Welsh Journals

in the morning the mob had found out where they were and had gathered outside the mayor's lodgings. Several of them, including at least one woman, Blanch Reece, attempted to break in through the windows in another attempt to help Powle escape. They smashed a window with stones and staves and attempted to enter. All the petty constables were on hand to attempt to quell the disturbance but their efforts were to no avail. They were severely handled by the throng and were of little use in subduing the angry townspeople. The crowd were finally repelled by the soldiers who opened fire with their pistols to prevent the mob from coming in. A witness, Ann Humphrey, was in the house at the time and saw Harry Colt fire his pistol from the window. The noise and flashes of the gunfire appeared to be enough to deter the crowd for apparently no-one was wounded and no damage was caused by the shooting.9 At eight in the morning, Captain Harry Colt and his men attempted to get Powle out of town. They were followed by a mob which had now swollen to about two to three hundred people. At one of the gates to the town, the crowd finally lost any self- control that they had. They set dogs on the party of soldiers and rained down a barrage of sticks and stones on them. Joseph Lewis, a local butcher, flung a cleaver at Captain Colt. George John, another butcher, was heard by a couple of witnesses to say 'that if he could come at ye officers aforesaid he would kill them'. Two shoemakers, John Inon and William Powell of Frogmore Street were seen to be involved in the attack, as was William Powell, a victualler, and William Edwards. Many of the throng were women and many of them took an active part in attacking the soldiers. One witness, Mary Havard, saw two spinsters, Frances Evans and Margaret James throwing stones at the soldiers. She reprimanded them but John Inon, an innkeeper, encouraged them to join in again and put an end to the matter. She also witnessed Katherine Powell saying 'Did not John Inon, Lewis Powell and William Powell behave themselves bravely in ye taking off from ye saith Captain'. Katherine Powell was the widow of a man who had been hanged and appears to have had no love for the forces of law and order in the town. The aforementioned Margaret James was heard calling on the mob to follow the soldiers and 'knock them in the head'. Catherine Lewis, a widow, Mary Mason and Katherine John alias Curr were seen with the rioters as were Elizabeth Phillips, Jane Watkins and Sarah Russell. Three other women, Alice Lewis, Blanch Williams and Elizabeth Powell were also named as being amongst those flinging stones at the officers.10 Katherine Humphrey was seen throwing stones and heard calling to the crowd to hit the soldiers in the head. Most of the women in the crowd actively participated in the violence towards the soldiers, or at the very least actively and vocally encouraged the mob. However, some of the women mentioned in the witnesses' accounts may have been trying to calm the situation. Bridget Waters, a spinster of the town of Abergavenny, swore that