70 years ago today……
Month: October 2023
“Dorothy”
by Laura Bray
They say the past is a different country and many of us bemoan the seeming madness of some of the Health and Safety restrictions we live under, but in a less regulated age, we can occasionally wander and wonder.
Such an example would be the Opera “Dorothy” performed 100 years ago today (27th October 1923) at the Theatre Royal by the Merthyr Amateur Operatic Society – and oh that Merthyr could field such a society today!
Anyway, “Dorothy” is a comic opera is three acts with music by Alfred Cellier and a libretto by B.C. Stephenson. The basic story involves a rather dissolute man who falls in love with his disguised fiancée and it became very popular amongst audiences, opening in London in 1886 and running for 931 performances, making it, at the time, the longest-running musical theatre production in history. It toured in Britain, America and Australia and enjoyed numerous revivals until at least 1908 and so it is easy to see why it was popular with amateur theatre groups. Indeed “The Times” described it, in 1908, as “one of the most tuneful, most charming, and most shapely of English comic operas”.
The Merthyr Amateur Operatic Society clearly did a splendid job of performing it. The review in the Merthyr Express announced that the scenery was “amongst the finest ever seen on the local theatre stage”, the costumes were “almost perfect”, the makeup “really good”, and, as for the singing, it was “magnificent”, reflecting the great choral tradition of the town. In fact, there was no part of the cast and crew not mentioned in his praise, from the performers, to the orchestra, the producer and musical director, and the officials of the society.
But notwithstanding that names sold papers, the Express also reports that the opera played to packed houses each night; that on the Saturday evening, hundreds were turned away; and that an additional matinee performance was added and tickets given to over 100 “inmates from the workhouse”. So, perhaps in this case the praise was well deserved.
The highlight of the opera was clearly Act 2, described as a “masterpiece”, greeted with “thunderous applause”, as the audience prepared for a scene depicting the a hunt and the meeting of the hounds. Not for the Merthyr Amateur Operatic Society puppets, cut-outs or toys. Oh no! They had the foxhounds from the Gelligaer and Talybont Hunt, loaned to them by the Master of the Hunt (who was Seymour Berry’s daughter) Miss Eileen Berry. Imagine now, trying to put on an opera, to packed houses, with the local foxhounds on stage! Health and Safety would have a field day!
The photo in the paper (of poor quality now, but below) shows about a half dozen hounds, looking remarkably relaxed, on the stage with the cast.
The interesting thing about all this is that it does not seem unusual to have working dogs on stage. The Bwllfa Hounds from Aberdare appeared in a theatrical production in the Gwyn Hall in Neath at about the same time. It was truly a different time.
I wonder what the dogs themselves thought of the “thunderous applause” and their nightly performance in Act 2! And I wonder how many were not beautifully behaved on stage…..
Merthyr Tydfil: Two chapels, two prophets
by Alan Davies
In the twentieth century two chapels were built in Merthyr Tydfil by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They have a unique connection: they were both dedicated by a prophet.
After experiencing great success in Merthyr Tydfil in the nineteenth century missionary work for the LDS church practically ceased after many members emigrated. The local branch of the church was officially closed in 1912. However, in the 1930s missionaries were again assigned to the area so a branch could again be organised. After months of effort baptisms took place in January 1932. Having no purpose-built chapel, the new converts were baptised in the River Taff, and during this time weekly meetings were held in members’ homes, with local halls hired for conferences.
By 1936 the local members felt it appropriate to build their own chapel. After purchasing the materials, they built their new wooden chapel in Penyard. This was done under the direction of the 74-year-old branch president Elder Evan Arthur, who was a missionary serving his third mission back in his homeland of Wales. The first recorded Sunday meeting in the new chapel was held on 20th December 1936 with President Arthur being the principal speaker.
In February 1937 it was announced that President Heber J. Grant would visit Great Britain during the summer. President Grant was the head of the LDS church worldwide, and thus considered by the church membership to be a prophet, like Moses or Elijah. His plan was to observe the hundredth anniversary of the LDS missionaries coming to Britain on 23rd July 1837. Accordingly, on Monday, 26th July 1937 President Grant visited Merthyr Tydfil and dedicated the recently completed chapel. His dedicatory prayer included a blessing on the chapel that it would stand for as long as the members needed it.
In the 1950’s the growth of the church warranted a new larger chapel in Merthyr Tydfil. A two-and-a-half acre site was purchased in Georgetown, approximately half a mile from the previous chapel. Ground breaking took place in March 1961. The local leadership now included men who had been present as young boys at the earlier chapel dedication in 1937 where they had met President Grant.
As the church had recently instigated a building programme across the UK, a building supervisor and building missionaries (who served a type of apprenticeship under the direction of the supervisor) were assigned to Merthyr. Together with the help of local members the new building was completed by 1963.
The dedication was performed by President David O. McKay in August 1963 just a month before his 90th birthday. President McKay was then the current worldwide leader of the church and therefore also considered a prophet. His mother Jeanette (nee Evans) had been born in Merthyr and joined the church along with her family before emigrating in the previous century. With that family background President McKay had a keen interest in the progress of the building work and made the effort to be present for the dedication despite poor health.
As a footnote it should be recorded that in 1936 two huts were built in Penyard, both with the same materials and design – the one by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the other would be used by a youth club and scout group. A year later the non-church hut collapsed. Several months after the LDS church vacated their Penyard building it also collapsed – after more than 25 years of use. The members who had been present at the dedication in 1937 were not surprised and would refer to what President Grant, the prophet, had said during his dedicatory prayer.
Merthyr Central Library
by Carolyn Jacob
A ‘flourishing’ library existed in the Merthyr Tydfil Parish from 1846, although it consisted of only two dozen volumes collected by Thomas Stephens and Charles Wilkins. The books were originally for their ‘conversational club’ and believed to have been in the Temperance Room behind the Merthyr Market. Gradually a number of libraries developed in Merthyr Tydfil, Abercanaid, Aberfan, Dowlais, Penydarren, Thomastown, Treharris, Troedyrhiw and, outside the Parish, Cefn Coed. The ‘central’ library was located in the Town Hall from 1901 but transferred to two vacant shops in the Arcade by 1907. By 1918 The Arcade Library had a reference section and a sizeable number of books. In 1930 the Corporation had to find new premises for the Library and moved to 136 Lower High Street at an annual rental of £100. The Library was known as the Town Reading Room and both this library and the Thomastown Library closed in 1935 when the new Central Library opened.
The Central Library, in a fine renaissance rectangular style, is a protected grade II historic building, it was purpose built and has always been a library. It was placed on vacant ground, given by the Council, which was once the site of the former St David’s School. The foundation stones were laid in 1935 and the building completed using money from the American Steel millionaire, Andrew Carnegie. The Carnegie Trust donated £4500 on condition there was an adequate book fund and that a properly trained and competent Librarian be appointed.
The Library was designed by Councillor T. Edmund Rees (of Messrs Johnson, Richards & Rees, architects of Merthyr) and built by Messrs Enoch Williams and Sons, contractors of Dowlais at a cost of £8,500. The exterior is in an Arts and Crafts Modern style with Portland stone, hipped Cumbrian slate roof swept to wide eaves. An attractive feature is the large central doorway and Tudor arch in moulded surround to entrance. The interior has a panelled wooden entrance-hall, although sadly the original oak wood, which is a wonderful feature of this building, was painted during refurbishment in 2011. The stained glass as you enter the building commemorates the Urdd National Eisteddfod which was held in Merthyr Tydfil in 1987. The building was opened in 1936 by the Mayor, Lewis Jones who became the first borrower of a book from Merthyr’s new Library.
The first librarian, Mr E. R. Luke received a salary of £330 a year and not only spoke Welsh fluently but he also had a working knowledge of French, German and Latin. Merthyr Libraries have always provided a free library service for residents and visitors. The new library was a great success and the number of registered borrowers rose from 1400 in March 1936 to 10,765 by February 1940. As a child the historian Gwyn Alf Williams made ‘daring raids into alien territory in Merthyr Library’.
In 1946 Merthyr Tydfil became the first Authority in Wales to appoint a woman as Borough Librarian and an English woman at that – Margaret Stewart Taylor. She also became curator of the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and was a remarkable local historian. Miss Taylor wrote 23 books on a wide variety of topics, a classic work on library cataloguing and classification, biography, local history such as ‘The Crawshays of Cyfarthfa’, travel writings based on her own experiences and romantic fiction set in a fictional town which was a thinly disguised Merthyr Tydfil. She compiled and edited ‘Fifty Years a Borough, 1905-1955’ to commemorate the incorporation of the Borough of Merthyr Tydfil. She set up a school library service and established local history as important in both the Library and the Museum. Margaret Stewart Taylor demanded high standards from her staff and would personally inspect the library shelves to make sure the books were all in strict order. A book incorrectly shelved would be left in the middle of the floor.
The Plaque on the exterior of Merthyr Tydfil Library by the doorway is dedicated to Richard Lewis, (Dic Penderyn). At the time of the 1831 Merthyr Rising he was a miner in Merthyr Tydfil. He was charged with feloniously wounding Donald Black of the 93rd (Highland) Regiment. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. Despite a petition of 11,000 names for his reprieve, he was hanged at Cardiff on 13 August 1831. His last words on the scaffold were reported to be ‘O Arglwydd, dyma gamwedd’ – ‘O Lord, what injustice’. He is buried in Aberavon. Later in the century another man confessed to the crime for which Lewis had been hanged.
There is also a plaque on the front of the Central Library dedicated to Ursula Masson, who was born Ursula O’Connor in Dowlais, and became a leading Welsh academic and writer who worked closely with Jane Aaron and Honno Press/Gwasg Honno, the Welsh Women’s Press, on the imprint Welsh Women’s Classics – to bring back into print the works of forgotten Welsh women writers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Outside the Library, the Statue and Plinth to Henry Seymour Berry are Grade II Listed monuments. The statue stands at the centre of a semicircular forecourt in front of the Library, and it was designed by W. Goscombe John RA and erected in 1931. It consists of a bronze figure in full robes with a cocked hat in the crook of his left arm and a parchment grasped in left hand. The inscription:
Henry Seymour Berry, Baron Buckland of Bwlch, Hon. Freeman of the Co. Borough of Merthyr Tydfil.
Born 1877 – Died 1928.
Erected by public subscription.
There are recent plaques attached to the statue to mark the achievements of his two younger brothers. James Gomer Berry, Viscount Kemsley and William Ewert Berry, Viscount Camrose.
Women’s Suffrage in Merthyr Tydfil
Transcribed below is a report which appeared in the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian 150 years ago today – 18 October 1873.
A meeting was held at the Zoar Chapel, Merthyr, on Tuesday evening, for the purpose of hearing addresses on the Female Suffrage Question. Mrs. Crawshay, of Cyfarthfa Castle, presided, and was supported by Mrs. Fawcett, wife of Professor Fawcett, Miss Lilias S. Ashworth, of Bath, etc.
Mrs. CRAWSHAY, who was received with acclamation, said: “I share with all present their anxiety to hear the two gifted ladies who are my guests tonight; but it has been intimated to me that a few words on my own part would be acceptable to some among the audience; and as I have always found my Merthyr friends most kind and indulgent in listening to me – notwithstanding all my wicked notions – I propose making a remark on the assertion that ‘women don’t want the suffrage.’ (Applause). Mr. Henry James said at Taunton, last week, that if he were sure even half the women of England desired the franchise he would vote for it, and he seemed to fancy that he was acting in accordance with the wishes of the majority of women in England in declining to vote for it. This may to some extent be true – the black slaves did not care to be set free – there must be some little experience of freedom before it is valued. But why should the women of England, who don’t want to vote, be so afraid of the suffrage being given to those women who do? They will no more be obliged to vote than men are. There are many women who do not use this privilege – do not fulfil their duty – but it would be a strong plea to bring forward, that we must not allow any men duly qualified to vote, because some do not care to vote. (Hear, hear, and cheers).
Who is he who knows what proportion of women are anxious to have a voice in making the laws by which they, no less than men, are bound? No one – for the tyranny exercised by some men is so great that they prevent their wives and grown-up daughters hearing any discussion on the subject when anxious to do so. (Hear, hear.) To my knowledge there would have been some here tonight who are kept at home as if they were either children or idiots. Is it likely this state of things will continue? No. Because at some of these meetings the absence of Mrs. or Miss So-and-so will be deplored, and the true reason for her absence given; and those men who act thus tyrannically by their wives and daughters are the very ones who would most shrink from having such conduct traced home to them. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) It is only the most noble and the most generous of husbands and fathers who at the present time allow their women-kind the exercise of intellect; but the others will have to do so, and then Mr. Henry James will find himself obliged to vote for the enfranchisement of women, if he will either gain or retain a seat in the House. (Hear, hear, and cheers.)
I feel sure that one reason why narrow-minded men are so averse to greater independence of thought on the part of women is that they fear it might raise the standard of intelligence throughout the country. This is a strange fear, while there are physiologists who assure us that the mind of woman is in itself an inferior article to man’s mind. Perhaps they will have to modify this idea some day. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) In the year 1801, M. Sylvain Marechal wrote a book in which he discussed the question, ‘Ought women to learn the alphabet?’ This is ironical, but really it is the point where the men went wrong. (Hear, and cheers) They should have resolutely answered ‘No.’ But, only think, had they done so, what a far backward position Europe would hold now, for it is clearly a decree of Providence that one class cannot rise without the rest, any more than one individual can do so. What is the meaning of all the martyrdoms of all the ages? Only that the martyr was in advance of his time; and that is a crime so resented now, no less than in ages past, that though it is no longer punished by physical tortures, mental torture is still in vogue. (Loud cheers.)”
Mr. CHARLES JAMES, after some appropriate remarks, moved the following resolution:- “That the exclusion of women, otherwise legally qualified, from voting in the election of members of Parliament, is injurious to those excluded, contrary to the principle of just representation, and to the laws in force regulating the principles of municipal, parochial, and all other representative governments.”
Mrs. FAWCETT, supported the resolution in an able speech, saying in conclusion that it was a flagrant injustice to exclude such a woman as Lady Burdett Coutts for instance, from the suffrage. They were determined to go on in their endeavours, and they would not be debarred from their purpose by any cry of unnatural alliance between themselves and the Tories. She hoped the time was not far distant when such meetings as the present would become no longer a necessity for the attainment of their object.
Mr. W. JONES, of Cyfarthfa, moved the following resolution, “That a petition to the House of Commons be adopted and signed by the chairman on behalf of this meeting, and that a memorial be forwarded to Mr. Richard and Mr. Fothergill, members for the borough, requesting them to support Mr. Jacob Bright’s Bill to remove the electoral disabilities of women.
Miss ASHWORTH, who on rising to second the motion, was loudly cheered, said that doubtless many present were convinced of the justice of the claim of women to representation, but she believed more cordial support would be given were they convinced that women were sufferers from the want of representation. Referring to the borough and county members Miss Ashworth observed:- “I have lately been looking through the division list of the House of Commons, and I find that the measure to which I have alluded has not been supported by one particular party, but by Liberals and Tories. Mr. Gladstone has given his adhesion to the principle, and Mr. Disraeli has voted for the Bill over and over again. Indeed, many of the foremost statesmen in the House of Commons have voted for it, and I am pleased to find Mr. Henry Richard (loud cheers) – each year records his vote in favour of the Women’s Disabilities Bill and one of your members for the county – Mr. Talbot – has voted every time for it; but Mr. Vivian has voted against it, and Mr. Fothergill has voted against it. Mr. Vivian’s, I think, is a most hopeless case, because he has voted against it both times lately. (Laughter.)
Now, Mr. Fothergill has missed for two whole years, and I really think if you bring some pressure to bear upon him he will be very likely converted. I unhesitatingly state that it is no credit to any Liberal member in the House of Commons that he should vote against the Women’s Disabilities Bill and as a general election is not perhaps so far off, I say to you, working men, many of whom I believe I see before me, that a man who does justice to women is a man most likely to do justice to himself. When a general election comes round, I ask you, whatever candidates come forward, that they should all be questioned upon this subject, and it should be clearly elicited from them how they intend to vote when they go to the House of Commons. And another thing I should like to ask you to do is to send a largely signed petition to your members. I don’t think Mr. Richard needs one, because he seems always right. Mr. Vivian’s, I repeat, is a hopeless case, but I am sure Mr. Fothergill would appreciate one if it were very widely signed” (laughter, and much cheering) – during which Miss Ashworth resumed her seat. The resolution was seconded and carried amid applause.
The RECTOR of MERTHYR, in supporting a vote of thanks to Mrs. Crawshay, Mrs. Fawcett, and Miss Ashworth, concluded as follows:- “I was at Bath the other day, and was informed that there were thirty thousand women there, and in the height of the season, in excess of men. Why is this? Why, simply for the reason because the young men of the present day don’t do their duty in the way they ought. (Applause.) They ought to set about marrying at once. With this view, then, I hope the measure under discussion will succeed, and I hope the women who do this will get an Act of Parliament passed that a poll-tax be put on every man that is not married. (Laughter and cheering ). The assembly then broke up.
Prosecution of Dowlais Publicans
From the Western Mail 140 years ago today…..
Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society
The Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society is pleased to announce details of its next History Day.
Everyone is welcome, but pre-booking is essential.
The Dark Side of Convict Life – part 8
by Barrie Jones
Chapter VI recounts Henry’s views on Prisoners’ Aid Societies and in particular the Salvation Army.
The Dark Side of Convict Life (Being the Account of the Career of Harry Williams, a Merthyr Man). Merthyr Express, 26th February 1910, page 11.
Chapter VI
On Prisoners’ Aid Societies.
I daresay that my readers have heard a great deal about these benevolent societies, and I should like to give my opinion concerning their pretended generosity. I have often thought that if I had been assisted I should never have gone through any further trouble, but as I was deceived after forming good resolutions, there was an excuse why I again trod the path of evil.
There has been a great deal said about the goodness of their work in helping and rescuing the criminal, and of the wonderful work they have done and are doing, but some of them are little better than money-making institutions.
There is one society that has really and truly done some good, and that is the Salvation Army. I say this because I have experienced this, but there are many people who do not like the Salvationists, simply because they are noisy in the streets; but they are only acting in accordance with the Bible, for it says “Thou shalt make a noise with timbrels and instruments of music, that my words shall be heard throughout all lands,” or something to that effect. The Salvationists have not only assisted and helped to make homes for the discharged criminals, but also for the distressed and poverty-stricken poor of many countries.
A chaplain of a certain prison in Wales once told me that the Salvationists were too fond of boasting of the good they have done, and that it was the working-class who chiefly contributed towards them, and that the wealthy as a rule passed them by. I was not long in telling him that there are to be found among the Salvationists people of independent means. And it is so; and I think they are in the right to boast since the Church of England does exactly the same thing. “Go out into the highways and hedges, and bring in hither the halt, the maimed and the blind.” The Church preaches this, but the Salvation Army practices it.
The Salvation Army has a farm colony, somewhere outside London, where they train criminals for emigration to Canada, but the Canadian Government has now put a stop to this, so that no criminal should be allowed out there who is assisted by public funds. As the Salvationists are people who never give in they will, I am quite sure, some day, even if General Booth does not live to do it – his son possesses exactly the same determination – from a scheme to obtain a substitute for the Canadian farming.
Speaking from experience I am justified in saying that the Salvation Army societies are the predominating societies of the world, and God knows what it will lead to yet. It is not the Salvationists who boast of the work they have done, for they do not praise themselves in their Christian calling, as a great many are too apt to believe, but it is the likes of myself more who praise their splendid work, which is a work of love. I cannot find words to praise them enough, for they have turned many a hardened criminal into a respectable citizen, and a loving husband and father. If there are any of my readers who have a tendency to oppose this, let them come to me and I will argue with them upon the subject until they are black in the face. Their flag is still flying, and it will fly when those who condemn it are in their graves.
To be continued……..
Earthquake at Merthyr
From the Cardiff Times 160 years ago today…..
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.
But stay! there was a round building that must not be forgotten. It is probable that many are unacquainted with its purpose, for they are not in vogue now. It was a structure for the rolls not in use, or being attended to for making or repairing. It was built round so that a crane fixed in the centre would sweep around, so as to deliver or take up all within its scope. I should add the rolls were stored on their ends, the floor plates having the necessary circular holes for taking in the neck or bearing, and so keep them in vertical position.
As regards the individuality of Penydarren, Mr Richard Forman was the one time manager, and resided at Gwaelodygarth Cottage. When Mr Grenfell was manager he resided at Gwaunfarren, and it was so occupied by Mr Benjamin Martin after he became manager, previous to which he resided on the “yard”, or rather the road leading to it and to Caemarydwn (sic).
Mr Martin had five brothers and one sister that can be remembered. Two of his brothers, Joseph and Thomas, were in the works; Edward who became the registrar at Penydarren; John was the doctor, living near the Bush, in the High Street of Merthyr, and George, who is always remembered in Dowlais. The sister married and went to America, whence she returned, and lived in a house between where the Pontmorlais turnpike gate stood and the bottom of Penydarren Works.
The first millwright that can be recalled was Mr Thomas Davies, who went thence to Nantyglo. He was succeeded by John Watt, from Dowlais, who afterwards removed to Govan. James Roe, a younger brother of John P Roe, was there also, and I think he died there. Bye-the-bye, he married either the daughter or other relative of the Waunwyllt family. Adrian Stephens (left), the inventor of the steam whistle, was also there.
It was in the Penydarren Forge one of Trevithick’s engines and boilers was seen, and another also of his make was used for winding coal at Winch Fawr. The upper end of the forge was built of limestone, and the purest specimen of Doric architecture ever seen in South Wales. The chimney or stack of the roll lathe, not many yards thence, was a copy of the Monument on Fish Street Hill, but one fifth the size.
Now to return to the crossing of the turnpike road on the limestone tramroad. I have an idea that Mr Morgan, who lived close by there, and already alluded to, married a sister of Mr Benj. Martin, but she has not been mentioned with that gentleman’s other brothers and sisters as I am not positive respecting it.
There were houses almost continually from her to Dowlais. On the opposite (the left) side of the road there was a shop kept by the name of Williams – it was a son of his, I believe, who erected a flour mill, and opened a grocery and and provision place on the right hand side of Victoria Street and named it the Hong Kong Shop.
I have omitted to say that one of those living in the houses near Penydarren Office was a Mr Gibson; he was the cashier, and married a Miss Farmer, whose father was a gunsmith etc. in Cardiff. His shop was, as near as I can remember, where or near there is one one present, between the Bute estate offices and the Angel Hotel. He built a row of cottages on the left, opposite to where the road now turns to Dowlais, and thus avoids Gellyfaelog, which is known to this day as Gibson’s Row.
A family named Waters also lived in the clump. John, the eldest son, became the furnace manager at Duffryn under Mr A Hill, in which position some years after he was succeeded by Mr John Place. Mr Evan Roberts, another of Mr Hill’s furnace managers, had charge at Plymouth after Mr Thos. Davies left.
To be continued at a later date…….