Rawlins HADDOCK - South Wales Strike of 1816 (General)

by m p griffiths , Friday, May 10, 2013, 11:44 (4217 days ago) @ JeremyWilshere

Quite a few links re my HADDOCK/JARRETT line on this forum inc.

www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=18763

Mike Haydock's website

www.mikehaydock.com/index.htm

However, if you google - Rawlins Haddock 1816

Morgannwg - Welsh Journals on line - you will find Rawlings was aged 22 (c1794)

http://www.welshjournals.llgc.org.uk

'At once the Riot Act was read to them and they were warned that they would be fired upon, but they stood firm. Annoyed by the language of the mob, the magistrates ordered the cavalry to charge, using their bayonets and the flat side of their swords. The workmen, armed with only a few sticks and clubs, were no match for the soldiers, and after some thirty of them had been seized, the rest dispersed quietly. By evening the town of Merthyr Tydfil was peaceful, the climax of the disturbances had passed without bloodshed.54

On Sunday three of the ringleaders, Rawlins Haddock(s), a twenty-two year old labourer, and Thomas JONES and Steven JARRETT, aged 44 and 36 respectively, were escorted to the county gaol by the Cardiff cavalry. Three other men and two women were also later committed for trial.55 Parts of the ironworks in the area now began to operate again, although most minders were still determined not to work at the reduced wages. Benjamin HALL feared that the longer the men stayed out, the more desperate they would become. The depot of some 30,000 or 40,000 arms at Brecon had been threatened by the rioters, and on Sunday night a detachment of the 55th regiment arrived there.56 On Sunday night too, scouts were sent from Merthyr into the hills to investigate a report that disturbances were expected in Monmouthshire the following day.

On Monday morning the scouts returned with the message that the colliers in that county were going to assemble in a large body. The Swansea cavalry immediately left Merthyr for the purpose of stopping this meeting. Meanwhile, several hundred Blaenavon workmen, who were expecting help from Merthyr, 84 There are varying accounts of what actually happened once the Riot Act had been read. I have relied heavily on H.O. 40/3. Copy of a letter from Mrs HILL, 20 October 1816. But see also, the Cambrian, 26 October 1816. Wilkins, op. cit., p. 271 H.O.42/154.

65 The Merthyr magistrates believed HADDOCKS to be "the worst case", H.O. 42/154. Letter from B HALL, 31 October 1816. See also The Cambrian, 26 October and 2 November 1816. N.L.W. Great Sessions Records, Glamorgan 1817, Goal Files, Wales 4/635-1; H.O. 40/3 and other letters in H.O. 42/154.

N H.O. 42/154 The Cambrian, 26 October 1816