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……..

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.

Gibson’s Row in the 1940s. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

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…….

Robert Lugar – architect

The name Robert Lugar may not be one that most people are familiar with, but he is someone who has left an indelible mark on Merthyr’s history, as he was the architect who designed Cyfarthfa Castle.

Little is known of his early life, but he was born c.1773/4 in Colchester, the son of Edward Lugar, a carpenter. From about 1799 he was practising in London, being based at Featherstone Buildings, Holborn, and exhibited at the Royal Academy for the next twenty years. In 1812 he succeeded John Johnson as County Surveyor of Essex, a post which he held until 1816.

Lugar first made his mark with the publication of his first book ‘Architectural Sketches for Cottages, Rural Dwellings and Villas’ in 1805, and this was followed by ‘The Country Gentleman’s Architect’ in 1807. The following year he completed his first major commission Dunstall Priory, and this was followed in 1808-09 by Balloch and Tullichewen Castles. The resemblance between Tullichewen Castle and Cyfarthfa is remarkable.

Tullichewen Castle

In 1810, Lugar took on an apprentice to work with him at his Holborn offices – the 20 year old Archibald Simpson. Simpson would go on to be one of Scotland’s most important architects, who along with his rival John Smith is regarded as having fashioned the character of Aberdeen as “The Granite City”.

It was in 1824, that Lugar was commissioned by William Crawshay II to build a new home for him and his family, befitting his status as one of Merthyr’s great iron-masters. The new home designed by Lugar was Cyfarthfa Castle, which was completed by 1825 at a cost of £30,000.

Ground floor plan of Cyfarthfa Castle from 1827

In 1834, a fire all but destroyed the Houses of Parliament in London, and a competition was held to design a new building. Lugar entered the competition in collaboration with fellow architect John Burrell, but lost out to architect Charles Barry. Interestingly, Charles Barry is another architect closely connected with Merthyr – a friend of Lady Charlotte Guest; he designed both Dowlais Central Schools and the Guest Memorial Hall.

Robert Luger continued designing houses for the rest of his career, his most important works being Wyelands House in Monmouthsire (1830) and Bardon Hall in Leicestershire (1837). He died at his home at Pembroke Square, London on 23 June 1855, aged 82.

Ursula Masson

by Laura Bray

You may have seen Keith Lewis-Jones’ piece on this blog about Ursula Masson (https://www.merthyr-history.com/?p=5547), who is cited in a purple plaque outside the library, and wondered who is.  She was, in fact, one of those people who had a large, but quiet, effect on the prominence of Welsh women’s history in the 20th century, so I wanted to expand on Keith’s excellent but brief citation, as we should know more about Ursula and be rightly proud of this child of Merthyr.

Ursula was born into the Irish community of Merthyr in 1945, attending Cyfarthfa Grammar School and then Cardiff University. She went on to do her Master’s degree in Keele University, the subject of which was the history of the Irish in Merthyr.

Following her Master’s degree, Ursula worked as a journalist in South Wales and Australia, before returning to teach adults in Swansea. In 1994 she became a lecturer in history at the University of Glamorgan, and it was here that she became known for her pioneering work in the social and political history of women in Wales. She co-founded the Women’s Archive Wales (Archif Menywod Cymru) in 1998, was a committee member of the South-West Group of the Women’s History Network (later renamed South West and Wales Group), and co-edited Llafur, the journal of Llafur: The Welsh People’s History Society. She encouraged and and promoted a series of Wales Women’s History Roadshows, where people were invited to bring material relating to the social history of women’s lives; edited the Aberdare Women’s Liberal Association 1891–1910 papers, and became involved in Honno Welsh Women’s Press. Much of this material has been copied and saved for the nation in the People’s Collection Wales.

Janet Aaron, of Honno, remembers her fondly:

“Ursula edited and introduced 2 volumes in the Welsh Women’s Classics series, an autobiographical volume by the pioneering Welsh socialist Elizabeth Andrews, A Woman’s Work is Never Done, which was published in the series in 2006, and an anthology of Welsh women’s political writing, The Very Salt of life: Welsh Women’s Political Writings from Chartism to Suffrage, which she co-edited with myself, and which was published by Honno in 2007. I enclose above reproductions of the covers of the two books, and a photograph of Ursula at the launch of A Woman’s Work is Never Done which was held in what is now the Senedd building.

Ursula’s contribution to each volume was considerable: as well as writing introductions to both, she included in the Andrews’ volume a number of articles by Andrews as well as the autobiographical text itself, and nobody but her could have found all the material republished in The Very Salt of Life, particularly the suffragette material. Many previously forgotten political women, who contributed significantly to the advance of women in Wales, feature in that volume.”

 

Sadly, Ursula became very unwell during 2001, but not being one to give up she continued her research, completing a doctorate entitled For Women, for Wales and for Liberalism: Women in Liberal Politics in Wales, 1880–1914, which was published posthumously by the University of Wales Press. She died in 2008, but her legacy remains: the public Ursula Masson Memorial Lecture on the subject of gender studies is given annually at the Centre for Gender Studies in Wales at University of South Wales; as is the annual Ursula Masson Memorial Prize  for the best undergraduate dissertation in women’s or gender history.

So next time you pass the library, stop and look at the plaque – and remember one of Merthyr’s forgotten heroines.

The Perils of Shell-fish

The following report is transcribed from the Evening Express dated 24 September 1903, 120 years today…..

COCKLES & MUSSELS

Cause Enteric Fever at Merthyr

REPORT BY THE MEDICAL OFFICER.

At a meeting of the health committee of the Merthyr Urban District Council yesterday, Mr. T. E. Morgan presiding, Dr. D. J. Thomas submitted a preliminary report upon an outbreak of enteric fever in the district. Up to the end of August the number of cases notified had been 40. During the week ended September 5 fourteen cases were notified. Eighteen cases were notified during the week ended September 12, and 56 during the week ended September 19. The number of houses affected was 75. Between September 1 and September 19 no deaths occurred from the disease. Of the total number notified between these dates, 48 were removed to hospital.

The cases were too evenly distributed between the two sexes for the outbreak to bear any relation to occupation. Visits of inspection to the premises affected had disclosed no gross sanitary defects. All the houses concerned were supplied with water from the council’s supply. This water was above suspicion.

There remained two other sources of infection-milk or some other article of food. The houses involved were supplied with milk from 40 different sources, and it might be concluded that the outbreak could not be traced to milk. With one exception, the milk was obtained in the immediate neighbourhood. The premises of all the milk vendors had been visited and inquiries made as to any cases of illness, etc., on the premises or amongst the employees.

The other food supply to which attention would naturally be directed was shell-fish. This kind of food had been proved on many occasions to be the cause of outbreaks of enteric fever. Of the total number notified five were secondary cases. In three instances the disease had been imported into the district. One of these had been at Llanstephan from August 5 to August 22, and was taken ill on September 6. The second hall been at Goodwick from August 8 to August 29, and was taken ill on August 30, It was more than probable that both these cases had contracted the disease away from this district. The third case came from Aberdare on September 5, and was suffering from the disease when he arrived here. There remained 83 cases. It had been found that 64 of these bad partaken of shell-fish about a fortnight previous to the outset of symptoms.

In an industrial district like this, these figures would not in themselves be conclusive, as a large majority of the population were partakers of this form of food. But when the replies were analysed it was found that no less than 54 of the persons attacked had obtained their shell-fish from one source. Taking first of all the history of these 54 persons, it was ascertained that with three exceptions they first exhibited symptoms of the disease between August 28 and September 1. Two were taken ill on September 6, and one on September 4. As the incubation period of enteric fever was usually about fourteen days, the contamination occurred about the middle of August. A sample of the shell-fish was taken for bacteriological examination on September 12, but the result would not materially assist them, as the conditions existing in the middle of September might be very different from those that prevailed in the middle of August.

As the analyses were not considered satisfactory inquiries were made at the viilages where the shell-fish had been gathered. It was found that no case of enteric fever had occurred there recently. It must, therefore, be concluded that the contamination took place after arrival in the district.

Mrs. ———- had one consignment of cockles and mussels a week. The cockles were shelled at the seaside, and in that form they were popularly called “rhython.” They arrived in sacks on a Thursday evening or Friday morning, were washed and cleaned so as to get rid of the brine on a Friday, and taken in baskets to the market on a Saturday.

On September 4 Mr. ———- was suffering from enteric fever. The history he gave of his illness was fairly definite. He had been confined to his bed since August 21, but had been ill suffering from diarrhoea for eight or nine days previous to that date, so that his illness really dated from August 12 or 13. On August 13 a consignment of cockles and mussels arrived at the house. On the following day they underwent the usual process of washing and cleaning, and on August 15 they were sold in the market. The cleaning was mostly done by the wife, but the husband also assisted. To what extent and the nature of assistance rendered by him on August 14 could not be precisely ascertained.

All the persons referred to above bought the cockles on August 15. In some instances it was the only occasion upon which they had eaten shellfish for months. It was difficult to ascertain the true history in many instances, and the figures given above referred only to those persons who distinctly recollected to have bought the cockles on the 15th of August. There remained 29 cases whose infection could not be traced to this source, but it was a general experience for cases to arise during the epidemic where the source of infection remained obscure, and was, probably, independent of the epidemic cause.

Moreover, then there was the possibility that an error in diagnosis might have been made in some of these cases, as four of the persons admitted into the hospital were found not to be suffering from the disease. At any rate, the source of the infection of those remaining cases had not yet been definitely traced.

The Chairman said that the matter had been taken up by the medical officer and himself very seriously, and he thought they had now got the upper hand of the outbreak.—In reply to Mr. G. C. James, Dr. Thomas said there had been only one death, and the disease was of a very mild form. Nothing could be done to stop the sale of cockles unless they were found to be contaminated, but in that case it could be done. The Chairman said the cockles were presumed to be all right when they came to Merthyr.—A copy of the report was ordered to be sent to the Local Government Board.