The grand new Central Post Office in John Street was opened 120 years ago today. Below is an article about the opening, and also a fantastic photograph of the opening ceremony.
Merthyr’s New Post Office
Tag: Dr Biddle
The Growth of Football in Merthyr Tydfil – part 4
Transcribed by Phil Sweet
These articles which appeared in three consecutive editions of the Merthyr Express in March 1921 are Harvey Boots’ own reminiscences of the development of three football codes in the town up to that date.
ARTICLE 2 MERTHYR EXPRESS 12TH MARCH 1921 (continued)
THE GROWTH OF FOOTBALL IN MERTHYR
(By Harvey Boots)
Meanwhile we of the Rugby Club were left in a quandary. The membership of the team that had been doing so well for us the previous season, and had raised the status of the club to a position it had never attained before, went over to the new game. A few remained true to the amateur cause, but we were left with little more than a skeleton of a team. Worse still all our supporters left us; our gates dwindled down to zero; while the other code grew in proportion. However, we kept pegging away, but things were going from bad to worse, our exchequer was dry, and we were owing the bank a bit. We continued for two or three seasons and the struggle was a long and costly one. To give an idea of how wealthy (?) we were becoming, on one occasion we played Cross Keys (a club now at the prominent head of all Welsh Clubs) to a gate of 17s 6d. On this princely sum we had to pay the return visit to Cross Keys. We were not forgotten entirely by the tradespeople of Merthyr at this period.
Several came to our aid, and one, in particular, rendered us very valuable financial assistance. I refer to Mr. J. T. Harrap. We had only to state our case and he was ever-ready to come to our help, but this sort of thing couldn’t go on indefinitely. We were in arrears with our rent, and when making application for Penydarren Park for what was eventually the last time, we found an offer had been made on behalf of the other club at a rental of £200, which was just double what we were charged. This, I am happy to say was turned down by the Athletic Club, although we, at this time, owed £100 for rent and no prospects of paying it.
We felt at this time that since we had been engaged for a number of years in fighting the battles of Welsh Rugby, it was time the parent body came to our assistance, and so began the beginning of the end. I went to Cardiff to interview them on innumerable occasions; as did W. T. Jones and E. Biddle, but all to no purpose. Although they had some thousands of pounds on deposit, they evidently thought it was a real pleasure for us, as private individuals, to keep on shelling out the money to keep the game alive. We wanted to book the Park again for the coming season, and although we owed the Athletic Club £100, they very kindly offered to forgo this, and write it off as a bad debt if the Welsh Union became guarantors for the rent in future. Down we go again to meet these gentlemen with this new proposal. “We don’t want financial assistance,” we told them. “We shall pull through if you will become guarantors for the rent.” Did they? No, bless you! With an ostrich-like wisdom they turned us down again, popped their heads back in the nice warm sand, and went to sleep. These valleys were then teeming with Rugby clubs. To-day there is only one between here and Cardiff – I refer to Pontypridd. All else is Soccer. I have always maintained – and always shall – that this particularly wise move on the part of the Welsh Union paved the way for what is now the popular game – Association.
Well, here were, we with a ground leased for a number of years (16), with nearly £4,000 spent on its improvement, and no tenant for it. The Athletic Club then held what was easily the most momentous meeting in its history and at this meeting we decided to form an Association Club. Believe me, Mr. Editor, had we known the troubles and pitfalls ahead I very much doubt if we would have decided as we did. However, with quick dispatch and unbounded enthusiasm, Dr Llewellyn Jones, Mr. H. C. Davies, with Mr. W. T. Jones as secretary, went up to London to interview the Management Committee of the Southern League. After viewing our ground and few other preliminaries, we were duly accepted as a member, and thus became the first Welsh Club in the Southern League. Our troubles had really only now commenced.
We had decided to introduce a new code into a district where previously, as I remarked before, an Association ball was rarely, if ever, seen. We were now in the Second Division of the Southern League, and as we were the only Welsh Club our fixtures in this section were all with English clubs. We advertised for players in the “Athletic News,” and, believe me, we got them. Our knowledge of the new game was not quite up to date, and I think some of the players who applied for places in the new combination must have been aware of the fact. Some of them came clean shaven, and with close-cropped heads, vowed they had played for Aston Villa and Newcastle, and had “scored the goal that had won the ‘Cup,’” which statement, if true, should have entitled them to whiskers of patriarchal dimensions and old age pensions.
All these things (and others) were sent to try us, but we were learning our lesson. The Northern Union Club were still going, but there were evident signs of a falling off here. Some of the South Wales clubs had already closed down for want of support, and the local club were beginning to feel the drain of those long trips to the North every other week. While they retained the popular fancy, a few spectators used to honour us with a visit just to see how the new-fangled game was going. Indeed, our gates were a thing of beauty, but not a joy for ever. They consisted of the players’ wives or sweethearts, the directors and a few friends, and a number of small boys who had managed to get in without paying. And there I think you have it. We didn’t want a bag of any sort to take the cash to the bank. I believe Mr. W. T. Jones used to put it in his waistcoat pocket to bank on Monday. It was only last week that Mr. John Evans (Royal Stores) mentioned that he remembered looking in on his way to the other game and was surprised to find as many players as spectators Many of my readers make take this cum grano salis, but I can assure them it was very near the mark.
To be continued…..
The Boer War Memorial, Thomastown Park
by Barrie Jones
To mark 121st 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 100th anniversary of the construction of Thomastown Park and the war memorial will reach its 116th 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.
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, 18th Hussars
- Trooper Dominick Dasey, 19th 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 3rd 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.
A Short History of Merthyr General Hospital – part 1
by Ann Lewis
I suppose it’s difficult for us to imagine what life would be like without a hospital in an hour of need, but before 1888 Merthyr had only a small six-bedded Cottage Hospital for children at Bridge Street.
There was the workhouse for the sick paupers and Mrs Clark’s Hospital at Dowlais which had closed six years earlier. There was also a Fever Hospital at Pant, built in 1869, and another at Tydfil’s Well. These were totally inadequate for the needs of a town the size of Merthyr, with the many accidents that occurred at the Ironworks and collieries. When accidents did occur the doctors would have to perform operations on a kitchen table or at the doctor’s surgery.
The Voluntary Hospital had for some time existed in London and other large cities. These were maintained by gifts and bequests from individuals and groups. The patients did not have to pay for treatment, for the doctors gave of their skills freely and in doing so gained a great deal of prestige and power in the management of the hospital.
By February 1886 the caring people associated with the Cottage Hospital formed a group with the sole aim of improving the facilities in Merthyr for the sick and injured. They included Drs. Biddle, Cresswell, Webster, Ward and Dr Dyke who had founded the Children’s Hospital at his home called ‘The Hollies’ in Bridge Street, Merthyr with the Rev J Griffiths the then Rector of Merthyr and Sir W T Lewis, who later became Lord Merthyr.
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.
To be continued….