17 a tale of two Toms

A Tale of Two Toms
Who was Thomas Jones Phillips (1795-1843)?

In advance of the appearance of Jack and Michael Whitehall on ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ (WDYTYA), a number of confused readers of the Radio Times contacted CHARTISM MAG seeking the identity of the Whitehalls’ ancestor.

Was he ever Newport’s mayor? Advance publicity of the show in the popular press presented Thomas Jones Phillips as a ‘rogue’, an enemy of the democracy minded Chartists. Much relief was expressed when these concerned viewers were told that Thomas Jones Phillips was not the well known Newport hero. This was NOT Mayor Thomas Phillips, who got the glory and stole the show in 1839-40.

The muddling of the two men, Mayor Thomas Phillips and the Clerk to the Magistrates, Thomas Jones Phillips, is a commonplace error. Even Wikipedia, that fount of all knowledge, in its post for ‘John Frost’, mistakenly claims that “he was arrested by Mayor of Newport Thomas Jones Phillips and charged with high treason.” DON’T press control and click! It won’t take you to the right man. At the time of Frost’s arrest, the wounded Mayor was in bed at the Westgate hotel. There is NO post on Wikipedia for Thomas Jones Phillips - yet!

Mayor Thomas Phillips 1839We know what Mayor Phillips looked like but no portrait of Thomas Jones Phillips has been found. The only known description of his appearance: “a man of giant build with huge hands, the terror of all the naughty boys of that sleepy little Newport.” (from obituary to Henry Mullock, cited 2nd Jan 1915, South Wales Argus Weekly)

LES JAMES will give a lecture at Newport Museum & Art Gallery on Tuesday 14th April 2020 7.00pm

‘A Tale of Two Toms: Two Anti - Chartist Newport Attorneys’

Here are a few of his thoughts about Thomas Jones Phillips, Thomas Phillips and the WDYTYA programme (go to Jack Whitehall episode)

“The stories of these two men intertwine and that raises all sorts of tricky questions. If injustice resulted, who should take the blame? On this occasion, the TV production team astutely chose to only tell the neglected story of the Mayor’s underling. Thomas Phillips, wounded at the Westgate inn battle and knighted some forty days later by Queen Victoria, was not mentioned.

In truth, Mayor Thomas Phillips (and later Octavius Morgan) gave the orders; Thomas Jones Phillips acted as their ‘enforcer’. He pursued the Chartist leaders throughout 1839. In August, he prosecuted Henry Vincent and the three Newport Chartists, who were sentenced at Shire Hall in Monmouth to imprisonment at Monmouth Gaol. Under the direction of the magistrates, he prepared the ground for the show trial at Shire Hall, Monmouth and amassed the evidence of treason against Frost, Williams and Jones.

In all this work he was acting that Summer and Autumn as the Mayor’s ‘go between’, travelling up and down the western valleys of Monmouthshire, organising the intelligence operation that garnered information about the Chartist movement in the county. This he did, but the question needs to be asked how and why Mayor Phillips escaped ‘scot free’, and all vilification is heaped on Thomas Jones Phillips.

It’s in the nature of WDYTYA programmes that descendants view their ancestors from their own present day perspective, and prejudices. Shared DNA is assumed and too readily taken to mean shared values. It’s always interesting to see how each week’s guest deals with the revealed unsavoury matters and/or controversial activities of their forbears.

The father-son routine was a novel idea for telling a story that can so easily be weaponised for current political controversy. The inter-generational spats were certainly entertaining, albeit stereotypical. ‘Progressive’ young Jack Whitehall readily assumed the worst of his ancestor. His father, Michael, played the role of ‘reactionary diehard’, offering a rather lame defence of Thomas Jones Phillips.

Understandably, neither had a grasp of the context in which their ancestor was operating. Of course, half a WDYTYA programme is insufficient time to set out the immense complexities of south Wales in 1839-40 and the complications of the life of Thomas Jones Phillips.

Faced with such, the storytelling was bound to focus on the proactive and ruthless aspects of a single, central individual, but importantly it needed to be said that Thomas Jones Phillips was not alone, and he was not the final arbitrator. And all of that was left unsaid. He was a legal officer, under orders from superiors, notably Thomas Phillips (1836-39) but also Octavius Morgan, continuously from late1839 until his death in 1843.

Although these and other key figures were not mentioned, WDYTYA should be credited with making public Thomas Jones Phillips’ very own story in his own words, describing his journey from Tredegar to Newport on the morning of the Chartist Rising (4 Nov 1839). This was possible thanks to the recent CYNEFIN project (Gwent Archives and NLW) which has digitally recorded and transcribed the 25 bound volumes of papers kept at Newport Library. These papers were associated with the pre-Chartist trial Magistrates Examinations (5 Nov - 7 Dec 1839). Buried amongst the documents is the testimony of Thomas Jones Phillips. Digitisation allows his words to be seen world-wide.

Premature death, aged 53, meant that Thomas Jones Phillips became invisible and forgotten. Most of his superiors escaped odium. It’s necessary to study how these men worked with Thomas Jones Phillips and how they survived the troublesome 1830s and 1840s. All, except Thomas Prothero, successfully managed their own public images in their later life. Interestingly, both men were Prothero apprentices and until 1840, his ‘creatures’.

A factor, not mentioned in the TV programme, was the bankruptcy of Thomas Jones Phillips in May 1832, which took him a decade to clear, achieved the year before he died. As well as attorney, he had been a corn dealer. His business collapsed in a period of severe recession, but also intense electioneering, when he was the agent for the Tory MP for the Monmouth Boroughs. The Marquis of Worcester, younger son of the Duke of Beaufort, lost the seat in the December election fought under the terms of the 1832 Reform Act. The Duke of Beaufort never contested the seat again. Vengeance and financial need are powerful driving forces. And Thomas Jones Phillips hated the radical tradesmen of Newport, who had ganged up against him, particularly their leader, John Frost.”

Thomas Jones Phillips, clerk to the Magistrates, was not present in Newport when the battle at the Westgate Inn commenced about 9.20 am on Monday 4th November 1839. That Sunday night he had been visiting Tredegar. The Mayor had sent him on this 22 mile journey to find out what the Chartists of the coalfield were doing. He was there to carry out his duties if necessary for the Bedwellty magistrates. At Bedwellty House he met with magistrate and ironmaster Samuel Homfray and his chief of police, William Homan.

At 10.30, when Jones Phillips arrived back in Newport, the battle was over. It had lasted no more than twenty minutes, but Lieutenant Gray, convinced that the Chartist insurgents would counter attack, ordered his troops to stay in position. As Thomas Jones Phillips alighted from the coach, he could see soldiers holding gun positions at the main doorway and windows of the Inn....

To read: Thomas Jones Phillips, the Man who arrested John Frost See item 6, edition 17