Schoolboys help re-enact Chartist Rising 175 years on

November 10, 2014

Our students joined hundreds of schoolchildren from around Gwent to re-enact the 1839 Chartist Rising in Newport last week.

On Tuesday, November 4, 38 boys from PIV at The Grange, 12 historians in VI.2 at Monmouth School and six members of staff came together with more than 300 pupils to mark the 175th anniversary of this significant event in the development of modern democracy.

Along with the Mayor of Newport, they marched from St Woolos’ Cathedral, where some of the 22 Chartists who lost their lives are buried, down Stow Hill to Westgate Square.

Outside the Westgate Hotel, from where troops fired at the Chartist protestors in 1839, pupils gave a dramatic public performance involving poetry and speeches in both English and Welsh, which was well-received by the appreciative audience.

Afterwards, the Mayor gave an address in which he revealed his own ancestors’ involvement in Chartism.

To see the full story, a video and more photographs on the South Wales Argus’ website, click here.