Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, with particular strongholds of support in Northern England, the East Midlands, the Staffordshire Potteries, the Black Country and the South Wales Valleys, where working people depended on single industries and were subject to wild swings in economic activity. Chartism was less strong in places, such as Bristol, that had more diversified economies. The movement was fiercely opposed by government authorities, who finally suppressed it.
John Frost was a prominent leader of the British Chartist movement in the Newport Rising.
Zephaniah Williams was a Welsh coal miner and Chartist campaigner, who was one of the leaders of the Newport Rising of 1839. Found guilty of high treason, he was condemned to death, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in Tasmania. Eventually he was pardoned, and his discovery of coal on that island earned him a fortune.
The year 1840 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rising in Wales, by Chartists whose demands included democracy and the right to vote with a secret ballot.
Events from the year 1837 in the United Kingdom. This marks the beginning of the Victorian era.
George William MacArthur Reynolds was a British fiction writer and journalist.
William Cuffay was a Chartist leader in early Victorian London.
Events from the year 1848 in the United Kingdom.
Events from the year 1859 in the United Kingdom.
Events from the year 1841 in the United Kingdom.
Events from the year 1871 in the United Kingdom.
Events from the year 1839 in the United Kingdom.
Events from the year 1877 in the United Kingdom.
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1840 to Wales and its people.
The Shire Hall, Monmouth, Wales, is a prominent building on Agincourt Square in the town centre. It was built in 1724, and was formerly the centre for the Assize Courts and Quarter Sessions for Monmouthshire. The building was also used as a market place. In 1839–40, the court was the location of the trial of the Chartist leader John Frost and others for high treason for their part in the Newport Rising.
Sir Thomas Phillips was a Welsh lawyer, politician and businessman, who was Mayor of Newport in Monmouthshire at the time of the Newport Rising in 1839.
Thomas Prothero (1780–1853) was a Welsh lawyer, mine owner and businessman, known as an opponent of John Frost.
Events from the year 1840 in Scotland.
Chartism originated in Wales in Carmarthen under the influence of Hugh Williams, a solicitor and radical reformer. Williams claimed he "got up the first radical meeting in south Wales" in the autumn of 1836 when he founded Carmarthen Working Men's Association. This followed on from the foundation the previous year of the London Working Men's Association by William Lovett and Henry Hetherington, Hetherington was a friend of Hugh Williams and is likely to have influenced his activities in south Wales. The People's Charter, embodying six points, was published in May 1838, with an address by Lovett and Hetherington. It became the focus of widespread meetings in support of its objectives throughout Britain. The People's Charter was later published in Welsh increasing the movement's appeal in Welsh-speaking areas. Chartism in Wales reached its climax in November 1839 with the Newport Rising and subsequent treason trial of Chartist leaders.
