South Wales
Bute was determined to control the local government around Cardiff, considering it part of his rights and duties as a major landowner and aristocrat. On inheriting his estates, however, he found himself facing a difficult political situation. The Butes' grip on Glamorganshire had been weakened in the late 18th century, and the management of their political interests had been left for many years in the hands of John Wood, a local solicitor, whose family was embroiled in local politics, with their own set of interests. Glamorgan was also politically split between factions in the west and the east of the county, with most of Bute's estates in the eastern half. Bute's residence in the area, Cardiff Castle, was understaffed and regarded as unsuitable as a residence; consequently, he lacked the easy local patronage that would have come with a major, properly functioning establishment.
There were tensions between Bute and the new industrialists around the region, including ironmasters such as John Guest, the master of the Dowlais Ironworks. Bute was a financial competitor or landlord with many of these men, and keen to drive as good a deal as possible in his negotiations with them. He also had political differences, seeing himself as a benevolent feudal lord in South Wales, and perceiving the local iron-masters as arrogant, power-hungry individuals, abusing their economic power towards communities and workers.
Nonetheless, Bute was able to personally appoint the Constable of Cardiff Castle, and the constable by law acted as the effective mayor of Cardiff, ran the town's council and had wide powers when appointing local officials. He inherited the title of Lord-Lieutenant of the county in 1815, giving him the right to recommend the appointments of new magistrates and various other civic posts; potential candidates for these posts were advised to vote for Bute's representatives at elections. In 1825 he became the Colonel of the Royal Glamorgan Light Infantry Militia, and used this authority to instruct the militia to vote for his candidates. Those who publicly voted against Bute faced charitable donations and support being cut off. His later control of the Cardiff Docks also helped to provide patronage and influence voting behaviour.
In 1817, John Wood died in the midst of a financial scandal, and Bute decided to appoint two of his rivals to the posts of Constable and Cardiff's Town Clerk. This would have reaffirmed Bute's power to change the appointments and broken the Wood's family hold on local power, but it provoked a storm of local political wrangling. The Wood family turned on Bute, arguing that he should abandon his claims to control local Welsh affairs from Scotland. Bute replied by trying to crush the Wood family's bank and stacking the town council with his appointees in early 1818. The Woods successfully took legal action, challenging Bute's authority to take these actions, and anti-Bute violence flared that summer, resulting in arrests by Special Constables appointed by Bute. The pro-Bute faction in Cardiff rallied and the Woods were defeated at the Parliamentary elections that year, the results reaffirming Bute's authority over the town council.
Bute played a role in the event of the Merthyr Rising, a large, armed industrial protest that occurred in Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales in 1831.
Political tensions amongst the working classes in Glamorgan had grown during the 1820s: although wages were impressive by contemporary standards during good years, they deteriorated quickly during depressions, plunging many into destitution; sanitation and health standards in the fast-growing industrial communities were appalling, child mortality rates were extremely high. 1831 saw a severe economic depression, with wages falling quickly and food prices rising, and complaints against the local debt courts and their bailiffs were numerous. Nationally, the electoral reform movement was making considerable protests and protests against the Corn Laws—which kept the prices of food high—were growing. In South Wales, several of the major ironmasters were associated with these movements, promoting reform under the Whig administration voted into power between April and June 1831.
By late 1830, and certainly by the spring of 1831, trouble in South Wales looked likely and, probably in response, Bute broke from his normal annual plans and in May travelled south from Scotland to Cardiff Castle. With a reform bill looking likely, tensions grew between the different political factions in Glamorganshire and how the potential new parliamentary seats should be shared out, especially between Bute and his conservative allies, Crawshay and Guest. Radical demonstrations occurred in Merthyr Tydfil, one of the largest industrial communities, in May, and the crowd set light to effigies of conservative politicians. Violence broke out and arrests were made on 10 May; the prisoners were released by the angry crowd and the local authorities effectively lost any control of the town. A general insurrection ensued on 30 May.
Two local magistrates, J. Bruce and Anthony Hill, were stranded in the Castle Inn in Merthyr Tydfil. They swore in around 70 men as special constables, but they were heavily outnumbered by the radical crowds. Bruce wrote an urgent letter to Bute in Cardiff Castle, asking for urgent advice on whether to call in the armed forces, and querying whether the Marquess had readied the Militia for action. Huge crowds marched on the local iron works, stopping production. The messages from Merthyr Tydfil reached Bute that afternoon, who began to assemble the Eastern and Central Yeomanry, Militia and transport ready for deployment. Bute paused until the morning, hoping to hear better news, but messengers bought more desperate news from Bruce and Hill, and the Yeomanry were dispatched. Meanwhile, an 80-man unit of the 93rd Foot had arrived in the Castle Inn from Brecon. Bute continued to keep Whitehall informed of the events by letter throughout.
On the morning of 3 May, the 93rd Foot reached the Castle Inn, where the magistrates had been joined by the established figures of the town, deputised as constables, including the High Sheriff and most of the ironmasters. Outside, the radical crowds had grown to an estimated number of between 7,000 and 10,000. Tensions rose alarmingly and the Riot Act was read in English and Welsh. Violence flared, the crowds attempted to seize the soldiers' weapons and the soldiers responded with volleys of musket fire. The town's working classes exploded in anger and set about searching the region for weapons. A messenger escaped the inn to reach Bute in Cardiff, who set about mobilising all the remaining armed forces he had available. Bute also despatched Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Morgan of the Militia into Merthyr to replace the commander of the 93rd Foot who had been badly injured.
The men in the Castle Inn retreated to Penydarren House, who were joined by the initial reinforcements from the Yeomanry, bringing the establishment's numbers to around 300, not all of them were armed and able to fight. They faced increasingly well-armed insurgents and Bute became increasingly concerned about the quality of the opposition facing his men. Bute sent spies into the insurgency, and nearby Cyfarthfa Castle was pressed into service as an observation post. Bute mobilised military pensioners, and used them to start to bring Penydarren House additional weaponry from Cardiff; he was advised to be careful, however, in case the shipments fell into the hands of the insurgency. Morgan's forces were able to prevent the radical crowds from entering either Penydarren or Cyfartha, and Bute arrested potential insurgents in Cardiff.
On 16 May, Morgan was in a position to advance in force into Merthyr, pushing forward and taking advantage of the poor communications between the various elements of the insurgency. The uprising collapsed, and over the next few days the authorities regained control, making arrests and forcing the workers back to business. Government inquiries into the incident began and Bute, among others, provided analysis and reports to Whitehall. In the aftermath, Richard Lewis, one of the radical crowd, was hanged in Cardiff. The execution proved controversial and it is unknown whether Bute, who had by then left to attend Parliament in London, approved of the decision.
Concerns over possible violent outbreaks continued for many years. Chartism became prominent in the region in the late 1830s, again causing Bute considerable worries in 1839 and leading to him encouraging the mobilisation of military forces to deal with the threat. Bute began to advocate the creation of a police force to suppress the problems in the northern valleys, for once allying himself with the local ironmasters to overcome rural opposition to the scheme. In 1841 the scheme was passed by the Glamorgan magistrates, with a chief constable and headquarters established that year.
In 1835 an act of Parliament reformed the local government structure, introducing a new town corporation structure with an elected mayor for the first time. Bute had to work harder to maintain his influence over the new corporation, using the various levers of influence at his disposal. He was successful, and in practice the elected officials and councillors were controlled by Bute and his interests.
