Following this reprieve the British government, led by Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, was determined that at least one rebel should die as an example of what happened to rebels. The people of Merthyr Tydfil were convinced that Richard Lewis (Dic Penderyn) was not responsible for the stabbing, and 11,000 signed a petition demanding his release. The government refused, and Richard Lewis was hanged at Cardiff Market on August 13, 1831. In 1874, a Congregational minister, the Rev. Evan Evans, said that a man called Ianto Parker had given him a death-bed confession, saying that he had stabbed Donald Black and then fled to America fearing capture by the authorities. James Abbott, a hairdresser from Merthyr Tydfil who had testified at Penderyn's trial, later said that he had lied under oath, claiming that he had been instructed to do so by Lord Melbourne. Legacy In 2015, Welsh Labour MP Ann Clwyd presented a petition to the House of Commons calling for Dic Penderyn to be posthumously pardoned, stating that there was "strong feeling in Wales that Richard Lewis - Dic Penderyn - was wrongly executed." In creative works Since 2013, a music festival named after the rising has been held annually in Merthyr to promote working class culture and social justice in arts. Meic Stevens' song "Dic Penderyn" on his 1972 album celebrates Richard Lewis. Radical singer-songwriter David Rovics included a song about the Merthyr Rising, entitled "Cheese and Bread", in the 2018 album Ballad of a Wobbly. The musical "My Land's Shore" by Robert Gould and Christopher J Orton centres on the riots. It was performed at the Bloomsbury Theatre by the University College London Musical Theatre society in February 2022. In 2015, stylist Charlotte James and photographer Tom Johnson published a series titled Merthyr Rising, showcasing residents of the town. See also List of riots Trade unions in the United Kingdom List of massacres in Great Britain References External links Old Merthyr Tydfil: Dic Penderyn and the Merthyr Rising - Historical Photographs and Information Relating to the Merthyr Rising. 1831 in Wales 1831 riots Food riots Coal in Wales Riots and civil disorder in Wales Working class in the United Kingdom