Richard Lewis (1807/8-1831), better known as Dic Penderyn, was a native of Aberavon.
At the time of the 1831 Merthyr Rising he was a miner in Merthyr Tydfil. He was charged with feloniously wounding Donald Black of the 93rd (Highland) Regiment. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. Despite a petition of 11,000 names for his reprieve, he was hanged at Cardiff on 13th August, 1831. His last words on the scaffold were reported to be ‘O Arglwydd, dyma gamwedd’ – ‘O Lord, what injustice’. He is buried in Aberavon.
Later in the century another man confessed to the crime for which Lewis had been hanged.
We continue our serialisation of the memories of Merthyr in the 1830’s by an un-named correspondent to the Merthyr Express, courtesy of Michael Donovan.
Some little little distance below the bridge of the Taff Vale branch to Dowlais is come by – the objection to obtaining the parliamentary powers to make which has already been alluded to, but one thing was done that has not been stated. The minerals under Scyhorfawr (sic.) land were in the hands of the Plymouth Company (or rather Mr A. Hill, for he had become sole proprietor), and to prove they had not been all worked a pit was sunk as near as could be to the centre line of the intended railway. Persons called it “spite pit”. However, it was done for a purpose, and it answered it.
Sir Josiah John Guest
The terms of the settlement have been mentioned, but the various fencings cannot be. I can recall one rather angry meeting in which Mr E. J. Hutchings tried to make things smooth, with some success. This was the last fight between Sir J. John Guest and Mr Anthony Hill. They had had many encounters before, and found each other sturdy opponents, and Anthony Hill, on being told of Sir John’s death, with tears in his eyes, said: “Ah what fights we have had”.
Sir John was a Whig, Mr Hill a Tory. They differed, therefore, in political matters, but it was in other matters they combated most; for instance, Sir John was chairman of the Taff Vale Railway Company, and wanted the line to be made in a straight line from the Troedyrhiw Station, keeping the old church tower as a guide. This would have materially affected Plymouth, and as anyone can now see, Mr Hill compelled its making with the minimum of injury either by way of severance or otherwise to his works.
Sir John is buried in Dowlais; Mr Hill in a lonely grave in Pontyrhun. Peace to their manes. I can bear testimony to the goodness of both. It may not be remembered very clearly, but Troedyrhiw Farm was then the freehold of the Dowlais Company, and upon the parting of Guest and Lewis it became solely Mr Lewis’s, and by the irony of fate the minerals are worked by pits sunk by Mr Hill, thus forming a part of what is yet known as Hill’s Plymouth Collieries, although the one who gives the name has passed away above 40 years.
Troedyrhiw Farm. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive
By way of antithesis to differences, let me cite a case of another description. The ownership of some land was determined by by the course of the river, and the different properties were leased to ironmasters. Time rolled on, the surface was of little account, so that the river spread out and shifted the course of it’s ordinary current. When the working of the minerals was approaching, the line of the boundary necessarily arose. Instead of litigation or any unpleasantness, those that were interested arranged together in a friendly way, and showed a modern instance of what Pope said of the man Ross:
Is there a variance? Enter but his door.
Baulk’d are the courts, and contest is no more.
Following on from the recent article about J.O. Francis’ romantic reminiscences of the railway, you have to ask – what is a railway without a locomotive and what is locomotive without a whistle?
“The Western Mail” had an answer, printing, on Friday 4th January 1935, an article with the banner “Romance of the First Steam Whistle”.
Adrian Stephens. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive
Like so many inventions, the steam whistle was born in the Dowlais Iron Company. Its inventor was Adrian Stephens, a Cornishman by birth, who had come to Merthyr in the early 19th century, and had initially worked as Chief Engineer at the Plymouth Iron Works before moving to a similar role in the Dowlais works in about 1827. Here he had charge of the mill and the blowing engines.
Never a place blessed with health and safety standards, iron working was particularly dangerous, and in about 1835 there was an explosion where one of the old non-tubular boilers burst, with the loss of several lives. An investigation into the incident suggested that there was negligence – smoke and grime had made the safety gauges unreadable, and the stoker had failed to ensure an adequate supply of water was pumped in.
John Josiah Guest tasked Adrian Stephens with the job of finding a way to prevent a reoccurrence, and after some experimentation with a long tube similar to a tin whistle, and then some organ pipes that Stephens asked Guest to source, he eventually came up with a local copper tube, made like a bosun’s pipe, but wider and with a larger vent. The end of the tube was fixed to the top if the boiler, with the other held submerged in the water in the boiler. As the water ran dry, the steam was pushed up the pipe and a shrill whistle sounded, thereby allowing action to be taken before the pressure caused an explosion. Not surprisingly, the workers hated it, regarding it as a nuisance to be put out of action. Stephens therefore enclosed it in a cage, and it was in this form that it was adopted by all the Merthyr ironworks – and then added to every boiler, railway locomotive and steam ship around the world.
Adrian Stephens’ Steam Whistle. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive
Stephens did not patent his invention. Writing to his niece in 1872 he said “Neither in want, nor caring for money at the time, I did not think of taking a patent”. He was even unsure about which year he had introduced it, guessing 1835, as it was before Guest was created a baronet (1838).
But his steam whistle was not the only railway connected achievement – Stephens was also credited with planning the “Lady Charlotte”, the first locomotive to be used at the Dowlais Works.
After Guest’s death, Stephens moved to the Penydarren Ironworks, where he invented, according to his son, the “Hot Blast”, which made the furnaces hotter and more efficient, before ending his career as a Civil Engineer for Anthony Hill in the Plymouth Works.
Stephens died in 1876 by which stage his invention had revolutionised steam safety. He is buried in Cefn Cemetery, within hearing distance of the Merthyr-Brecon/LNWR trains whistling up and down the track.
So the next time you hear the “whoo whoo” from the heritage railway or the magnificent Flying Scotsman, think of Adrian Stephens and Merthyr’s role in that Age of Romance.
Adrian Stephens’ grave at Cefn Cemetery. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive
Prominent local historian Wilf Owen is celebrating his 90th birthday today.
To mark the occasion he is publishing his latest book (which he has written with his daughter Caroline) – The Fothergills – Ironmasters in South Wales 1788-1875.
If anyone would like to order a copy of the book, either contact Caroline Owen at calowen18@gmail.com or contact this blog via the address to the right and I will pass on all orders.
The latest boxer featured, Joe Johns, was born 130 years ago today.
Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive
Joe Johns born Joe John (18 September 1892 – 18 September 1927) was a professional boxer from Wales. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, John was notable for becoming the Welsh lightweight champion in 1915. He was successful at a domestic level, but his career was curtailed by ill-health.
John’s early professional career was based mainly in Wales. His early successes normally came through points decisions, his victories rarely ended by a knock-out.
He won his first competition at the age of 15, weighing in at six stone. By the time he won his first recognised national fight, a disqualification win over Young Walters at Cardiff’s Badminton Club, he weighed eight stone eight pounds. On the 12 September 1910 he took the Welsh 9 stone 4 pounds title, which resulted in an invitation to fight at the National Sporting Club in London. The next year Johns undertook more fights outside Wales, including bouts in Liverpool, and a win over American Fred Sidney at St James Hall in Newcastle.
Towards the end of 1911 his health was affected by rheumatism and defying medical orders, he continued fighting; losing to Tommy Mitchell in Sheffield and a month later he was outpointed by Nat Williams in Liverpool. Even when he took breaks from professional contests, he continued fighting in charity matches, usually with his mentor ‘Peerless’ Jim Driscoll. In 1913, with the now properly constituted Welsh lightweight title set at a nine stone nine pound limit, he fought Arthur Evans in a twenty-round eliminator for a shot at the current title holder, Dai Roberts. He and Evans fought in front of a crowd of 4,000 at Merthyr’s Drill Hall with Johns winning by points after the bout went the full distance.
Johns’ challenge against Roberts ended in farce. The twenty round bout only reached the seventeenth round after the referee, Mr J.W. Thwaites of the National Sporting Club, declared the match a ‘no-contest’. He stated that the protestations from a member of Johns corner, trying to bring to his attention infringements by Roberts, distracted him so much that he was unprepared to risk his reputation by giving a verdict.
Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive
Despite being married with a family, and suffering from rheumatism, on the outbreak of the First World War Johns joined the British Army, being assigned to the Royal Engineers. In 1915, Roberts moved up to welterweight, vacating the lightweight title. This led to Johns and Arthur Evans meeting for the title on 22 May at the Cardiff Arms Park. Johns took the fight by points decision making him the Welsh lightweight champion. Johns held the title for just two months, when he again faced Evans this time at Liverpool Stadium where the two men were now stationed. The match, refereed by reigning British welterweight champion Johnny Basham, was halted in the 16th round, when Johns was unable to continue fighting after being knocked down late in the previous round.
Johns undertook one more fight after the end of the First World War, a defeat to Danny Arthurs in Merthyr. Johns died of pneumonia in Merthyr Infirmary on his birthday in 1927. He is buried at Cefn Coed Cemetery in Merthyr.
As boxing isn’t my region of expertise, this article has been transcribed from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Johns_(boxer). I’m sure that there lots of people out there who know a lot more about boxing than me, so if anyone would like to write something about Merthyr’s great boxing tradition, please get in touch at merthyr.history@gmail.com.
Richard Lewis (1807/8-1831), better known as Dic Penderyn, was a native of Aberavon.
