Jack the Fifer at Twyn Star, Dukestown, Tredegar

Image: © Robin Drayton Taken: 2 Aug 2013

John Rees 'Jack the Fifer' (1815-1893). For more on the life of Jack the Fifer and the Chartist Uprising see "The Man from the Alamo" by John Humphries. The inscription reads: John Rees, better known as Jack the fifer (a fife was a small high-pitched flute), was a mason by trade. He was heavily involved in the Chartist Rising of 1839. In 1835 jack fought in the Texan War of independence before returning to Wales. It was his military experience in having been part of an ill-equipped group of fighters that captured San Antonio from regular Mexican soldiers that led him to be chosen to lead the Chartist attack, on the Westgate Hotel in Newport, at the head of a column of Tredegar pikemen and gunmen. At 7pm on 3rd November 1839 an estimated 5 to 6,000 men had assembled here, at Twyn-y-Star, ready for the march to Newport via Ebbw Vale. The attack on the Westgate ended in failure but Jack evaded capture and escaped to Texas where he re-joined the army before heading west to California to join the gold rush. The Chartist lodge in Dukestown was the oldest in the Sirhowy Valley; here, Zephaniah Williams lived before moving to Blaina in early 1839. Its headquarters was the Star Inn, (Twyn-y-Star) . Many meetings of the rebel command were held here during 1839 before the rising and the Star field (now built over) was the site of one of the largest public gatherings anywhere in Wales during the 19th century. On 12th August 1839, Chartist speakers called upon Queen Victoria to dissolve Parliament and accept the People's Charter as the basis for electing a new Government for the country.

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