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Home » Protest and Politics » Trade unionism & labour disputes » Strikes and industrial disputes (other)

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  • Crawshay Bailey, who owned the Nantyglo ironworks with his brother Joseph during the early 19th century, erected this fortified round tower in 1816. It was built to provide a safe haven for the ironmasters if their workers revolted against them.
Round tower built by the iron master, Crawshay Bailey, at Nantyglo, 1816 [image 1 of 3]
  • 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.
'Merthyr Riots', by Penry Williams, 1816
  • This is a pamphlet and song relating to the dispute which broke out at the Dinorwic Quarries, Llanberis, in October 1885. During the months leading up to the lock-out, the quarrymen had become increasingly resentful of the quarry managers and allegations of discrimination and favouratism were rife. Matters came to a head on 23 October when the quarrymen were told that all those who had attended a mass meeting ten days earlier would be dismissed from the quarry. As this pamphlet and song maintain, the 2,700 quarrymen who found themselves out of work experienced great hardship during the five-month lock-out which eventually resulted in a bitter defeat for the quarrymen.
Pamphlet and songsheet re. the Dinorwig Quarry lock-out of 1885-6 [image 1 of 4]
500 rabbits to feed the children during the 1910 coal strike, Aberdare
Families of Aberdare miners taking coal from tips during 1910 coal strike
1910 Strike Relief Committee, probably Aberdare