Solidarity across the Severn: Newport, Bristol and Reform in 1831

by Roger Ball

In October 1831 as reform riots shook Bristol, the authorities urgently requested the help of troops stationed in south Wales. An infantry unit marched from Cardiff to Newport with the intention of boarding a steam boat to Bristol, but their way was blocked by a hostile crowd. This book explores the background to this incident, setting it in the context of the reform crisis in Newport, Monmouthshire and other parts of south Wales in the early 1830s.

Roger Ball was a founding member of the Bristol Radical History Group (BRHG) and subsequently received a PhD in History from the University of the West of England with a thesis entitled "Violent Urban Disturbance in England 1980-81". After 25 years working as an aerospace engineer, Roger has more recently been employed as a research fellow working on several academic projects. These include studies of the 2011 riots in England, use of the death penalty in British colonies and recently the 1831 reform riots.

 

Outside of the academy Roger has published several local history books in Bristol. These include studies of labour movements, the Victorian workhouse and most recently the co-authored "From Wulfstan to Colston" (2020) considering the history of slavery, abolition and memorialisation in the city. He is currently editing and contributing to a forthcoming collection of essays documenting resistance to World War One in Bristol.

 

"Solidarity across the Severn" is Published by Six Points www.sixpointscardiff.com

 

See also

 

Roger Ball: ‘Liberty, Slavery and the Bristol Riots’

 

Roger Ball "Myths within myths…Edward Colston and that statue"