Temperance Hall – Page 2 – The Melting Pot – Merthyr Tydfil's History and Culture

Thomas Stephens – part 1

by Dr Marion Löffler

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Stephens, the famous historian and social reformer who although not born here, spent the majority of his life in Merthyr. To mark the occasion, I have been given permission to use this article which appears in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Thomas Stephens was born on 21 April 1821 at Tan-y-gyrchen (also known as Tŷ-to-cam, i.e. the house with the crooked roof), in Pontneddfechan, Glamorganshire, the son of Evan Stephens, a well-known boot-maker, and his wife Rachel, the daughter of William Williams (Wil y Gweydd, 1778-1834), a weaver and the Unitarian minister of Blaen-gwrach chapel. Among those who influenced Stephens in his youth were Maria Jane Williams and the Quaker Thomas Redwood (author of The Vale of Glamorgan. Scenes and Tales among the Welsh). Having first attended an elementary school ‘located in a barn’ near Cefn Rhigos, Stephens spent about three years at the Unitarian school founded by David Davis (1745-1827), which during his time there was under the care of John Davies, the former minister of Capelygroes in Ceredigion.

In October 1835, Stephens was apprenticed to David Morgan, a Merthyr Tydfil pharmacist, on whose death in 1841 he took over the business at 113 High Street, which remained his main source of income throughout his life. In 1866, Stephens married Margaret Elizabeth Davies, a descendant of a well-known family of Unitarians from Penrheolgerrig (see Morgan Williams, 1808-1883) in Llangollen Parish Church. Her brother Richard conducted most of the business after Stephens suffered a first stroke in 1868.

Thomas Stephens’s main contributions to the shaping of modern Wales are his efforts as a member of Merthyr Tydfil’s middle class to transform it from an industrial village to an urban community endowed with modern civic institutions; his tireless work on modernizing all aspects of Welsh culture, particularly the eisteddfod, education and Welsh orthography; and his pioneering works of scholarship, especially in history.

As a Unitarian, Thomas Stephens believed in the ability of individuals and society to improve their condition through education and by pursuing rational pastimes. All his work is to be viewed against this religious background. He first put his beliefs into practice by co-founding a public library in Merthyr Tydfil in 1846, for which he acted as secretary until his health failed in 1870, organizing and delivering educational lectures. In this, as in other undertakings, he received the support of Lady Charlotte Guest and Sir John Josiah Guest.

Stephens was one of the campaigners for the desperately needed Board of Health in Merthyr Tydfil in the 1850s, took a leading role in the planning of its Temperance Hall, which would provide rational pastimes for the working classes, and campaigned tirelessly for the Incorporation of the town.

The Temperance Hall. Photo courtesy of the Alan George archive.

He acted as an intermediary between iron masters and workers on more than one occasion. In 1853 it was he who chaired a mass meeting of over 3,000 people, called to achieve an end to long strike action. For the widows and children of the men killed at an explosion at the Crawshay Gethin Pit No. 2 in 1862, he instigated a relief fund, and collected and distributed money until the day before he died. He was a close friend of and political campaigner for H. A. Bruce, Lord Aberdare, Liberal MP for Merthyr Tydfil between 1852 and 1868, and served as High Constable of Merthyr in 1858.

Thomas Stephens’s talent and style as a social critic and reformer with a penchant for acerbic prose first showed itself in a series of letters to The Cambrian in 1842-3, in which he harshly criticized the romantic nature of the eisteddfod. In 1847, and reacting to the publication of the Blue Books , he took a leading part in the controversy over voluntaryism versus the acceptance of governmental grants for educational purposes which was acted out in the Monmouthshire Merlin . He was one of the very few who gave voice to the unpopular view that ‘voluntary exertions would be insufficient to provide education for the very large number of children who now remain uneducated’. For this, he was denounced by representatives of Church and Chapel alike as ‘a maniac and a liar’.

To read the original article, please follow:
https://biography.wales/article/s11-STEP-THO-1821

To be continued……

Feeding the Hungry

The article transcribed below appeared in the Merthyr Times 125 years ago today…

FEEDING THE HUNGRY

A CHRISTMAS APPEAL

The Christmas breakfast to the children attending the Abermorlais Undenominational Ragged School is one of the recognised annual events of Merthyr. This school, as our readers are aware, has been in existence for about seventeen years, and is undoubtedly doing excellent work among the poorer classes of Merthyr children. From four to five hundred little ones from the slums and rookeries of the town attend the school every Sunday afternoon, and the principles of religion are instilled into their young minds by a band of zealous and enthusiastic teachers. The attendance has recently increased, a fact which speaks very highly of the energy and devotion with which the school is conducted.

On Christmas morning it is proposed to give a free breakfast to 500 children at Abermorlais. This, of course, will entail a heavy expenditure, and the friends in charge of the school very respectfully appeal to the public for their generous assistance. Gifts in money or in kind will be gratefully received. The breakfast will consist of tea and coffee, cake, bread and butter, etc. This over, there will be a short service of hymns and recitations, after which fruits and toys will be distributed to the children. It will thus be seen that the requirements of the organisers are many and varied. They want tea and coffee, cake, bread, butter, fruits, and toys. We feel sure their appeal for these things will not be in vain. Those for whom it is not convenient to send gifts in kind will be at liberty to forward money, and the more the merrier. Clothing of any and every description will also he accepted and distributed to the children.

On Sunday evening next, at the Temperance Hall Mission Service, the Abermorlais children will take the musical portion of the proceedings. Here is an opportunity for the Merthyr people to have a look at these children, and see and hear what they are taught to do at the Ragged School. It will give them some idea of the splendid work carried on at Abermorlais Sunday after Sunday all the year round.

In thus appealing to the public for support, it is needless to plead the worthiness of the cause. All will readily admit that it as excellent thing to render Christmas a bright and cheerful day for these little children, whose lives know scarcely aught but grinding poverty, misery, and destitution. The Abermorlais breakfast will be to them an event to be eagerly looked forward to; perhaps it will be the only cheerful breakfast they have had for months; many of the children, without it, would very likely have to spend a breakfastless Christmas Day. To make one day of their little lives happy and pleasant is surely an act of kindness, and the public will doubtless show their sympathy in a practical manner.

All gifts and subscriptions to be forwarded to Mr. John Morgan, Waterloo Chambers, or Mr. W. Williams, Grosvenor Temperance Hotel.

Merthyr Times – 19 December 1895

I remember that….

In the start of what I hope to be a new series, I have made a list of five things….places, occasions, feelings etc. in Merthyr that I remember from my childhood (I have mentioned several other memories such as hot chocolate in Ferrari’s Café in Dowlais – undoubtedly the best memory elsewhere).

The strange multicoloured polygonal playing frame in the precinct. Whatever happened to that?

St Tydfil’s Shopping Centre in the 1970s. The climbing frame is towards the top centre.

Queuing as far as Burtons to go and see the first Star Wars film at the Scala (Temperance Hall)…..I was only 8 at the time, and I made my aunty take me to see it six times – I don’t think she ever forgave me.

In connection to the above, collecting the plastic Star Wars figures. I remember buying them from a shop in the High Street called ‘Cards and Gifts’ (or something like that) – if I remember correctly one of the few places you could get them, and then being totally bereft when the building burnt down. My cousin and I would play for hours with the figures, re-arranging all of my parents’ house plants into various jungle ‘scenes’.

Spending hours playing on the old coal-tips in Abercanaid (by this time grass-covered), and being traumatised when the powers that be took them away (not to mention my grandfather’s garden – a fact he bemoaned until his dying day), to build the extension to the Hoover Factory, and new road into Abercanaid.

Being told never to use the subway under the road in Caedraw…..but being daring, and doing it anyway with the other local children, and being scared to death.

Caedraw in the 1970s. The subway can be seen at the bottom of the picture at the end of the bridge.

Now it’s your turn. What do you remember from your childhood?

Let’s try to make this a successful feature – send me an e-mail at merthyr.history@gmail.com and share your five Merthyr-related childhood memories.

The Temperance Hall

Most of us have passed, or even visited the Temperance Hall (or the Scala to those of you who were born after the 1960’s), but how many of you realise that it was in fact Merthyr’s first purposely built public meeting place?

The Temperance Hall was built by the Merthyr Temperance Society as somewhere to provide “instruction and amusement for the masses of the people”. The Temperance Movement began in the 1830’s. At first temperance usually involved a promise not to drink spirits and members continued to consume wine and beer. However, by the 1840s temperance societies began advocating teetotalism. This was a much stronger position as it not only included a pledge to abstain from all alcohol for life but also a promise not to provide it to others.

The Temperance Hall was opened in September 1852 by Henry Bruce, the M.P. for Merthyr. The original building measured approximately 80 foot by 40 foot, with a 12 foot wide platform, with a capacity of between 100 – 150 people.

In 1873, the Hall underwent major enlargement, was said to hold up to 4,000 people. For the next 20 years the Hall was the main theatre in Merthyr, mostly seeing off competition that came and went, from the Drill Hall, the short-lived Park Theatre and the many visiting portable theatres. Performances at the Temperance Hall ranged from musicals like “Les Cloches de Corneville” and the marionette spectacular “Bluebeard”, to performances of plays by Shakespeare and other leading dramatists.

As well these, the Hall was also used to host lectures and also religious and political meetings. One of the most famous of these was the meeting held in 1872 by Rose Mary Crawshay, one of the leaders of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the late 1800’s, which led to a petition for Women’s Suffrage being sent to Westminster.

A picture entitled “Emigration Agent Lecturing at the Temperance Hall” that appeared in The Illustrated London News 6 March 1875

In 1885 the management was controlled by a group of four brothers: Charles, Joseph, George and Harry Poole who continued with the mixed policy, and encouraged local amateur groups to use the premises as their regular base. By the turn of the century, however, the Temperance Hall was gradually becoming a music-hall and variety theatre, with the touring productions of musicals and straight plays tending to go to the Theatre Royal.

By 1914, the Temperance Hall was listed in the Kinematograph Year Book, so it was clearly an early cinema conversion. The manager of the theatre by now was Mr Israel Price, who would become a legendary theatre manager of the South Wales area. From the outbreak of the War until the start of the “talkies” Israel Price provided variety performances and reviews as well as silent films. In 1927 he was able to advertise that the Temperance Hall was “now the only live theatre in the town”.

A group of performers outside the Temperance Hall in the early 1900s. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The Temperance Hall was renovated and re-seated in 1930 and re-opened in August of that year, promoting itself as “Now one of the most comfortable theatres in the provinces”.

In 1939, Israel Price’s son (also called Israel) took over the running of the Temperance Hall, and he also eventually took over the management of the Theatre Royal. The Hall seems to have been used almost exclusively as a cinema during the Second World War, but in the post-war years it resumed live theatre, and in 1948 ran a forty-week repertory season under the direction of Barney Lando.

An advert for the Temperance Hall from the Merthyr Express 5 June 1937

By the 1953 edition of the Kinematograph Year Book the proprietors were listed as Messrs Price and Williams, and there were 624 seats, and by 1980 the Theatre had ceased presenting live shows and was used exclusively as a cinema having been renamed the Scala Cinema. It was owned by Dene Cinema Enterprises Ltd. and had 480 seats.

The cinema closed in the early 1980’s and in 1985 the building was converted into a bar and snooker club.

Merthyr’s First Synagogue

by Carl Llewellyn

With scant records regarding the Jewish migration to Merthyr Tydfil, I decided to research the beginnings of the Jewish community in the town. It has been reported that there has been a Jewish presence in Merthyr Tydfil since the 1820s. One example is Polish born Solomon and Leah Bloom, whose eldest daughter Ann was born in Poland in 1826, with their eldest son Abraham being born in Abercanaid in 1828. Subsequently all of Solomon and Leah Bloom’s other children were born in Merthyr Tydfil. Therefore Solomon and Leah Bloom came to Merthyr Tydfil around 1827.

With the rapid expansion in the iron industry in Merthyr, in the 1830’s another Jew named Joseph Barnett came to the town from Swansea. Joseph and his wife Sarah were born in Poland, all of their children were born in Swansea. Joseph Barnett opened a shop on Merthyr High Street – on the 1841 census it describes Joseph Barnett as a shopkeeper but in reality he was Pawnbroker. The 1841 census indicates there were at least 21 Jews living in Merthyr Tydfil.

With four iron works dominating the Merthyr Tydfil locality, more Jews escaping the persecution in the Russian controlled countries became attracted to Merthyr Tydfil, with business prospects either as Pawnbrokers, Hawkers or Glaziers.

By the late 1840’s the number of Jews trebled. Up until now the Jewish religious services may have been held either at Solomon Bloom’s or Joseph Barnett’s houses, it was rumoured a synagogue was located in the area of Bethesda Street and Brecon Road, but there is no evidence of this whatsoever. However a synagogue did exist at the rear of No 28 Victoria Street – Joseph Barnett’s pawnshop. Below is an extract from an 1851 map of Merthyr showing this synagogue.

The usual date given for the establishment of the Merthyr Hebrew Congregation was 1848, but statistics for Merthyr Tydfil dated 1846 clearly states that a Jewish place of worship existed with 30 seats and 25 in attendance at services. As the statistics were published in 1846 it could be determined the figures were probably collated in 1845. Yet in T. E. Clarke’s guide to Merthyr Tydfil dated 1848 it does not mention the existence of a synagogue in Merthyr Tydfil.

At that time there was a Rabbi by the name of Barnett Asher Simmons. According to Ben Hamilton’s article “The Hebrew Community” he visited Merthyr Tydfil and officiated at services for the Merthyr Tydfil Hebrew congregation before the arrival of Rabbi Harris Isaacs from Ipswich, in 1850.

Harris Isaacs, a widower, had served the Jewish community at Ipswich for 27 years before coming to Merthyr, and living at 53 Glebeland St. His calling as a Rabbi did not provide him with living wage so he opened a Pawnshop to supplement his income.

By 1852 the number of Jewish families in Merthyr Tydfil had grown considerably, and congregants were in want of a larger place of worship. An appeal was sent to the Jewish Chronicle for assistance with funding for a new synagogue, Adverts appeared in the Jewish Chronicle dated 27 February 1852, 12 March 1852 and 9 April 1852. Below is the notice which appeared in each edition giving a list of donations, which included 18 members of the Merthyr Hebrew congregation.

When sufficient money had been collected, the Jewish elders of Merthyr Tydfil began making preparations for acquiring a site and requesting quotations from builders to build a new synagogue. The laying of the foundation stone for the new synagogue, which was situated behind the Temperance Hall, took place on 28 May 1852, and it took another eight months for the new synagogue to be completed. The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian Glamorgan Monmouth and Brecon Gazette dated 19 February 1853 mentioned the inaugural ceremony took place 22 February 1853, when the Chief Rabbi A. L. Green of the Great Synagogue, London officiated on the occasion. Sadly there are no newspaper reports giving a detailed account of the opening of the Synagogue, but it was reported that there was accommodation for 93 persons, with 60 seats reserved for Jewish gentlemen, and 33 seats for Jewish ladies. Seat rentals ranged from £5.4s to £1.6s per annum.

An excerpt from an 1860 map of Merthyr showing the second synagogue

Christmas 1883

The article transcribed below appeared in the Merthyr Express 135 years ago today (29 December 1883), and gives details of how Christmas was celebrated in Merthyr all those years ago. It’s remarkable how so much has changed, yet the drunken revelling has not!!!!

CHRISTMASTIDE AT MERTHYR

There was nothing novel in the manner of spending Christmas at Merthyr. For years it has been the practice of a number of young men and women to usher in Christmas by perambulating the streets the livelong night, shouting and screaming and indulging in various kinds of horseplay to their own amusement and the disgust of steady-going citizens trying to get their measure of rest after a hard day’s work. This year was no exception to the disagreeable instinct which seems to have forced the custom upon us. One or two singing parties were out and did their best to relieve the monotony of the other voices by singing some appropriate pieces, but it was a rollicking time for the youngsters who verily did not go home till morning when daylight was about to appear.

The morning was foggy, but it cleared rapidly after sunrise, and such a beautiful, bright, mild spring day has not been experienced on the 25th December for many years. It was most unseasonably fine, and people went abroad in thousands. The Taff Vale Company ran their ordinary service, and the Great Western ran special trains between Merthyr and Hirwain (sic) and vice versa. These trains were crowded with passengers. The interchange of outward and inward traffic was enormous and appeared to be pretty evenly balanced. At a very early hour the High-street was in a state of congestion. The puddle of the roads had no perceptible influence upon the incessant motion of the living stream, and as Christmas day does not rank as a Sunday in the Closing Bill, it was an ordinary day for public houses, which had a tremendous run of business. There was a good deal of drunkenness apparent in the evening, but no rowdyism. The charges at the police station for drunken and disorderly conduct were not numerous.

The usual Christmas dinner to the poor was distributed at St. David’s schoolrooms to over two thousand persons, the expenses of which were defrayed by the subscriptions of the townspeople. The Rector, the High Constable, and a numerous staff of volunteer carvers and distributors were engaged upon this duty for over two hours, well earning their own Christmas dinners, and, as heretofore, they had Mr. T. B. Meredith as their right hand man. Mr. J. Howfield, confectioner, undertook the cooking, which was all that could be desired.

The deaf and dumb people of the Merthyr branch of the Glamorganshire Mission to the Deaf and Dumb were entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Rhys Davies at their residence at Courtland Terrace. A large number of mutes came from Merthyr, Dowlais, Aberdare, Tredegar, Rhymney, Cardiff, and Swansea. After dinner, the mutes went up the hill to see one of their number suffering from an injured foot at his house, and one of them took a hat and made a collection for the poor man. After that an adjournment was made to Mr. Davies’s house to tea, which finished, their pastor, the Rev. E. Rowlands, addressed them on the “Love of God”, and after a cordial vote of thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Davies for their hospitality, the mutes left, having spent a most enjoyable Christmas.

At the Workhouse and Aberdare School too, the usual sumptuous fare of roast beef and plum pudding was served to the inmates and greatly enjoyed, whilst the additional luxuries of tobacco to the old men and snuff to the old women, as well as tea and coffee, were highly acceptable and appreciated.

Four performances of “The Haymakers” were given by the Bethesda Choir at the Temperance Hall on Christmas and Boxing Days. The powerful attraction of Uncle Tom’s Cabin influenced the attendance here prejudicially, nevertheless, the receipts for the whole series of performances amounted to a considerable sum, and the choir will more than clear all expenses. The performances were highly creditable, and received well-merited applause, the stage scenery being particularly effective. A competitive meeting was held at Bethel Chapel on Christmas Day, and at Hope Chapel on the evening following, while entertainments, dancing parties, and other forms of amusements took place all over the neighbourhood. The Volunteer Band paraded the town on Christmas Day, while the Town Band played several selections on the Market Square on Boxing Day. Altogether, the Christmastide just past has been as busy as any like period for many years.

A Short History of Merthyr General Hospital – part 1

by Ann Lewis

I suppose it’s difficult for us to imagine what life would be like without a hospital in an hour of need, but before 1888 Merthyr had only a small six-bedded Cottage Hospital for children at Bridge Street.

There was the workhouse for the sick paupers and Mrs Clark’s Hospital at Dowlais which had closed six years earlier. There was also a Fever Hospital at Pant, built in 1869, and another at Tydfil’s Well. These were totally inadequate for the needs of a town the size of Merthyr, with the many accidents that occurred at the Ironworks and collieries. When accidents did occur the doctors would have to perform operations on a kitchen table or at the doctor’s surgery.

The Voluntary Hospital had for some time existed in London and other large cities. These were maintained by gifts and bequests from individuals and groups. The patients did not have to pay for treatment, for the doctors gave of their skills freely and in doing so gained a great deal of prestige and power in the management of the hospital.

By February 1886 the caring people associated with the Cottage Hospital formed a group with the sole aim of improving the facilities in Merthyr for the sick and injured. They included Drs. Biddle, Cresswell, Webster, Ward and Dr Dyke who had founded the Children’s Hospital at his home called ‘The Hollies’ in Bridge Street, Merthyr with the Rev J Griffiths the then Rector of Merthyr and Sir W T Lewis, who later became Lord Merthyr.

Unknown Dr, Dr Biddle, Dr Cresswell & Dr Ward

It was through Sir W. T. Lewis that the Marquis of Bute offered the sum of £1,000 towards the building of a voluntary hospital at Merthyr, and £1,000 towards the upkeep, provided the people of Merthyr raised the remainder of the money for the building. A meeting was held at the Temperance Hall and the people of Merthyr responded by raising £5,220 – a very large sum of money in those days.

The Clock field was chosen as a suitable site between Dowlais and Merthyr because Dowlais was equally as important as Merthyr at that time. It was opposite the Old Penydarren Works and the freehold cost £300. The foundation stone was laid by Sir W T Lewis in June 1887. Lewis was greatly involved with the hospital and had donated ‘35,000 pennies’ which he had received from the members of the Provident Society, which he had helped found, on the occasion of his knighthood.

The new hospital had two ten-bedded wards. The first, The Lady Ann Lewis Ward, was named after Sir W T Lewis’ wife, who was the grand-daughter of Robert and Lucy Thomas the first exporters of steam coal in South Wales. The second ward was St Luke’s Ward. There was also a small four bedded ward for children, which was the room used as the operating theatre opposite Ann Lewis Ward for many years. The original theatre had been opposite St Luke’s Ward, in what later became the General Office. Next to the original theatre were the splint and instrument rooms and the Dispensary.

The Hospital had a Board of Governors and they were the policy making body. Anyone could be a governor for the sum of £2 per year. Thousands of people helped to maintain the hospital voluntarily. The workers at the Ironworks and Collieries were asked to contribute a farthing a week or a penny per month or one shilling per year towards the cost. It seems a very small amount to us now, but not in 1888. Any donation above £100 was recorded for all to see on a large board at the entrance hall.

Many people endowed beds in memory of loved ones and would maintain the endowment over 12 months. When the hospital opened, it required £500 per year to cover expenses; by 1940 – £6,000 and by 1950 – £52,000, but wages were blamed for the last increase.

In 1895, as part of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Celebration, an Accident Receiving Ward was endowed by Sir W T Lewis. A stained glass window was commissioned by the High Constable of Merthyr, Mr Frank James, a solicitor and clerk to the Board of Guardians, to honour Lewis’ gesture. On 4 April 1900 a statue of Sir W T Lewis was erected outside the hospital in recognition of these services and the honour conferred upon him by Queen Victoria, in raising him to the Baronetcy.

The General Hospital after the opening of the Accident Receiving Ward – built adjoining the hospital at the left of the picture

To be continued….

Rose Mary Crawshay – part 2

by Irene Janes

The efforts of Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the suffragist movement are not denied but perhaps in this year of 2018 when women, in this country, celebrate a hundred years of having the right to vote we should raise awareness of our very own Rose Mary.

Here in our town, Rose (I feel I know her so well I can drop the Mary) was one the most vocal members of the early feminist movement. The Women’s Herald described her as ‘one of the most enlightened pioneers of women’s emancipation’. She and twenty-six other women gave Welsh addresses when they signed the first women’s suffrage petition 1866.

1870 saw Rose became the first woman appointed to the school board in the wake of the Education Act of the same year.

What confidence and conviction she must have had when she spoke at meetings in Merthyr about the rights of women, one of which was held in The Temperance Hall, (now the Scala snooker hall), John Street. She spoke of how the vote would ‘benefit women’s characters’. Perhaps not surprisingly for those days, she was taken to task for ‘disturbing the peace and leading the women of Wales astray’.

Late in 1884 there was a decision by the delegates of the Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil and Dowlais District Mine Association to support a series of talks by Jeanette Wilkinson on the rights for women to be able to vote. This may have been the reason there was little campaigning on the subject in Wales. This is the first recorded instance of interest by Welsh working men supporting female suffrage.

‘Lady Helpers’ this is not something I had heard before. However, Rose had some. She employed women to work alongside the male servants waiting on the Crawshay table. She hoped her scheme would encourage others to employ females for jobs other than dirty work. Rose was delighted when her husband suggested their home was becoming a home for the destitute. I would have loved to have been a fly on their bedroom wall. (Well they did have five children together so they must have met up now and again.)

This is not a rogue paragraph – these are quotes from the 1997 winner Dame Hermione Lee ‘the prize of five hundred pound isn’t a huge amount of money but the impact it has on its winners, including myself, can be huge’. Catherine Bates of author of ‘Masculinity and the Hunt’, the 2015 winner recently told me ‘Women are still under represented in academia’ ‘Wonderful to have a prize that goes some way towards addressing the gender imbalance’ ‘it helps to give women scholars a visibility and recognition they may not get otherwise and ‘an encouraging and validating experience’. Their indebtedness is down to our Mrs Crawshay.

The above was because in April 1888 Rose showed her suffrage side by setting up the ‘Byron, Shelley, Keats in Memoriam Yearly Prize Fund’ -a literary prize for female scholars. Since 1914, The British Academy has taken over the administration of the prize fund. Aptly renamed The Rose Mary Crawshay Prize Fund, one hundred and thirty years later, in this year of 2018, good old Mrs Crawshay is still enabling women.

My first conclusion, Rose Mary married an autocratic, showy, and notoriously tyrannical man in an era where woman were suppressed so she must have had a strong personality. My second, I bet she hated the title Mrs Robert Crawshay attached to her good deeds perhaps today as a philanthropist she would have been credited under her own name Rose Mary Yates.

Sadly there is a but – why did she have virtually nothing to do with her own daughters, Rose Harriette and Henrietta Louise? Odd don’t you think?

Rose Mary died in 1907 at Rose Cottage, Cathedine, Breconshire, at the age of seventy-nine.

Boxing Day in Merthyr

The report from the South Wales Daily News transcribed below describes some of the events taking place in Merthyr 124 years ago today.

On Boxing Day the weather was dull, and the streets dirty. There were however, many visitors to the town.

The repetition at the Drill Hall by the Merthyr Choral Society of the oratorio Elijah, under the able conduct of Mr Dan Davies, attracted much attention. At the Temperance Hall Mr Hermann Vezin and Company’s dramatic performances were continued. Mr Vezin has been engaged for the whole or the week.

An entertainment at the workhouse was given as usual under the direction of Mr J. W. Morgan, Hirwain. Mr Harris, an Aberdare guardian, occupied the chair, and the body of the hall was crowded with the inmates. Some visitors also were present. The performances of the Merthyr Christy Minstrels, including whistling by Davies formed a special feature in the varied programme. Able assistance was rendered by Miss Rosie Beynon (who sang “In Old Madrid”), Mr W. Meredith, solicitor (comique), Mr Morris, and several others, Miss Wilkins playing the pianoforte accompaniments. Mr Thos. Morris, C.C., Cefn, and Mr Dan. Thomas as, guardians, were present.

Among the incidents of the day it may be mentioned, a child was found in the streets and taken to the workhouse, and in the roadway, opposite the Nelson Inn, a boy was run over and severely injured.

South Wales Daily News – 27 Decemeber 1893

Merthyr Memories: Merthyr’s Cinemas – part 2

by Kenneth & Christine Brewer

The biggest and most popular cinema in Merthyr was the Castle Cinema. It was very grand with a large foyer with a café and lounge upstairs. Inside the auditorium were three tiers of seats, and at the back there was a section that was partitioned off by glass so that you could watch (but not hear) the film whist you were waiting to go in.

The cinema was managed by Mr Cyril Smith, and the commissionaire was Vines Perry. The Castle also had a magnificent organ which would rise out of the floor, and the resident organist was Gene Lynne.

The Castle Cinema organ with Gene Lynne. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The Castle was owned by ABC Cinemas (Associated British Cinemas), and on a Saturday morning they would have the ABC Minors – a cinema club with special showings for children. At the beginning of each Saturday morning session, the “ABC Minors Song” would be played to the tune of ‘Blaze Away’, whilst the lyrics were shown on the screen with a bouncing red ball above the words to help the audience keep the place.

The Palace Cinema, which was in Pontmorlais (where the car park near Flooks is now), was smaller than the Castle. It only had two tiers of seating, but it too had a café upstairs. The manager at the Palace was a Mr Jones who was always smartly dressed in a black suit and a dickie-bow. The Palace was a very popular cinema, but the lasting memory is that in the winter it was always freezing cold there, so there would always be a scramble to sit near the radiator.

Also on the High Street, just a few doors up from the Castle Cinema, was the Electric Cinema. This was the oldest cinema in Merthyr, and by the 1940’s it was quite dilapidated and had a bit of a reputation – its nick-name was ‘The Bug-House’. I (Ken) only ever went there once when I was quite young. I had asked my mother to take me to see a George Formby film (I don’t recall which one), and when we got to Merthyr (from Abercanaid), the only cinema that was showing it was the Electric. My mother didn’t want to go there, but I finally persuaded her – but only on the understanding that I never told anyone that we went to the Electric!!!!!

The Electric Cinema. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The Theatre Royal and the Temperance Hall were also used for theatrical performances as well as being cinemas.

The Theatre Royal was also quite grand – it also had two tiers of seating, with a standing area at the back…..not glassed in this time though. Every Christmas there was a Pantomime there – I (Ken) remember seeing Cinderella starring Ronnie Ronalde (the yodelling music hall star) as Dandini and the radio stars Clapham and Dwyer as the Ugly Sisters.

The Temperance Hall also put on plays – it even had its own repertory company. One of the junior leads was Pamela Mant who left the company to play Christine Archer in ‘The Archers’. Another regular at the Temperance Hall was Pat Phoenix who went on to star as Elsie Tanner in ‘Coronation Street’. When you went to see a film at ‘The Temp’, you had to be careful where you sat. Some of the seats downstairs were behind the pillars supporting the balcony, so you would be forever dodging from side to side to see the screen. Also, one of the rows of seats was quite rickety, and if you weren’t careful, you would find the whole row falling backwards…..with you on it!!!!

The Temperance Hall. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

Of the other cinemas in Merthyr, the only others I (Ken) visited were the Oddfellows Hall and the Victoria in Dowlais – this was because the queues in Merthyr were so long that we caught the bus to Dowlais to watch the films instead. I only visited each of them once. I remember the Oddfellows Hall was quite big, but a bit old fashioned, and I particularly remember the Victoria because when you entered the auditorium, you came in from under the screen. I had never seen that before.

The Oddfellows Hall (left) and the Victoria Cinema (right)

Those days were poorer, but simpler times, but we were far more contented, and it is sad that all of the history of those days is being washed away.