We Remember: The Newport Rising

* Remembering the lives of those who died during the Newport Rising, but also remembering Kenneth Budd who created the original Newport Rising Mosaic located in what was John Frost Square *

Today we remember the 184th anniversary of the Newport Rising, some of the photos shown here are from when I visited the Newport Rising exhibition at the Newport Museum and Art Gallery recently. 

    On the 4th of November 1839, the Newport Rising was a large-scale armed rising in Wales to free prisoners held at the Westgate Hotel (Newport). The Chartists involved were led by John Frost, Zephaniah Williams and William Jones, and the men who followed came from surrounding valleys areas. Frost was a former mayor of Newport, Williams was a publican from Blaina, and Jones was a watchmaker from Pontypool and their target, was the Westgate. 

                                       The 'Welch' Chartist Martyrs (Frost, Williams and Jones)

Authorities were prepared, and troops had been stationed at the bottom of Stow Hill, there was a gunshot and to this day it is not known who fired. Around 22 marchers died that day, 50 were wounded and two soldiers were seriously wounded, Frost, Williams and Jones were arrested and as a result of their involvement in the movement they were tried for high treason and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. However, they were not executed, but transported to Australia. As mentioned in my previous post, the rejection of the petition in June 1839 saw a rise in discontent and unrest, and the Rising happened a couple of months later.

Mayor Thomas Phillips was proclaimed a 'national hero' by Queen Victoria and was knighted, and the middle classes believed that ALL chartists were dangerous, but Frost did return to Newport eventually and was triumphantly welcomed. 

          'The Chartist Attack on the Westgate Hotel, Newport 1839' painted by John Wright, 1978. 

John Frost did return in 1856 and sailed for Bristol after the condition was lifted and John Frost Square was named in his honour.

'The Return of John Frost' date unknown

The Commemoration of the Rising

For my MA dissertation, I wrote about the Rising and how it has been commemorated today, I had the opportunity to speak to a selection of people regarding their input into the commemoration and it was an interesting opportunity. 

There is a controversial past when it comes to the modern memory of the Rising, and a lot of people passionately 'grumble' when the demolition of the Newport Rising mosaic comes into conversation.

 

                                                Photograph belonging to David Mayer

The design of said mosaic can be seen here, it was designed and created by Kenneth Budd in 1978 and the mosaic was a spectacle to be seen. It was located in John Frost Square (which is now Friar's Walk) and was demolished in 2013.

                                                        Image by Richard Swingler

To this day, no one knows where the mosaic went. It was something that greeted the public as they wandered into Newport High Street, and the destruction caused upset among the residents, but also others who visited the city. The workers were faced with protesters, a familiar feeling (reference to the Rising) and the mosaic was 'pulled down' to make way for shopping developments. 

As a Newport resident, I was 15 at the time and knew nothing about the history of the mosaic or why it was there, but walking past was something you enjoyed and often saw people stop and look to take in the sheer scale of the art, it truly was special. 

You can read more about the demolition here, please take the time to do so as it was such an awful thing to happen, the time and effort that must have gone into this work was remarkable, and we still remember it (as well as the Rising) to this day. 

The present-day

In 2019, the son of Kenneth Budd, Oliver, created a replica mural based on his father's design which is located on Cefn Road, Rogerstone (part of the route the Chartist men would have taken). The mosaic is over four panels and took just under three months to complete, it's a metre high and 8.5 metres long. 

                                                                Photos taken by me.

Read more about Oliver's work here and here

The Newport Rising Festival is an annual 'celebration' in remembering the steps that these men took in the battle for democratic rights. Unfortunately, the Westgate Hotel has had some 'landlord issues' and therefore the team cannot continue with their plans - which is devastating of course. I would like to say a thank you to them for their efforts in preserving this beautiful building, but also the efforts they go to every year to commemorate the anniversary of the Rising. You can find out more about what they do here

2023 

There is currently an exhibition at Newport Museum and Art Gallery called 'Representing the Rising: Chartism and Art in Newport',  open until Saturday 13 January 2024, I visited it a couple of days ago. I was happy to see some new artwork that I had not seen before, although, there was a lack of references to Oliver's mosaic which is a shame as it's such a 'current' piece and represents such an important piece of commemorating the Rising.

Although the efforts of the Rising and the movement itself were unsuccessful, the lives of the people who died and who sacrificed a lot must be remembered. In 1918, five out of the six demands from the People's Charter were met, they were the foundation of what was to come. 

Books:

John Davies. A History of Wales. 2007.

Paul O'Leary. Claiming the Streets: Processions and Urban Culture in South Wales c. 1830-1880. 2012.

Websites: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/zGNhgXwFT8TmZDhhnpnwP8/the-newport-rising-and-chartism-in-wales#:~:text=Chartism%20was%20a%20movement%20for,demanded%20the%20reform%20of%20parliament.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/politics_newport_rising.shtml