Newtown is a town with a population of 10,783 (2001) lying on the River Severn in Central Wales. The town is best known as the birthplace of Robert Owen in 1771, his former house now being a museum. Newtown was founded in the 13th century and grew in the 18th and 19th centuries around the textile and flannel industry and the arrival of the Montgomeryshire branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. In 1838, the town saw Wales' first Chartist demonstration.