Welsh Journals

Succession was partly being fought because of Louis XIV's support for the son of James II. Also, it may be more than a coincidence that the month before the riot took place was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the execution of Fr David Lewis of Abergavenny. He was martyred at Usk on 27 August 1679 for his Catholic beliefs. He had been brought up in the town and many of the older inhabitants of the town would have known him personally. Among others executed in the same year was thirty-four year old Fr. Philip Evans who had been born in Monmouthshire. His mother was possibly from Llanfihangel Crucorney. He and John Lloyd, who had also been active in Monmouthshire, were put to death in Cardiff on 22 July 1679.21 The person most responsible for the persecution of Catholics in the area was the local M.P., John Arnold. A close friend and associate of Titus Oates, he was responsible for the report which led directly to the execution of the above. While the government had offered a £ 50 bounty for the arrest of Roman Catholic priests, Arnold had personally put up a reward of £ 200 for the conviction and execution of priests in Monmouthshire and Herefordshire. He had also claimed that an attempt had been made on his life near Fleet Street, London, by John Giles of Usk in retribution for his persecution of recusants. Giles, a servant of Lord Worcester, was found guilty but it now appears that Arnold had probably inflicted severe wounds upon himself to frame Monmouthshire Catholics.22 He had acquired the nickname 'Cut Throat' Arnold through his exploits. He was the uncle from whom Captain John Dutton Colt had inherited his estate at Llanfihangel Crucorney a few years before.23 It is possible that Catholics in Abergavenny and the surrounding area were getting their own back on Dutton Colt personally and using the relative anonymity of the crowd to settle old as well as current scores. The Author: John Evans lives in Blaenavon and has contributed numerous articles to this journal. He is an authority on industrial history. His other research interests include crime and social history. John is a contributor to one of the volumes of the Gwent County History series which is in progress. Notes 1 This article is an attempt to present the events that took place over the three days in a narrative form. The evidence taken after the riot was, in the manner of the day, repetitive. Dutton Colt gave the longest account but his excited state meant that his report is in parts incoherent and lacking in a proper sense of chronology. The sources are PRO, SP34 /8 ff 49(i) Riot in Abergavenny, 27 September 1706, Captain John Dutton Colt to Secretary Hedges. PRO, SP34 /8 ff 49c Riot in Abergavenny, Affidavits 26