Dowlais Iron Company – The Melting Pot

Pant Cemetery

by J Ann Lewis

Pant cemetery opened in 1849 owing to the Cholera outbreak that had claimed so many lives, and the shortage of space at St John’s Church burial ground and other burial grounds in the area. The Dowlais Works had been unable to give any of their land as it contained minerals, so the prominent landowner, the Hon. Robert Clive, gave two acres of land near the Kissing-Gate opposite the Pant Cad Ifor Inn on the following conditions:

That the ground was consecrated
A fence was made around it
A chapel was built for prayers

The Dowlais Company organised the last two conditions and the Rev Jenkins officiated at the consecration ceremony.

One of the first burials at Pant Cemetery was on 6 August 1849, of a four-year-old boy who had probably died of cholera. During this epidemic, 1,432 victims died. Two more cholera outbreaks followed on 1854 and 1866.

In October 1858, the newly formed Dowlais Burial Board borrowed £1,200 for a new burial ground, and ensured that a new site, given by Lady Windsor, was opened in 1860. There were, in effect, two cemeteries at Pant which were situated next to each other. The Established Church’s cemetery which had opened in 1849 and the Dowlais Board’s in 1860. They later became one single cemetery.

The cemetery has been extended several times, once in 1903 when £1,950 was borrowed for the purpose. The land adjoining Pant Cemetery was acquired from Lord Windsor and Messrs Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Ltd, for the sum of £100 an acre, and £312 was paid to Messrs Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Ltd for providing an arable field instead of the one taken over by the council. The topsoil was taken from the building site at Caeracca Villas and was used for making up the graves.

Pant Cemetery in the early 1900s with Mr Bunn who worked at the cemetery for 57 years, seven as a grave-digger and fifty as sexton. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Also in 1903, a storm caused considerable damage when some large poplar trees in the cemetery blew down. The fallen trees were used to make decent seats for visitors, and the remaining logs were used for firewood for the road roller.

In the part of the cemetery opened in 1860, there were about 130 trees growing to a height of 35 – 40 ft. Add to these the 224 trees in the area opened in 1874, as can be seen, the trees were taking up a lot of space. One of the trees covered an area of 90feet in circumference, whilst others covered people’s headstones with the roots striking into adjoining graves. In 1907, about 25 trees were cut down, made into blocks of about 24 inches and sold to the public for 6d each.

In the area added to the cemetery in 1882, a belt of trees 60 yards long and 10 yards wide ran along the boundary wall. These trees were no trouble however, and were planted for the purpose of secluding the adjoining Brynonen House.

1862 saw the completion of the chapel at Pant Cemetery. It soon became too small for the increased number of worshippers, so the larger Christ Church was built nearby. It continued to be used for special occasions until the 1950s when it was demolished. A new church was built which was used by the Roman Catholic Church for a while, but the building is now used as a storeroom.

Pant Cemetery Gates showing the old chapel. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

In 1906, 400 tons of stone were quarried at Pant Cemetery to make further space for graves. Also a complaint was made to Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Ltd about the danger of blasting at the nearby Bryniau Quarry during a burial service; fortunately no-one was injured. Later, in 1947, two people who died in Pengarnddu during the terrible snow-storms were brought by sledge down past Caeracca Farm to be buried.

Over the years the cemetery has been an accepted place for walks, and on sunny days it is interesting to read the many different verses and messages on the gravestones. One such verse reads: “Chewing gum, chewing gum made of wax sent me to the grave at last”.

Adrian Stephens and the ‘Steam Whistle’

by Laura Bray

Following on from the recent article about J.O. Francis’ romantic reminiscences of the railway, you have to ask – what is a railway without a locomotive and what is locomotive without a whistle?

“The Western Mail” had an answer, printing, on Friday 4th January 1935, an article with the banner “Romance of the First Steam Whistle”.

Adrian Stephens. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Like so many inventions, the steam whistle was born in the Dowlais Iron Company. Its inventor was Adrian Stephens, a Cornishman by birth, who had come to Merthyr in the early 19th century, and had initially worked as Chief Engineer at the Plymouth Iron Works before moving to a similar role in the Dowlais works in about 1827. Here he had charge of the mill and the blowing engines.

Never a place blessed with health and safety standards, iron working was particularly dangerous, and in about 1835 there was an explosion where one of the old non-tubular boilers burst, with the loss of several lives. An investigation into the incident suggested that there was negligence – smoke and grime had made the safety gauges unreadable, and the stoker had failed to ensure an adequate supply of water was pumped in.

John Josiah Guest tasked Adrian Stephens with the job of finding a way to prevent a reoccurrence, and after some experimentation with a long tube similar to a tin whistle, and then some organ pipes that Stephens asked Guest to source, he eventually came up with a local copper tube, made like a bosun’s pipe, but wider and with a larger vent. The end of the tube was fixed to the top if the boiler, with the other held submerged in the water in the boiler. As the water ran dry, the steam was pushed up the pipe and a shrill whistle sounded, thereby allowing action to be taken before the pressure caused an explosion. Not surprisingly, the workers hated it, regarding it as a nuisance to be put out of action. Stephens therefore enclosed it in a cage, and it was in this form that it was adopted by all the Merthyr ironworks – and then added to every boiler, railway locomotive and steam ship around the world.

Adrian Stephens’ Steam Whistle. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Stephens did not patent his invention. Writing to his niece in 1872 he said “Neither in want, nor caring for money at the time, I did not think of taking a patent”. He was even unsure about which year he had introduced it, guessing 1835, as it was before Guest was created a baronet (1838).

But his steam whistle was not the only railway connected achievement – Stephens was also credited with planning the “Lady Charlotte”, the first locomotive to be used at the Dowlais Works.

After Guest’s death, Stephens moved to the Penydarren Ironworks, where he invented, according to his son, the “Hot Blast”, which made the furnaces hotter and more efficient, before ending his career as a Civil Engineer for Anthony Hill in the Plymouth Works.

Stephens died in 1876 by which stage his invention had revolutionised steam safety. He is buried in Cefn Cemetery, within hearing distance of the Merthyr-Brecon/LNWR trains whistling up and down the track.

So the next time you hear the “whoo whoo” from the heritage railway or the magnificent Flying Scotsman, think of Adrian Stephens and Merthyr’s role in that Age of Romance.

Adrian Stephens’ grave at Cefn Cemetery. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Uneconomical Schools

From the Merthyr Express 90 years ago today…

The Pant Fever Hospital – part 1

by J Ann Lewis

In 1868 an epidemic of Typhoid and Typhus Fever started in Dowlais in 1868, and spread to Merthyr by April 1869.

The living conditions were poor; many houses were small and overcrowded, with no proper ventilation, having windows that could not be opened. One Dowlais family consisting of a mother and four children suffering from Typhus Fever were nursed in a bedroom that measured eleven- by seven-foot. Many were without proper toilet facilities, and others sharing facilities with three or four other families. The practice of throwing waste matter onto the road was still undertaken, thus polluting the vicinity, and many were fined for continuing to do so.

Fifty-three people died by the end of March; the reported cases of the diseases reached 360, during this epidemic, three of the four nurses employed and a doctor died after contracting the disease.

The Local Board of Health, under Section 37 of the Sanitary Act 1866, had the power to provide hospitals or temporary places for the reception of the sick, but not places for the admittance of people not affected by the disease. It was hoped that once they had provided a place for the sick to be nursed, the people that had been in contact with them could remain in their homes, if a policy was adopted of cleaning, whitewashing and disinfecting the houses from which the sick were removed.

The Board of Health decided that they had to open a hospital to stem the spread of the disease and try to relieve the appalling suffering of the local people. At first it was decided that a large tent would be ideal for the purpose, a committee member pointing out that tents had been well used by troops for years, but another member added that he knew where a building, or part of one, could be obtained for £1,000.

It was decided to go ahead with the purchase, and appoint carpenters for the erection of the buildings on the chosen site at Pantyscallog. Chris James, the farmer who owned the land, had a reduction of 10s per year on his land for releasing it through the Dowlais Iron Company for the hospital.

A map from the 1800s showing the site of the Pant (Dowlais) Fever Hospital

It was clear that the cases of Typhoid and Typhus fever should not be mixed – it was necessary to have separate hospitals for these diseases, and these again were sub-divided into male and female wards. Suitable rooms were erected as a kitchen and wash-house, and placed between the two hospitals to be used by both. To prevent trespassing on the adjoining grassland, fencing of post and rail was erected.

After the foundation was finished, the building took just four weeks to complete, being a wooden structure with a felt roof. During the building of the hospital, the death-toll had risen to 77, with the number of cases reaching 426. By the end of July, the furnishing of the hospital was complete, but by that time the epidemic had subsided, and it remained unused until the next epidemic.

The hospital was first named the Caeracca Fever Hospital, but was also referred to as the Pant or Dowlais Fever Hospital. It was able to accommodate 32 patients, and was only occupied when epidemics of the infectious diseases occurred – Typhoid, Typhus, Scarlet Fever, Smallpox and Measles.

Mrs Clark of Dowlais House obtained permission from the Board of Health for the private use of part of the hospital. Sixteen beds were allocated for eight male and eight female patients. There would be compulsory admissions – patients would only be admitted with their permission. This was a wise decision as the changes of recovery would be poor; if the patients were terrified of being admitted – believing they had been taken there to die instead of to recover. This fear was somehow connected with Mrs Clark’s hospital in Dowlais, and largely due to the ignorance of the people as to the type of nursing required.

Mrs Clarke’s hospital in Dowlais. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

There was great concern among the committee as to whose responsibility it was to pay for the patients’ food. They wrote several times to the Home Office, and the Chairman of the Committee wrote privately to the Home Secretary dealing solely with the question of feeding. As no satisfactory answer was obtained, the Board of Health decided they would bear the expense themselves. When the question was asked “Who would pay for the beef tea?” the Clerk replied “Can’t you make the beef tea medicine?”. “We must”, came the reply, “and take the consequences”.

To be continued………

Memories of Old Merthyr

We continue our serialisation of the memories of Merthyr in the 1830’s by an un-named correspondent to the Merthyr Express, courtesy of Michael Donovan.

Charles Herbert James *(1817-1890), M.P. for Merthyr between 1880 and 1888*

It may, perhaps, be apropros to explain as to the basin and Merthyr Tramroad. In “Tredgold on Railways” it is stated that the tramroad was made under Parliamentary powers, but upon my saying so in his hearing the late Mr Charles Herbert James told me it was not so, but that it was constructed by private arrangement. Be that, however, as it may, it is certain it was made with a branch to the canal at Merthyr, and the total number of shares was 14, of which nine belonged to the Dowlais Company, three to the Penydarren, and two to the Plymouth Companies.

These proportions remained until the Dowlais Company’s application to Parliament to construct the branch from the Taff Vale Railway to Dowlais, when, after a good deal of fighting, the Dowlais Company agreed to hand over their interest in the Tramroad if the opposing companies withdrew opposition.

It may, perhaps, be unknown to some of your readers that Parliament would not give powers to make a railway unless it was shown to be a public benefit, and, therefore, the conveyance of passengers as well as goods, other than the requirements of the works, had to be proved and the obligation of carrying for the public undertaken. The Act was passed, and the line being made, passengers were taken to Dowlais down the incline. Through carriages were run from Cardiff, and were detached at the bottom of the incline, and reconnected as necessary, but it did not do very well, and a fatal accident arising from the carriages running wild caused a discontinuance of that passenger traffic.

As far as can be recollected, some buses were started to run, but they were subsidized by the Dowlais Company for some time. At the first opening of the Taff Vale Railway to Merthyr – it had previously opened to Navigation (Abercynon) – the Dowlais Company made a connection, and drew their buses to the Basin tramroad alongside of what is now the connection; unloading, or rather, the transfer of their traffic from the railway to the tramroad being carried out at the foot of the incline. For their assistance by way of evidence, Mr John Locke, the engineer of the then so-called Grand Junction Railway was had, and in describing the old tramroad, he distinctly stated it was not usable for locomotives. Upon its being conveyed to him that there was in the committee room a person who had gone over it on an engine with load scores, if non hundreds of times, he corrected his stated, and qualified it by adding “not economically”.

It has been stated that nine shares were given up by the Dowlais Company; of these, five were apportioned to Penydarren, and four to Plymouth, their respective shares thus becoming: Penydarren, eight; Plymouth, six. Although the Penydarren Works came to a stop, these shares continued as an appanage, and upon the acquisition and re-starting of Penydarren by the Plymouth Company, the shares naturally passed to that company, and although the whole has now become of little value (at least, at the present) it would seem as if the old road from Penydarren end was now entirely vested in the Plymouth Company.

To be continued at a later date…..

Memories of Old Merthyr

We continue our serialisation of the memories of Merthyr in the 1830’s by an un-named correspondent to the Merthyr Express, courtesy of Michael Donovan.

Still further on yet, and on the left, were other cottages and a public house called ‘The Ship in Distress’. These cottages and ‘The Ship in Distress’ have long since ceased to be tenantable, but about which I will tell something.

Mr David Morris, the grandfather of the late Mr Thomas Jenkins of Pant, kept the public house, and owing to his not voting in accordance with the wish of his landlord at an election, had notice to quit. Mr Morris then built the ‘Mountain Hare’ and removed there. So much for political pique, but another hardship soon after arose. Upon the cottages etc. becoming untenantable, the owner (who had become so by the marriage of a widow) was John Jenkins, keeping the ‘Cross Keys’ near the lock-up. He applied unsuccessfully, both to the Dowlais and Penydarren Companies, for compensation. All he got was the part of shuttlecock, the battledores being the companies. In vain did he endeavour to invoke the aid of any solicitor to take up his case until a person (long dead), who shall be nameless, rendered assistance to him. Amongst the excuses urged by the companies was a direct negative that either had worked beneath the property, so that it became necessary to sink a pit upon that small plot and show the minerals had been abstracted. Upon so doing he was able to obtain compensation.

This, or about there for certain, was called Pwllywhead (sic) (Duck’s Pool). Beyond this there were a few cottages, which the inexorable demand for tip room has obliterated. The residence of the old mineral agent of the Dowlais Works, Mr William Kirkhouse, was on the way, and the road ran out to join that from Merthyr to Rhymney Bridge via Dowlais, above or about Cae Harris.

All this is vividly recalled by the sudden death of the late Chairman of the Board of Guardians. Mrs Jenkins, mother of the deceased gentleman, was the eldest daughter of David Morris of ‘The Ship in Distress’. There was also a son who was in the fitting shop at the Dowlais Works, and a younger sister, who married and went to reside somewhere. Do not for a moment conclude that in the turnpike gate times this road was always quite open and free to travel. Ever and anon – particularly on Wain (sic) Fair days – there was a chain stretched across and a collector stationed who required payment before removal of the obstruction.

No doubt many of your readers have heard of a horse and rider going over the bridge and into the gorge at Pontsarn. Let me assure them that it arose from the anxiety to save the payment of toll, and in due time it shall be made clear, for I had the words of the person some few years ago.

To be continued at a later date…..

John Nixon

John Nixon was born at Barlow in Durham on 10 May 1815, the only son of a tenant farmer of that village. He was educated at the village school and at Dr. Bruce’s academy at Newcastle-on-Tyne, famous as the training-place of many great engineers.

Leaving school at the age of fourteen, Nixon was set to farmwork for a time, and shortly after was apprenticed to Joseph Gray of Garesfield, the Marquis of Bute’s chief mining engineer.

On the expiry of his indentures he became for two years overman at the Garesfield colliery. At the end of this time, in 1839, he undertook a survey of the underground workings of the Dowlais Company in South Wales. Some years later he accepted the appointment of mining engineer to an English company, working a coal and iron field at Languin near Nantes. He perceived, however, that the enterprise was destined to fail, and did not hesitate to inform his employers of his opinion. After labouring for some time to carry on a hopeless concern he returned to England.

During his first visit to Wales Nixon had been impressed by the natural advantages of Welsh coal for use in furnaces. On his return from France he found that it was beginning to be used by the Thames steamers. He perceived that there was a great opening for it on the Loire, where coal was already imported by sea. At the time, however, he was unable to obtain a supply with which to commence a trade. Mrs. Thomas of the Graig Colliery at Merthyr, who supplied the Thames steamers, was disinclined to extend her operations, and Nixon was compelled to return to the north of England. But business again taking him to South Wales, he chartered a small vessel, took a cargo of coal to Nantes, and distributed it gratuitously among the sugar refineries. He succeeded also in inducing the French government to make a trial of it. Its merits were at once perceived; the French government definitely adopted it, and a demand was created among the manufactories and on the Loire.

Returning to Wales he made arrangements for sinking a mine at Werfa to secure an adequate supply. After being on the point of failure from lack of capital he obtained assistance and achieved success. Continuing his operations in association with other enterprising men of the neighbourhood, he acquired and made many collieries in South Wales. In 1869 he began sinking the Merthyr Vale No 1 Colliery, and the first coal was mined in 1875.

Merthyr Vale Colliery. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

In 1897 the output of the Nixon group was 1,250,000 tons a year. Nixon succeeded, after a long struggle, in inducing the railway companies of Great Britain to adopt Welsh coal for consumption in their locomotives. He had great difficulty also in persuading the Great Western Railway Company to patronise the coal traffic, which now forms so large a part of their goods business.

Much of Nixon’s success was due to his improvements in the art of mining. He introduced the ‘long wall’ system of working in place of the wasteful ‘pillar and stall’ system, and invented the machine known as ‘Billy Fairplay’ for measuring accurately the proportion between large coal and small, which is now in universal use. He also made improvements in ventilating and in winding machinery. He was one of the original movers in establishing the sliding-scale system, and one of the founders of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coalowners’ Association. He was for fifteen years chairman of the earlier South Wales Coal Association, and for many years represented Wales in the Mining Association of Great Britain. Nixon materially contributed to the growth of Cardiff by inducing leading persons in South Wales to petition the trustees of the Marquis of Bute in 1853 for increased dock accommodation, and by persuading the trustees, in spite of the objections of their engineer, Sir John Rennie, to increase the depth of the East Dock.

He died in London, on 3 June 1899 at 117 Westbourne Terrace, Hyde Park, and was buried on 8 June in the Mountain Ash cemetery, Aberdare valley.

This article is a transcription from a publication now in the public domain: Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1901.

The Guest Memorial Hall

One of the few remaining historical buildings in Dowlais is the Guest Memorial Hall, or the Guest Keen Club as it is more commonly know today. It has a fascinating, if troubled history.

When Josiah John Guest died in 1852, his widow, Lady Charlotte began thinking of projects to commemorate her husband. Her first project was to build a school for the children of the Dowlais area, and the Dowlais Central Schools were completed in 1855. Whilst the school was under construction, the work-men of the Dowlais Ironworks also wanted to contribute to another memorial to their former employer.

In March 1854, a public meeting was held, and it was proposed that a library and reading room should be built in memory of Josiah John Guest. A committee was set up, and subscription lists were issued – they even placed an advertisement in The Times newspaper. A sum of £2,200 was eventually raised, and Sir Charles Barry was commissioned to design the building.

Sir Charles Barry was one of the foremost architects of the day, his most famous work being the Houses of Parliament. A personal friend of Sir Josiah and Lady Charlotte Guest, he had been responsible for designing the Dowlais Central School.

Unfortunately, Barry’s plans proved too grandiose for the funds available. Work started in early 1855, but by the end of the year, over £5,000 had already been spent on the project. New trustees were appointed, and they were dismayed to discover that not only had a huge amount been spent in excess of the budget, but only the walls and roof timbers had been prepared.

The trustees, having paid for slating the roof and glazing the upper story, called an emergency public meeting. They offered two alternatives: firstly the subscribers could try to find the extra money required to complete the work; or secondly, they could hand over the project to the Dowlais Iron Company who would finish the work, and thus own the building. The subscribers decided on the latter course of action.

The Dowlais Iron Company took over the project, and the original subscriptions were returned to the trustees who used the money to provide annual scholarships for the children taught in the Dowlais schools.

A postcard of the Guest Memorial Hall from the early 1900s. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive.

The new library, which was a classical style cruciform two-storey building, the main rooms raised on a basement storey, built of massive stones with a Bath-stone balustraded pillared portico on the first floor, was finally opened in 1863. The total cost of the building was £7,000. The new library was equipped with an excellent collection of books in both Welsh and English, and newspapers and magazines were also available to the public. A part of the building was also set aside to be used as a museum, and fossils that had been discovered in local pits and quarries were displayed there.

The library closed in 1907 when the new Carnegie Free Library opened in Dowlais. The building subsequently became a social club and remains open to this day as a restaurant and as an events venue.

Penywern

by Carolyn Jacob

Penywern was a typical industrial village built for the workers of the Ivor Works in 1839. Here was the permanent barracks for the Volunteers. After the Merthyr Rising of 1831 soldiers were permanently barracked at Penywern to keep an eye on the growing town of Merthyr Tydfil. On the tithe schedule of 1850 the owner of the land here was the Dowlais Iron Company.

A section of the 1850 Tithe Map showing the barracks in Penywern

At first all there was in Penywern were the Barracks, as is shown on the 1850 Tithe Map, however by the 1875 Ordnance Survey map Penywern had developed and Lower Row and Upper Row are shown. The reservoirs and ponds which once fed water into the Dowlais Works are situated in this area. These are now of great historical significance, especially as so little now remains of the great Dowlais Works. There are 2 large and 2 small ponds east of Penywern and also a reservoir to the south.

A section of the 1875 Ordnance Survey Map. Two of the reservoirs can be clearly seen.

This was a self-sufficient community and there were a number of shops here. Late nineteenth century directories show that Morgan Evans was a baker, grocer, tea dealer at number 4 Penywern. The working men of the area were mainly employed in coal mining. The community built their community church vestry during the General Strike of 1926, when so many skilled men were force to be idle due to the national economic climate.

The famous historian Gwyn Alf Williams was born in Lower Row in a cottage belonging to his grandmother, Mrs Morgan. In 2005 the Dic Penderyn Society and the Merthyr Tydfil Heritage Trust erected a plaque on the walls of this property in commemoration of the birth of Gwyn Alf.

There was quite a large Spanish community here before the First World War. The Spaniards who settled here from 1900 onwards built Alphonso Street and King Carlos Street.

Alphonso Street. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The exposed height of this area means that it is very vulnerable when there are any falls of snow. During the severe winter of 1947 a train at Penywern became snowbound for several days.

This village has undergone many changes in recent years; the Tre-Ivor Arms public house, now closed was once called the Ivor Arms. Penywern Chapel, was an Independent Chapel, but it was demolished in the late 1990s, and today modern houses are on its former site.

Explosion at Dowlais

The article transcribed below appeared in the Western Mail 150 years ago today (28 October 1870).

THE EXPLOSION OF THE “KINGFISHER” LOCOMOTIVE AT DOWLAIS

INQUEST ON THE BODY OF JOAN THOMAS

The adjourned inquest on the body of Joan Thomas, aged 18, the woman who was scalded to death by the explosion of the locomotive known as the “Kingfisher” the property of the Dowlais Company, on the 1st instant, was resumed on Thursday by Mr. Overton, the coroner.

The nature of the accident may be best gathered from the evidence of David Price, the driver of the engine. He said: About half past eight on the morning in question, my engine was standing on a siding by the Bargoed pit, waiting for another engine to shunt trucks. I went to talk with the driver of another engine within twenty yards; and, within a few minutes of my leaving my engine, I saw the steam issuing from the fire-box. As I was passing from one engine to another, I met the deceased going towards my engine. She was employed by her uncle, who was the contractor for oiling the trams, and fetching nails and other things from Dowlais to the collieries, and was in the habit of travelling every day from Cae Harris Dowlais, where she resided, to the collieries, a distance of six miles, and returning in the evening. She was constantly in the habit of going backwards and forwards from the collieries to Dowlais for different things required at the works. I do not allow any persons to ride on the engine, unless they are engaged on the business of the company.

When I got back to my own engine, I found the deceased lying on the rails behind the engine. Mr. Matthew Truran came up at the time, and ordered the driver of the other engine to take her to Dowlais. She was scalded all over, and very bad. My two firemen were also scalded, but not severely. I then examined what was the cause of the accident, and found that one of the plates of the fire-box had burst, and caused the steam and water to escape. The locomotive was the Kingfisher, a tank engine, built by Sharpe and Co., of the Atlas Works, Manchester, and it had been at work four years and a half. We had taken in a supply of water half an hour before. It had been leaking a little below the part that burst, and we intended sending it to be repaired that night. There is no regular inspection of the engines unless we suspect there is something amiss, when they are sent in and examined by the fitters. My engine was examined by David Edwards, the fitter, a fortnight before, and he never complained. The young woman died that night.

David Edwards, fitter, said: I examined the engine after the explosion, and found that there was a hole of about six by four inches on the left side of the fire-box, two of the stay heads broken off, and the smoke end of the boiler blown open. I believe the explosion occurred from the weakness of the copper fire-box, which was so thin as to be unequal to bear the pressure. The fire-box has not been renewed since the engine came, four and a half years ago. I cannot undertake to say whether the plate was weakened by some cause or was originally too slight. I think the fire-boxes ought to last nine years.

Mr, Samuel Truran, the mechanical engineer of the company, confirmed the evidence of Edwards.

Mr. Wales, the Government inspector, gave the following evidence:- I have made an examination of the locomotive in question. I found that the copper of which the fire-box was made was originally 7-16ths of an inch thick, but from some cause that thickness was, at the time of the explosion, reduced to the thickness of a sixpenny piece. This rendered the copper at that point unable to longer resist the pressure of steam, which was 1201bs. per square inch, and hence the explosion. It is difficult to arrive at an average length of time copper fire-boxes last, so much depends upon the quantity of coal or coke consumed, and the work done by the locomotive; but I fancy from twelve to fourteen years might be taken as a fair average in this I case. Of course repairs are required during that time. It appears that the fire-box in question had only been used between four and five years. The pressure of steam at which locomotives are worked varies from 90lbs. up to 150lbs. per square inch, and it appears that the pressure in this case was 105lbs. per square inch. I am therefore of opinion that the copper was not reduced in thickness by the pressure of steam, but by the action of the fire, which would be greatly increased if the coal used contained much sulphur. The only safeguard against such danger which suggests itself to my mind is, that the copper fire-boxes should be regularly and frequently examined by an experienced boiler-maker, and when any doubt exists after the usual tests, then holes should be bored to ascertain the thickness of the copper, and if it is found that the thickness has been slightly reduced, the pressure of steam should also be reduced; but if found reduced to any considerable extent the fire-box should be removed altogether.

Mr. Samuel Davis, of the Atlas Works, Manchester, said: I have attended this inquiry by the direction or Messrs. Sharpe and Co. They were the manufacturers of the Kingfisher locomotive. There were two pieces of copper sent to us by the Dowlais Company. They were described as part of the copper box of this engine. They are reduced to a very thin state – to about 1-30th of an inch. The thickness originally was 7-16th. We do not use any test to each plate separately, but our men would easily discover if there was any deficiency in the thickness. I feel satisfied that the plates of this box were originally 7-16th thick. From the appearance of the plates, I should say the fire was the cause of the reduction in thickness. There was no incrustation arising from the water, I cannot perceive any indication of any operating causes to explain the explosion beyond the wear and tear by use. It is usual on all railways to have the boilers periodically tested with water pressure, but I do not know what is done in iron works and collieries and I consider that it should be made imperative. I quite concur in the major part of Mr. Wales’s evidence.

The Coroner having summed up, the Jury returned the following verdict:- “Accidental death from an explosion of a locomotive engine; and we recommend that in future a competent boiler maker be employed to make a regular inspection of the engines and boilers.”