Tonypandy Riots – The Powerhouse, Tonypandy
The Tonypandy Riots of 1910 and 1911 was a series of violent confrontations between coal miners and police that took place at various locations in and around the mines of the Cambrian Combine, a business network of mining companies formed to regulate prices and wages in south Wales. The riots were the culmination of industrial disputation between workers and the mine owners. The term “Tonypandy riot” initially applied to specific events on the evening of Tuesday, 8 November 1910 when strikers, impassioned by extended hand-to-hand fighting with police, smashed windows of mining officials’ homes and most of the shops in the town.
The conflict arose when the Naval Colliery Company opened a new coal seam at the Ely Pit in Penygraig. After a short test period to determine what would be the future rate of extraction, owners claimed that the miners deliberately worked more slowly than they could. The miners on the other hand argued that the new seam was more difficult to work in than others and that the miners were paid by the ton of coal removed, not by hours of work so working slowly would gain them no advantage.
In August of 1910, owners posted a lock-out notice at the mine. The miners went on strike. The owners then called in replacement workers. The miners responded by picketing the work site. They were joined by thousands of others who successfully acted to shut down all the local pits except one Llwynypia colliery.
Rioting occurred, and Glamorgan’s chief constable requested military support from then British Home Secretary Winston Churchill. Churchill did send troops, which was exceptional on the UK mainland, and an action for which he was widely criticised at the time and for years afterwards. He did not specifically deploy them but authorised their use if deemed necessary by civil authorities. As the prime measure, he deployed large numbers of metropolitan police officers. The question of whether troops opened fire on strikers is controversial and appears to lack documentation, but it reflects the deep anger at troops being present at all.
Although no authentic record exists of casualties, as many of the miners would have refused treatment in fear of being prosecuted for their part in the riots, nearly 80 policemen were injured and over 500 other people. Samuel Rhys, a miner who sustained head injuries, said to have been inflicted by a policeman’s baton, later died of his injuries.
