Author: merthyr.history@gmail.com

The Private Secretary comes to Merthyr

by Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives

You may well have seen examples of the original playbills for the Theatre Royal, Cardiff held at Glamorgan Archives and used to promote performances between 1885 and 1895. During this period the theatre, opened in 1878 and able to seat up to 2000 people, catered for all tastes. The playbill below, however, is a little different in that it is for a series of performances at the Temperance Hall in Merthyr in March 1886. It also signified that something rather special was on offer.

D452-1-30

In this case it was The Private Secretary, a comedy that had met with enormous success in London with over 700 performances at the Globe Theatre starring Charles H Hawtrey. Although Hawtrey, who made a considerable fortune from the play, was not performing with the touring party, it was certain to be a very popular choice with the theatregoers of South Wales.

It was no surprise, therefore, that Edward Fletcher, manager of the Theatre Royal, seized on the opportunity to present the play in both Cardiff and Merthyr. The Temperance Hall, first opened in 1852, had been extended in 1873 and it was claimed that it could hold up to 4000 people. While used for both religious and political meetings, it was also Merthyr’s main theatre. It was, therefore, the perfect venue for the play. Although we do not have reviews of the Merthyr performances, it is likely that they would have been similar to the reception in Cardiff where it was described as …one of the most successful modern farcical comedies… [with] …laughter continuous throughout.

The plot of the Private Secretary centred on two young men attempting to escape their creditors. In many ways it echoed Hawtrey’s life. Knighted in 1922, Hawtrey was hailed as the leading comedy actor of his generation and a mentor for many, including Noel Coward. He also appeared in a number of the first silent movies and was a successful theatre manager. However, he was bankrupted on several occasions as a result of gambling debts. Looking back on his life he said:

I had one bet and lost half a crown, and I have been trying for 50 years to win it back.

With a ticket for a reserved seat priced at three shillings, the income from the Merthyr performances would have been very welcome and probably needed.

As to the Temperance Hall, it served for many years as a theatre and cinema, known in more recent years as the Scala Cinema. It closed in the mid 1980s when it was converted into a snooker club.

The playbill for the Private Secretary is held at Glamorgan Archives, reference D452/1/30. It can be accessed on line at http://calmview.cardiff.gov.uk/.

This article is reproduced with the kind permission of the Glamorgan Archives. To view the original, please follow the link below.

The Private Secretary comes to Merthyr

Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society – History Day

The Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society is pleased to announce a history day on 7 March 2026. Please see the poster below for details.

Everyone is welcome, but places a limited so must be pre-booked.

Mary Baxter

by Alison Davies

As with most 18th and 19th century churchyards when carefully reading each surviving gravestone in Vaynor old churchyard, it sadly becomes clear that this peaceful, melancholy, sanctuary is made up of so many children’s graves, with often eight to ten children from one family buried in a single grave.

Then occasionally you come across a grave showing a life that spanned eight to ten decades, and Vaynor old church yard has its fair share of those lives that were ‘long lived’ too, with there being eight possibly nine centenarians buried here.

On the wall of the new church is a delicate, pretty and well carved headstone originally from the old churchyard, later fixed into the wall of the New Church.

It records Catherine and David Morgan of Rhymney. Catherine was buried on the 23rd of February 1794 aged 106. The stone tells that she was born in the third year of the reign of King James and lived under seven reigns!

Also buried in the old church yard is another centenarian Mary Baxter.

Mary was born in Pontsticill about 1803/04-ish and was the eldest of several daughters to John, an ironstone miner and his wife Jane Walters. When Mary was 11 the family moved to 8 Company Row, Pengarnddu Dowlais.

Mary spoke only in her native Welsh and Pengarnddu was a predominantly Welsh speaking community. She did not go to school and did not read or write, Instead from an early age of possibly 10 she worked on the top of Carno Pit. At the age of 24 Mary married collier John Baxter, they had 14 children, seven girls and seven boys.

Jenkin a traditional family name passed down through the Walters family was given to her son. Jenkin died in 1838 aged 15 months and was buried near the old church in Vaynor churchyard. As was common place during those days children were often called the name of their deceased sibling and often repeatedly, two further sons were given the name Jenkin, but sadly as was all too common neither survived and died 1842 age 15 months the other in 1846 age 1 month.

John, another family name was also the name of a further 3 sons two of whom also died in infancy, all the children were buried in the family grave in Vaynor.

Apart from a very short time staying at Pant Cad Ifor the couple lived at 8 Company Row for the rest of their lives. For Mary that was almost 90 years.

The couple were early members of the Mormon Church and their only surviving daughter eventually emigrated to America. Mary and John also hoped to one day follow but their dream was never realised.

John died in 1882 aged 72 and was buried at Vaynor. Mary continued to live at 8 company Row with her grandchildren .

In June 1905 The Weekly Mail interviewed Mary about her life and the photograph below was taken for the article. Mary was noted to have enjoyed having her photograph taken and recalled having her picture drawn as a young girl.

She also talked of remembering the battle of Waterloo and the Merthyr Riots although she was not ‘an eyewitness’. She also recalled a time when the Dowlais Inn was the only public house in the area and when ‘ Only a few people comprised of the population’.

In the autumn of 1905 Mary was taken up to Vaynor Churchyard to point out where she wanted her final resting spot . She was carried over the churchyard in a basket-carriage to where she pointed out the grave of her husband and several of their children.

Mary died on New Year’s Eve 1905 aged 101.

To see more of Alison’s fantastic research about Pontsarn and Vaynor, please follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/747174317220437