Tag: Treharris

Quakers’ Yard – A Potted History

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson’s Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Quakers’ Yard like this:

“QUAKERS-YARD, a village in the E of Glamorgan; on the river Taff at the influx of the Bargoed, adjacent to the Taff Vale Extension railway, at the junction of the branch to Hirwain, 7½ miles S S E of Merthyr-Tydvil. It took its name from an old burying-place of Quakers; stands in a fine curve of the valley, engirt all round by hills; and has a station with telegraph at the railway junction.”

The village of Quakers’ Yard was originally known as ‘Rhyd y Grug’ or ‘The Ford of the Rustling Waters’, grew up at the confluence of the Taff Bargoed River and the River Taff, and the name was derived from the fact that the Taff was quite shallow here and there had been a ford crossing the river at this point. The village later became known by its more usual name because of the Quaker burial ground that was erected in the village (see previous article – http://www.merthyr-history.com/?p=5069).

Quaker’s Yard was, until the second half of the 19th century, a quiet rural spot. There was a corn mill, Melin Caiach and a small woollen mill on the banks of the Taff Bargoed, as well as a small scattering of houses. With the building of a bridge across the Taff to replace the ford, the village could even boast two inns – the Quakers’ Yard Inn and the Glantaff Inn.

Quakers’ Yard Bridge and Quakers’ Burial Ground. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

The Industrial Revolution, of course, changed all that. Soon the coal trade totally revolutionized the nature of the environment, creating booming and burgeoning communities like nearby Treharris and Trelewis. The link to Quakerism remained strong. Treharris was named after William Harris, a Quaker businessman whose family owned a fleet of steam ships, while streets in the new towns were named after famous Quakers such as William Penn and George Fox.

Religion in the village wasn’t confined to Quakerism. In 1831, members of Groeswen Chapel in Caerphilly broke away from their chapel and built and Welsh Independent Chapel called Soar in the village, The Welsh Independents also built Libanus in 1833 and the Welsh Baptists built Berthlwyd in 1841. There was also a Welsh Wesleyan chapel – Horeb, and a Primitive Methodist chapel – Ebenezer. Finally, in 1862, the Anglicans opened St Cynon’s Church at Fiddler’s Elbow.

In 1858 the Quaker’s Yard High Level station was opened. Together with the village’s Low Level station this created a lively and bustling railway junction where passengers could embark for places like Merthyr and Aberdare and coal could be dispatched down the valley to the docks at Cardiff. In 1840 the engineer – and guiding force behind the Great Western Railway – Isambard Kingdom Brunel began work on a six-arched viaduct across the River Taff. While the High Level station closed in 1964, the viaduct is still there, carrying traffic from Merthyr to Cardiff.

Quakers’ Yard Viaduct and Truant School. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive.

As the village grew so schools were built here or in the surrounding area. In 1894, the borough’s infamous Truant School was built in Quakers’ Yard, and in 1906, the Woodlands Junior School was built along the river Taff; 70 years later the building was used for a Welsh Medium Junior School, Ysgol Cymraeg  Rhyd y Grug. After the First World War, Merthyr Tydfil acquired some prefab buildings for a new secondary school and on the 2 May 1922 Quakers’ Yard Grammar School officially opened by Mayor David Davies, although this wasn’t actually situated in the village, but in Edwardsville.

Perhaps the most famous man to emerge from Quaker’s Yard was the world flyweight boxing champion Jimmy Wilde (right) who was born in the village in 1892. Known as ‘the ghost with a hammer in his hand’, Wilde fought an amazing 864 bouts, losing only four of them, and reigned as champion between 1916 and 1921 (see previous article – http://www.merthyr-history.com/?p=150).

Aberfan’s First Tragedy

by Brian Jones

Visitors to the cemetery in Aberfan can be forgiven for not recognising a military monument dedicated to the memory of seven young local men who perished a few years after the construction of the Merthyr Vale Colliery which opened in 1876. They were volunteers, part of the Volunteer Army, originally a citizen army of part time soldiers created as a popular movement in 1859. This army was later integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reform of 1881, and then became the Territorial Army in 1908. Volunteer soldiers were required to train for up to four weeks each year and this included two weeks at “Summer Camp”.

The Martini-Henry single shot became the standard issue rifle for the army in 1871 and thereafter all full and part time soldiers trained with this issue. These military and equipment changes coincided locally with the rapid increase of population as Welsh and English workers and their families moved into the South Wales valleys. Deep coal mines were opened and work began to divert the River Taff and sink No.1 shaft at the Taff Vale Colliery in 1869. The first coal was brought to the surface more than six years later and in time the mine was renamed as the Merthyr Vale Colliery. The terraced communities of Mount Pleasant,  Aberfan and Merthyr Vale were constructed and the first places of worship opened in 1876 with Bethania Welsh Independent and Aberfan Calvinistic Methodist chapels. In that same year the eight acre cemetery at Bryntaf (Aberfan) was opened.

The steep hilltop cemetery is now dominated by the graves and monument to the 144 souls who perished in the Aberfan Disaster of October 1966. However visitors to the cemetery can easily fail to notice a 10ft monument near the main cemetery entrance. This is topped by three bronze Martini-Henry rifles on a varied stone base weighing 25 tons. The monument was designed by Lieutenant C.B.Fowler of Llandaff and constructed by Messrs Corfield and Morgan of Cardiff. A bronze Cypress wreath marks this as a tribute to seven young soldiers of “E Company” of the Welch (Welsh) Regiment’s Third Volunteer Brigade who drowned in the Bristol Channel, between Lavernock and Penarth, on 1 August 1888.

Photo courtesy of David Pike

The ceremony to dedicate the monument over the graves was held on Sunday 30 March 1890, attended by dignitaries and officers and men numbering 1,118 of the 3rd Volunteer Brigade (Welch Regiment) accompanied by the Cardiff Band and Dowlais Band to the Regimental tune of “The March of the Men of Harlech”. An inscribed shield of marble bears the names of the deceased:

Henry Brown 18 years

John Walter Webber 17 years

Willie Colston 20 years

Fred J. James 17 years

James Simons 18 years

Pryce James Potter 18 years

Thomas Hughes 18 years

Three of the deceased were colliers, one a fitter, three building tradesmen and two of the seven were from the neighbouring area of Treharris. These two were thought to be from the Nelson Company of the Volunteer Brigade. All seven were likely friends at the Summer Camp going out to celebrate not knowing of theirpending fate.

Michael Statham has provided a detailed account of the tragedy (on the website www.historypoints.org), based on records from the inquest as follows:

“Seven volunteers drowned off the coast here (Lavernock) in a boating accident in 1888. The Merthyr Vale detachment of the Welch Regiment’s Third Volunteer Brigade was on a summer camp in Lavernock. On the evening of Wednesday 1 August, 10 soldiers hired the boat MAGGIE to take them to Penarth. The boat was operated by Joseph Hall, aged 31.

It was almost high tide when the boat passed Ranny pool, where several fishing poles were located and a reef caused a strong current. Joseph tried to pull clear of a fishing pole which was submerged by the tide, but the heavily-laden boat struck it. Reacting to the collision, the passengers became agitated, stood up and moved about. Their movements caused the boat to ship water and eventually capsize.

Four soldiers tried to swim to shore but were drowned. The rest managed to right the craft, but it capsized again as they scrambled to get back into it. This happened a number of times. At one point Joseph was lucky to extricate himself from beneath the upturned boat.

By the time help arrived, three more soldiers had drowned. Joseph was saved along with three of his passengers: Albert Williams, William Dowdeswell and Watkin Moss. The drowned men’s bodies were recovered the following week: two on Monday, two on Tuesday and the remaining three on Wednesday. Most were recovered close to the accident scene but the last to be found, James Potter was picked up off Barry, c.6 miles away.

At the inquest it was noted that the MAGGIE was licensed to carry eight passengers. Joseph said that he had taken the 10 men because they had told him that he must take them all or none of them would go. He was found guilty of Gross Neglect. He was severely reprimanded by the Coroner but exonerated from guilt of a criminal offence”

The hamlet of Lavernock (Larnog) is seven miles from Cardiff and as this tragedy fades into history it is also overshadowed by the experiment conducted by Marconi on 13 May 1897. He transmitted the first radio message (morse code) over water from Lavernock Point to the small offshore island of Flat Holm.

Professor Herbert Nicholas

Today marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of  Professor Herbert Nicholas – yet another Merthyr boy who worked hard to make it to the top of his profession.

Herbert George Nicholas was born on 8 June 1911 in Treharris. He was the youngest of seven children born to Rev William D Nicholas, minister of Bethel Chapel, and his wife Mary (née Warren), daughter of Samuel Warren, one of the foremost businessmen in Treharris, who opened Warren’s Drapery in Perrott Street.

At an early age, Herbert contracted rheumatic fever, which prevented him from attending school until he was 11. During this time he was educated at home by his eldest sister Evelyn, who had become a teacher. When he became well enough to attend school, Evelyn arranged for him to attend a small school in Cardiff run by a remarkable deaf lady, Miss Maud Humphries. Having travelled back and forth to Cardiff daily for three years, Herbert won a scholarship to the prestigious Mill Hill School in London. Mill Hill School was set up in 1807 by merchants and ministers from non-conformist backgrounds in order to provide a place of learning for the boys from their communities, as the “ancient” public schools at this time required all their pupils to belong to the Church of England.

Following his, not altogether happy, days at Mill Hill, Herbert won a place at New College, Oxford to read Greats. For the whole of his time at Oxford, his sisters supported him financially. The sums spent on him were carefully noted by Herbert however, and his sisters were duly repaid later. He graduated in 1934 with first-class degree.

The following year, Herbert acquired a Commonwealth Scholarship to travel to America to study history at Yale University. Originally concentrating on 17th Century history, he became more and more fascinated by contemporary American history, and he developed a huge admiration for the policies of President Franklin D Roosevelt. Upon his return to Britain in 1937, having managed to live off earnings for occasional articles he wrote as a freelance journalist for several months, he accepted a job lecturing in 19th Century History at Exeter College in Oxford.

Having spent two very happy years at Exeter College, the idyll was cut short by the outbreak of the Second World War. Classified as unfit for military service due to his bout of rheumatic fever as a child, Herbert joined the American Division of the Ministry of Information, where he had, as he later wrote: ‘…an indecently enjoyable war. I vastly enjoyed the work which was a natural extension of my academic interests, I had the company of singularly agreeable colleagues….’

In 1944, Herbert was elected as a fellow of Exeter College, and in 1946, following the cessation of hostilities, he returned to his post at the college. In 1948 he published his first book ‘The American Union. A short history of the USA’. In 1951 he published his only book about a British topic ‘The British General Election of 1950’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That same year, he was invited back to New College to take over the position of tutorial fellow in politics. Although holding fellowships in other colleges (Exeter and Nuffield), New College would remain his base. In 1959 he published ‘The United Nations as a Political Institution’, which would eventually be published in five separate editions. In 1969 he was elected Rhodes Professor of American History and Institutions at Oxford, and in the same year he was elected to the British Academy, becoming vice-president in 1975-6.

Soon after his election as Rhodes Professor, he moved to Headington to look after his elderly sisters Evelyn and Doris, devoting nearly all of his time to their welfare. During these years he did find the time however, to write two more books – ‘The Nature of American Politics’ (1980) and ‘Washington Despatches, 1941-45 (1981). The first of these books is still used prominently in University courses on both side of the Atlantic.

When Evelyn died in 1987 (Doris having died previously), Herbert returned to college life, delighting friends, colleagues and ex-pupils with his sharp wit, punning one-liners and gifts as a raconteur. His favourite story being of how, in 1950, he, slight and bespectacled, together with his middle-aged schoolmistress sister, went with his pupil, Stansfield Turner, later a US admiral and head of the CIA, to hear a speech by the general secretary of the Communist Party, Harry Pollitt, who was fighting for a seat in South Wales. For their parts they found themselves denounced in the Daily Worker as ‘a bunch of American rowdies with their gangster’s moll trying to wreck the meeting.’ Most importantly, though, he never forgot his roots in Treharris, and spoke fondly of his youth there.

Herbert’s activities were curtailed when he suffered a stroke in 1991, but he recovered sufficiently to still be a major part of New College until his death on 3 July 1998 at the age of 87.

David “Dai” Davies, Goalkeeper

by Brian Jones

David “Dai” Davies, Goalkeeper, was born in Glanaman, spoke Welsh, capped 52 times for Wales and passed away on 10 February 2021 at the age of 72 years. It is a little known that he made one appearance for the Merthyr Welsh League team before starting his illustrious footballing career. Now read on….

In the summer of 1968 football was then a mix of amateur and professional players. Pre-season training for Southern and Welsh League players was held at the Hoovers sports ground under the leadership of Cyril Beech whilst the club manager was Ken Tucker. Dai had just qualified as a P.E. teacher from Cardiff College of Education and he attended pre-season training in the company of Ron Jones (Treharris). Ron went on to gain fame as a BBC T.V. and Radio 5 live sports commentator.

Dai played one game for the Welsh League team for Merthyr as an amateur, in a pre-season friendly against the Swans at the Vetch. Merthyr lost heavily but Dai put on an immense display and his talent was so obvious that the Swans signed him up as a professional. He played just a few games before he transferred to Everton for £40,000 making 82 appearances for that club. He later played for Wrexham, Tranmere Rovers and had further spells at Swansea. He gained his first cap for Wales in 1975 against Hungary and his last appearance for Wales came against France in 1982.

Dai made frequent visits to Penydarren Park, now the Met Coaches Stadium, after his retirement combining his S4C Sports commentating before moving to North Wales where he established a natural healing centre in Llangollen.

Merthyr Historian Volume 31

The Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society is pleased to announce that, despite all of the difficulties due to Covid-19, volume 31 of the Merthyr Historian is now for sale.

Merthyr Historian Volume 31 – Contents
Chapter 1 Penydarren born Frank T Davies, 1904-1981, pioneer, geophysicist and polar explorer Roger Evans
Chapter 2 Science at the cusp: Caedraw 1887 and education in Merthyr John Fletcher
Chapter 3 ‘Whom the gods love, die young’: the frail genius of Harry Evans, conductor T Fred Holley & John Holley
Chapter 4 ‘Kathleen Ferrier slept in my bed’: musical celebrities and wartime Merthyr Vale Mair Attwood
Chapter 5 Robert Rees: the Morlais Nightingale Stephen Brewer
Chapter 6 The female drunkard in the mid nineteenth century Barrie Jones
Chapter 7 Cefn Glas: a forgotten colliery Clive Thomas
Chapter 8 Emlyn Davies, Dowlais Draper: a family flannel and local business history Alan Owen
Chapter 9 Merthyr relief and social work in the worst of times: Margaret Gardner (1889-1966) Christine Trevett
Chapter 10 Appeal and response, Merthyr’s need 1930-31, from The Skip Collection Clive Thomas & Christine Trevett
Chapter 11 Pulpit and platform, revival reservations and reforms: the work of the Rev John Thomas (1854-1911) at Soar, Merthyr Tydfil Noel Gibbard
Chapter 12 The Rev G M Maber, Merthyr and the poet Robert Southey’s Welsh Walks Barrie Jones
Chapter 13 The drums go bang, the cymbals clang. Three bands, Troedyrhiw 1921 T Fred Holley & John Holley
Chapter 14 The railways of Pant and Dowlais towards the end of steam Alistair V Phillips
Chapter 15 Book Review: Merthyr Tydfil Corporation Omnibus Dept. Keith L Lewis-Jones
Chapter 16 From Dudley to Dover and Dowlais: Black Country tram sales and their brief second careers Andrew Simpson
Chapter 18 ‘Here’s health to the Kaiser!’ Patriotic incident at Treharris, 1914 Christine Trevett
Chapter 19 Lady Charlotte and Sir John: the Guest family at large. A review essay on recent books Huw Williams
Chapter 20 Dr Brian Loosmore (1932-2019).  An Appreciation T Fred Holly
Chapter 21 ‘Rather less than four pence’: A case of benefits in Merthyr Tydfil in 1933 (transcribed)

John Dennithorne

It is a mammoth volume at350+ pages long and priced at £12.50 (plus postage & packing).

If anyone would like a copy of the book, please contact me at merthyr.history@gmail.com and I will forward your request to the appropriate person.

Jones Brothers (Treharris) Ltd.

The following article is reproduced here courtesy of Peter Gould.

After the end of the First World War, John Jones was provided with a motorcar by his father, which he hired out as a means of livelihood. One of three brothers, he had been gassed in the War, and sadly died a few years later, however, not before the idea of providing charabancs in the district had taken hold. The brothers each purchased a new chassis on which they put second-hand bodies, the first vehicle taking to the road in 1919. By the end of the following year they had three vehicles and the business gradually developed.

In August 1921 a service from Treharris to Pontypridd was commenced, with another route to Nelson in 1925. At this time the brothers were trading as the Commercial Bus Service from premises at the Commercial Hotel, Treharris.

We think the driver was Howell Perrin from Gresham place not sure who the conductor was. (pic courtesy of W Phillips and Tony Evans)

To cope with the extra services two Thornycroft A1’s with Norman 20-seat bodywork were purchased during 1925.

By 1928 an additional route to Bedlinog had opened and more vehicles acquired, including two Thornycroft SB’s with Hall-Lewis B26D bodywork and two Leyland A13’s with Leyland 26-seat bodywork.

In March 1930 Jones Brothers introduced a short-lived service between Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd, which ceased shortly afterwards because of opposition from Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council. From August 1930 the company was incorporated as Jones Brothers (Treharris) Ltd. By 1931, however, other operators, including Imperial Motor Services of Abercynon, Aberdare Motor Services and Gelligaer UDC, were running along parts of Jones Brothers routes.

Under the 1930’s Road Traffic Acts Jones Brothers were granted operating licences for the following routes;

Nelson – Trelewis – Treharris – Pontypridd, and
Bedlinog – Hollybush – Nelson – Pontypridd.

Other routes were also applied for, including one to Tredegar, but were unsuccessful, however, in November 1932 another route from Blackwood to Pontypridd serving Treharris, Nelson, Ystrad Mynach and Pontllanfraith was granted, although the licence contained clauses protecting existing operators.

For some time Jones Brothers had been operating a joint service with Evans and Williams, originally a competitor, but their application to take over the route was denied and it passed to Imperial Motor Services.

By the onset of World War II the fleet had grown and had included examples of AJS, Dennis, Leyland, Lancia, Vulcan and Thornycroft vehicles. (It was reported that Jones Brothers had acquired an ex-London General Omnibus Company B-type open-top double-decker in the early years of the company, but that the vehicle was disliked and returned to LGOC. Whether it actually operated in service is unknown, but if so it would have been the only double-decker operated). During the War the inevitable Bedford utility vehicles made an appearance, including several OWB models. An interesting purchase in 1942 was an AEC Q, originally new to Corona Coaches of London in 1935, which gave several years of service with Jones Brothers before being withdrawn.

The Company operated in a livery of maroon and brown with cream lining.

On 1st November 1945, the stage carriage business was sold jointly to Caerphilly UDC, Gelligaer UDC, Pontypridd UDC and the West Monmouthshire Omnibus Board, with ten vehicles passing to these four operators, who ran the ex-Jones Brothers routes jointly.

A single vehicle, Dennis Lancet II (No.4; HB5236) now with Francis (of Swansea) C32C bodywork was retained by Jones Brothers who continued to operate the coaching side of the business until 1958, when it finally ceased.

A Jones Bros bus outside the old Merthyr Police Station. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

To read the original article, please use the following link – 

http://www.petergould.co.uk/local_transport_history/fleetlists/jones.htm

Tom Thomas – the First Welterweight Champion of Wales – part 1

by Roy Smith

Thomas James Thomas, known as Tom, was born in 1901 when his parents James Lloyd Thomas and Mabel (née Davies) lived in Dynevor Street, Merthyr Tydfil.  They were residing at 7 Park Street, Merthyr by the time of the 1911 census and the family had grown with two additions, namely, son William (known as Billy) age 5 years and 2-year-old daughter Emily.  Shortly after the family moved to the village of Deri, in the Darran Valley where James was employed as overman at Groesfaen Colliery.

Tom Thomas first laced on the gloves as a member of the Bargoed Boxing Club and he began building his reputation in that rough but wonderfully efficient school the travelling boxing booth.  He toured South Wales and North of England with Bert Hughes’ boxing booth (June 1923-June 1924).  “Those were the days.  Thirty bob a week and all found, and fighting all day and all night, as long as opponents came forward,” as written by Tom Thomas in a letter to Boxing News.

Rhymney Valley Man In the Limelight – A Clever Deri Lad Making a Name is how the South Wales Echo headlined its report on 8 Sept 1923.“Tom Thomas (Deri) is making a name for himself, notably in England. This is really an extraordinary achievement for a young man of 21 years of age. A feature of his record is the large number of “K.O.’s. Since 1921, his victories include:- won on points over 15 rounds against Pat McAllister (Belfast).  Knock-out Dai Morgan (Bargoed) in the fourth round; knock-out Wyndham Whale (Treharris) in the first round; knock-out Con Cushion (Rhymney) in the third round; knock-out Young Keepins, Cardiff, in the first round;  knock-out Crad Jones (Treharris) in the first round. Draw with Billy Edmunds (Cardiff) over 10 rounds; knock-out Battling Bartlett (Dowlais) in the fourth round; knock-out Billy Wagstaff (Treharris) in the sixth round; won on points from Harvey Blanch (Hereford) in a 15 rounds contest; won on points from Will Dixon (Porth) in a 15 round contest; knock-out Digger Burns (Burnley) in the second round; knock-out Harry Jones (Hanley) in the third round; knock-out Griff Grifiths (Treharris) in the fifth round; and won on points from Bobby Parker, of Nuneaton, in a ten-round contest. According to South Wales Echo 3 September 1923, by knocking out Harry Jones (Wrexham) in the third round, he had established a record of 23 consecutive victories.  On 13 November 1923 at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester he won a 15 round contest over Lawrence Ward (Belfast).

Tom Thomas, booked to face Chris Gorman (Chelsea) on 18 February 1924 at the National Sporting Club (NSC) Covent Garden, went into strict training at Anchorage Farm, Fleet, Hants under instructorship of Bert Hughes. On fight night, Thomas quickly ended his 10 rounds contest with Gorman and won a sensational victory knocking out his opponent in the first round with a right hook. His decisive victory more than pleased his many admirers in the Rhymney Valley. According to the Echo, 5 March in the course of a letter to Mr. Ted E. Lewis (Pontypridd) “Mr. Bettison, manager of the NSC expresses a very high opinion of the fighting qualities of Tom Thomas of Deri. He states that he considers Thomas to be one of the best welter-weights seen at the NSC for many years and that it would take a very good man to beat him.”

Thomas was matched with George Carney the Bermondsey welter-weight over 15 rounds in the chief contest at The Ring, Blackfriars Road, on March 20. The Echo, 21 March 1924 carried the following report “Although extremely plucky and forcing the fighting with great spirit throughout, Tom Thomas (Deri) proved no match for Carney. After being floored on three occasions in the seventh, the Welshman’s seconds did the proper thing in throwing in the towel.  Thomas was loudly applauded on leaving the ring.”

Tommy Milligan (left) of Hamilton, Scotland, proved far too good for Tom Thomas in a ten-round contest at NSC Covent Garden on 17 April. This bout was the eliminating contest for the Championship of Great Britain. Tom, from Deri, was K.O.’d in 4½ minutes of actual fighting, but apparently this was a thriller while it lasted and the Boxing News (8 Sept 1967) report read as follows “This was short-lived, though there was more real hard fighting crammed into the two rounds than one will often see in a 20-rounds contest.  Right from the gong, they went at it, slamming and pounding away with the utmost vigour.  Thomas wanted to score a knock-out and was aiming mainly for the head, but Milligan, forcing his way in close, smashed furiously at the body, and obviously with the greater force.  Neither man worried much about defence, all their energies being concentrated on attack, and one felt sure that the affair could not last long at this gait. Milligan appeared to be shaken by a right to the jaw, but came on more furiously than before, and with a succession of body blows, sent Thomas on his back to the boards.  It looked all over, but Thomas rose at ‘eight’ and the slamming continued until another drive to the mark sent the Deri man once more to the boards.  Up again at ‘eight’ he fought on to the gong, though ‘dropped’ twice more for ‘three’ each time. In the second round Milligan came from his corner with a rush, met Thomas near his own corner, drove a left to the mouth, crossed heavily with his right to the jaw, and driving the Welshman to the ropes simply pelted him with blows until Thomas, overwhelmed, went through the ropes and out of the ring to be counted out.” Milligan went on to become the British and British Empire Welterweight Champion 1924-25; European Middleweight Champion 1925; and British and British Empire Middleweight Champion 1926-28.

According to the South Wales Echo 9 April 1924, “Many boxing critics felt that great indiscretion had been displayed in fixing young Thomas with first-class opponents before giving him sufficient trials with lesser fights. To fix up a young boxer like Thomas at such an early stage of his career against the very best in the country was considered unfair to him, and defeats in such circumstances may tend to discourage him.” 

To be continued…..

Merthyr’s Boxers: Tosh Powell

Thomas Morgan ‘Tosh’ Powell was born in Mountain Hare in 1908. His father, Richard, a collier moved to the Cynon Valley to work when Tosh was still a child, with the family settling in Llwydcoed.

Although there is no record of when “Tosh” Powell first started fighting, he was an amateur fighter over a year before he turned professional, with a recorded fight at the Drill Hall in Merthyr in April 1926. Powell’s first recorded professional fight was against Trealaw’s Nobby Baker, at Merthyr Tydfil on 30 April 1927. Baker was the more experienced professional with seven undefeated contests to his name. The fight went the full fifteen rounds, with Baker winning by points decision. Despite his lack of professional fights, Powell’s next opponent was against Johnny Edmunds, the holder of the Welsh bantamweight title. The fight took place at Snow’s Pavilion in Merthyr on 9 July 1927 and was scheduled for twenty rounds. Edmunds, with 48 fights was vastly more experienced, but Powell stopped him via technical knockout in the tenth round, taking the Welsh title.

Two months after the contest with Edmunds, Powell was given a re-match against Nobby Baker, which was also recognised as a title defence for Powell’s bantamweight belt. Baker had been the busier of the two boxers in the four months between their meetings, contesting six matches to Powell’s single fight against Edmunds; though Baker’s last two bouts had seen him face defeat for the first time in his career. The fifteen round match, held in Pontypridd, ended after just seven rounds when Powell stopped Baker in the seventh round on a technical knockout. This contest is regarded as a successful title defence.

Nearly five months later Powell faced Tom Samuels, a novice professional from Treharris. The match lasted only seven rounds when Samuels was disqualified. Although this is recorded as Samuels’s only professional fight, this was regarded as a challenge for the Welsh bantamweight championship, and thus a second successful title defence for Powell. On 1 March 1928, Powell fought his first contest outside Wales when he travelled to Liverpool to fight local boxer Lew Sullivan. Sullivan, who had 25 professional matches behind him, had only been stopped once in his career, in the fifteenth round of an encounter with Kid Rich. Powell made it a short contest by knocking Sullivan out in the first round. This would be Powell’s only clean knockout in his professional career.

Powell was invited back to Liverpool two months later, with a fight arranged against Dutch featherweight Rein Kokke. The fifteen round match only lasted three rounds when Kokke was stopped through a technical knockout. Powell had now fought in six professional fights with five wins and just one defeat. Six days after his fight with Kokke, Powell was back in the ring, a hometown match in Aberdare, in his third encounter with Nobby Baker. This time the fight was not considered a title defence, which was fortunate for Powell who was stopped for the second time in his career, and the second time to Baker who again beat him on a points decision after the contest went the distance.

Powell’s final fight would take him to Liverpool for the third time in his professional career, when he was arranged to fight with London bantamweight Billy Housego. Housego was slightly more experienced with twelve pro fights, but his record was poorer with only five wins, and of those, four were won by points. Boxrec states that the fight took part on 31 May 1928, though other sources agree on the following day, Friday 1 June. The fight at The Stadium, was scheduled for fifteen three-minute rounds, and in a close contest the fight reached the last round. With only a minute of the fight remaining Housego knocked Powell to the canvas. Powell recovered to his feet on the count of seven, but after returning in a daze to his corner he collapsed. The referee, Mr Gamble, stopped the contest with the match awarded to Housego on a technical knockout. Powell was carried to the dressing rooms, where the doctor on attendance recommended that he be taken to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary. His death, which occurred on Saturday 2 June at 5:50pm, was attributed to a haemorrhage of the brain, he was 20 years old.

At the inquest, Powell’s father Richard, testified that his son had not been training before the encounter with Housego, and that he had tried to cancel the fight. Richard Powell stated that the Liverpool promoter, Albert Taylor, had threatened that he would have his son’s license suspended if he pulled out of the fight. Taylor denied these claims. The doctor who performed the autopsy testified that the rupture ‘might happen to anybody’, the charges were dropped but the promoter was censured.

Tosh Powell was buried in the town of his birth, at Pant Cemetery. Thousands lined the route of the funeral to pay tribute to the young boxing star. Among the floral tributes was a wreath in the shape of a torn harp. It came from Billy Housego.

I have had several requests for more articles about boxers, and one specific request for Tosh Powell – hence this article. As I am not an expert on the subject, however, most of the text in this article is transcribed, with permission, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tosh_Powell. I try not to use Wikipedia articles verbatim, but this is an exception. Please forgive any mistakes.

If anyone would like to contribute any articles about the excellent boxing tradition in Merthyr – please get in touch…I am sure there are people much better qualified than me to write about Merthyr’s boxers.