Editing Chartism (section)

===Newport Rising===
{{main|Newport Rising}}
[[File: Dramatisation of the trial of the Chartists at Shire Hall, Monmouth, including background information 1 of 7.ogv|thumb|Dramatisation of the trial of the Chartists at [[Shire Hall, Monmouth]], including background information]]
Several outbreaks of violence ensued, leading to arrests and trials. One of the leaders of the movement, [[John Frost (Chartist)|John Frost]], on trial for treason, claimed in his defence that he had toured his territory of industrial Wales urging people not to break the law, although he was himself guilty of using language that some might interpret as a call to arms. [[William Price (physician)|William Price]] of [[Llantrisant]]—more of a maverick than a mainstream Chartist—described Frost as putting "a sword in my hand and a rope around my neck".<ref>David Williams, ''John Frost: a study in Chartism'' (1969) p 193</ref>

Unsurprisingly, there are no surviving letters outlining plans for insurrection, but Chartists had undoubtedly started organising physical force. By early autumn men were being drilled and armed in south Wales and the West Riding. Secret cells were set up, covert meetings were held in the Chartist Caves at [[Llangynidr]] and weapons were manufactured as the Chartists armed themselves. Behind closed doors and in pub back rooms, plans were drawn up for a mass protest.{{Citation needed|date = December 2015}}

On the night of 3–4 November 1839 Frost led several thousand marchers through South Wales to the [[Westgate Hotel]], [[Newport, Wales|Newport]], [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]], where there was a confrontation. It seems that Frost and other local leaders were expecting to seize the town and trigger a national uprising. The result of the Newport Rising was a disaster for Chartism. The hotel was occupied by armed soldiers. A brief, violent, and bloody battle ensued. Shots were fired by both sides, although most contemporaries agree that the soldiers holding the building had vastly superior firepower. The Chartists were forced to retreat in disarray: more than twenty were killed, at least another fifty wounded.{{Citation needed|date = December 2015}}

Testimonies exist from contemporaries, such as the Yorkshire Chartist Ben Wilson, that Newport was to have been the signal for a national uprising. Despite this significant setback the movement remained remarkably buoyant and remained so until late 1842. The majority of Chartists recognised the charismatic leadership of [[Feargus O'Connor]], who was representative of a significant Irish working-class contribution to the movement.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=O'Higgins |first=Rachel |date=1961 |title=The Irish Influence in the Chartist Movement |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/650138 |journal=Past & Present |issue=20 |pages=83–96 |issn=0031-2746}}</ref> O'Connor concentrated on petitioning for Frost, Williams and [[William Jones (Chartist)|William Jones]] to be pardoned. However, groups in Sheffield and Bradford planned further militant action.<ref name=Chase2007/>{{rp|135–138, 152–157}}

[[Samuel Holberry]] led an abortive rising in Sheffield on 12 January, and on 26 January Robert Peddie attempted similar action in Bradford. In both Sheffield and Bradford spies had kept magistrates aware of the conspirators' plans, and these attempted risings were easily quashed. Frost and two other Newport leaders, Jones and Williams, were [[penal transportation|transported]]. Holberry and Peddie received long prison sentences with hard labour; Holberry died in prison and became a Chartist martyr.<ref name=Chase2007/>{{rp|135–138, 152–157}}