'Risings which occurred because of economic hardships; politics had nothing to do with the matter' The Merthyr rising of 1831 and the Newport rising of 1839.

Whilst politics may not have been directly the cause for the Merthyr Tydfil and Newport Risings, the political decisions of a Government in its bills and statutes can adversely affect a defined population, such as the coal and ironworkers of South Wales, and set into motion a movement that politically changes the country. The risings that occurred in both Merthyr and Newport could have heralded a dramatic change in the government of the day, however …

…Gareth Elwyn, Modern Wales, a concise history 2nd Ed, (Cambridge: Cambridge University press, 1994) Williams, Glanmor, Merthyr politics: The making of a working class tradition, (Cardiff: University of Wales press, 1966) Williams, Gwyn A, The Merthyr rising, (Cardiff: University of Wales press, 1978) Websites http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/humanities_and_soc_sciences/census/census_1831.xls http://www.dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/peel/poorlaw/plaa.htm http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/speen.html