'Merthyr Riots', by Penry Williams, 1816

Description

This painting, produced by the Welsh artist, Penry Williams, when he was just 14 years old, shows the militia trying to restore order during the strike of 1816.

At the time of this strike, relations between ironmasters and workers were at a very low ebb. The working day was hard and long and the mines were hot and dangerous places in which to work. Wages had been slashed at a time when the price of food was rising sharply. With hungry families to feed and no money in their pockets, workers were driven to desperate measures.

The 1816 strike started at Tredegar ironworks as groups of men marched out towards Merthyr, stopping all the furnaces on the way. As the rioters approached Dowlais, they were confronted by special constables, shots were fired, and Mary Morgan, the wife of the engineman at Penydarren steel works, was injured. The crowd were furious and the constables fled to a place of safety. The rioters went on to take over the ironworks in which they worked.

These were worrying times for the ironmasters. John Guest, owner of Dowlais Works, barricaded himself in his home while William Crawshay II, owner of Cyfarthfa Ironworks, took to the hills, taking refuge in a farmhouse! In the end, troops were brought in to subdue the rioters and this painting captures that moment, showing the militia, with bayonets fixed, dispersing the crowd, while onlookers point at the scene. The ironmasters agreed not to reduce wages any further, peace was eventually restored, and employers were more wary in future of introducing wage cuts.

The painting brought Penry Williams to the attention of William Crawshay, who became the first great industrialist to patronize the young artist. Williams went on to paint a series of watercolours depicting Cyfarthfa ironworks as well as the new Crawshay home, Cyfarthfa Castle.