Dr Biddle – The Melting Pot

by Barrie Jones

To mark 121^st anniversary of the start of the Second Boer War, this article is a rewrite and update on Merthyr’s Boer War Memorial that was first published as part of an essay on Thomastown Park in Volume Twelve of the Merthyr Historian in 2001.

2001 was the 100^th anniversary of the construction of Thomastown Park and the war memorial will reach its 116^th anniversary in September this year.

Situated in the ‘western’ park the memorial is unique as the first memorial to Merthyr’s menfolk who gave their lives in the service of their country.

The Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 to 31 May 1902 and was the first British conflict that depended heavily upon volunteers to boost the small and heavily stretched established army. The war under conventional terms of fighting between formed armies was over by June 1900. A guerrilla phase followed in which the worst aspects of warfare such as scorched earth actions and concentration camps were to inflict severe hardship and suffering upon the Boer people. The war was concluded at the peace of Vereeniging in May 1902.

An indication that the war was over in all but name was that some four months before the signing of the peace treaty prominent Merthyr townsfolk were planning a memorial to those that had died in the service of their Queen, King and Country.

Memorial Committee

At a public meeting held on the 17 January 1902, a resolution was passed that a suitable memorial to perpetuate the memory of former townsmen who had fallen in the war in South Africa be erected. An application for consent of the Council to erect a memorial on the Recreation Ground, later known as Thomastown Park, was made by the secretary of the Committee, Mr W. T. Jones. Mr Jones of 25, Tudor Terrace, Merthyr Tydfil was an accountant practising from offices at 50 High Street. His letter of application, dated 22 January was read at the Council meeting on the 5 February 1902 and was granted subject to a suitable site being available.

Chairman of the committee was Dr. C. Biddle and the vice-chairman was Mr. William Griffiths, High Constable of Merthyr Tydfil, and over the next two years the committee set out to raise the funds to build and erect the memorial.

Fund Raising

The overall cost of the memorial was £300, the majority of which was got by public subscription. Fund raising was slow and by the spring of 1904 was somewhat off the fund’s target. At which time the Police, Yeomanry and Volunteers came forward offering to organise an assault at arms and concert at the Drill Hall, Merthyr.

The event held on the night of Wednesday 11 May 1904 was well attended and raised £75 towards the memorial. The evening’s proceedings demonstrated the strong military background of members of the police force and the overall strength of support towards the erection of a memorial to the men that had died in the war.

The District Council, at a total cost of £123 carried out the foundation work for the memorial. They presented an account for the work, less the Council’s contribution of £25 towards the memorial, in the November following the unveiling ceremony.

The Memorial

The site chosen for the memorial was in the western park on the Thomastown Tips overlooking the town and with the memorial’s overall height of thirty five-foot it is clearly visible from the town below. (George) Washington Morgan, a local sculptor and monumental mason of Penyard House, was commissioned to design and build the memorial. Built from Aberdeen granite in the shape of an obelisk, fifteen feet tall, standing on a pedestal carved from the same material the memorial stands on a foundation designed by Mr C M Davies and Mr T F Harvey, District Council surveyor. The foundation comprises a Pennant stone base twelve feet square upon which the granite pedestal rests. The base surrounded by kerb and railing stands on a grass clod embankment giving added height to the memorial. Application had been made to the War Office to have two South African guns to place each side of the obelisk but without success.

Thomastown Recreation Ground in the 1920s. Photo courtesy of Carl Llewellyn

The pillar has a wreath carved just above the front of the Pedestal, under which is the motto ‘Gwell Angau na Chywilydd’, (Better Death than Dishonour). On the front of the four faces of the pedestal is carved the words ‘A tribute to Merthyr men who died in the South African war, 1899-1902.’ The other three sides contain the forty-two names of ‘Merthyr’ men who died in the war:

Charles M Jenkins, Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry
Trooper John Gray, 18^th Hussars
Trooper Dominick Dasey, 19^th Hussars
Gunner Thomas Williams, Field Artillery
Thomas W Davies, Imperial, Yeomanry
Trooper Evan J Williams, Imperial Yeomanry
Trooper Caradoc I Evans, Protectorate Regiment
Arthur J Jenkins, Grenadier Guards
Evan Evans, Welsh Fusiliers
Frederick Barnett, Welsh Fusiliers
John J Davies, Welsh Fusiliers
Edwin Mansell, South Wales Borderers
William Reardon, South Wales Borderers
William Lewis, South Wales Borderers
David J Moses, South Wales Borderers
J Walsh, South Wales Borderers
Edward Davies, South Wales Borderers
John Rees, South Wales Borderers
Edward Owens, South Wales Borderers
Daniel Sullivan, South Wales Borderers
Sydney Rees, South Wales Borderers
Thomas Davies, South Wales Borderers
William James, South Wales Borderers
Edwin Jones, South Wales Borderers
William Wayt, South Wales Borderers
Michael Flynn, South Wales Borderers
Thomas Fouhy, Welsh Regiment
Timothy O’Shea, Welsh Regiment
Dennis Donovan, Welsh Regiment
Samuel Thomas, Welsh Regiment
Henry Pollard, Welsh Regiment
Cornelius Mahoney, Welsh Regiment
Henry Davies, Welsh Regiment
Morgan Roberts, Welsh Regiment
Thomas Rule, Welsh Regiment
Lewis Williams, Welsh Regiment
John M Ball, Welsh Regiment
John Hayes, Welsh Regiment
Samuel Broadstock, Gloucester Regiment
Patrick Cronin, Manchester Regiment
Daniel Jones, Imperial Light Infantry
William F Howell, R.A.M.C.

Lieutenant C. M. Jenkins was the son of Thomas Jenkins J.P., farmer, of Pantscallog House, Pant. Charles was a railway engineer and had been living in the Transvaal for eleven years before he enlisted in Major Thornycroft’s Imperial Mounted Infantry in October 1899; “All my pals are in it, and I must take a hand as well”. Charles was killed at the battle of Colenso, Natal, on 15 December 1899, aged 32 years old.

The Unveiling Ceremony

After strenuous fund raising the memorial was complete and ready for its official unveiling on Thursday afternoon, 8 September 1904. In keeping with military tradition the ceremony was planned to precision and comprised both military parade and music. On the week leading up to the ceremony plans of the ground showing the entrance gates to be used by the various participating groups was on display in prominent office and shop windows about the town.

The ceremony must have looked most impressive with some six hundred officers and men of the volunteer detachments, South Wales Borderers, of Cefn Coed, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil and Merthyr Vale and the Glamorgan Yeomanry. Witnessing the event was a large assembly of the general public under the supervision of the local police. Lord Windsor, in his capacity of Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan, accompanied by Mr Forest, Deputy Lieutenant, Mr. W. W. Meredith, High Constable, and Mr. J. M. Berry, Chairman of the Public Works Committee, arrived at the recreation ground in a brougham. Lord Windsor was met at the entrance of the gates to the ground by the Memorial Committee and was afforded the honour of a guard of one hundred men under the command of Lieutenant D. C. Harris, Merthyr Tydfil Volunteer detachment of the South Wales Borderers.

After speeches from both the High Constable and Dr. Biddle the buglers of the 3^rd Volunteer Battalion Welsh Regiment sounded ‘The Last Post’. Lord Windsor then unveiled the obelisk to great applause and after an appropriate speech concluded by asking Councillor J. M. Berry to accept the memorial on behalf of the Parish of Merthyr. Councillor Berry accepted the monument and assured Lord Windsor and subscribers that the town would do its utmost to keep it as a sacred trust.

The memorial still stands but is in much need of repair and refurbishment.

The Memorial shortly after it was unveiled.

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….

Tag: Dr Biddle

The Boer War Memorial, Thomastown Park

A Short History of Merthyr General Hospital – part 1