Merthyr’s Ironmasters: Samuel Homfray

Following on from the previous article, here is a bit more about Samuel Homfray in the first instalment of another new (hopefully) regular feature.

Samuel Homfray with Penydarren Ironworks in the background

Samuel Homfray was born in 1762, the fifth son of Francis Homfray and his second wife Jane. Francis Homfray (1725-1798) had been born into a successful industrial family, his father (also called Francis) had made his fortune in the iron industry at Coalbrookdale in Staffordshire. In 1749 Francis Homfray and Richard Jordan, also of Staffordshire, leased a water corn grist mill called Velin Griffith and a forge in the parish of Whitchurch, and in September 1782, he approached Anthony Bacon, owner of Cyfarthfa Ironworks, and leased the cannon foundry at the works to manufacture weapons and ammunitions.

In 1784 Homfray complained that he was not receiving sufficient metal and tapped Bacon’s furnace at Cyfarthfa. Francis Homfray worked the forge and mill until March 1786. However, after a disagreement with Bacon over the supply of iron, he gave up the lease of the Cyfarthfa property.

Francis encouraged two of his sons – Samuel and his older brother Jeremiah to lease land at Penydarren, next to the Morlais Brook and build an ironworks. After years of fierce competition with the Dowlais and Cyfarthfa Ironworks, they began to prosper. Samuel took over as proprietor of the Penydarren works, while Jeremiah moved to Ebbw Vale.

Penydarren Ironworks

Samuel was one of the chief promoters of the Glamorganshire Canal, which opened in 1795 and cost £103,000, of which he subscribed £40,000 and which enabled the transporting of heavy manufactured iron to Cardiff docks. In 1804 Samuel won a 1000 guineas wager with Richard Crawshay as to which of them could first build a steam locomotive for use in their works. Homfray employed Richard Trevithick for this purpose and his locomotive won the bet, hauling five wagons, carrying ten tons of iron and seventy men, at a speed of five miles an hour.

In 1800, Samuel married Jane Morgan, daughter of Sir Charles Gould Morgan, 1st Baronet of Tredegar House, and thus obtained a favorable lease of mineral land at Tredegar, where he established the Tredegar Ironworks.

In 1813 he left the Penydarren Iron Company to concentrate his resources on developing the Tredegar Ironworks. Handicapped at Penydarren by a shortage of coal on the property, he faced no such problems when he built his new works. By 1823 Tredegar had five furnaces in blast, producing over 16,000 tons of iron each year.

Homfray’s connection with Penydarren was re-established in 1817 when his daughter Amelia married one of the works’ new owners, William Thompson.

In 1813 he was appointed High Sheriff of Monmouthshire and, having unsuccessfully standing as a candidate for a seat in Parliament for Brecknock in 1806, he was elected as Member of Parliament for the Borough of Stafford in 1818.

He relinquished his seat two years later, and he died on 22 May 1822 in London and was buried at Bassaleg.

Merthyr’s Lost Landmarks: Penydarren House

In the very first volume of the Merthyr Historian, published in 1976, the eminent local historian Margaret Stewart Taylor wrote an article entitled ‘The Big Houses of Merthyr Tydfil’. One of the houses she mentions is Penydarren House.

That excerpt is transcribed below, with the kind permission of Dr Fred Holley, President of the Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society.

Penydarren Place, or as it was also called, Penydarren House, was the first luxurious house in Merthyr and I imagine it must have been a status symbol, something that made younger men envious. The Penydarren House we knew, that was pulled down about ten years ago, had been divided into two, Penydarren House and Penydarren Place, but the rooms inside were off fine proportions and showed what a grand mansion it was originally. It was built about 1786 by Samuel Homfray, joint owner of the Penydarren Iron Works with his brother Jeremiah. The two were sons of a Staffordshire ironmaster, Francis Homfray. He started the Penydarren Ironworks and besides three sons, also had two daughters who married Crawshays.

Elizabeth Homfray was the wife of the William Crawshay who built the Castle in 1813, when her brother’s grand house was in its glory. There is a description of Penydarren Place by J. G. Wood in that year:-

“The splendid Mansion of Mr. S. Homfray at Penydarren- situated upon a gentle declivity – is sufficiently removed from the town by the extent of the pleasure grounds, and contains all the conveniences and luxuries requisite for a family of wealth and importance. The gardens, which at first wore the appearance of sterility and barre­ness are now abundantly productive. The hot-houses, grape-houses, etc., furnish their respective fruits in profusion; and walks laid out with taste and judgement present several points from whence the silver Taff may be seen to great advantage.”

Penydarren House

Samuel  Homfray is said to have entertained lavishly until he left Merthyr after becoming High Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1813. He also owned the Tredegar Ironworks. He went to reside at Bassaleg, and became a Member of Parliament, while Penydarren House was inhabited by William Forman,  who had put a great deal of money into the Works and was one of the owners. Forman was an ordnance agent at the Tower of London, then headquarters of a government arsenal, and he was known in the City of London by the nickname of ‘Billy Ready Money’, owing to his wealth and readiness to finance speculative ven­tures. A smaller house, Gwaelodygarth Fach, later known as the Cottage, and only demolished after the war, was built at the top of what is now The Grove for one of his sons, Edward. This Edward Forman was an enthusiastic swimmer and intended to have a swimming pool in the grounds, but before it was dug, he went, as he often did, to swim in the Blue Pool, Pontsarn, had an accident there, and was drowned in 1822. The name Forman survives in Forman Place, near Garth Villas.

Penydarren House was demolished in 1957.

Detail from an 1875 map showing Penydarren House

Margaret Taylor Stewart’s full article can be read in Volume 1 of the Merthyr Historian.

Merthyr’s Bridges: Rhydycar Canal Bridge

One of Merthyr’s most distinctive, yet overlooked bridges is the Rhydycar Canal Bridge.

Rhydycar Canal Bridge in the early 1900’s. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The Rhydycar Canal Bridge, or more precisely, the Vale of Neath Railway Bridge, was built in approximately 1850 to carry the Vale of Neath Railway over the Glamorganshire Canal. The Canal was the prime artery of trade linking the ironworks of Merthyr Tydfil with their markets via the port of Cardiff throughout the heyday of the iron industry, from the late 18th Century to the mid 19th Century. Construction of the Canal began at Merthyr in 1790, and it was opened in 1794. It was financed primarily by iron industry interests, among whom the Crawshay family of Cyfarthfa Ironworks were the leading shareholders.

With the growth of the railway industry, the importance of the canal began to wane as several companies brought lines into Merthyr. The Vale of Neath Railway Company built a line from Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare to Neath, chiefly to transport the products of the Merthyr iron industries to the port at Swansea. The line opened in 1851, and at Rhydycar, the two transport hubs intersected with the railway bridge over the canal.

The bridge, which was built on the site of an earlier bridge, is built of coursed rubble sandstone and brick. It is built on the skew, and comprises three arches. The central arch, which spanned the canal, is elliptical with a 5.5 metre span, and a height of 6.7 metres at its apex. This arch is flanked by two smaller arches which accommodated the towpath of the canal. There are also three access arches in each pier of the main arch, leading to the towpaths.

Following the closure of the railway, the bridge gradually fell in to disrepair. In 2009, it was announced that by Merthyr Council that the bridge would be repaired and renovated. The work was intended stabilise a large vertical crack and stonework. They also intended to return it to its historic setting in the canal basin by excavating an area to reveal the buried canal profile and repairing and reinstating the canal walls. However, these plans never came to fruition.

The bridge is now scheduled as a GradeII listed building as a now rare example of one of the early bridges on the important Glamorganshire Canal.

The bridge in the 1970’s

Maggie Davies – Eos Fach

Today marks the 93rd anniversary of the death of one of Merthyr’s greatest musical talents – Maggie Davies. Nowadays, however, she is almost totally forgotten.

Maggie Davies

Maggie Davies was born in Broad Street, Dowlais in November 1865. Her father, Evan, was a puddler at the Dowlais Works, and both he and his wife, Mary, were staunch members of Bethania Chapel, where Evan was a deacon. It was at Bethania Chapel that the young Maggie got her first rudimentary musical training, and was soon considered to be a prodigy, and her musical talents were often called upon around Dowlais.

After performing for two years with Brogden’s Swiss Choir, a famous touring group, Maggie returned to Merthyr for formal musical training with Edward Lawrence, the organist at St David’s Church. Under Lawrence’s tutelage, Maggie won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London. Before, her departure, the people of Dowlais organised a grand concert held at the Oddfellows Hall in her honour to raise money to help with her expenses.

At the Royal College of Music, she studied with Sir Hubert Parry and Sir Walter Parratt, and she also spent a season in Paris, studying with the world-renowned soprano Pauline Viardot. Such was Maggie’s talent and promise that the scholarship, which had been for a period of three years, was extended for a further three years, an unprecedented occurrence in that period.

Although she appeared for a season with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, it was as a concert singer that she made her name. She appeared regularly all over Britain, and sang annually at the National Eisteddfod, and it was here that she was christened ‘Eos Fach’ – Little Nightingale.

In 1896, the prominent composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford asked Maggie to sing the lead role in the premiere of his new opera ‘Shamus O’Brien’, a role he had written specifically for her. At first she was reluctant to accept the offer, as she did not want to return to the operatic stage, much preferring her career as a concert and oratorio singer. She was finally persuaded to perform the role by the composer, and she received excellent reviews in most of the newspapers and periodicals of the time.

Although she occasionally performed in opera productions, notably in Joseph Parry’s operas ‘Blodwen’ and ‘Arianwen’ in Cardiff, she continued to confine her career mostly to the concert platform, and took part in concert tours to America and South Africa.

In 1903, she married George W Hutcheson, a Scottish solicitor residing in London, and retired from the concert stage.

By the 1920’s, ill-health had begun to take its toll on Maggie, and in 1925 she embarked on a voyage to the West Indies with a view to improving her health. Upon her return, however, her condition had worsened and she was admitted to a nursing home, where she died on 1 July 1925. In her funeral, the Rev H Elvet Lewis, in his prayer, referred to “the use the Creator had made of the gifts of her great art, which had brought joy to so many during her time”.

Historians wanted

I hope you are enjoying reading this blog as much as I am compiling it.

Yet again, I would like to say – if anyone has anything they would like to add to the blog, please send an e-mail to the address shown at the right. Whether you are an established historian or just a budding historian, and you would like to contribute – please get in touch.

I have had some excellent contributions from several people, but I am always on the look out for new contributors. I am sure there are people out there who have thought “Why hasn’t he covered that?” Now is your chance to write about something that you feel should be covered. If it is Merthyr related I will be glad to hear from you.

An International Drama Queen – Rose Marie Stephens

by Irene Janes

On 7 February, 1928, Rose Marie Stephens danced her way into the world. At school she was given the much-loved nickname Steve.

Even before she attended Cyfarthfa Grammar School, she immersed herself in her love of music and ballet. As a qualified State Registered Nurse, Rose Marie worked for several years in Merthyr at the General Hospital.  1951 saw her marry Vivian Evans from Rhydycar. The next eight years they lived in Oxford, Cuckfield and London and it was in that city her passion for the arts were rekindled. Nevertheless, even the capital could not hold on to her talent, and after the birth of their two children, Sheridan and Christopher, offers for Rose Marie and her husband Vivian led them to a four year stint in New Zealand (where their third child Sian was born). They set off to show the world ‘Merthyr’s got talent’ (sorry could not resist).

The Massey University benefitted from her talents as a choreographer and director; this gave her significant experience with several theatre and ballet companies. She also ventured into the world of radio as an (unseen of course) actress and radio presenter. However, those dancing feet would not rest and so in 1964 they took the family to Fiji.

At Fiji and the Suva University, Rose-Marie again worked as a choreographer and director. Her new home encouraged her to open her first ballet school, which continued under her name for many years after she had left. So where does she take us now?

Australia, to be precise, and the Western Australian Ballet Company as a choreographer, director, radio actress and presenter, whilst incorporating prominent theatre rolls from Shakespeare to modern musicals.

Rose Mary often returned briefly to Merthyr, but in 1969  another opportunity beckoned with a contract with the National Theatre Company, and so the family returned to Australia where she performed with the West Australian Ballet Company. Here she opened her own contemporary dance school and helped Rudolph Nureyev on his Australian touring production. Performances with the Western Australian Ballet School gave her prominent standing amongst the ballet community. Twice she won the Australia Best Actress Award judged by her peers and critics in 1969 and 1979. Her talent was noticed in Japan and they offered her an acting contract there, but family matters took over and she had to decline.

A number of her students went on to become prominent television and stage actors. One of them is Paul Mercuiro who is regarded as Australia’s greatest dancer who played, or should I say danced, the part of Scott Hastings in the cult film ‘Strictly Ballroom’.

However never one to give in Rose Marie created a theatre and arts department at Perth High School in the late 1980’s. It closed in 2006, but luckily it is due to be reopened in the same location. Her former students are lobbying the education department to have the arts wing to named after her.

Aged 50, Rose Marie pushed on and returned to full time study gaining a degree in teaching while working as a university lecturer. She was assigned a task of developing a Theatre Arts department at one of Western Australians most pre-eminent schools, City Beach Senior High School.

In the mid 1990’s she returned to the U.K. to settle with her daughter Sian. Although thousands of miles between them, Rose Marie and many of her students kept in touch, and she followed their achievements. Rose Marie died on 10 January 2017 and to the end she always liked being known as Steve Evans perhaps this is why combined with her travel lust, Merthyr lost sight of this talented shining star.

Rose Marie Stephens with a young pupil