Report and valuation of claims made in the wake of the 1911 riots for Tredegar, Ebbw Vale, New Tredegar, Cwm and Rhymney, October 1911

Description

A report and valuations of claims made in the wake of the 1911 riots. The claims were made in Tredegar, Ebbw Vale, New Tredegar, Cwm and Rhymney during October 1911. The document includes 120 claims in total.

Tredegar.

The document contains forty-seven claims that were made by businesses in and residents of Tredegar.

Ten of these claims were made by insurance companies. The Guardian Plate Glass Insurance Company made three claims following the damage done to its glass and the Guardian Insurance Company also made three claims as its windows and glass were damaged. The following insurance companies each made claims after their glass was damaged in the riots: the London and Lancashire Insurance Company; the Imperial Insurance Company; Phillips’ Emporium Guardian Insurance Company; and a Legal Insurance Company.

Seven companies selling a variety of wares also made claims. The following saw that damage had been done to their glass in the wake of the riots: Star Tea Stores (a tea shop and grocery); Bells’ Stores (the proprietor was A. E. Matthews); Co-operative Store (a grocers); and a fancy shop owned by Isaac Goldman (his clothes were also damaged and his stock looted). Briggs and Company claimed for the lamps they lost during the riots while the chemists Boots Limited did not specify the nature of their claim. Baker and Son had their trade and claim recorded in the document but the photograph of it obscures both.

Ten individuals working as drapers, hosiers, tailors or outfitters made claims. Two drapers claimed on looted goods and damage to fittings (glass or otherwise): Michael Cohen and P. J. Cohen. The draper A. Craimer’s glass and clothes were damaged, and his stock was looted while Joseph Cohen’s goods and furniture were stolen and his glass was damaged. Another draper A. Samuel made an unspecified claim. The hosier W. F. Harvey had goods stolen and the tailor Broder (his first initial is recorded but hard to decipher) had his fittings damaged during the riots. Three outfitters also made claims: A. J. Freedman whose glass was damaged; Lionel Harris whose glass, glass fittings and stock were damaged; and William Fine who had his blinds damaged and goods stolen.

Three pawnbrokers also made claims in the wake of the riots: Louis S. Harris who saw his shop fittings damaged and his goods and stock looted; Mrs Rosenbaum whose glass was damaged and goods on pawn and stock looted; and Louis Bernstein who also saw his glass damaged and goods looted.

Four claims were made by furniture sellers. John Penberthy’s windows were damaged and Harry Cohen’s glass was damaged. A. Cohen claimed on window and clothing damage while Samuel Wolfson’s window fittings were damaged, and his goods stolen.

Two claims were made by butchers both of whom had their glass damaged in the riots: G. Williams and Eastman and Company. Two grocers also made claims because of glass damage: James Hill (of the grocery Hills Stores) and Lewis (no first initial was provided in the document).

Claims were also made by the following three individuals: the jeweller Mark Cohen (whose glass and property that had belonged to others was damaged and whose stock was looted); the cabinet maker C. L. George (barricading); and the watch repairer M. H. Smith (who had some of his goods stolen).

Residents of Tredegar who were not business owners were also affected by the rioting. Six of them made claims in the document: B. Cohen (whose furniture was damaged and lost); Mrs Praimer; Simon Cohen (whose glass was damaged and goods stolen); David Cohen (whose glass and clothes were damaged and stock was looted); Aaron Wolfson (who had his furniture and window damaged and goods stolen); and T. Jackson (whose glass was damaged).

Ebbw Vale.

The document contains thirty claims that were made by residents of and businesses in Ebbw Vale.

Two insurance companies made claims about their damaged plate glass: Liverpool and London and Globe (Insurance Company Cardiff) and London and Lancashire Insurance Company. The former insurance company made three claims.

Four grocers made claims in the wake of the riots. Both Pegler and Sons and David Jones and Company had their boardings damaged while the plate glass of J. Harrison and Son’s and Alfred Jones’s groceries was broken.

Eight claims were made by a number of drapers, clothiers and boot sellers. The following drapers made claims: Gustave Abrahams (his fittings were damaged); H. Evans (his plate glass was damaged); and Pech Harris (his plate glass fittings were damaged, and his stock was looted). The following clothiers also made claims: J. Joseph (his glass and fittings were damaged, and his stock was looted); H. Goldblatt (his glass and fittings and stock were damaged); and A. M. Averbuch (his plate glass was damaged and his stock was looted). The following boot sellers made claims: Briggs and Company (whose plate glass was damaged) and J. Ariel (his plate glass and fittings were damaged, and his stock looted).

Four claims were made by furnishing companies. T. Edwards and Company made two claims following damage done to their plate glass. The furnisher Wiseman had their plate glass and fittings damaged and stock looted. A furnishing company whose plate glass was damaged also made a claim (‘Mon’ is given as the name of that furnishing company).

Outfitters, pawnbrokers, jewellers and dealers also made claims. The outfitters and pawnbrokers Lyons and Company’s plate glass and fittings were damaged, and their stock was looted. The jeweller Simon Sidle had his fittings damaged and stock looted. The dealer C. Goldblatt had his shop fittings damaged and stock looted.

The following made claims in the light of their plate glass being damaged: the painter L. J. Booth; the photographer H. O’Connor; London and Provincial Bank; the hairdresser H. Morgan; the tobacconist C. Pech (he also had his stock looted); and the dyers Johnson and Company.

The Ebbw Vale resident L. Luck also made a claim after their plate glass was damaged.

New Tredegar and Cwm.

Fifteen claims were made by residents and businesses in New Tredegar and Cwm.

Eleven of them were made in New Tredegar. The following made claims following glass damage: J. Gordon Liverpool and London Plate Glass Insurance Company; New Tredegar and District Co-operative Society; Representative of the late O. Rogers; Rabbi G. Field; and two other individuals or businesses whose names could not be deciphered. Three companies made claims following damage to their boarding as well as their glass: the jeweller and clothier S. Rubenstein; the grocer W. T. Morgan; and the confectioner R. Dymond. The boot makers Briggs and Company saw their glass and fittings damaged while L. Carozzi saw his glass and writing damaged.

Four of the claims were made in Cwm. The following made claims following looting and glass breakage: the tobacconist S. Levin; the draper W. Goldblatt and the china shop F. Levin and Company. The carpenter L. Coombes made a claim after damage to hoardings during the riots.

Rhymney.

Twenty-eight claims were made by residents and businesses in Rhymney.

Three insurance companies made claims: Both Cambrian Insurance Company Rhymney and Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company saw glass damage. E. Protheroe Royal Insurance Company made a claim but did not specify what damage it was for.

Four assurance companies also made claims with three of them experiencing glass damage: Davis and Evans Commercial Union Assurance Company (a Cardiff company); Fines Limited Cambrian Assurance Company (the trade was listed as ‘Boots’); and Cambrian Assurance Company Rhymney. D. Rees Cambrian Assurance Company and draper made a claim but did not specify what damage it was for.

Five grocers made claims: G. Williams and David Morgan both saw glass damage during the riot; the grocer Jones and Handcock made two claims following glass breakage and looting; D. W. Evans had goods stolen; and the grocer Harris made a claim but did not specify what damage it was for.

Two claims were made by outfitters and drapers. The outfitter E. Abrahams made a claim after his stock and fittings were damaged and the draper J. Edwards’s glass was broken.

Five businesses made claims in the wake of the riots. The general store owner Israel Fine experienced looting, and damage to his hoarding and store; the dollar stores owner W. B. Jones had goods stolen and damaged hoarding; Pegler and Sons’ glass and stock was damaged as was their hoarding; the glass of the bedroom window and glass fittings in Fines Limited were broken; and the owner of an unspecified business Thomas’s plate glass was broken.

Claims were also made by Urban District Council; London and Provincial Bank; the ice cream vendors Cambarini Bros (their glass was damaged); and the tobacconist Mr Glencross (their glass was also damaged).

Four residents made claims: A. J. Watkins (in Pontlottyn) and W. T. Hopkins whose glass was broken; Thomas; and Mrs Jeffreys whose plate glass that was partly damaged before the riot saw further damage.

Background information.

The rioting began in Tredegar on 19 August 1911 at midnight when a crowd of approximately 200 to 250 angry young men and women took to the street. Contemporary newspaper reports describe that the target of the first attack was a Jewish residence in Salisbury Street. This was followed by looting and arson attacks on Jewish businesses and properties. They would last for a week. While a 2011 BBC News Article reports that there were no deaths or injuries as a result of the rioting, it emphasised how the army had to be sent in to restore order.

As a number of non-Jewish businesses were also attacked, the extent to which the riots were anti-Semitic has been debated by historians.

Sources.

Alderman, Geoffrey, 'When the "pogrom of the valleys" erupted in Wales', The Jewish Chronicle, 21 July 2011 [accessed 2 October 2020]

Lewis, Anna, ‘The stark photos of the anti-Jewish riots that spread across South Wales’, Wales Online, 22 February 2019 [accessed 2 October 2020]

Prior, Neil, ‘History debate over anti-Semitism in 1911 Tredegar riot’, BBC Wales News, 19 August 2011 [accessed 2 October 2020]

Depository: Gwent Archives.