at Abraham Thomas a few
days before the Sunday they appeared
fresh casted & he appeared to be very ~

___to us Englishmen because
/... / do not belong to them

~careful of shewing them ^ It was
a bullet about half an inch round
I saw the bullets in Thomas's possession
I have never seen Abraham
Thomas since the time I left
him at his House the Sunday
night His Wife told me she

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had seen her Husband laying
dead at the Westgate Inn Newport
the week he went away the Sunday
Abraham Thomas went away Ann Thomas told
me that a man I saw go to the Royal Oak on Horseback
was Jones of Pontypool. ___The Mark of
It was about 4 o clock __________X
______________________ Benjamin Green

Benjamin James the Son of James James
__ Coalbrook Vale lives with his Father Coalbrook Vale
of ^ aged 19 years I knew Zephaniah
Williams of the Royal Oak Blaina I have
known him a good bit I used to go to his
House. I was a Member of the Chartist Lodge
at Z. Williams's House. I had a Card I paid
about 3/ - altogether. There were always
a good many people there. Zephaniah
I saw there almost always he asked me
to come in the Lodge. I was at Z. Williams
on the Sunday Mo[rni] -ng after the last ^ pay in
October. I went about 8 in the morning -
there were a great many people there I saw
Zephaniah I sat in the Lodge Room about
5 minutes I went home and eat my Dinner
and my Tea and went down again to
Zephaniahs about 5 o clock in the Evening
I heard the men in the Club Room
in he mor - ng say they were to meet
together to rise in the Evening & that is
the reason I went When I went up
at 5 o clock there were a good many people
there but the House was not full I went
into the House and saw Z Williams with a
dark great Coat and standing by the Bar
I did not speak to him or he to me I was

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there about 10 minutes in the House and about the
House the people went off in companies of 9 & 10
to the Mountain I went off with them Some had
sticks and some had Pikes I do not recollect
seeing any Guns till we came to the Mountain
when I saw a good many Guns. I don't know
where they ^ got the Pikes from but I saw the Men
by the House and in front start with Pikes
I saw Abraham Thomas by his own House
near the Oak but I went up before him. ~

I have heard he was killed at Newport the next mor-g with the Mob
^ Z. Williams had previously told me on the~

_____________Bread and Cheese as they wo[ul]d want
_________________to eat
~Saturday to bring some ^ and also
to bring something in their Hands to Defend
themselves I thought the best thing to
defend myself was a Gun and one
David Evans who lived near the Royal
Oak had a Gun which he wanted to sell
__to Williams House and got ___
I went ^ Thos Ferraday to ask Williams
to lend him
a ~
_
~Sovereign to buy Evans's Gun ^ Thos Ferreday
asked Williams in my presence to
do so & Williams lent him the Sovereign
and I gave Thos Ferreday a shilling
^ Thos Ferreday went out and brought back
a Gun which Ferreday said he had
bought of Evans. Williams came into
the room and looked at the Gun and said
it was a pretty little Gun and then went
away this was on the Saturday night previously
& next morning when I went at 8 O'clock I saw
Z Williams and gave him back the Sovereign
and he said thank ye. He knew what it was for
nothing more passed. It was a Gun with a Cap
and not a flint . I left the Gun at Mr Williams
House on the Saturday night . When I went Sunday
____to Z Williams _______on the road
night ^ I saw Thos Ferreday ^ and asked him for the Gun
which he had in his Hand and gave me. I cannot
say whether it was loaded or not I did not
load it myself I went to the Mountain
and stopped there sometime it was [?] very [*]

[ *obscured on digital copy] [?wet]
[at foot Newport Reference Libraries embossed stamp]

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[across first fold of page / written 'vertically' on digital copy]
and dark. I did not see Zephaniah on the Mountain
to know him but I fancy I heard his voice. After we had
been there some time we went off the mountain down
by Ebbw Vale & Victoria to Aberbeeg. There were
thousands of men with Guns Pikes all sorts they
did fire one or two Guns off on the road. It
was not till we got down by Ebbw Vale & Victoria
that I heard where we we were going to Newport but
for what I could not understand - I went down
_____________near Newport about 9 or 10
______________O' clock Monday mo- g
to where there was a machine ^ and then saw the

[ contd on third fold of page]
men running back from Newport saying the Soldiers
had fired upon the people I was frightened and
threw away my Gun and went home. I think
it is about 22 or 23 miles from my Fathers
House to Newport
__________________The mark of
_________________________X
___________________Benjamin James

[across second fold of page]
Reg. vs Z. Williams
Depo of Ann Thomas
and Benjamin
Green
&
Benjn James

Ann Thomas saw
Jones the Watchmaker
go down to Z. Williams
Sunday Morn-g 3 Novr
about 10 Oclock

[at foot/in pencil]
647