Following on from the recent post on 4 May, the article below appeared in The Monmouthshire Merlin 150 years ago today….
In addition, the following notices appeared in later editions of the Merthyr Telegraph….
Destructive Fire at Merthyr – a sequal
Army Boxing
by Barrie Jones
Merthyr Tydfil is known for producing boxers of British, European and World renown, my maternal grandfather, Michael Leahan, was not of that class but he was a boxer of some talent in the short time that he competed.
Michael was born in 33 Cellars, Pontstorehouse, Merthyr Tydfil of second generation Irish parents and such was the poverty and dysfunctional family background that he was not expected to survive his birth.
He was baptised at home on the day of his birth, 16th October 1888, but was sufficiently strong enough to receive a church baptism 12 days later and even then his mother, Johanna delayed the registration of his birth until the 28th November.
Michael’s father Patrick was a drinking companion of the notorious pugilist and bully Redmond Coleman, but it his highly likely that he learnt his boxing skills whilst serving in the Second Battalion, Welsh Regiment. He had enlisted as a boy soldier and then in April 1907 soon after his eighteenth birthday he formally enlisted for the standard seven year term. At this time the Regiment was stationed in South Africa and it was there in Bloemfontein in 1909 that he won the Army and Navy feather-weight championship. At this time one of the Battalion’s instructors was Sergeant William John Ranger, a proficient gymnast and holder of the Army and Navy middle-weight championship of 1905. Sergeant Ranger is more likely to have been the main influence on Michael’s boxing expertise.
The Battalion completed its tour of duty in South Africa in March 1910 and returned to its barracks at Pembroke Dock and it was there that the Regiment prepared to send a group of soldiers to the forthcoming Army and Navy Boxing Championships at Aldershot in the October of that year. The squad comprised of:
- Private King, welter-weight,
- Private Leahan, light-weight,
- Private Skeets, feather-weight,
- Private Skerry, feather-weight, and
- Sergeant Ranger, middle-weight.
As part of their preparation and an indication that they thought they had a strong squad of competitors, the Regiment hired the services of Fred Dyer of Cardiff to act as the squad’s trainer and instructor, Dyer was the current light-weight champion of Wales. In addition, the regiment organised an evening of warm up bouts in the gymnasium at Llanion Barracks between the squad members and local boxers with Dyer refereeing the bouts. The local press reporter paid a lot more column inches to the bout between Michael and a Li (Elias) Evans: This was a splendid contest, and both men showed not only plenty of stamina but plenty of skill also. Leahan, who when the regiment was stationed at Bloemfontein held the light-weight Army and Navy championship of South Africa, won the bout, and had slightly the better of the exchanges, but in the point of skill there was little in it, and if anything Evans’s footwork was superior. The Milford lad is a very pretty and clean boxer, and is game too. His opponent, however, appeared to have a harder punch. Each round was fought at a rare pace, and it was only in the third round that the soldier scored. Later, in the evening a backer of the Milford lad challenged Leahan to a 15 rounds contest and this was accepted.
The Championship at Aldershot was held over four days with over 300 entries for the 12 championships. However, Michael was the only ‘Welshman’ to “survive the punishing early stages”: In the third round of the rank and file light-weights Private Leahan won a good fight against Sergeant Instructor Bradley (Army Gymnastic Staff). The latter was a cautious fighter, and covered himself well, but Leahan, with well judged leads, got over his guard, and got home left and right on the head and ribs several times in the first and second rounds. The Sergeant, coming up in the third round a bit ’groggy’, Leahan saw his advantage and took it. Boxing his opponent all round the ring he had him helpless across the ropes, the referee stopping the fight in the Welshman’s favour halfway through. In the next series of the same competition Leahan met Private Ronan (2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers) and had all the work cut out to win. He did so, however in the third round with a terrific right swing on the point. Ronan coming up very dazed, Leahan forced matters and had Ronan hopelessly beaten when time was called. In the semi-finals Leahan met Corporal Miller (1st Royal North Lancashire Regiment) and was beaten after a fine struggle.
Miller had been the losing finalist in the previous year’s championship and he ‘found however in Leahan, his strongest opponent, and had to go out all the way to win his way into the final. Leahan made use of his long reach, and at the end of three very hard rounds against a most experienced fighter he only lost by the smallest margin. In the final Miller met Sapper O’Neil (Royal Engineers) winning with ease.
Returning to Pembroke Michael had his second bout with Li Evans over 15 rounds for £10 a-side. An infantryman’s pay was 1s a day, approximately £1.50 a month. At today’s prices, the purse of £10 is equivalent to just over £1,000. Michael had an advantage of 10.lb in weight, and this in the course of the 15 rounds told against his opponent, who, despite his cleverness, received some severe punishment in the earlier rounds. Evans was, perhaps, the more scientific boxer, but Leahan was the harder hitter, and at the end of the 15 rounds was awarded the verdict on points.
The local backer, ‘Professor’ Alf Harris, must have thought that he had a good money earner with these two opponents and on the 26th November promoted another bout over 20 rounds for £20 a-side at his pavilion in Milford Haven.
The building was packed to its utmost capacity. Leahan scaled 13.lb heavier than Evans. Evans was knocked down in the eighth round and again in the eleventh round but rose before the call of time on each occasion. The whole 20 rounds were fought and Leahan was returned the winner on points. Mr Isaacs, of London, was the referee, whilst Mr H. Stephens acted as timekeeper.
The bouts with Evans are the only professional bouts that I believe my grandfather contested and I presume that his Regiment only allowed him to compete because they were held locally and were good for regimental morale. I don’t know if he was allowed to keep his winnings! Michael continued to box for his regiment: In the following October (1911) he competed in the Army and Navy Championships held at the Connaught Drill Hall, Portsmouth, losing on points in the second series of bouts to Leading Seaman Savage (H.M.S. Argyle), and, in April 1913 he fought two bouts at the Bordon Garrison Championships (Hampshire), losing in the final to Driver Evans (141st Battery) by “the smallest possible margin of points”.
In August 1914 Michael’s regiment was part of the British Expeditionary Force that entered the war in France. In September 1915 Michael received a gunshot wound in the right knee, the wound was serious enough to end his military service and he was discharged on the 6th September 1915, with the rank of Lance-corporal. Of course his wound also ended his boxing career and he returned to Merthyr Tydfil to work in the coal mines. After the war my grandfather never enjoyed good health and died from tuberculosis on the 29th May 1928, aged 39 years.
V.E. Day – a Contemporary Account
by Anna Morrell (née Bevan)
Glyn Bevan, my uncle, from Merthyr Tydfil, served as an officer in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and was working at the Admiralty in London, aged just 24, when peace was declared. Here is his diary account of the V.E. Day celebrations in London. .
V.E. DAY
Violent thunderstorm, between 0100 and 0300. I was woken up by an extremely bright flash of lightning at the start. Heavy rain for a time. I believe there was a thunderstorm the night war was declared too. The streets were already filling with people as I cycled in to Admiralty. The end of the war has coincided with a big leave party from the B.L.A. (British Liberation Army) and also with the return of a large number of P.O.W.s, so besides the usual flags and banners many house have “Welcome home” and “Welcome home Pally” on them. About 75% of the houses and shops on the way in had at least one flag. All very like the Coronation in a way except that the whole thing has so much more meaning.
Am in Admiralty all day. Went out to lunch with J.L.S. and had to fight our way through perfectly enormous crowds in Trafalgar Square. Got held up by a procession on the way back and we were both streaming with perspiration, almost exhausted by the time we got back to the cool corridors of Admiralty.
Church bells were ringing all day. I locked up the office at 1500 to hear the PM – the first time it has been locked up since war started – and again at night to hear the King who spoke very well. Went out again for dinner – up to Piccadilly and Leicester Square where it was almost impossible to move. Planes were flying over dropping flares and the crowd was letting off explosives. Took Joan and another girl out into Whitehall at 2230 to see the lights. A lot of Whitehall was flood-lit, all Trafalgar Square, where it was a light as day with mobile searchlight batteries, and Parliament. The Jack on Parliament Tower was flood-lit too and looked grand and so was Big Ben. The show piece in Whitehall was the Ministry of Health which had flags of all the nations up besides being floodlit and bathed in searchlights. We went down just in time to see and hear Churchill speaking to a crowd of 60,000 from the balcony. The place was massed between Parliament Square until past the Cenotaph and the whole lot of us cheered and cheered at intervals through his speech until we were hoarse.
Then went up to Trafalgar Square where they were letting off dozens of Very lights and explosives. The crowd was so immense that we simply had to drift with it, you couldn’t move independently. Eventually we got through Admiralty Arch as most people seemed to be going to the Palace. The Arch was lit by 40 searchlights and it was almost literally as bright as day. This was in addition to the usual floodlighting arc-lamps. The National Gallery and St Martin’s were also floodlit and looked grand. Planes dropping flares over St James Park, and there was also a bonfire there. Exceedingly warm, muggy day. More thunder to come I should think.
V+1
Also a general holiday. Cycled back to Woodford and went straight to bed. Got up at 4 o’clock and had tea. It rained a little as I came in. Got to the National Gallery at 1800 but JG didn’t turn up till nearly 1900 owing to the crowds so I listened to the bells of St Martin’s peeling out and also playing hymns and watched the crowd dancing and singing in the Square.
When he arrived we went off to Piccadilly where we pitched into beer and sherry and got pleasantly tight. Then had dinner with more beer and whiskey and finished off with brandy. Then drifted down to the Ministry of Health where there was another enormous crowd and waited there from 2130 to 2245 when Churchill came out. Chanted “we want Winnie” at intervals and sang songs – Roll out the Barrel, Daisy, There’ll Always be an England, Land of Hope and Glory, Keep the Home Fires Burning, Tipperary, Pack up your Troubles etc.
Got talking to a small boy and his young mother and several other people. Churchill came just after the floodlights went up and got a simply terrific reception. We yelled ourselves hoarse all through his speech, especially when he said “And let us not forget our great navy” and “God bless you all”. And we yelled for about 5 minutes at the end. Then went through the Park to the Palace where there was another enormous crowd. Flares and firecrackers too. The King and Queen came out just after we got there.
Eventually got back to Trafalgar Square and I took J up on Admiralty Arch. We then joined in songs in the Square and eventually he jumped a lift to Liverpool St and I went into Admiralty canteen to get some tea. Came back via Whitehall, the Embankment, St Paul’s. After the West End the City was blacked out, there was barely a light showing in Stratford and Wanstead. Got to bed by 0200.
After the war, Glyn returned to Merthyr to run the family business, a manufacturers’ agents, with his brother Clive – my father. Also as a talented musician, he was the organist and choirmaster at Christ Church, Cyfarthfa, for nearly 25 years. He died after a long illness in 1994.
Get your skates on!
110 years ago today…..
Destructive Fire at Merthyr
The article transcribed below appeared in the Western Mail 150 years ago today (4 May 1870).
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT MERTHYR
GREAT DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY
On Monday night a fire of great magnitude took place at Merthyr, destroying a large amount of property. It occurred on the premise, of Mr. Evan Meredith, draper, Waterloo House, in the High Street. The assistants were in the act of closing the shop, when the window next the Globe Tavern was seen to be on fire, the stuff in it, which was of a very inflammable nature, having, it is supposed, come in contact with the gas. The whole shop and the showrooms in an instant were in a blaze, and it was as much as the assistants, Mr. Meredith, his wife and children could do to escape from the burning house without injury.
The police, under the command of Mr. Superintendent Thomas, were on the spot without any delay with the fire apparatus and escape, but, as usual in these cases, the never-failing hitch took place. No water could be procured, and the turncock was nowhere to be found. A delay of the most vital importance now occurred, but the keys were at last secured. Two hydrants (one by the Court Arms, and the other by Messrs. White’s) were opened, but one would not work for a while. After a short period, the water began to run, but too late to save the house.
One hose was taken under the charge of Police-sergeant Dance through the Globe Tavern to its roof, from whence he played upon the back part of the burning building. The Superintendent worked the other upon the front part. Seeing after a time that all efforts would be fruitless to save either the house or the stock, the police devoted their energies to the work of saving the adjoining houses, (Mr. A. Gunn’s, confectioner, and the Globe Tavern) which were in imminent danger, the inmates having begun to remove their property. This they at length succeeded in doing, but not until considerable damage was done by fire and water to both houses.
About ten o’clock the roof fell in with a tremendous crash, and the fire was stayed for a moment only to return the next with still greater fury. Shortly after this the gas company turned off the gas leaving the streets and houses in pitch darkness, so that torches had to be used. This was done at the request of the police, the fire being continually fed by the escaping gas, the pipes having melted with the heat. By one o clock the fire had been got under, but the hose were plied with unflagging zeal until the early morning, at even which time the ruins were still smouldering.
The stock in the shop consisted mostly of the usual drapery goods, but just the kind of materials to make the best fuel for a fire. The total amount of damage done is as yet unknown, but it is no doubt very great. Of the building itself nothing is left but the principal walls. Mr. Meredith was insured in the Royal and Imperial Fire Insurance Offices.
The fire was seen from all parts of the district, and was compared to the light of a blast-furnace. An immense crowd collected, who, to their credit be it said, behaved in a most orderly manner. Too great praise cannot be given to Mr. Superintendent Thomas, Police-sergeants Dance, Thomas, Jennings, and the police for the quickness of their actions and the greatness of their exertions, the delay at the outset not falling on their shoulders. Volunteers came forward to assist in the work, and also deserve commendation. Among those most active were Mr. H. W. Lewis, engineer of Plymouth, with the hose; Mr. D. T. Richards, ironworks; Mr. Biddle, smith; Mr. Evan Davies, cabinet-maker; Mr. W. Brown, Court Arms; and Mr. Absalom Williams, miner, in rescuing furniture and giving other material assistance.
Great sympathy is felt by all parties in the town with Mr. Meredith in the great loss he has sustained. The escape of the four children was almost miraculous. They were sleeping in a bedroom close to the shop at the outbreak of the fire, and were rescued by Mr. Meredith and one of his assistants with very great difficulty. If they had been a minute or so later the children’s lives would have been sacrificed. Mrs. Meredith, at the writing of this report, is lying dangerously ill and great fears are entertained for her recovery. Mr. Meredith was rather severely burnt in trying to put the fire out.
Four of the assistants (two young ladies and two young men) and three servants are rendered well-nigh destitute by the calamity, all their clothes having been burnt, and having no home to go to. A subscription list has been opened, and already a handsome sum has been collected, the rector (Rev John Griffith, Mr. T. J. Evans of the Brecon Bank, and Mr. W. Harris, merchant, having headed the list with £10 each, and Messrs. Phillips and Evans with £5. Subscriptions may be received by Mr. W. Harris, merchant, and Mr. D. Phillips, of the firm of Phillips and Evans. It is to be hoped that the public will not be backward in responding to this worthy appeal.
It is not often that such a dire calamity as this comes upon this town, and the effect has been very great upon all classes of society. Thousands of people visited the scene of the fire yesterday, and on all sides were heard nothing but heartfelt expressions of sympathy with Mr. Meredith in his great affliction.
Merthyr’s Lost Landmarks: Garthnewydd
by Laura Bray
One of Merthyr’s forgotten houses is Garthnewydd, situated on the crossroads of Brecon Rd, Abermorlais Terrace and Bethesda St, opposite the Catholic Church and, for those of us old enough to remember it, The Glamorgan Arms. It was demolished in the 1970’s, when the area was redeveloped.
There is scant history now about this dwelling. We know it was a well established landmark by 1891, as it was offered for sale by auction as the former residence of Mr Frank James, and was billed as a “dwelling house, with billiard room, two-stall stable and coach house”. In the same auction (7th July 1891), the two adjoining properties of 47 and 48 Bethesda Street, were also under the hammer.
I haven’t been able to find out who bought the house, but one occupant after this date was the Mayor, Mr C Biddle, and another was Dr Llewellyn Jones. After Dr Jones’ death in the late 1920s/early 1930s, the house came into the possession of our old friends, the Berry brothers – specifically William and Gomer – who gave £400 to complete the purchase of Garthnewydd, which was then gifted to the town for the use of unemployed workers. The Berry brothers also provided money to adapt the building, which became known as the Garthnewydd Unemployed Social Club, – at one point it had a membership of 400 men and boys, each paying 1d/week towards its upkeep.
Garthnewydd became a thriving community centre, offering activities to its members such as physical training; educational opportunities for example art, drama, shorthand and book-keeping classes; talks were given weekly and there were areas for wireless enthusiasts, for carpentry, boot repairing, chemistry and for the Ladies Sewing Circle. There was a games room (everything from billiards to dominos), a library which issued in excess of 150 books a week, and a soccer team, which played in the Merthyr and District League. During the Second World War, Garthnewydd was even a centre for Y.M.C.A. work amongst the armed forces.
Following the War it became the home of the Merthyr branch of the Y.W.C.A., opening in 1946, it continued to house the Y.W.C.A. until 1958.
Over time, Garthnewydd became a centre for more political activity, first pacifism and then Welsh Nationalism, through which both the Triskel Press and “Poetry Wales” were conceived and inaugurated. But gradually the usage of the building declined, and the fabric of it deteriorated, until the final organisations vacated it in the 1970s.
Freedom of the Borough – Viscount Kemsley
65 years ago today….
A History of St Gwynno’s Church, Vaynor – part 2
by Ena Moreton
Many thanks to Hywel George, administrator of the Cynon Culture website for allowing me to use this article.
The land for a new building was given by Mrs Mary Williams of Penrhadwy. Vaynor, and work was about to start when Robert Thomson Crawshay, ironmaster at Cyfarthfa, four miles away, offered to build the church at his expense if the money already raised by the congregation, about £700, was put towards what is now St John’s in Cefn Coed. For many years this church was known as St Gwendoline’s, a mistaken dedication caused by confusion among scholars over Welsh and English usage.
Father Silas Morgan Harris (1888-1982) corrected the name whose scholarship embraced the Welsh saints and the history of mediaeval Welsh church. St Gwynno appears to have been Abbot Gwynno, born either in 487 or 507, whose feast day falls on October 22 and one of that company of Celtic saints who travelled spreading Christianity throughout these lands. In Scotland he is known as Guinochus and also credited with founding Plouhinec in Britanny and Kilglin in Co. Meath in Ireland. A contemporary view of St Gwynno can be seen in the fine bas relief near the entrance; He is shown with his shepherd’s crook and the invocation ‘St Guinoce, OPN’ – his Latin name and initials of Latin invocation Ora Pro Nobis (Pray for Us). The sculpture is signed AJJA, work of Arthur Ayres, winner of the Prix de Rome 1931 whose works can be seen in major international permanent exhibitions.
This work is in memory of Canon William Henry Harris (1884-1956), elder brother of Father Silas. Both were born in Pontsticill and firmly on the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church. Canon Harris, known as Father Bill, was professor of Welsh at Lampeter, precentor of the chapel and canon treasurer of St David’s Cathedral. Continuing the family connection, the stained-glass window opposite, depicting the Blessed Virgin and Child, was given by the Harris brothers in memory of their mother, Ann, and is inscribed in Welsh with a line from the Hail Mary “Blessed art Thou amongst women”. The figure of the guardian angel further down the church could not be more distinctively Victorian. The angel is in memory of the four daughters and two sons of the Williams family at Penrhadwy, whose mother gave land for the church. All died in quick succession in their twenties and early thirties in the 11 years between 1859 and 1870.
The angel is by Joseph Edwards, Merthyr-born sculptor whose works are also to be found in Westminster Abbey. He was born in 1814, son of a stone-cutter, and is said to have been in love with one of the Penrhadwy daughters. The angel is reputed to have been modelled on her; one of the final three works in a career that saw 70 of his sculptures exhibited at Royal Academy.
The altar and reredos, with its carved woodwork and panelling, date from 1912 given in memory of Herbert Kirkhouse (died 1904, aged 72) a mining engineer at Cyfarthfa Works who married Maria Teresa, one of the Penrhadwy daughters. Maria Teresa is commemorated in the oak font, given by her son in 1930.The present St Gwynno’s was completed in 1868 a year before consecration by Dr Ollivant Bishop of Llandaff, standing in for Dr. Thirlwell, Bishop of St David’s.
The churchyard is noted for the grave of Robert Thomson Crawshay, the church’s benefactor, with its 11-ton granite slab inscribed ‘God Forgive Me.’ There are also graves of people at the lead edge when Merthyr was at the height of its industrial power, though many have been lost to the march of time.
The vegetation on the steep slope running down to the banks of Taf Fechan is now sanctuary to wild life, plant and animal; a protected nature reserve. Speed was not a speciality of Gruffydd Shon, the old bachelor, whose lady love tired of waiting for him and married a farmer. Gruffydd who died of a broken heart composed his own epitaph that existed as late as 1870 but vanished when his gravestone was broken during demolition of the old church. It read:
Here lies the body of Gruffydd Shon
Covered here with earth and stone
You may sweep it up or leave it alone
It will be just the same to Gruffydd Shon.
In the 140 or so years since St Gwynno’s re-build it has shown signs of strain. In 1969 the church tower on the verge of collapse was taken down and remodelled with a new steeple costing £2000. In the 1980s the church was re-roofed with pantiles as near the original as possible; in the late 1990s the internal floor was replaced and whilst work was going on services were held in Pontsticill village hall; the churches own parish hail having been sold in a few years earlier. For most of its 1200 years St Gwynno’s was mother church for the scattered farms and cottages of Vaynor. When Dolygaer reservoir was completed in 1862 and work began on Taf Fechan reservoir in 1910, Pontsticill, the village that originated as home to those involved in the water industry, grew up a mile from the church where many of its congregation now live. The only other building in the immediate vicinity is the Church Tavern, built in 1823, which started life as a Court where law was administered and later became a celebrated local hostelry until its conversion into a house in 2000.
Below are two recent photos of St Gwynno’s Church – Old and New.
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A History of St Gwynno’s Church, Vaynor – part 1
by Ena Moreton
Many thanks to Hywel George, administrator of the Cynon Culture website for allowing me to use this article.
The story of St Gwynno’s goes back to 8th Century. The original form of the parish name was Maenor Gwynno, manor of Gwynno. The first early wooden church is believed to have been burned down in 1291 during the battle of Maesyfaenor, an epic struggle between the two neighbouring Norman lords, Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Brecknock and Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, over the ownership of the nearby Morlais ridge and surrounding lands.
De Bohun won, at the cost of much bloodshed on both sides. Many were buried under the mound beyond the old church known as Cae Burdydd, or field of slaughter, about 100 yards down the track from this church. St Gwynno’s was rebuilt in 1295 and lasted for some 600 years when it became unsafe and was abandoned in the middle of the 19th Century.
De Bohun and De Clare
A fierce dispute broke out between Humphrey de Bohun, and Gilbert de Clare, which led to fighting between the two powerful Barons on the borders of Glamorgan and Breconshire.
De Clare had built a strong castle at Morlais near Merthyr on land which de Bohun claimed as his own. Raids were made on either side and this part of the country became lawless and swarmed with brigands (“The Welsh Wars of King Edward the First” by John E. Morris). The King’s Writ did not run in the Marcher Lordships. As the Marchers had fought for; and won their estates, they claimed the right to do as they pleased, within their own territories. In Glamorgan, they were known as “Arglwyddi Pren a Phwll” (Lords of the tree and the pool), as they had all the power to order men culprits be hanged and women culprits to be drowned (Rice Merrick and “Edward the 2nd on Glamorgan” John Griffiths). Both King and Marchers were aware, now that the power of the princes of North Wales had been broken, that the custom of private wars between the Marchers would have to be stopped. Edward was determined to enforce the doctrine that the dignity of the Grown was to be respected, and that the Lord. Marchers should be placed on a footing similar to that of the Crown tenants in England.
This private war between the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford was a unique opportunity for interfering and breaking the custom. Accordingly, the King sent a strongly worded proclamation to the two Earls to abstain from active hostilities on 25 January 1290, which Hereford obeyed. Gloucester’s men, however, under his bailiffs with the Earl’s banners, marched from Morlais castle and arrested and killed men from Vaynor, Penderyn and Ystradfellte parishes on three occasions during 1290. They carried, off 1070 head of cattle, 50 horse and bulls and countless sheep and pigs, of which the Earl received the usual one-third share. And soon brigands, who swarmed in the district, people who had been driven from their own homes when de Clare’s had extended their forests in Miskin or had escaped punishment or misdeeds by running away, also began to take part in the raids. In. addition to killing people and stealing animals, they committed sacrilege by taking away the chalice and ornaments from Penderyn Church, they set on fire together with Ty Ralph, Possibly the loot was taken by the brigands through ‘Bwlch y Lladron’ near Hirwaun.
Following these disorders, the King decided to act. Early in 1291, the Bishop of Ely, the Earl of Pembroke and two regular judges were commissioned to hear the case. The two Earls were to appear with the incriminated bailiffs at Ystradfellte on Monday, March 12th 1291. What a “Red Letter Day” this must have been for this quiet and secluded village!
Probably never before or since has such an assemblage of the most eminent notabilities in all their splendour, Barons in mail-armour on well-groomed horses been seen at Ystradfellte. The trial was to have taken place as Castell Coch, Ystradfellte; Hereford arrived punctually but Gloucester, who was married to the King’s daughter and was the most powerful baron in the country at that time, defied the king.
The Court adjourned, to Llanddew, near Brecon, but Gloucester was again absent. The trial proceeded and Gloucester and his bailiffs were found guilty, the damages being assessed at £100. Eventually at a great Council of Archbishops, Bishops, Earls and Barons, presided over by the King in person at Abergavenny at Michaelmas 1291, both Gloucester and Hereford, who were present, were sentenced to be imprisoned and their great lordships and estates to be confiscated. Gloucester was fined 1000 marcs and £100 for damages, and Hereford 1,000 marcs. Gloucester only lived for three and a half years longer, a sadder and wiser man.
In 1294 there was a general rising throughout Wales against being sent overseas to fight in Gascony and against the extortions of sheriff’s and bailiffs. The men of Glamorgan were led by Morgan or Rhys ap Morgan against de Clare and possibly this was the occasion or the origin of the stirring tune:
Rhyfelgyrch Cadben Morgan
Rhwym wrth dy wregys gleddyf gwyn dy dad
Atynt fy machgen dros dy wlad
The King cancelled his voyage to Gascony. He marched through Wales from North to South and was in Merthyr Tydfil on June 14th and 15th 1295, when he received the submission of the men of the Taff and Cynon Valleys, who had previously declared, that they had risen against Gloucester and not the King.
Gilbert de Clare, the Red Earl, died on December 7th 1295, and his young son Gilbert was killed at Bannockburn, in 1314. The great possessions in England and Wales were divided among three married sisters.
To be continued…….
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Memories of Old Merthyr
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.
On the other side of the road where the Town Offices now stand, there was first a small place used as a butcher’s shop, then the opening into the Bunch of Grapes yard, a public house of that name being at the top, then a drapery shop kept by Mr Samuel Smith, who had a sister living with him. Their brother was Mr John Smith, the mineral agent of the Abernant works, and father of Mr W Smith, now manager of Rhymney Collieries, and then what was afterwards the Canton Tea Warehouse of a Mr Watkins.
We are now facing the Castle Hotel, and as far as can be recalled it is the same as in 1834-5, or at least as regards its externals. The steps remain, and the entrance and bar are so, but there have bee some slight alterations in other parts. At the date just mentioned Mr Edward Purchase was the host. Mrs Purchase and two or three daughters of hers were there also.
From all I ever heard, at the time of its building, persons wondered at its being so, for the position was not thought appropriate, but Mr John Treharne was right. Mr Treharne was evidently a person of some decision of character. He was known among his convivial friends as Sir John, and upon his widow marrying Mr Purchase she was sometimes referred to as No 25.
The Castle Hotel (right) at roughly the time detailed in this article
Immediately above the Castle, in fact a portion of the premises, was a gin shop, used also as the booking office for the coaches. Whether adjoining, or a door or two above, there was a hairdresser’s place, kept by Mr Abbott, who had made himself very unpopular to some by swearing to the identity of Dick (sic.) Penderyn of the riots of a few years before, and who had been executed for being implicated therein.
Some doors above was the Vulcan. There was an alley with cottages on two or three of its sides, then a public house – the William IV, then another narrow opening leading to the Morlais Brook, with Zoar Chapel on one side, just where Messrs Thomas had a drapery shop, and then an opening, and on the corner beyond, the residence of Mr Job James, the doctor. He had been, I always understood, a naval doctor. Next door lived his mother-in-law, Mrs Williams.
A person named Brown kept a shop adjoining, and the English Wesleyan Chapel followed. The residence of the minister of the chapel adjoined, and some doors above a Mr Thomas Williams, followed afterwards by a Mr Anstey upon Mr Williams removal to Victoria Street. Mr Thomas Williams was the father of the late Mr Thomas Williams, some time coroner. Only a few doors further and the Morlais or Pontmorlais turnpike gate was come to.
To be continued at a later date……