In this episode of the chronicle of the Rebecca Riots, the government decides it’s time to break out the artillery. From the Monmouthshire Merlin:
Rebecca and Her Daughters.
In consequence of the continued unsettled state of South Wales, owing to the
determination of parties known by the designation of Rebecca and her daughters
to destroy property, and especially turnpike gates, orders were received at an
early hour on , at Woolwich,
to have in readiness a six-pounder field gun and a twelve-pounder howitzer
[a very
similar report in the Cambrian says “four
6-pounder field guns and two 12-pounder howitzers”], which were selected from
the field train department, and at , they left Woolwich with
the usual number of men of the Royal Artillery, required for their service in
the field, under the command of
Capt. Taylor, with
Lieut. Wodehouse. The
orders were to proceed to Bristol by the Great Western Railway, and from
Bristol to Carmarthen with the least possible delay, in case their presence
might be required to put a stop to the rioting and destruction of property in
that quarter.
[The Cambrian adds: “The guns passed through the
Bath Station on … Two hundred
of the 75th arrived in Swansea last night, by the
Bristol steamer. How long they are to remain with us
we have not heard. Billets have been taken for three days only.”]
The following list of gates destroyed appears in the Welshman:–
The gates destroyed since our last publication, as well as we can ascertain,
are the following:– The Fontnewydd Gate and toll house (to which the dragoons
were called out, and, after scouring the country for about fourteen miles,
returned without even having seen a suspicious character); the New Inn Gate,
near Llandilo; the Gwarallt Gate, near Lampeter, and a toll-bar near it, on
; two gates near Cardigan; the
Pont-twely Gate, between Rhydfach and Llandyssil, on
; the Pumpsaint Gate, near
Dolecothy, on ; and the Bronfeldn
Gate, five miles from Llandovery, on the road leading to Llanwrtyd, on
. The magistrates have caused
several persons to be apprehended on suspicion of destroying this gate, and
are busily employed in investigating the affair. Such was the difficulty of
obtaining a person to receive the tolls at the Bronfelen Gate, that fourpence
was allowed to the collector for every shilling he received. The following is
a list of the gates, toll-houses, and toll-bars that have been destroyed in
the Three Commott’s District:– New-bridge gate, bar, and toll-house;
Troedyrhiwgoch gate, Llanfihangel house and three gates, Castell-y-thingil
gate and house (twice), Llandey Forest bar and toll-box, Ystillisycoed bar,
Treventy bars and house, Trefuch bar and house, Wernbongam bar, Kidwelly gate
and house (twice), Llanarthney bar, Nantygath bar, Penrhiwgoch bar, Masybont
bar and house. It is a rather singular fact, that not a single turnpike gate
has been destroyed on a Sunday.
The Welshman contains the following:–
The Rebecca trials excite very great interest. The businesses of our assizes,
which commence to-morrow, will be unusually heavy. There are nearly seventy
persons on bail charged with having been concerned in the late riots. Besides
these, there are six in the borough gaol charged with rioting at Tallog.
There are also four prisoners in the county gaol for divers offences. It is
not the fact, as has been stated by some of our contemporaries, that Sir
William Follett is to conduct the prosecutions against the Rebeccaites, at
the ensuing Carmarthenshire Assizes. Messrs. Chilton,
Q.C., John
Evans, Q.C.,
and E.V. Williams, have been specially engaged for the Crown. The government
will pay all the expenses of prosecuting the prisoners, who are to be tried
for participating in the workhouse affair, and also those who are imprisoned
for the Tallog riot. One-half only of the expense in every criminal
prosecution has always hitherto been paid by the government.
