Author: merthyr.history@gmail.com

The Dark Side of Convict Life – part 20

by Barrie Jones

Chapter XVII. Henry recounts his experiences of some of the inmates in Parkhurst Prison asylum.

The Dark Side of Convict Life (Being the Account of the Career of Harry Williams, a Merthyr Man). Merthyr Express, 14th May 1910, page 12.

Chapter XVII

I was not long in the hospital in Parkhurst Prison, for I was only admitted there for a few days for medical observation. They could have saved a great deal of trouble, as I repeatedly told the doctors there was nothing the matter with my intellect. But they would not have it, and they passed me as weak minded, though there was no harm in acting a bit “barmy.” It was understood thing if a convict says he is not “barmy” that they think he is. If he says he is “barmy” then they put it down as a bit of a swank, or what they call “putting it on.” They treated me kindly, and, of course, I had to work in conjunction with their opinion. I do not think you will think me any the worse for that, so just for the sake of argument I will be “barmy” to the end of my narrative.

I was discharged from the hospital, and taken to a prison known as “C” Hall, and a place set apart especially for convicts suffering from derangement: and, indeed, some sad types of humanity were to be found there. One poor chap I came in contact with, whose name was Parsons, was undergoing a term of 20 years for setting fire to a haystack, and when I first knew him he had already completed over fifteen years. The authorities would not give him his liberty because he was not fit to be at large. This poor fellow was suffering from religious mania, and his actions, though laughable, were extremely sad to behold. He would sometimes enter into a conversation with me, but only on points of religion, and I was greatly astonished at what he knew of the Bible; I do really believe that he knew it all by heart, from the first chapter of Genesis to the end of Revelations. I have known convicts to stop him and put a question to him about the Scripture, and he would answer them quite correctly. I can well remember in 1905 speaking to this poor unfortunate, and while he was in the middle of a chapter in the book of Deuteronomy all of sudden the sun came out from behind a cloud, and he made off at a run, throwing out his arms wildly, and calling the sun his God. I cannot forget this poor chap, and I have often thought that his case might have been one of a far worse description than a religious mania. At any rate, if he was mad, he had the right kind of madness – the knowledge and love of God in his heart.

I will compare this case with another lunatic who was as dangerous as the other was harmless. I will not give his name here, sufficient to say that he was one of the worst specimens of humanity I’d ever seen, and well worth a corner in Madam Tussaud’s Chamber of Horrors. It was on a Sunday in 1905 that we were marching back to our cells, when suddenly this man caught hold of an empty zinc bucket and brought it down with terrible force upon the head of a fellow convict, until the poor fellow was streaming with blood, and had to be taken to the infirmary. On another occasion he used the heel of his boot on another man, and one night he was carrying the can of cocoa at supper time, and threw the whole of its contents in the face of a fellow convict. For each of these offences he was taken to the hospital, and placed in a padded cell, and put into a straight jacket. The very “Nick” himself was this man, and it was never safe to look at him, much less get anywhere near him. Finally, they got him into the new asylum, which was opened at Parkhurst in August, 1906, where by all accounts he had a lively time of it in the India rubber cells. A man who was really insane, I must confess, is treated with every possible attention. I know this for a fact, for I have been employed attending in this asylum myself with the lunatics daily rations, and I knew what food they are given to eat.

It is a great mistake for some to suppose that a convict lunatic asylum is different to that of a public lunatic asylum, for it is precisely the same thing, and the inmates are treated in very much the same way. I have heard of a poor chap who was taken very ill in the small hours of the morning. He eventually got out of bed and rang his bell. Again and again this poor fellow rang for assistance, but there was no response, and afterwards all was quiet. But at seven o’clock when the day officer in charge of the ward was unlocking the cells, one of the convicts who was carrying the slop tub, shouted out in the casual way, “slops,” but there was no answer. Naturally, thinking something was wrong, he called the attention of the assistant warder, who immediately went into the cell, and found him half dressed, and lying across the bed quite dead. The official at once phoned to the infirmary, and the doctor arrived, and ordered the body to be carried to the mortuary.

To be continued……

Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society History Day

The Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society is pleased to announce its 2024 History Day, which will revolve around the Second World War.

Everyone is welcome, but pre-booking is essential.

If you would like to come along, please contact stevebrewer68@hotmail.co.uk.

The First Merthyr Town AFC

by Phil Sweet

Most Merthyr football fans would know that a club bearing the name of Merthyr Town AFC was formed in the spring of 1908 and would go on to play in the Football League in the 1920s before failing to secure re-election in 1930 and ultimately folding four years later due to the impact of mass unemployment in the Borough.

However, my recent research has revealed that the Merthyr Town AFC which was formed in 1908 was not the first football team in the town to bear that name. Indeed, the first, and ultimately short-lived, club to bear that name was founded in 1903 and during the 1903-04 season would play in the Second Division of the South Wales League.

However, the rugby orientated Merthyr Express showed little interest in association football at that time and very few references to the club exist in its pages. What follows is an account of the short history of the first club to bear the name Merthyr Town AFC which I have managed to glean from a variety of local newspapers and the minute book of the South Wales Football Association.

Although still very much a rugby town in the early years of the 20th century association football was beginning to gain a foothold in the area. In the south of the Borough Treharris were widely regarded as being one of the pioneers of the game in South Wales while the neighbouring village of Merthyr Vale also boasted a football team. In addition, in the north of the town several teams over the years had emerged bearing the name ‘Dowlais’.

The central area of the town was very much a soccer vacuum until the decision was taken to form ‘Merthyr Town’ in 1903. However, no records survive as to where or why the club was founded. Indeed, the only information we do have is that the club’s first secretary was Mr. R. A. Davies of 126, High Street and that he was succeeded during the season by Mr. J. O. Morgan of 80, Thomas Street while the team played its home matches at Gwynne’s Field Cefn Coed.

The new club was accepted into the Second Division of the South Wales League. This division was initially comprised of 13 clubs and offered the prospect of attractive local derbies against the likes of Treharris Reserves, Merthyr Vale, Rhymney and Pontlottyn.

Things began quite promisingly for the new venture. In their opening match they secured a creditable 2-2 against Treharris Reserves and their next home match two weeks later saw them secure their first victory when visitors Cwmaman were defeated by 2 goals to nil. However, these two games would prove to be the high point of the season as the following fixtures resulted in a number of heavy defeats, a sequence which included a 6-0 hammering at Merthyr Vale in early November.

The club also entered the South Wales FA Junior Cup. However, their presence in the competition would be a fleeting one as they went down to Ynysybwl by a goal to nil in the opening round of the competition. Over the Festive Period the club hosted Brecon in a friendly fixture. However, the late arrival of the Brecon team meant that the final portion of the game was played in semi-darkness as the spoils were shared in 1-1 draw.

The transient nature of football at this time was aptly illustrated by the fortunes of the respective clubs in the South Wales League Second Division. During the course of the campaign Blaina, Tredegar and Nantymoel all dropped out of the league and in early March 1904 Merthyr Town followed in their footsteps. Not surprisingly no record exists as to why this decision but the fact remained – the first Merthyr Town AFC were no more.

PLAYING RECORD

SOUTH WALES LEAGUE DIVISION II

TEAM HOME AWAY
ABERGAVENNY W1-0 D1-1
BLAINA W2-1 XXXX
CWMAMAN W2-0 D1-1
HAFOD XXXX XXXX
MARDY W3-2 L0-1
MERTHYR VALE L1-2 L0-6
PONTLOTTYN XXXX L0-1
RHYMNEY W2-0 XXXX
TON PENTRE XXXX L1-3
TREHARRIS RESERVES D2-2 L2-5

RESULTS AGAINST TEAMS WHO DROPPED OUT OF THE SOUTH WALES LEAUE DIVISION II

TEAM HOME AWAY
TREDEGAR XXXX L0-1
NANTYMOEL XXXX L0-3

SOUTH WALES JUNIOR CUP

RD1 YNYSYBWL 1 MERTHYR TOWN 0

FRIENDLY FIXTURES

PORTH SECONDS 2 MERTHYR TOWN 1
MERTHYR TOWN 1 MERTHYR DISTRICT 2
YNYSYBWL 2 MERTHYR TOWN 1
MERTHYR TOWN 1 BRECON 1

SOUTH WALES LEAGUE DIVISION II

TEAM P W L D F A PTS
HAFOD 13 10  1 2 46 15 22
TON PENTRE 10  7  1 2 28 11 16
PONTLOTTYN  9  7  1 1 26  9 15
MERTHYR VALE  8  6  1 1 30  7 13
ABERGAVENNY 10  3  5 2 24 19  8
MERTHYR TOWN 11  3  6 2 14 30  8
RHYMNEY  9  2  5 2 15 20  6
TREHARRIS RESERVES  7  2  4 1 15 21  5
MARDY  9  2  7 0 10 27  4
CWMAMAN 12  0 11 1  7 55  1

AS AT FEBRUARY 27TH 1904

William Thomas Lewis, Lord Merthyr

The following article is transcribed from the Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement. It is out of copyright and is now in the public domain.

William Thomas Lewis, first Baron Merthyr, of Senghenydd (1837–1914), engineer and coal-owner, the eldest son of Thomas William Lewis, engineer, of Abercanaid House, Merthyr Tydfil, by his wife, Mary Anne, daughter of John Watkin, was born at Merthyr Tydfil 5 August 1837. He received his early training under his father, and in 1855 became assistant engineer to William Southern Clark, mining agent for the Marquess of Bute’s estate in South Wales—in Cardiff and its neighbourhood.

He succeeded Clark in 1864 at an important period in the history of the coal industry and, as consulting engineer, was connected with various colliery and railway schemes in South Wales. In 1881 Lewis was given entire control of the Marquess of Bute’s Welsh estates, and, by reducing the costs of working at the Cardiff docks (constructed by the Bute family), he made possible the expansion necessary for the rapidly increasing trade in steam coal. By 1887 he had constructed the Roath dock and by 1907 the Queen Alexandra dock. He also introduced new appliances, including the Lewis-Hunter crane, of which he was part inventor. When the Bute Dock Company was formed in 1887, he became managing director, and some years later helped to secure direct access to the South Wales coal-field by opening up the Cardiff Railway. Undoubtedly, the growth of Cardiff and the prosperity of the coal-field are bound up with Lewis’s career.

Lewis’s work for the Bute estates, however, represents but one phase of his activities. His marriage in 1864 to Anne (died 1902), daughter of William Rees, colliery-owner, of Lletyshenkin, Aberdare, brought him into close contact with the steam-coal trade, of which his wife’s family were pioneers. His main colliery interests ultimately lay in the lower Rhondda valley and in the Senghenydd district. He possessed a remarkable knowledge of the South Wales coal-field and of coal-working in general, and was appointed to serve on the royal commissions on the action of coal dust in mines, on mining royalties, on coal supplies, and on accidents in mines (1878–1886). For his valuable services on the last-named commission he was knighted in 1885. From coal Lewis was drawn into iron-working, and he helped to revive the industry by applying the new Bessemer process for the production of steel. In 1908 he was elected president of the Iron and Steel Institute.

Probably some of Lewis’s greatest work was done in the cause of industrial peace. Little effort had been made to organize the coal industry until after the strike of 1871, when he succeeded in persuading coal-owners and iron-masters of South Wales to form the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal-Owners’ Association. During the great strike of 1873 he counselled arbitration and urged the adoption of a sliding scale as the basis of the new wage agreement. The acceptance of this principle in 1875 brought peace and stability to the industry for many years; and, as chairman for eighteen years of the sliding-scale committee, Lewis was largely responsible for the efficient working of the scheme. The principle led to a distinct improvement in the relations between capital and labour, and later came to be adopted in other coal-fields.

Lewis had won for himself a high reputation as an industrial expert and as a conciliator. In 1881 he was president of the Mining Association of Great Britain, and he served on the royal commissions on labour (1891–1894), on trades’ disputes (1903–1906), and on shipping combinations (1906–1907). He was successful in effecting a settlement of the Taff Vale Railway strike in 1900, and his proposal for the institution of permanent boards of arbitration became the basis of settlement of the general railway strike of 1907.

Lewis, who had been created a baronet in 1896 and had received the K.C.V.O. in 1907, was raised to the peerage in 1911 as Baron Merthyr, of Senghenydd, Glamorganshire. In 1912 he received the G.C.V.O. He took a keen interest in education and in the social welfare of the coal-field, and was a generous supporter of hospitals and other institutions. He had played a prominent part in the founding, in 1881, of the Monmouthshire and South Wales permanent provident fund for the relief of colliery workers in case of sickness or accident—a scheme which anticipated by many years some of the advantages of old age pensions, compensation for accident, and insurance against sickness or unemployment.

Lord Merthyr died at Newbury 27 August 1914. He had two sons and six daughters, and he was succeeded as second baron by his elder son, Herbert Clark Lewis (born 1866).

The statue of W T Lewis that now stands in front of what remains of St Tydfil’s Hospital. It used to stand in front of the General Hospital.

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.

After Mawdesley left Dowlais, Mr Dodd came to the Ivor Works. He had previously been at engineering works in or near Glasgow, and it was then intended to make superior things. He brought some foremen with him from Scotland: one Mr Wm. Kemp stayed on, but the foreman fitter did not, and after his term of engagement was up Mr Dodd himself returned.

Lady Charlotte Guest. Photo courtesy of Cyfarthfa Castle Museum & Art Gallery

If able I should like to describe what can even now be very vividly remembered. It is a party of gentlemen and a lady: the lady was Lady Charlotte, the others Sir John, Mr E J Hutchins (his nephew), one whose name is forgotten now, and Mr Edward Divett. They were walking across the yard, and went into Dowlais House altogether. Mr Divett was the M.P. for Exeter. Mr Hutchins afterwards became member for Lymington. I almost think Kitson, the private secretary, was also of the party.

Why was such a thing impressed upon me? I will tell you. I had on a suit of fustian, and up to a short time previously had only consorted with broad cloth. I felt my position. I was a workman. David Davies was the foreman pattern maker; John Lewis, the foreman fitter; and John Price the foreman smith. Guess my surprise upon one occasion by being asked to give the equation of a curve of the second order by the owner of a brawny arm named David Jones. It was given him.

We youngsters were in the habit of giving each other mathematical questions. Alas, I think all are gone. H V Trump, who died a few years ago at Rhymney, was one; Wm. Llewellyn (who went to America) another; and Josiah Richards (a cousin), not of the same name, the brother of Windsor, a third. There was one workman in the fitting shop named Thomas Wheatley, the best handicraftsman ever met with. He was also the highest wageman, but his pay did not appear correct on the ticket. To avoid it being known he used to go to the office at stated times for the difference.

Dickenson, who became the chief Government inspector of mines was an underground surveyor. He married one of Mr Thomas Evans’ daughters. Thomas Evans’ son, Thomas, also became an inspector of mines. Shortly after his appointment an action was brought against the Dowlais Company for non-compliance with the Act of Parliament, and many experts were enraged. This “battle of the gauges” will be found pretty fully stated in  the book of colliery law, written by the late John Coke Fowler., who was the stipendiary magistrate before whom it was brought.

Edward Williams began his career in iron making in Dowlais, and he was there with Menelaus, and some others can be remembered, but they must pass at the moment.

To be continued at a later date……