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The Rebecca Riots remain one of the most unique protest movements in Welsh history.

The most striking element was the method of disguise adopted by the rioters – women’s clothing.

They were also “led” by the mythical female figure of Rebecca. It is likely that the name came from a literal interpretation of Genesis 24:60: “And they blessed Rebecca, and said unto her, ‘Thou art our sister; be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gates of those which hate them’”.

Who was Rebecca?

Rebecca and her daughters were protesting against the tollgates set up by Turnpike Trusts to raise money to maintain the roads.

There was little regulation of the level of the tolls or the number of gates. In some instances people had to pass through several gates to get to their destination and then back home again.

Farmers going to market to sell their produce would see an alarming proportion of their profits disappear at the tollgates. Routes to lime kilns were often dotted with tollgates, as lime was widely used as a fertiliser.

On top of the dire socio-economic climate, failing harvests, high levels of rent, reduced wages and various taxes, the tolls were an additional burden.

In this climate of poverty and despair, Rebecca and her daughters appeared.

Their first recorded appearance was on May 13, 1839, at Efailwen, on the border between Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. Under cover of night, a band of men, disguised as women, descended on the tollgate and demolished it.

Another gate was erected, only to be torn down again less than a month later by a crowd of between 300 and 400 disguised in women’s clothing.

By the end of July, following a third appearance by the rioters, the local Member of Parliament, local landlords, clergy, magistrates and trustees collectively decided that replacing the gate at Efailwen a second time would be unwise. Rebecca and her followers emerged victorious.

Following the attack at Efailwen, Rebecca and her daughters fell silent for a while.

However, they re-appeared stronger than before later in the summer of 1843. Reports of the disturbances in south-west Wales spread widely across Britain.

Even The Times sent a correspondent, Thomas Campbell Foster, to report on the attacks. His detailed descriptions of nocturnal attacks and meetings provide us with a vivid account of the riots.

During the summer of 1843, as well as intensifying attacks on tollgates, the rioters turned their sights towards private property.

Even the local gentry were not safe from Rebecca attacks, with many a landlord receiving threatening letters charging them to reduce their rents. There were instances of arson and vandalism committed on the land and property of the elite.

It’s in this climate of fear that Miss Jane Walters, the focus of this article, came to clash with Rebecca.

Who was Jane Walters?

Born on October 22, 1792, Jane Walters was the youngest child of Abel and Bridget Walters. They were a prosperous family who farmed at Perthcereint in Cardiganshire.

On Bridget’s death c.1824, Abel and his two surviving daughters left Perthcereint. Later in 1835, they settled in a newly built house of some considerable size near Newcastle Emlyn - Glanmedeni.

Jane and her older sister Frances were well-educated. They attended boarding schools, Jane being a pupil of a Miss Swift’s Boarding School in Worcester.

The Walters sisters enjoyed the pleasures afforded to their class. They attended balls and parties, visited the fashionable bathing towns of Aberystwyth, Llandrindod Wells and Llanwrtyd, and socialised with other gentry families in the locality.

Frances and Jane remained unmarried, and stayed at Glanmedeni after their father’s death in April 1841.

Jane was a strong-willed and independent character. A devout Christian, she became a Methodist in later life. Active in local philanthropy, she collected subscriptions for various missionary societies and made donations to tenants and the poor on the local level.

Jane showed a keen interest in the Welsh language, and was an ardent supporter of the Eisteddfod. She even turned her hand towards writing poetry. Jane was also an avid letter writer, having been encouraged to write from an early age.

She would practise her letter writing skills by corresponding with her grandfather, who would often charge her to take care of her spelling and grammar.

Her grandfather urged her to “keep every letter you receive from every body you correspond with, and keep a copy of all yours”.

It appears that Jane was the very model of a gentlewoman. She was cultured, charitable and pious – presumably someone who should have escaped Rebecca’s condemnation?

The clash between Rebecca and Miss Jane

It seems that at least two events involving the Walters family aggravated Rebecca and her daughters.

The first grievance had been simmering away for over 20 years. Jane’s father had allegedly failed to pay a former servant.

In September 1843 a threatening letter signed “Rebecca” was sent to Jane (since her father had passed away two years previously), requesting payment of the debt of £1, in addition to the interest that had been accumulated over the previous 20 years.

The letter stated that were Jane to refuse, Rebecca and her daughters would be compelled to retrieve the money.

The second grievance related to an incident that took place c.1838. Jane and her sister had crossed paths with a group of young people leaving a wedding celebration near Cardigan.

A young man from this group was urged on by his friends to give one of the sisters a kiss, encouraged by the promise of half a crown. Jane was the unfortunate recipient of this unsolicited kiss.

Whilst the young man won his half crown, he was later duly fined £1 for his daring act. The incident was not forgotten, and later, Rebecca and her daughters called upon Jane.

The attack upon Glanmedeni

The rioters made their dramatic appearance at Glanmedeni on the evening of September 4, 1843. A crowd descended on the house, pounding at the door. Three of the men servants were captured, whilst Jane, Frances and a female servant swiftly retreated to the first floor.

From there, Jane opened one of the windows and in Welsh addressed those assembled. She pleaded with the crowd, defending her sister and herself.

She reminded them of the charity work and employment they had brought to the locality, exclaiming that after all their good deeds, was this the way they were to be treated?

A voice from the crowd cried out: “We have very great respect for you but money we must and will have.”

Three shots were fired and a window was broken. In the woodland surrounding the house, 18 trees were torn down, and a rustic seat destroyed.

A length of rope tied in a noose was left near the house, serving as a chilling warning to the sisters. Jane was given a few days to pay the required money. If she refused, the rioters threatened to return and raze Glanmedeni to the ground.

Following the attack Jane and Frances swiftly left Glanmedeni. They took a lease of a house in nearby Newcastle Emlyn.

They proposed to journey the three miles to Glanmedeni as often as possible. In the meantime, they employed men to guard the house around the clock. These men had strict orders to sleep there at night.

Jane’s letters to the Home Office

Over the subsequent months following the attack, Jane wrote a series of letters directly to the Home Office. These letters (now held at the National Archives in London) are a fascinating source, describing the Rebecca attack in great detail.

They are also revealing of the attitude of a member of the landed class towards Rebecca and her daughters.

Of the rioters themselves, Jane was convinced they were mainly discontented youths who believed they had suffered at the hands of their landlords and masters. They met at markets, fairs, meeting houses and at night meetings “to plot, plan, redress”.

Yet, Jane did not believe the rural people capable of such organisation and plotting. She was certain there was a small yet powerful outside element that had infiltrated and manipulated the local men.

Jane believed these outsiders were being paid by an as yet unidentified figure to write the letters signed “Rebecca”.

Such conspiracy theories were common, and Jane was not alone in believing that the Welsh were too good-natured and law-abiding to wreak such havoc.

What becomes clear in reading Jane’s letters to the Home Office is her condemnation of lax magistrates. On one level she blamed them for the escalating violence, convinced that the riots would have been quashed had firmer action been taken from the outset.

However, she believed there was a serious communication barrier between the non-Welsh speaking magistrates and the monoglot Welsh rural populace. This led to magistrates being quite unsympathetic to cases they did not fully understand.

As a Welsh speaker, Jane believed she had a greater understanding of the state of the country, and could sympathise with the grievances of its people.

She feared that many people totally unconnected with such corruption were suffering at the hands of the rioters, including her sister and herself.

Jane struggled to understand why the rioters had chosen to single out Frances and herself for attack, especially considering their charitable deeds in the locality.

In early October 1843, Jane and her sister informed the Home Office of their intention to offer a reward of £50 for information on the attack upon Glanmedeni.

A few weeks later, this offer was drastically increased to £500. Later in March 1844, Jane was again writing to the Home Office. This time she offered to donate three acres of land to build barracks to accommodate a large number of soldiers.

By then, six months had passed since the attack on Glanmedeni, yet Jane and her sister still feared for their safety.

Jane must have been a brave and strong-willed woman to have reported Rebecca’s intimidation to the authorities. Some of her social class were most reluctant to report the receipt of threatening letters, intimidations and even instances of violent attacks.

Having been intimidated and frightened by a group of rioters, Jane acted in order to protect her property and person.

It seems strange that an ally to the Welsh cause, sympathetic to rural grievances, would be targeted by the rioters.

Nonetheless, Jane was first and foremost a member of the landowning class – a fact that may have overshadowed any good intentions she had or any benevolent deeds committed.

The Walters sisters were to remain at Newcastle Emlyn until 1851, when Frances died. Only then did Jane return to Glanmedeni, living out the remainder of her life in peace. She passed away in 1881 at the age of 88.

Jane’s letters provide us with accounts of the Rebecca Riots in the Newcastle Emlyn area.

However, they are also revealing of the fears and anxieties generated during the riots. They shed light on the experiences of those who fell foul of Rebecca, for whatever reason, and how these people fought back in their own way.

Further reading:

David J. V. Jones, Rebecca’s Children: a Study of Rural Society, Crime and Protest (Oxford, 1989).

Lowri Ann Rees, ‘“The Wail of Miss Jane”: the Rebecca Riots and Miss Jane Walters of Glanmedeni, 1843-44’, Ceredigion, xv, 5 (2007), pp. 37-68.

David Williams, The Rebecca Riots (Cardiff, 1955).

WHO IS LOWRI ANN REES?

After gaining a BA in History, MA in the History of Wales and PhD at Aberystwyth University , I joined the School of History, Welsh History and Archaeology at Bangor University as a lecturer in Modern History.

My teaching concentrates on the history of Britain during the 19th century. My main research areas focus on 18th and 19th-century Wales, in particular the landed elite and their country estates, social mobility, rural society and protest.

I am currently researching the link between Wales and the East India Company, focusing on instances of company men purchasing landed estates in Wales.

* This article was first published during the Western Mail's Welsh History Month 2017.