Tag: Merthyr Historian

Grand Easter Sale

The committee of the Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society have announced a massive Spring Sale on back-issues of the Merthyr Historian books. They are being offered for sale at £3.00 each or two for £5.00.

If anyone would like to purchase any of the these books, please contact me via the e-mail address shown to the right and I will pass on your orders to the Merthyr Historical Society.

Details of the issues available are as follows:-

VOLUME 15 (2003) 

1. Dr. Joseph Gross by Glanmor Williams
2. Attraction and Dispersal by John Wilkins
3. Mrs. Mary Ann Edmunds by Mary Patricia Jones
4. Bacon v Homfray by Eric Alexander
5. Cheshunt College, Hertfordshire by Barrie Jones
6. Striking Features: Robert Thompson Crawshay’s Large-Scale Portraits by Jane Fletcher
7. Margaret Stewart Taylor. A Notable Woman of Merthyr Tydfil by Carolyn Jacob
8. Iron Working in the Cynon Valley by Douglas Williams
9. Owain Glyn Dwr – After Six Hundred Years by Glanmor Williams
10. Merthyr Amateur Theatricals, 1860’s by H. W. Southey
11. Shon Llywelyn of Cwm Capel by Lyndon Harris
12. Hoover Transport, 1948-98 by Gwyn Harris M.M.
13. David Jones (1760-1842), Merthyr Clockmaker, Revisited by W. Linnard, D. Roy Sears & Chris Roberts
14. The English Bible by J. W. Bowen
15. He Came, He Saw, He Conquered Merthyr Commerce – Thomas Nibloe’s Story by T. F. Holley
16. Colour Supplement – Merthyr Buildings

 VOLUME 16 (2003) 

1. Joseph Parry’s Place in the Pantheon of Welsh Musicians by John Hywel
2. Joseph Parry – Musician and Christian by Dulais Rees
3. Joseph Parry’s Congregation by Brynley Roberts
4. The Family of Dr. Joseph Parry by Carl Llewellyn and Mansel Richards
5. Joseph Parry and the Family Historian by Carolyn Jacob
6. Joseph Parry, Mus. Doc., From Pit Boy to Professor by Thomas Hughes
7. Dr. Joseph Parry, Subject of an Essay in 1922 by David Morgans
8; 9 & 10. Obituaries of Dr. Parry
11. Jack Jones, C.B.E., Author and Playwright by Carl Llewellyn
12. Off to Philadelphia, 1865 by T. F. Holley
13. A Vanished Community by Wendy Bellany
14. Book Review. Wales, Clocks & Clockmakers by W. Linnard
15. Horses Down the Years, 1983 by Gladys Morgan
16. Dr. Daniel George Lewis, 1847-1902 by T. F. Holley
17. James Keir Hardie, M.P., on Robert Burns, 1903
18. Jubilee and Early History of the Merthyr Express, 1914
19. Book Review. The Journal of David Gibson, 1814-43 by Innes Macleod
20. Colour Supplement

 VOLUME 17 (2004) 

1. Pleasures & Pastimes in the 18th & 19th Century, Merthyr Tydfil by Geoffrey Evans
2. Celtic Connections: Early Quoiting in Merthyr Tydfil by Innes MacLeod
3. The Will of the Revd. William Price Lewis, 1839 by T. F. Holley
4. The Dic Penderyn Society and the Popular Memory of Richard Lewis by Viv Pugh
5. The Welsh Religious Revival, 1904-5 by Robert Pope
6. Reporting Revival by Neville Granville
7. A French View of Merthyr Tydfil and the Evan Roberts Revival by William Linnard
8. Songs of Praises: Hymns and Tunes of the Welsh Revival, 1904-5 by Noel Gibbard
9. Revival, Cwm Rhondda, 1905 by William Linnard
10. Diwygiad 1904-5. A Select Reading List by Brynley Roberts
11. Rosina Davies, 1863-1949. A Welsh Evangelist by Eira M Smith
12. Evan Roberts, the Welsh Revivalist by J. Ann Lewis
13. Evan Roberts at Heolgerrig, Merthyr, January 1905 – Transcribed
14. Sir Thomas Marchant Williams & the Revival – Transcribed
15. Potpourri, a Medley by The Editor
16. What Wales Needs – Religiously, 1907 by Evan Roberts
17. Joseph Williams, Printer. TYST A’R DYDD. 1903 by T. F. Holley
18. Dr. Thomas Rees (1825-1908), of Cefncoedycymer by John Mallon
19. Everest & Charles Bruce (1866-1939): The Welsh Connection by Huw Rees
20. The Lusitania Catastrophe and the Welsh Male Voice Choir by Carl Llewellyn
21. Merthyr Amateur Theatricals, 1860’s. Part Two by H. W. Southey
22. Books, Old and New. Short Reviews by The Editor
23. Night Mrs. Evans by Ken J. Mumford
24. Some Early History of Park Baptist Church, The Walk, Merthyr – Transcribed
25. Letter re: Wool Factory, Merthyr Tydfil

VOLUME 21 (2009)

1. Recollections of the Waite Family in the Merthyr Express by Carolyn Jacob
2. Merthyr’s Victorian Middle Class by Joe England
3. 1750’s Field Map of Gellideg Hamlet by Greg Buick
4. John Coke Fowler, 1815-1899, Merthyr Tydfil Stipendiary Magistrate, 1853-1872 by T. F. Holley
5. Dic Penderyn and the Socialist Tradition of 1831 by Viv Pugh
6. Svedenstiema’s Tour of Great Britain, 1802-03 – Transcribed
7. Farming in Merthyr Tydfil by Barrie Jones
8. Tom ‘Tiesen’s’ Life on the Buses of Merthyr Tydfil by Lisa Marie Powell
9. Characters Associated with Dowlais Silver Band by T. F. Holley
10. Evacuee Recollections by Bob Hyatt
11. Recollections of an Octogenarian, Merthyr Tydfil c. 1865 – Transcribed
12. Saunders Lewis, 1893-1985 by Margaret Lloyd
13. Ruth Rees, 1916, Merthyr Nonagenarian, lived in Merthyr Tydfil for 94 years – Transcribed
14. Journeying to Work by M. J. Jones
15. Parc Taf Bargoed, Then and Now by Karl Caiman Griffiths
16. A Biographical Sketch of John Thomas (1795-1871), Ieuan Ddu by Daniel Williams
17. Drawings by David Lewis Jones, Merthyr Tydfil Artist
18. Three black & white pictures
19. Celebration! – 200 Years of Steam Railways by Glyn Bowen
20. Trevithick 2004 Colour Photographs by Glyn Bowen
21. Interesting Book Plate. Tudor Crawshay

VOLUME 22 (2011)

  1. A Visit to Merthyr Tydfil in 1697 by Brynley F. Roberts
  2. A Pedestrian Tour Through Scotland in 1801: New Lanark before Robert Owen by Innes Macleod
  3. Note for Merthyr Historian by K. H. Edwards
  4. Charles Richardson White, Merthyr Vale by T. F. Holley
  5. Isaac John Williams, Curator by Scott Reid
  6. The Merthyr Historian. Some Statistics by J. D. Holley
  7. Thomas Evan Nicholas, 1879-1971 by Ivor Thomas Rees
  8. Eira Margaret Smith: A Personal Tribute by Huw Williams
  9. Saint Tydfil’s Hospital 1957. A House Physicians Recollections by Brian Loosmore
  10. John Devonald, 1863-1936. Aberfan Musician and Remembrancer of Musicians by T. F. Holley
  11. The Remarkable Berry Brothers by Joe England
  12. Albert de Ritzen: Merthyr Tydfil’s Stipendiary Magistrate 1872-1876 by Huw Williams
  13. A Scrap of Autobiography by Charles Wilkins, Annotated by His Great Grandson by John V. Wilkins, OBE
  14. Industrial History of Colliers Row Site and Environs by Royston Holder (the late)
  15. The Life of Maria Carini by Lisa Marie Powell
  16. Lecture by J. C. Fowler, Esq., Stipendiary Magistrate, 1872 ‘Civilisation in South Wales – Transcribed
  17. Gwyn Griffiths -‘The Author of our Anthem. Poems by Evan James’ – Book Review by Brian Davies
  18. Enid Guest – ‘Daughter of an Ironmaster’ by Mary Owen – Book Review by Ceinwen Statter
  19. Caepanttywyll – A Lost Community by Christopher Parry
  20. James Colquhoun Campbell (in four parts) – T. F. Holley

(A) The Social Condition of Merthyr Tydfil, 1849
(B) The Venerable Archdeacon Campbell, 1859, Biography
(C) St. David’s Church, Merthyr Tydfil, Visited, 1860
(D) J. C. Campbell and the Census Record, Research by Mrs. C. Jacob

  1. Interesting Book Plate

VOLUME 23 (2012)

  1. Vince Harris, 1904-1987 by Margaret Lloyd
  2. All Change for Plymouth: A Year in the Life of a Mining Engineer by Clive Thomas
  3. Who Was The Real Lydia Fell? by Christine Trevett
  4. Sewage Pollution of the Taff and the Merthyr Tydfil Local Board (1868-1871) by Leslie Rosenthal
  5. Redmond Coleman, the Iron Man from Iron Lane by Carolyn Jacob
  6. The Assimilation and Acculturation of the Descendants of Early 20th Century Spanish Industrial Immigrants to Merthyr by Stephen Murray
  7. David Williams, High Constable, Merthyr Tydfil 1878-1880 by T. F. Holley
  8. John Collins, V.C. by Malcolm Kenneth Payne
  9. Marvellous Merthyr Boy – Transcribed
  10. A Remarkable and Most Respected Enterprise, J. Howfield & Son, Merthyr Tydfil, 1872-2001 by Mary Owen
  11. The Uncrowned Iron King (The First William Crawshay) by J. D. Evans
  12. Watkin George 1759-1822, The Mechanical Genius of Cyfarthfa, The Pride of Pontypool by Wilf Owen
  13. Opencast History (Illustrated) by Royston Holder
  14. The Laundry Trade by T. F. Holley
  15. Grand Concert at the Oddfellows Hall, Dowlais – Transcribed
  16. Guidelines for Contributors – By courtesy of the Glamorgan History Society

VOLUME 24 (2012)

  1. Elphin, Literary Magistrate: Magisterial Commentator by Brynley Roberts
  2. Picturing ‘The Member For Humanity’. J. M. Staniforth’s Cartoons of Keir Hardie, 1894-1914 by Chris Williams
  3. William Morris, Yr Athraw and the ‘Blue Books’ by Huw Williams
  4. Hugh Watkins by Carl Llewellyn and J. Ann Lewis
  5. Gomer Thomas J.P. 1863-1935 by Wilf and Mary Owen
  6. Oddfellows and Chartists by Lyndon Harris
  7. John Roberts, Ieuan Gwyllt, Composer of Hymns by G. Parry Williams
  8. Georgetown? How Was It? By Clive Thomas
  9. Book Review: Bargoed and Gilfach – A Local History
  10. A History of Ynysgau Chapel by Steven Brewer
  11. ‘Mr Merthyr’ S.O. Davies 1886-1972 by Rev. Ivor Thomas Rees
  12. Historical Farms of Merthyr Tydfil by John Griffiths Reviewed by Keith Lewis-Jones
  13. National Service, Doctor With The Gurkhas by Brian Loosmoore
  14. A Year of Anniversaries: Reflections on Local History 1972-2012 by Huw Williams
  15. The Family of Dr. Thomas Rees, Revisited by John Mallon
  16. Merthyr District Coffee Tavern Movement, 1880 by T. F. Holley
  17. Henry Richard (1812-1888) – Apostle of Peace and Patriot by Gwyn Griffiths
  18. Owen Morgan – Miners’ Reporter by Brian Davies
  19. The Tredegar Riots of 1911 – Anti Liberalism ‘The Turbulent Years of 1910-1914’ by Lisa Marie Powell
  20. Adulum Chapel by Carl Llewellyn
  21. Cyfarthfa’s Curnow Vosper Archive by Gwyn Griffiths
  22. Whithorn Gas, 1870 by Innes Macleod
  23. A Journey from Merthyr to Sydney, A Talented Portrait Painter by Graham John Wilcox
  24. The Merthyr Bus Rallies by Glyn Bowen

Volume 25 (2013)

  1. The Merthyr Tydfil 1835 Election Revisited, Lady Charlotte Guest’s Account by E (Ted) Rowlands
  2. John Josiah Guest at Auction by Huw Williams
  3. Conway and Sons Dairies Ltd. – Some Notes by G. Conway
  4. John Petherick; Merthyr’s Man of Africa by John Fletcher
  5. Travels in the Valleys. Book Review by Glyn Bowen
  6. Plaques by John D. Holley
  7. William Thomas Lewis 1837-1914 by A Family Member
  8. Boom Towns by Brian Loosmore
  9. The Taff Valley Tornado 1913 by Stephen Brewer
  10. Plaques by John D. Holley
  11. From Mule Train to Diesel Lorries. The Dowlais Iron Company Connects the Coast by Wilf Owen
  12. Review CD. Some of the History of Merthyr Tudful and District via Its Place Names by John & Gwilym Griffiths by Keith Lewis-Jones
  13. Caedraw Primary School, 1875-1912 by Clive Thomas
  14. Charles Butt Stanton, 1873-1946 by Revd, Ivor Thomas Rees
  15. The Merthyr and Dowlais Steam Laundry Limited, 1891 by T. F. Holley
  16. Dynamism, Diligence, Energy and Wealth. Trade and Commerce in Merthyr Tydfil 1800-1914 by Mary Owen
  17. YMCA. Merthyr Tydfil Lecture 1861 by J. C. Fowler – Transcribed
  18. John Nixon and the Welsh Coal Trade to France by Brian Davies
  19. Tydfil School, Merthyr Tydfil, 1859-1873 by Evan Williams – Transcribed
  20. Gossiping in Merthyr Tydfil by Carolyn Jacob
  21. Penywern to Pontsarn. The Story of the Morlais Tunnel. The Writer’s Early Impressions by A. V. Phillips
  22. Short History of the Thomas-Merthyr Colliery Company. Merthyr Tydfil, 1906-1946 by Ronald Llewellyn Thomas – Transcribed
  23. Morien and Echos of Iolo Morgannwg by T. F. Holley
  24. Merthyr Tydfil’s Stipendiary Magistracy and Walter Meyrick North (1886-1900): A Case Study by Huw Williams

 Volume 26 (2014) 

  1. Three Generations of a Dowlais Medical Family 1860-1964 by Stuart Cresswell
  2. Viscount Tredegar, Balaclava Veteran, 1913 by T. F. Holley
  3. What Makes a Country Great? Lecture by Stipendiary Magistrate – J. C. Fowler – 1858
  4. Billy ‘The Doll’ Williams by Malcolm K. Payne
  5. Evan James, Dr. William Price and Iolo Morganwg’s Utopia by Brian Davies
  6. John A. Owen (1936-1998), Dowlais Historian: An Appreciation by Huw Williams
  7. Welsh Women and Liberation from Home: Feminist or Activist? By Lisa Marie Powell
  8. Gwilym Harry (1792-1844), Unitarian – Farmer – Poet by Lyndon Harris
  9. ‘Aunt’ Emma’s Ronnie by Clive Thomas
  10. Morgan Williams: Merthyr’s Forgotten Leader by Joe England
  11. Matthew Wayne (1780-1853) by Wilf Owen
  12. The Contribution of Hunting to the 19-14-18 War, 1914 by T. F. Holley
  13. The Difficulties of M.T.C.B.C.’s Financial Management and Administration, 1926-1937: Maladministration, Political Ideology or Economic Reality? By Barrie Jones
  14. The Rail Accident at Merthyr Station, 1874 by Stephen Brewer
  15. Courtland House, 1851 by Mary Owen
  16. Formation of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Brass Bands Association, 1891 by T. F. Holley
  17. Moses Jones (1819-1901) by Annette Barr
  18. Dr Richard Samuel Ryce, M.D. M.Ch.: An Irish Doctor by T. F. Holley
  19. Cwmtaf – A Drowning of the Valley and its Consequences by Gwyneth Evans
  20. A Professor Gwyn A. Williams Symposium
  21. Recollections of Professor Gwyn Williams, University of York, 1967-70 by Frances Finnegan
  22. Memories of Gwyn at York by Brian Davies
  23. Professor Gwyn Alf Williams. A Personal Remembrance by Viv Pugh
  24. Merthyr Tydfil at War, 1914 by Stephen Brewer
  25. Photo Feature – Archaeology by T. F. Holley 

Merthyr’s Bridges: The Iron Bridge

In our series looking at the bridges of Merthyr, we come to Merthyr’s most iconic bridge, and indeed one of Merthyr’s most iconic lost structures – the Old Iron Bridge.

Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

The Old Iron Bridge, or the Merthyr Bridge as it was originally called was commissioned by William Crawshay to replace a stone bridge that had been washed away by a flood. This act was not entirely altruistic on the part of Crawshay, as the only other bridge across the River Taff in town was Jackson’s Bridge, which had been built in 1793 by the Dowlais Iron Company.

Watkin George, the principal engineer at the Cyfarthfa Works was tasked with designing the new bridge, and he conceived a structure fabricated with cast iron sections. To span the River Taff, George had to design a bridge that would span between 65 to 70 feet from bank to bank, so single cast iron beams would be impractical, as they were limited to 20-25 feet in length due to the possibility of the iron failing due to the continuous traffic that would use the bridge.

He decided, therefore to build a structure comprising three separate sections between 22 and 24 feet long, the thickness of the iron being one and a quarter inches, and he constructed the bridge as a cantilever, with the two end sections mounted on buttresses built on the banks of the river with a convex central section fixed between them.

Work started on the bridge in the middle of 1799, and was completed by April the following year. The new bridge had an overall length of 64 feet, and was five feet wide.

The bridge was in constant use as the only bridge in the centre of Merthyr until a new bridge – the Ynysgau Bridge, also called the New Iron Bridge, was built next to it in 1880.

Ynysgau Bridge with the Old Iron Bridge behind it. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The amount of traffic using the bridge can be illustrated in the table below (originally from Merthyr Historian Vol 2, used with the kind permission of The Merthyr Historical Society). Following construction of the new bridge, The Old Iron Bridge was used primarily as a footbridge.

Courtesy of the Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society

In 1963, the bridge was dismantled as part of the refurbishment and ‘improvement’ of Merthyr. The remains of the bridge – indeed the vast majority of it, now lie gathering dust in a warehouse in Merthyr, and all attempts by local historical groups to have the bridge re-erected somewhere in the town (it can’t be re-erected in its former position as the river has been widened), have failed.

One of the most iconic views of old Merthyr – the Old Iron Bridge with Ynysgau Chapel. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

To read a fuller account of the history of the Old Iron Bridge, try to get hold of a copy of Volume 2 of the Merthyr Historian where you will find a marvellous article about the bridge by Leo Davies.

Josh Powell – A Tribute

In September this year, Merthyr lost one of its most esteemed historians, and indeed one of its best known and most respected citizens, when Josh Powell passed away at the age of 97. With the blessing of his family, and with thanks to his grandson David who provided the following narrative, I would like to pay tribute to this great man.

Josh was born on 1 May 1921 at Inspector’s House, Cwmbargoed to George and Selina Powell. His mother cared for her two younger sisters and brother, whilst his father was employed as a waterman by the Dowlais Iron Company.

Josh was named after his grandfather, Joshua Owens, a farm labourer who moved his family to Cwmbargoed from Gladestry in Radnorshire. Whilst many of the children in Cwmbargoed went down the Bogey Road to Twynyrodyn School, his house was to the north of the railway line and in the Dowlais ward, so he had to attend the famous Dowlais Central School.

In 1935, Josh passed his scholarship even though he had to miss some academic years due to ill health. He went on to study Latin, Welsh and chemistry. As he grew up and moved further up the school, examinations and reports became of vital importance but Josh still continued to play school rugby matches. In 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, he returned to sixth form to study Maths, Chemistry and Physics.

In 1940, Josh was called up for National Service before he could sit his Higher School Certificate exams. When he told his mother that he wanted to join the RAF, she was not willing. However, when he explained the alternatives, she reluctantly agreed and filled in the application form. He reported to RAF Uxbridge (No.1280653 AC2 J. Powell) in the May of that year.

He travelled with his friend Leslie Norris, from Merthyr Station to Uxbridge, but upon his transfer to RAF Norfolk, he caught Meningitis and was put under quarantine. Shortly after this illness, he was sent home back to Cwmbargoed on sick leave so he could rest.

Later, in 1941, Josh was transferred to Innsworth where he had to spend a lot of time in a tent (this put him off camping for the rest of his life!) Whilst he was there, he was able to go on weekend leaves and that’s when he met his future wife Nancy. On 2 January 1943, Josh and Nancy were married in Disgwylfa Chapel, Merthyr Vale. However, there was no honeymoon and they spent the weekend in Cwmbargoed before they travelled back to Gosport Camp where they lived in a haunted house. It was said that when Josh and Nancy left their house, the radio switched on and the doors swung open!

During this time, Josh became a Maths lecturer for airmen going to leave the RAF for new careers and completed his Inter BSC in Maths and Geography.

After his time in the RAF, Josh decided he wanted to embark upon a teaching career. He was demobbed on 9 April 1946; however, he wasn’t able to start Cardiff Teacher Training College until the September so he needed to find a job for five months. Josh joined a large gang of navvies digging and fitting trenches to connect the Bargoed gasworks to the ones at the bottom of Town and the Bont, due to lack of coal. Fortunately for Josh time flew by and as the front trench neared Cwmbargoed, he had finished work as a navvy and started college, to study Maths and Geography. When he passed his studies, he went on to work as a fully qualified teacher at a school in Nailsea as a Maths and Games teacher and then at Bromyard.

In 1953, Josh went to work at Troedyrhiw Secondary Modern as a Science teacher. He was more than pleased when he was allowed to take over the school soccer team, and he became chairman of the Merthyr League in 1957. His love for sport, and in particular school boy football, led him to become Secretary of Merthyr Schools FA in 1966; Chairman of Glamorgan Schools FA in 1971 and Chairman of Welsh Schools FA in 1973.

In 1967, Josh started teaching at the newly-opened Afon Taf School and whilst there he had set up a project to record the weather in Cwmbargoed for the MET Office. Every morning before breakfast and after school each evening, Josh recorded the wind, the cloud and the temperature in a log book. He was paid a small salary but the money didn’t matter to him, he wanted to get a record of the highest temperature. He absolutely loved recording the weather (Afon Taf even gave him a weather station, situated on the roof of the school!).

Afon Taf School Under 15s League and Keir Hardie Shield Winners 1967/68. Josh Powell is at the far left of the photo. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

In 1981, Josh retired from Afon Taf after 33 years of teaching and knew he had lots of time on his hands. During this time, Josh became secretary of Zion Welsh Baptist Church in Merthyr Tydfil, a church he was part of for 48 years. Josh visited so many chapels and churches in the borough, as a lay preacher, a member of the congregation and to talk at Prayer meetings and Sisterhood fellowship.

Josh’s love of the past led him to joining and becoming a founder member of the Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society and he wrote entries for the publication, Merthyr Historian, and published several books including: ‘Living in the Clouds’, ‘All Change’ and ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’.

Apart from all this, Josh cherished his family – six children, 13 grand-children and 10 great-grandchildren.

Josh was a font of knowledge, always willing to help anyone with his extensive knowledge of local history, and as Carolyn Jacob once remarked, no-one had a bad word to say about him. He will be sorely missed.

Merthyr Historian Volume 29

Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society are proud to announce the publication of the latest edition of the Merthyr Historian.

The contents of this volume are:-

Part 1 – 1918-2018:  Peace, War and Womanhood

  1. 1918 and Women’s Suffrage: Glimpses of The Merthyr Tydfil Region on the Road to the Vote – by Christine Trevett
  2. The Bereaved Mothers of Wales: Minnie James and the Temple of Peace and Health, Cardiff – by Peter Garwood
  3. ‘To Respect the Remembrance of her Children’: World War I Memorial at Tabernacl Welsh Independent Chapel, Perrott Street, Treharris by Eirlys Emery
  4. Finding Private Francis: A Piece of Glamorgan Family History by Mary Owen
  5. Sudden Death of Mr Henry Richard, M.P. (Transcription) by Steve Brewer

Part 2

  1. Libanus Chapel, Quakers Yard and the Birth of the Local Independent Cause) by Steve Brewer
  2. Dora Lipsett 1892-1982: From Russia’s Domain to Dowlais, Transcription and Postscript by Carl Llewellyn
  3. A Quaker Girlhood in Merthyr (1891-1913) and What She Didn’t Say by Christine Trevett
  4. The Troedyrhiw Gleemen by Carl Llewellyn
  5. Chinese Comedy at Merthyr 1906 and 1926, and the Kinds of People Who Performed by J.D., T.F. And V.A. Holley
  6. The Rise and Fall of Council Housing in Twentieth-Century Merthyr Tydfil by Daryl Leeworthy
  7. Farm Studies in Merthyr Tudful (With Particular Reference to Pen Y Lan) by John Griffiths
  8. Ars Gratia Artis: Popular Culture and the Making of Modern Merthyr Tydfil: Part Two by Huw Williams
The book will be launched at:-
Redhouse Cymru (Old Town Hall)
on 
26 November 2018
at 1.30pm

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 Historian Books

The Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society is pleased to announce that a number of back copies (as well as the current edition) of the Merthyr Historian series of books are still for sale.

The volumes that are available are:-

For details of the contents of all volumes of the Merthyr Historian, please download the PDF document at the link below:

www.mths.co.uk/pdfs/MerthyrHistorianContents.pdf

Each book is individually priced as shown, and the cost of postage and packing (UK) is £2.90.

If anyone is interested in buying a copy of any of the books, please get in touch via the email at the top right of the blog, and I will pass all orders on to the Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society.

Merthyr Historian vol. 28

The Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society are pleased to announce the publication of volume 28 of the Merthyr Historian.

The book will be officially launched on 11 December 2017 at The Redhouse (the Old Town Hall) in Y Faenor Room (The Gallery) at 2.30pm.
Details of the latest volume are below.
Volume 28
Christine Trevett & Huw Williams, Editors
Published 2017 – ISBN 978-0-9929810-2-0
Contents:
An Editorial Statement
1. Ars Gratia Artis: Popular Culture and the Making of Modern Merthyr Tydfil by Huw Williams
2. Rediscovering J.O. Francis (1882-1956) The Distinguished Merthyr-born Playwright by Mary Owen
3. Pilgrimage of a Vagabond: The Harry H. W. Southey Story by Christopher Parry
4. More Than Just a Bed-cover, More Than Just a Dress by Christine Trevett
5. Disestablishment of the Church in Wales: An Anniversary by David Lee
6. Isaac Craigfryn Hughes of Quakers Yard: Colliery, Culture and the Common Man by Christine Trevett
7. William Warde Fowler: From Gwaelod y Garth House to Ancient Rome by Christine Trevett
8. The Royal Crescent Allotments 1917-2017 by Hywel Mathews
9. George Jones (Talfyrydd): A Forgotten Local Historian by Brynley Roberts
10. The Taff in Poetry and Paint: An Appreciation of “A Fold in the River by Philip Gross and Valerie Coffin Price” by the Editors
11. Biography of Contributors

Railway Accident at Merthyr Station

143 years ago today, on the afternoon of Saturday 16 May 1874, a scheduled passenger train left Brecon for Merthyr at 1.50pm, and following a few unavoidable delays arrived just after 3.25pm, eight minutes late, at the Great Western Railway Station at Merthyr Tydfil. The train was just reaching the end of the inner platform when it was hit by great force from behind by twenty-one fully-laden coal trucks.

At approximately 3.00pm that afternoon, a coal train of twenty-four fully-laden trucks had left the same platform at the Station heading for Swansea. At that time it was the policy of the Great Western Railway Company to work mineral trains going up the incline to the Aberdare Tunnel with an extra engine at the rear or at the front of the train to help propel the train up the incline. On this day, the train that had left Merthyr station was in one of these latter configurations.

On such occasions, it was the duty of the guards to be at separate positions at each end of the train to help operate the brakes with the brake-man. For some reason, the guard on this particular train was travelling with his colleague in the engine at the front, leaving the brake-man alone in the rear van. Shortly after the train had entered the Aberdare Tunnel, a coupling somewhere near the front of the train broke. The guards were alerted to this by the fact that the front part of the train suddenly accelerated. Having brought the train to a standstill the guards ran back along the track to find that more than half the train – twenty-one trucks in all had become detached from the train and had run back along the line on which they had just travelled. Between the Great Western Station and the Aberdare Tunnel, the railway line rises over three-quarters of a mile in a series of inclines ranging between 1 in 45 and 1 in 70 gradients, so this, coupled with the weight of the loads being carried, meant that the runaway trucks were accelerating the whole time along the track. The train was travelling at such a speed that the signalman at the Cyfarthfa Crossing and another signalman at the Rhydycar Junction, just half a mile from the station, were powerless to do anything to stop the train’s progress or to warn those at the Great Western Station.

Within minutes the trucks hit the passenger train. It is estimated that they were, by this time, travelling in excess of 40 miles an hour. They hit the passenger train with a force of approximately 300 tons of deadweight travelling at a mile a minute, and the sound of the crash was heard over a 300 yard radius. The force of the impact smashed the passenger coaches and forced the locomotive engine ‘The Elephant’ through the buffers at the end of the track, across the platform at the end of it, through the front of the station and into the road beyond before finally crashing into the high retaining wall at John Street, penetrating the wall to a depth of about four feet and damaging the foundations of the Grosvenor Hotel in John Street.

The first carriage on the train, immediately behind the engine tender, took the main force of the concussion that travelled along the train, and it was reduced to splinters, the only portion left for identification being the framework which was embedded beneath the guard’s van. Fortunately there were no passengers in this carriage – it is obvious that if there had been anyone in the carriage they would have been killed outright. Next was a composite (a mixed first and second class) carriage which came to rest on top of the guard’s van, amazingly the only damage this carriage sustained was broken windows and doors, and passengers in this carriage sustained only minor injuries, two further third-class carriages followed this, but the final third-class carriage which took the main brunt of the collision was almost totally demolished. It was in this carriage that most of the injuries occurred.

In all 52 people were badly injured, most people suffering from fractures and cuts and bruises. A large number of people also suffered from the effects of shock. The most serious injuries were sustained by the recently married Mrs Stephens of Pontypridd who suffered serious fractures to both legs, resulting in them both being amputated below the knee.

Miss Sarah Davies of Coed-cae Court, Twynyrodyn, also sustained fractures to both legs and needed one of her legs amputated below the knee. Mrs Elizabeth Morgan, aged 30, of Cefn Coed, also had both legs fractured and needed one leg amputated below the knee. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the doctors, Mrs Morgan’s injuries were far worse than originally thought, and she died of her injuries a week after the accident. It is miraculous that this was the only fatality. The driver of the train, David Humphreys, along with the stoker and the guard, managed to jump from the engine just as it crashed through the end of the station and sustained only minor injuries.

An artist’s impression of the crash from 1874

If you want to find out more, a fuller account of the crash appears in Merthyr Historian volume 26.

The Gruesome Ghosts of Ynysfach – a special Halloween Tale

by Carolyn Jacob

Many tragically lost their lives while working in the Ynysfach Blast Furnaces, but a greater number died sheltering in the old Ironworks here.

In February 1866 the Merthyr Express had the following story entitled:- Two More Men Suffocated At Cyfarthfa – describing the blackened and shrivelled corpses of two men found in the Ynysfach Works. The men were probably drunk when they crept into a warm place near the boilers. They suffocated by inhaling the carbonic acid gas and then when steam was got up they were literally roasted.

Again on 23 July 1870 the headline was:- Shocking Death of Two Miners. On Monday morning when the engineer at the Ynysfach Works was going his rounds to examine the boilers, he saw two men lying in one of the gas-holes. They were perfectly roasted, and probably did not survive long after entering the place of their doom. They came from Aberdare on Saturday night, no doubt for the purpose of a spree, ‘as they were seen in China’ late on Sunday night, and having spent all their money, were glad to get a lay down anywhere. The mystery is how they got into the works, as they are surrounded by a wall several feet high. In June 1874 there was a shocking accident which resulted in the immediate death of two men and the burning of two others so severely that they were not expected to live.

At the beginning of the Twentieth century the homeless, destitute and generally disreputable elements of the town of Merthyr Tydfil made their home in the Ynysfach Coke Ovens. This was their refuge but many died here too. After the Ynysfach Works closed in 1879 this area became infamous as a ‘den of debauchery’ where the ‘wild-ones’ of Merthyr Tydfil slept rough. The police steered well clear of the place and the first Chief Constable in 1908 suggested that dynamiting this whole area would help in the ‘cleaning up’ of the town. In 1900 it was reported that as many as 50 persons were to be found living around the Coke Ovens, and fatalities were common.

Ynysfach was also the main stomping ground of Redmond Coleman, the Merthyr Tydfil legend, who would fight anyone, anywhere, anytime. It was here that Redmond had his legendary fight with Tommy Lyons one Saturday night. The ‘battle’ was reputed to have lasted over three hours. If there was a grudge to be settled then the Ynysfach Coke Ovens were the place to fight it out. There are many stories, such as the time he and Danny Hegarty punched themselves into a state of exhaustion until they lay side by side on the Coke Ovens gasping curses at each other. Redmond Coleman is reputed to have said that he would never leave Merthyr but always haunt the Coke Ovens.

However, the White Lady of Ynysfach is the best known of all the various ghosts of Ynysfach. The Merthyr Historian Volume Eight contains the story of the Ynysfach Murder by Eira Smith, and establishes the notoriety of the area around the Iron Bridge and Ynysfach. The police regarded the area as being a den of thieves, robbers and prostitutes. Such an ‘unfortunate’ was Mary Ann Rees, who was murdered by her younger lover. In 1908 after plying her trade in the town, Mary then returned to her friends by the Coke Ovens with food and drink. However, after eating his fill, her younger boyfriend, William Foy, decided to go into town by himself and, suspecting that he was chasing after a younger woman, Mary ran after him. She was later found down a disused furnace with her neck broken.

mary-ann-rees
Mary Ann Rees

Did her boyfriend deliberately push her down the disused furnace or did she just accidently fall with or without a quick push?  The local police claimed that when they came across Foy he was in a distressed state and told them that he had committed a murder and killed Mary Ann.

In May 1909 William Foy was hung in Swansea gaol for her murder. He wrote a moving letter from prison begging for forgiveness. It is still said today that Mary Ann Rees is the White Lady of Ynysfach who haunts the area around Merthyr College. There have been a number of sightings of the White Lady and there are some who strongly believe in her existence. She is imagined as a sad lady in a long white dress, but there are no stories of her causing any harm to any human being.

In the late 1980s the caretaker of Merthyr College looked back at the building from the car park after locking up and saw a distressed lady looking out of the window. He rushed back thinking she must be very anxious after being locked in an empty building and re-entered the building. However, although he searched and searched this white faced, worried looking lady was never found and did not seem to have existed. The volunteers of the Engine House have come across a number of strange incidents, especially in the basement area, where a vague female figure has been seen or someone pushing past them has been sensed or felt. Paranormal investigator Colin Hyde claims to have questioned her and discovered that she thinks that her death had accidental causes. Mary Ann Rees is therefore a sad figure, who has no thought of exacting any form of revenge.

Many thanks to Carolyn Jacob for the above article.