by Freda Entwistle
In the mid-nineteenth century, Market Square was the hub of activity in Merthyr Tydfil. Throngs of people gathered here for special events, filling the Square shoulder-to-shoulder, making it almost impossible to thread one’s way through the crowd. Add to that the horse-and-cart and pony-and-trap traffic, filled with passengers, and congestion was inevitable.
From the High Street view, the buildings on the right of the Square were redesigned and converted into Bentley’s Central Hotel towards the end of the nineteenth century. The hotel was later repurposed before it was demolished in the 1950s.
Bentley’s Central Hotel was advertised as a first class Temperance Hotel, particularly suitable for families and commercial gentlemen alike. The façade was of red brick and Bath stone and the structure was three storeys high, forming a ‘block,’ with most of the hotel on the two upper floors and the ground floor being shared with the entrance, restaurant and independent shops.
This leaflet prepared by the proprietor, Thomas Bentley, advertising the hall on the first floor reads, The large and beautiful Hall can be hired for Social Gatherings, Meetings, Balls, etc.
Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had arrived in Merthyr Tydfil in December 1842 and began holding public meetings in the the houses of local converts. But gradually more people were baptised, too many for meeting in a family home. This necessitated seeking for alternative facilities to house a rapidly growing group. The pubs and local halls were the only buildings that had the facilities to house large numbers..
The Bentley Hall provided a seating capacity for over 500 persons, and evidently, the missionaries found it to be suitable for Latter-day Saint meetings and conferences. One such Welsh Conference was held on Sunday 19 October 1924, and is recorded in an article published in the Millennial Star (the British publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) on 6 November 1924.
LABOUR AND “MORMONS” MEET IN THE SAME HALL
President David O. McKay is in receipt of a letter from President John W. Crofts (right) of the Welsh conference, relating an interesting missionary experience three of the Elders of the Welsh conference had recently:
“You will, no doubt, be interested and possibly amused to hear of a unique experience which we had here in the Welsh conference on Sunday, October 19th. Elder Melvin W. Grant and Gordon B. Affleck and I were scheduled to hold a meeting in the Bentley Hall, Merthyr Tydfil, at 6 p.m., and at the appointed time we commenced the service.
About this particular time, the town was in a state of political excitement, due to the fact that a noted Labour candidate was scheduled to speak there. It was not until we were half through with our meeting that I learned that he, too, was to use the Bentley Hall for his address immediately following our meeting. There seemed to have been either a misunderstanding of the time the political meeting was to commence, or an over-enthusiastic spirit on the part of the Labourites, for they congregated outside the building, five hundred strong, at least thirty minutes before their speaker was due to arrive. Quite naturally, they resented the idea of having to remain outside until the hall had been vacated, and when it became known by them that it was a ‘Mormon’ meeting which was responsible for their wait outside, the resentment waxed hot in certain sections of the crowd.
Realizing a disturbance was imminent, I turned the meeting over to the other brethren and went outside and asked for their leader or spokesman. No one seemed to assume any responsibility for the crowd, so after a few conciliatory remarks, I invited them to join us in our worship and thus avoid the long and tedious wait outside. One or two reluctantly accepted the invitation and sauntered into our meeting. These were followed by others, and in a few minutes, every available seat in the hall, which holds about five hundred, was taken. I then returned to the platform.
In an endeavour to cope with a rather awkward situation, I explained to them that they were now in a house of worship and that we would appreciate their toleration until the service had been properly dismissed. Before proceeding further, I called for a show of hands as an assurance that they would observe the solemnity of the occasion, and to my surprise and satisfaction, almost every hand in the hall was raised. I then proceeded to deliver my address, which to suit the occasion, was on the aims and purposes of the Church. They showed me reasonable courtesy while I was speaking and seemed to receive my humble effort very kindly. True to their word, they maintained perfect order until the service had been brought to a successful conclusion.
In this way, through the help of the Lord, we were able to reach more people within a period of thirty minutes than we would have reached in many months under the regular routine.”
John W. Crofts was only in his early 30’s at the time of this conference, but he clearly knew how to turn a potentially difficult situation to advantage for his cause.
An interesting piece, showing how popular the Market Square was for assemblies before it was built over. The article also shows how prominent the Church of Later Day Saints was in Merthyr Tydfil and District throughout the centuries.
The Bentley Hotel was a regular venue for the Independent Labour Party (ILP), in the early decades of the twentieth-century the ILP would hold a series of summer meetings in the open air to accommodate the large attendances, usually at Cyfarthfa or Thomastown Parks. If the weather was against them they would use the Bentley Hotel.
The Member of Parliament at the time was Richard Collingham Wallhead (1869-1934), a prominent member of the ILP, he served Merthyr from 1922 until his death in 1934.
What a wonderful depiction of an episode in the social life of the busy, lively, biggest shopping town in North Glamorgan, which was Merthyr Tydfil at that time. The Taff Vale Railway was bringing in more and more commercial travellers , many of whom were trusted sons of well-off businessmen from England. There was a growing number of hotels offering suitable accommodation to such visitors. Bentley’s Temperance Hotel was probably the first of its kind: a comforting treat for new visitors who, no doubt, had heard that this crowded metropolis in the hills was known for its drunken brawls. It was in a well chosen location near to countless High Street shops and, as mentioned in the important advertisement, very near to the station. The new arcade had been planned and supported by the powerful Chamber of Trade for quick access to their many businesses. Bentley’s staff, it seems, even
provided a luggage-carrying service to and from the train. Thank you, Freda, for this interesting peep into the past on a day when two important events of the week -one religious, one political were taking place.