Tonypandy Riot
Encyclopedia
The Tonypandy Riots of 1910 and 1911 (sometimes collectively known as the Rhondda Riots) was a series of violent confrontations between coal
miners and police that took place at various locations in and around the Rhondda
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 an industrial dispute 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 the Glamorgan Constabulary
, reinforced by the Bristol City Constabulary, smashed windows of businesses in Tonypandy
.
Home Secretary Winston Churchill
's decision to allow troops to be sent to the area to reinforce the police shortly after the 8 November riot caused ill feeling towards him in south Wales throughout his life. His responsibility remains a strongly disputed topic.
. 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 at the seam, of which there were roughly 70, argued that the new seam was more difficult to work than others due to a stone band that ran through it, 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.
On the 1 September 1910, the owners posted a lock-out
notice at the mine, closing the site to all 950 workers, not just the 70 at the newly opened Bute seam. The Ely pit miners reacted by going on strike
. The Cambrian Combine then called in strikebreaker
s from outside the area, to which the miners responded by picketing the work site. On 1 November the miners of the South Wales
coalfield were balloted for strike action by the South Wales Miners' Federation
, resulting in the 12,000 men working for the mines owned by the Cambrian Combine going on strike. A Conciliation Board was formed to reach an agreement, with William Abraham acting on behalf of the miners and F. L. Davis for the owners. Although an agreed wage of 2s 3d per ton was arrived at, the Cambrian Combine workmen rejected the agreement.
On 2 November the authorities in south Wales were enquiring about the procedure for requesting military aid in the event of disturbances caused by the striking miners. The Glamorgan Constabulary
resources were stretched, as in addition to the Cambrian Combine dispute there was a month-old strike in the neighbouring Cynon Valley
; and the Chief Constable of Glamorgan
had by Sunday 6 November assembled 200 imported police in the Tonypandy area.
colliery. On 6 November, the miners became aware of the owners' intention to deploy strikebreakers to keep the pumps and ventilation going at the Glamorgan Colliery in Llwynypia. On Monday 7 November, strikers surrounded and picketed the Glamorgan Colliery to prevent such workers from entering. This resulted in sharp skirmishes with police officers posted inside the site. Although the miners' leaders called for calm, a small group of strikers began stoning the pump-house. Then a portion of the wooden fence surrounding the site was torn down and hand-to-hand fighting began between miners and police. After repeated baton charges, the police drove the strikers back towards Tonypandy Square just after midnight. Then, between one and two in the morning of 8 November, a demonstration at Tonypandy Square was dispersed by Cardiff
police using their truncheons, resulting in casualties on both sides. This led Glamorgan
's chief constable, Lionel Lindsay, supported by the general manager of the Cambrian Combine, to request military support from the War Office
.
The Home Secretary
, Winston Churchill
, learned of this development and, after discussions with the War Office, delayed action on the request. Churchill felt that the local authorities were over-reacting and believed that the Liberal government could calm matters down. He instead despatched Metropolitan police officers
, both on foot and mounted, and sent some cavalry troops to Cardiff. He did not specifically deploy the cavalry but authorised their use if deemed necessary by civil authorities. Churchill's personal message to the strikers was 'We are holding back the soldiers for the present and sending only police.' Despite this assurance, the local stipendiary magistrate telegrammed London later that day and requested military support, which the Home Office authorized. Troops were deployed after the skirmish at the Glamorgan Colliery on 7 November but before the rioting in the evening of the 8 November.
During the evening of rioting, properties in Tonypandy were damaged and some looting took place. The shops were smashed systematically but not indiscriminately. There was little looting, but the rioters wore clothes taken from the shops and paraded in a festival atmosphere. Women and children were involved in considerable numbers, as they had been outside the Glamorgan colliery. No police were seen at the town square until the Metropolitan Police arrived around 10:30pm, almost three hours after the rioting began, when the disturbance subsided of its own accord. A few shops had remained untouched, notably that of the chemist Willie Llewellyn
, rumoured to have been spared because he had been a famous Welsh international
rugby
footballer.
Even a small police presence would probably have deterred the window-breakages, but the police had been moved from the streets to protect the mine owners' and managers' residences.
At 1:20 am on 9 November, orders were sent to Colonel Currey at Cardiff to despatch a squadron of the 18th Hussars to reach Pontypridd at 8:15 am. On their arrival, a contingent patrolled Aberaman
and another was sent to Llwynypia, where it patrolled all day. Returning to Pontypridd at night, the troops arrived at Porth
as a disturbance was breaking out, and maintained order until the arrival of the Metropolitan Police.
Although no authentic record exists of casualties, and many of the miners would have refused treatment from fear of prosecution for their part in the riots, nearly 80 police and over 500 citizens were injured. One miner, Samuel Rhys, died of head injuries said to have been inflicted by a policeman's baton. The authorities had reinforced the town with 400 policemen, one company of the Lancashire Fusiliers
, billeted at Llwynypia, and the squadron of the 18th Hussars.
Thirteen miners from Gilfach Goch
were arrested and prosecuted for their part in the unrest. The trial of the thirteen occupied six days in December, during which they were supported by marches and demonstrations by up to 10,000 men, who were refused entry to the town. Custodial terms of two to six weeks were issued to some of the respondents, others were discharged or fined.
presents a stylistically romantic but closely detailed account of the riots and their agonising domestic and social consequences. In a chapter Soldiers are sent to the Valley, he narrates a fictional incident in which eleven strikers are killed by two volleys of rifle fire in the town square, after which the miners adopt a grimly retaliatory stance. In this account, the end of the strike is hastened by organised terror directed at mine managers, leading to introduction of a minimum-wage act by the government—hailed as a victory by the strikers.
A more official version states that "The strike finally ended in August 1911, with the workers forced to accept the 2s 3d per ton negotiated by William Abraham MP prior to the strike . . . the workers actually returning to work on the first Monday in September", being ten months after the strike began and twelve months after the lockout which started the confrontation.
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Churchill's role in the events at Tonypandy during the conflict left a negative attitude towards him in South Wales that still persists. The main point of contention was his decision to allow troops to be sent to Wales. Although this was an unusual move and was seen by those in Wales as an over-reaction, his Tory opponents suggested that he should have acted with greater vigour. The troops acted more circumspectly and were commanded with more common sense than the police whose role under Lionel Lindsay was, in the words of historian David Smith, 'more like an army of occupation'. The troops were also generally viewed with less hostility than the local and Metropolitan police.
Despite these facts, the incident continued to haunt Churchill through his career. Such was the strength of feeling, that almost forty years later, when speaking in Cardiff during the General Election campaign of 1950, Churchill was forced to address the issue, stating: "When I was Home Secretary in 1910, I had a great horror and fear of having to become responsible for the military firing on a crowd of rioters and strikers. Also, I was always in sympathy with the miners..."
A major factor in the dislike of Churchill's use of the military was not in any specific action undertaken by the troops, but the fact that their presence prevented any strike action which may have ended the strike early in the miners' favour. The troops also ensured that trials of rioters, strikers and miners' leaders would take place and be successfully prosecuted in Pontypridd in 1911. The defeat of the miners in 1911 was, in the eyes of the local community, a direct consequence of state intervention without any negotiation, and this action was seen as a direct result of Churchill's actions. In 2010, 99 years after the riots, a Welsh local council made objections to a street being named after Churchill in the Vale of Glamorgan
due to him sending troops into the Rhondda.
The political fallout for Churchill also continued. In 1940 when Chamberlain's
war-time government was faltering, Clement Attlee
secretly warned that the Labour Party might not follow Churchill due to his association with Tonypandy. Even as late as 1978 there were scenes of uproar in the House of Commons when Churchill's grandson, also Winston Churchill
, replying to a routine question on miners' pay; was warned by James Callaghan not to pursue 'the vendetta of your family against the miners of Tonypandy'.
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
miners and police that took place at various locations in and around the Rhondda
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...
mines of the Cambrian Combine, a business network of mining companies formed to regulate prices and wages in south
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. The riots were the culmination of an industrial dispute between workers and the mine
History of coal mining
Due to its abundance, coal has been mined in various parts of the world throughout history and continues to be an important economic activity today. Compared to wood fuels, coal yields a higher amount of energy per mass and could be obtained in areas where wood is not readily available...
owners
Ownership
Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an object, land/real estate or intellectual property. Ownership involves multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties. The concept of ownership has...
. 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 the Glamorgan Constabulary
Glamorgan Constabulary
Glamorgan Constabulary, or Glamorganshire Constabulary, was the Home Office police force for the county of Glamorgan, Wales.The force was formed in 1841...
, reinforced by the Bristol City Constabulary, smashed windows of businesses in Tonypandy
Tonypandy
Tonypandy is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, today Tonypandy is best known as the site of the Tonypandy Riots....
.
Home Secretary Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's decision to allow troops to be sent to the area to reinforce the police shortly after the 8 November riot caused ill feeling towards him in south Wales throughout his life. His responsibility remains a strongly disputed topic.
Background
The conflict arose when the Naval Colliery Company opened a new coal seam at the Ely Pit in PenygraigPenygraig
Penygraig is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales...
. 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 at the seam, of which there were roughly 70, argued that the new seam was more difficult to work than others due to a stone band that ran through it, and that the miners were paid by the ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
removed, not by hours of work so working slowly would gain them no advantage.
On the 1 September 1910, the owners posted a lock-out
Lockout (industry)
A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. This is different from a strike, in which employees refuse to work.- Causes :...
notice at the mine, closing the site to all 950 workers, not just the 70 at the newly opened Bute seam. The Ely pit miners reacted by going on strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. The Cambrian Combine then called in strikebreaker
Strikebreaker
A strikebreaker is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to the trade union dispute, but rather hired prior to or during the strike to keep the organisation running...
s from outside the area, to which the miners responded by picketing the work site. On 1 November the miners of the South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
coalfield were balloted for strike action by the South Wales Miners' Federation
South Wales Miners' Federation
The South Wales Miners' Federation , nicknamed "The Fed", was a trade union for miners in South Wales.The union was founded on 24 October 1898, following the defeat of the South Wales miners' strike of 1898...
, resulting in the 12,000 men working for the mines owned by the Cambrian Combine going on strike. A Conciliation Board was formed to reach an agreement, with William Abraham acting on behalf of the miners and F. L. Davis for the owners. Although an agreed wage of 2s 3d per ton was arrived at, the Cambrian Combine workmen rejected the agreement.
On 2 November the authorities in south Wales were enquiring about the procedure for requesting military aid in the event of disturbances caused by the striking miners. The Glamorgan Constabulary
Glamorgan Constabulary
Glamorgan Constabulary, or Glamorganshire Constabulary, was the Home Office police force for the county of Glamorgan, Wales.The force was formed in 1841...
resources were stretched, as in addition to the Cambrian Combine dispute there was a month-old strike in the neighbouring Cynon Valley
Cynon Valley
The Cynon Valley , is a famous former coal mining valley within the South Wales Valleys of Wales. The Cynon Valley lies between the other mining Valley of Rhondda and the iron industrial Valley of the Merthyr Valley. Its main towns are Aberdare located North of the Valley and Mountain Ash located...
; and the Chief Constable of Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
had by Sunday 6 November assembled 200 imported police in the Tonypandy area.
The riots at Tonypandy
By this time the strikers had successfully acted to shut down all the local pits except one LlwynypiaLlwynypia
Llwynypia , is a village in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. Before 1850 a lightly populated rural farming area, Llwynypia experienced a population boom between 1860 and 1920 with the sinking of several coal mines after the discovery of large coal deposits...
colliery. On 6 November, the miners became aware of the owners' intention to deploy strikebreakers to keep the pumps and ventilation going at the Glamorgan Colliery in Llwynypia. On Monday 7 November, strikers surrounded and picketed the Glamorgan Colliery to prevent such workers from entering. This resulted in sharp skirmishes with police officers posted inside the site. Although the miners' leaders called for calm, a small group of strikers began stoning the pump-house. Then a portion of the wooden fence surrounding the site was torn down and hand-to-hand fighting began between miners and police. After repeated baton charges, the police drove the strikers back towards Tonypandy Square just after midnight. Then, between one and two in the morning of 8 November, a demonstration at Tonypandy Square was dispersed by Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
police using their truncheons, resulting in casualties on both sides. This led Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
's chief constable, Lionel Lindsay, supported by the general manager of the Cambrian Combine, to request military support from the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
.
The Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, learned of this development and, after discussions with the War Office, delayed action on the request. Churchill felt that the local authorities were over-reacting and believed that the Liberal government could calm matters down. He instead despatched Metropolitan police officers
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
, both on foot and mounted, and sent some cavalry troops to Cardiff. He did not specifically deploy the cavalry but authorised their use if deemed necessary by civil authorities. Churchill's personal message to the strikers was 'We are holding back the soldiers for the present and sending only police.' Despite this assurance, the local stipendiary magistrate telegrammed London later that day and requested military support, which the Home Office authorized. Troops were deployed after the skirmish at the Glamorgan Colliery on 7 November but before the rioting in the evening of the 8 November.
During the evening of rioting, properties in Tonypandy were damaged and some looting took place. The shops were smashed systematically but not indiscriminately. There was little looting, but the rioters wore clothes taken from the shops and paraded in a festival atmosphere. Women and children were involved in considerable numbers, as they had been outside the Glamorgan colliery. No police were seen at the town square until the Metropolitan Police arrived around 10:30pm, almost three hours after the rioting began, when the disturbance subsided of its own accord. A few shops had remained untouched, notably that of the chemist Willie Llewellyn
Willie Llewellyn
William Morris "Willie" Llewellyn was a Welsh international rugby union player. He captained Wales in 1905 and London Welsh in 1902. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks, toured with the British Isles to Australasia in 1904 and won three Triple Crown...
, rumoured to have been spared because he had been a famous Welsh international
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
footballer.
Even a small police presence would probably have deterred the window-breakages, but the police had been moved from the streets to protect the mine owners' and managers' residences.
At 1:20 am on 9 November, orders were sent to Colonel Currey at Cardiff to despatch a squadron of the 18th Hussars to reach Pontypridd at 8:15 am. On their arrival, a contingent patrolled Aberaman
Aberaman
Aberaman is a village near Aberdare in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales.-Schools:*Blaengwawr Comprehensive School *Blaengwawr Primary *Oaklands Primary -Sport:...
and another was sent to Llwynypia, where it patrolled all day. Returning to Pontypridd at night, the troops arrived at Porth
Porth
Porth is a town and a community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Valley and is regarded as the gateway to the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach valleys because both valleys meet at Porth...
as a disturbance was breaking out, and maintained order until the arrival of the Metropolitan Police.
Although no authentic record exists of casualties, and many of the miners would have refused treatment from fear of prosecution for their part in the riots, nearly 80 police and over 500 citizens were injured. One miner, Samuel Rhys, died of head injuries said to have been inflicted by a policeman's baton. The authorities had reinforced the town with 400 policemen, one company of the Lancashire Fusiliers
Lancashire Fusiliers
The Lancashire Fusiliers was a British infantry regiment that was amalgamated with other Fusilier regiments in 1968 to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.- Formation and early history:...
, billeted at Llwynypia, and the squadron of the 18th Hussars.
Thirteen miners from Gilfach Goch
Gilfach Goch
Gilfach Goch is a small former coal mining village in Rhondda Cynon Taff, south Wales, near the larger community of Tonyrefail in the Ogmore Valley....
were arrested and prosecuted for their part in the unrest. The trial of the thirteen occupied six days in December, during which they were supported by marches and demonstrations by up to 10,000 men, who were refused entry to the town. Custodial terms of two to six weeks were issued to some of the respondents, others were discharged or fined.
Reaction to the riots
Purported eyewitness accounts of alleged shootings persisted and were relayed by word of mouth, though there are no records of any shots being fired by troops, and the only recorded death was that of Samuel Rhys. In the autobiographical 'documentary novel' Cwmardy, a contemporary communist trade union organiser Lewis JonesLewis Jones (writer)
Lewis Jones, writer, and political activist of the left, was born in Clydach Vale in industrialized South Wales.Although his novels are more studied by academics now than by general readers, Jones occupies an honourable place in the history of left-wing politics in Britain, and in the ranks of...
presents a stylistically romantic but closely detailed account of the riots and their agonising domestic and social consequences. In a chapter Soldiers are sent to the Valley, he narrates a fictional incident in which eleven strikers are killed by two volleys of rifle fire in the town square, after which the miners adopt a grimly retaliatory stance. In this account, the end of the strike is hastened by organised terror directed at mine managers, leading to introduction of a minimum-wage act by the government—hailed as a victory by the strikers.
A more official version states that "The strike finally ended in August 1911, with the workers forced to accept the 2s 3d per ton negotiated by William Abraham MP prior to the strike . . . the workers actually returning to work on the first Monday in September", being ten months after the strike began and twelve months after the lockout which started the confrontation.
Criticism of Churchill
Despite these facts, the incident continued to haunt Churchill through his career. Such was the strength of feeling, that almost forty years later, when speaking in Cardiff during the General Election campaign of 1950, Churchill was forced to address the issue, stating: "When I was Home Secretary in 1910, I had a great horror and fear of having to become responsible for the military firing on a crowd of rioters and strikers. Also, I was always in sympathy with the miners..."
A major factor in the dislike of Churchill's use of the military was not in any specific action undertaken by the troops, but the fact that their presence prevented any strike action which may have ended the strike early in the miners' favour. The troops also ensured that trials of rioters, strikers and miners' leaders would take place and be successfully prosecuted in Pontypridd in 1911. The defeat of the miners in 1911 was, in the eyes of the local community, a direct consequence of state intervention without any negotiation, and this action was seen as a direct result of Churchill's actions. In 2010, 99 years after the riots, a Welsh local council made objections to a street being named after Churchill in the Vale of Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...
due to him sending troops into the Rhondda.
The political fallout for Churchill also continued. In 1940 when Chamberlain's
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
war-time government was faltering, Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
secretly warned that the Labour Party might not follow Churchill due to his association with Tonypandy. Even as late as 1978 there were scenes of uproar in the House of Commons when Churchill's grandson, also Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill (grandson)
Winston Spencer-Churchill , generally known as Winston Churchill, was a British Conservative Party politician and a grandson of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.-Early life:...
, replying to a routine question on miners' pay; was warned by James Callaghan not to pursue 'the vendetta of your family against the miners of Tonypandy'.
Further reading
- Rhondda—the story of coal pp. 124-126 of 126-page download at Rhondda Cynon Taf Library Service (37mB)
- Carradice, Phil The Tonypandy Riots of 1910 at BBC Wales History, 3 November 2010
External links
- History of the Cambrian Combine miners' strike and Tonypandy Riots
- The Rhondda Riots of 1910-1911 on website of South Wales Police
- Tonypandy 1910 Coalfield web materials from the University of Wales, Swansea, with further reading and external links
- Cambrian Colliery, Clydach Vale. c. 1910 on Welsh Coalmines historical website
- Commemorating the 100th Anniversary A heritage page of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council