From the Merthyr Express 80 years ago today….
Merthyr’s Home Guard
Tag: Dowlais
A New Hotel for Dowlais
From the Merthyr Express 110 years ago today….
The Dowlais Communist, J.S. Williams
by his son Iori Williams
I was born on October 12th 1926, the second son of John Samuel and Jane. Later there were 4 other brothers and of this number 5 survived childhood. Our first home was a one up and one down terrace house in Dowlais. The one bedroom was divided into two by a draped blanket and the part where my brothers and I slept had a tiny window through which we used to watch the sky light up when the furnaces in the local steel works were working. The mother of this very happy brotherhood came from a family steeped in music. One of my uncles was the organist at Bethania Chapel. Another uncle, two aunts and Mam herself were members of the famous Dowlais United Choir.
The father of the family was from Bethesda in North Wales but due to a shortage of employment there the family moved south to the coalfield. Dad left school at the age of 12 to work underground. He was an avid scholar and throughout his life he read and read. He had thought of becoming a minister at some chapel but the more he studied the less enchanting that seemed. He was deeply concerned about society and the way it was structured with the few amassing capital at the expense of the hard-working exploited masses. He became a very active trade unionist and a founder member of the Communist Party. All this was looked on with disfavour by the mine owner and so he was sacked in 1923. We his children would never remember him working for cash. But work he did.
He continued to read and built up an impressive personal library the bulk of which David and I donated to the South Wales Miners Library at Swansea University College when we were adults. Another illustration of his love of learning was that he became the local organiser of the Left-Wing Book Club. He loved children and organised two camps for the children of the unemployed in 1934 and 1935. These were my first holidays shared by hundreds of other children. One of my clear memories of Dad was his taking me to the dentist but on the way, we called in several establishments and I was the mute witness to Dad’s scrounging equipment, food and cash to sustain those camps.
Dad was the founder and organiser of the local branch of the N.U.W.M. (National Unemployed Workers Movement) and was the main organiser of the Hunger Marches from South Wales to London. Dad was a very good public speaker on the soap box or in a more formal setting. In 1935 Dad gave evidence to a Royal Commission on the status of the County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil and the Commission Chair Sir Arthur Lowry CB complimented Dad at the end saying that he ‘admired very much his ‘fluency and eloquence’. Afterwards he ‘disappeared’ from our lives to follow his convictions. The men who went to fight in Spain left in the dead of night and were careful not to involve their families. They never spoke afterwards about who had helped them get to Spain, not even fifty years after their return home. Dad was different, because before he left, he sat the family around a table and explained his reasons. He had encouraged young men to fight fascism in Spain and so he felt a moral obligation to go himself. He returned barely alive, suffering from malnutrition and various conditions and he did not live for long after his return to Merthyr Tydfil.
Mum was widowed when I was twelve years old and so she had to do all for us. Tom was seven, John five and Owen a babe of three. David aged fifteen left grammar school to become the bread winner. The family income then was a widow’s pension of ten shillings a week plus parish relief of two shillings and sixpence for each child. Mam herself supplemented this by cleaning for others, by taking in laundry and lodgers. The paying guests were key workers who came from N.E. England and Scotland to man the new shadow factories being built nearby. By this time of course we had moved into a new council house which had three bedrooms and a bathroom. The days of baths in a portable wooden tub were gone. The move into this house was the result of Dad’s pressure on the local council.
I was brought up in a family that loved music and that encouraged reading and scholarship and above all a sense of identity with the local community and its problems and challenges. I followed my older brother by winning a scholarship to a local grammar school that was located in Cyfarthfa Castle, a mock Norman castle built in the 19th century by a local ironmaster and set in a large park. Not all the castle became a school, a part of it became the local museum. There was a side door connecting school and museum and I quickly developed the tendency of sneaking into the museum and that has become a habit of a lifetime.
Merthyr’s Heritage Plaques: Gwyn Alf Williams
by Keith Lewis-Jones
Gwyn Alf Williams
Plaque sited at Lower Row, Penywern, CF48 3ND
A native of Dowlais, Gwyn Alfred Williams (1925-1995), was a lecturer at Aberystwyth University followed by professorships at York and
Cardiff.
His books on Welsh subjects include – ‘The Welsh in their History’ 1982, ‘The Merthyr Rising’ 1978, ‘When Was Wales?’ 1985 and ‘Madoc: The Making of a Myth’ published in 1979.
He was a Marxist who later joined Plaid Cymru.
He took part in many television progammes of which his series with Wynford Vaughan Thomas, ‘The Dragon Has Two Tongues’
aroused much interest.
The plaque has a mistake in that Gwyn Alf Williams died, not in Cardiff, but in Dre-fach Felindre, Carmarthenshire.
The Mystery of Dr Gabe – part 1
by Lynette Rees
Doctor Gabe, who is reputed to be one of the first doctors on the scene of the final Jack the Ripper murder of Mary Jane Kelly, is one of the persons mentioned, apart from Mary herself, who I find most intriguing of all in the case. Not just because he was born and bred in my home town of Merthyr Tydfil, but because of his movements during that period of time.
Gabe, was reported as living in Merthyr Tydfil, where his father was reputed to be the landlord, Rees Gabe. Now this is where the confusion and mystery begins…there appears to be a Doctor John Bernard Gabe listed as being Rees Gabe’s son of Merthyr. John Bernard Gabe did exist as I’ve found a newspaper clipping of his death, complete with a photograph, [see above].
In the article in the newspaper called ‘The Cambrian -10th July 1908‘, it says that John Bernard’s father was Rees Gabe, but it appears to say John Bernard previously resided in Cefn [there is a Lord Raglan pub which is still operational in Cefn Coed, Merthyr Tydfil.. I have found mention of 3 such pubs, one in Glebeland Street, Cefn Coed and Dowlais] But which one was it really? I’ve also found an article in a Welsh newspaper where Rees Gabe from the Lord Raglan Glebeland Street, had bales of hay stolen and had taken someone on in court for the offence.
Not only is the pub an enigma, so is Doctor Gabe as there is a Doctor John Bernard Gabe mentioned and more often Doctor John Rees Gabe in connection with the case of Jack the Ripper. Now, John Rees makes complete sense as being the son of Rees Gabe as names were often handed down to sons. Yet, on the Census there is only a boy called John and a boy called Joseph that could be brothers who were doctors. There are three other brothers, William age 13, Benjamin 7, and 1-year-old Henry.
Joseph’s age fits best the year John Rees Gabe was born which was said to be around 1852 [he might have been almost 9 when the census was taken so could have been born in 1852.] So was that name changed at some point from Joseph to John?
Also curious is the fact that John Bernard isn’t on that census, though the newspaper report says Rees Gabe was his father. If he was 55 years of age in 1908 when he died, then he was born circa 1853. So was he Joseph? Was there only one year between John Bernard and John Rees? It doesn’t make sense. Of course the one called John on the census there was 6 at the time, which would have made his birth year around 1855, that doesn’t tie in with any dates either.
1861 Census return for the “Lord Raglan”, Merthyr Tydfil
- Rees Gabe (Head), 38, born Llangathen, Carmarthenshire. Innkeeper
- Anne (Wife), 35, born Llangathen, Carmarthenshire. Innkeeper
- Mary Anne (Daur), 11, born Merthyr. Scholar
- William (Son), 13, born Merthyr. Scholar
- Joseph (Son), 8, born Merthyr. Scholar
- Benjamin (Son), 7, born Merthyr. Scholar
- John (Son), 6, born Merthyr. Scholar
- Elizabeth (Daur), 6, born Merthyr. Scholar
- Henry (Son), 1, born Merthyr
- Anne Williams (Servant), born Carmarthen Town. House Servant
- Mary A Williams (Servant), 15, born Pontypool, Monmouthshire. House Servant
I’ve also discovered a Doctor J. Gabe who worked as a medical officer at St, Tydfil’s infirmary/workhouse in Merthyr Tydfil. A newspaper article mentions him one night working with ‘his brother’. So did Rees Gabe the publican have two sons who were doctors? One called John Bernard and one called Joseph Rees [who later changed his name to John Rees when he arrived in London?]
The Doctor J. Gabe who worked as a Medical Officer at the workhouse/ infirmary seemed to be a colourful character who got involved in certain inquiries held by the hospital board where he came under suspicion of various misdeeds. One was about giving a ward sister a lot of grief, who seemed to dislike him intensely! He was often spoken of as having an extremely bad temper by staff at the infirmary.
To add to his mystery, several Ripperologists have mentioned that Mary Jane Kelly, was at one time living in Merthyr Tydfil herself. Mary was said to have married young to a man with the surname ‘Davies’, but sadly her husband got killed in a pit disaster. [This information is derived from an account by Joseph Barnett, her London lover, who told police this information after her death]. There is a 16-year-old ‘Mary Jane Davies’ listed as residing at the Brunswick Hotel in Thomas Street, not that far away from St. Tydfil’s Infirmary.
Mary, although described as ‘Irish’ is known to have spoken the Welsh language. Her father was said to have worked at the ironworks [again this information came from Joseph Barnett].
To be continued…..
Many thanks to Lynette for allowing me to use this. To read the original article please see
Iorwerth Price Jones, Trelewis…The Quiet Referee – part 2
To keep fit, Iory would do a lot of road work around the valleys and often run all the way to Dowlais and back, he also attended the gymnasium. Iory was also a keen cricketer and liked playing badminton and bowls; he really was a very fit man, despite his earlier problems with his knee.
On the 20th September 1967 he ventured into Europe and officiated in Switzerland at a European Cup Winners Cup game at the Stadium Olympique Pontaisen. It was to be the first of many European adventures of Iory. He was also the referee at the Welsh cup final between Cardiff City and Hereford later that season….both John Toshack and John Charles played in that two legged final which Cardiff City won 6-1.
Into 1968 and Iory was 40 years old and into his third season as a top referee, he was making many friends in the football world and was respected by some of the games biggest names, Bill Shankley, George Best, Bill Nicholson to name just a few. He would often travel to games with his wife Meg and they would be greeted by club commissionaires and often Meg would get treated like royalty, especially by Shankley at Liverpool.
Often before matches, Iory would be in a room that was filled with a buffet for him and the linesmen and the press would pop in, people like Jimmy Hill, Brian Moore and Ken Gorman and the press men would often devour all the food before the officials had a chance to get a sandwich, but it was all good fun and Iory had a good relationship with many from the press but he was well aware that not all of them were genuine and he had to be careful at times in what he said.
In September he was abroad again, in the middle with two Welsh Linesmen at his side for another European match, this time in Cologne, his reputation was growing.
In 1969 he became part of a new refereeing scheme called the elite referees, to cover the most difficult games, another testament to the respect that Iory had earned. He was now classed as one of the top referees in Great Britain, along side other top refs such as G. Kew, W. Gow, Leo Callaghan and Jack Taylor. In October he reffed the famous Benfica and Eusebio and he also officiated a vital World cup qualifying match in Luxemburg.
During 1970 he had the honour of being one of only four British referees chosen to attend an International course of referees in Florence.
He also was held in high esteem in Europe and was chosen to ref behind the Iron Curtain in East Berlin, which was an amazing experience in those days. Cameras and secret police everywhere and his interpreter always had to accompany him and his linesmen wherever they went. It was freezing cold there and Iory was seriously considering calling off the game due to a frozen pitch, however he was assured it would be playable. 200 soldiers were sent to the stadium and the completely removed the thick ice and top layer of grass to make the match safe to play, the stadium was full to capacity and Iory claims it was one of the best games of football he ever had the pleasure to referee in.
On the 16th February 1970 he received a letter from the Association of Football league referees and linesmen, informing him that he had been appointed to the reserve list of referees for the upcoming world cup finals in Mexico. A truly magnificent honour, he was sent a full supply of kit from Slazenger, all red. Unfortunately he never got to make the trip, the F.A.W. decided not to send him over, even though there was a fourth reserve Russian referee sent over by the Russian FA.
July 1970, and the disappointment of not making the trip to Mexico was offset by the fact that once again Iory was appointed to the list of referees for matches of E.U.F.A. competitions for the following season. In November he was appointed to ref the biggest match in round two of the European cup, Athletico Madrid v Calgari, a 1-0 victory for the home side in a game that Iory excelled in.
He often had Welsh linesmen with him on trips to officiate in Europe and on May 12th 1971, he was awarded the Nations cup match in Berne between Switzerland and Greece, the two linesmen were from Swansea, Tom Reynolds and Trevor Jenkins. June 1971 and once again Iory was appointed for another year to referee European matches.
In 1972, Iory ran the line with W. J. Gow (Swansea) referee in an England v Northern Ireland match at Wembley, some of the superstars that played that day included, Gordon Banks, Norman Hunter, Alan Ball, Rodney Marsh and for Ireland Pat Jennings, Terry Neill , Pat Rice, George Best and Sammy McIlroy
Iory continue to gain plaudits for his quiet but fair approach to refereeing and he continued to get International matches and big games, however he never got to referee an F.A. Cup final, he got very close and short listed but lost out to an English man called P. Partridge and in true Valley fashion he took it on the chin saying “Well it’s only fair really because I have officiated at a Welsh Cup final that the English Final be done by an Englishman”
To be continued….
Many thanks to Paul Corkrey for allowing me to use this article. To view the original please go to https://www.treharrisdistrict.co.uk/treharris-areas/trelewis/history/
Christmas in Merthyr Tydfil A Hundred Years Ago – part 1
by Carolyn Jacob
In 1922 Merthyr Tydfil had just gone through the catastrophic First World War. There was an awareness of general poverty in Europe after war and Merthyr Tydfil had suffered considerably. The town had given a considerable amount of money in 1918 for the purchase of a tank, more than had Cardiff and other Welsh towns, and the town was now feeling the pinch. However, the ‘keeping of Christmas’ and celebrating the festive season was regarded as almost a sacred duty. The concept of giving and contributing to others less fortunate was still very much alive at Christmas time. The country had a recent struggle and now faced an exceptional amount of unemployment, but the Merthyr Express clearly stated, ‘We hope that that there will be few homes, hopefully none, which will not enjoy some Christmas cheer. We hope for the revival of commercial and industrial life which will bring happier conditions’.
A hundred years ago the Christmas weather was described as inclement and seemed to have been more severe than nowadays. Snow was always expected in December and did not disappoint. There was a fall of snow on the Brecon Beacons a few days before Christmas which was visible for a few days on the mountain tops. The mantle of matchless whiteness made the outlook really ‘look like Christmas’ but the cold spell was followed by heavy rain. Despite the weather there was a great warmth of generosity and a desire to celebrate merrily as in years gone by. However, the fall of snow, followed by the heavy rain caused a Christmas disaster in Gellifaelog. The Morlais Brook flooded, houses collapsed in Mansfield Terrace and many families became homeless. This event was dramatic, with boulders carried in the roaring torrent. Thankfully there was no loss of life in the flooding, although the water level went way beyond the bedroom windows. Viewing the destruction became a post-Christmas ‘tourist attraction’, but many people were anxious to help-out and a relief fund was soon set up. The Dowlais Silver Band immediately cleared its band room to house a destitute family.
Although few would have heard of vegetarianism in 1922, the festive meal for an average household in Merthyr Tydfil would have been far less reliant on meat than today and the meal would have had more emphasis on vegetables, especially those that were home-grown. You might have dined on wild game such as rabbit or hare, but geese, hams and beef were also popular. Turkeys were rare as they were unusual and more expensive than goose. Hens were eaten but cheap chicken was unknown. Most people would save for months to afford the festive meat. There would be no pigs in blankets or cranberry sauce as these are an American import of the 1950s.
The windows of shops were carefully decorated in the run up to Christmas. In 1922 adverts in local newspapers and wonderful displays played a key role in attracting customers to shop locally. People living in Dowlais would have had no need to travel to Merthyr as they could find all their needs on their own doorstep. Everything possible was done to enhance the festive spirit. The commercial element of the festive season has been with us for a long time and the excitement of festive displays and bustling streets are all part of the Christmas magic, but Christmas goods would not have been in evidence until much nearer the actual date.
Whilst food preparations began with the making of the Christmas cake and Christmas puddings weeks before the day itself, Christmas did not begin for many until Christmas Eve when decorations were put up, shopping was finished, and food preparations made. With no fridge, people had to receive their fresh food as close to Christmas as possible. To ensure you had your meat and pies for Christmas you would have had to place an order with your local butcher, grocer, and baker in advance. Perishable goods would be collected or delivered on 23rd or 24th December to ensure freshness, meaning that the shops were full of bustle and Christmas cheer on Christmas Eve in 1922.
Many Christmas cards were delivered by hand, and it was not unusual for children to be sent out on Christmas Eve to deliver the cards. It is a good thing that many families in Merthyr Tydfil had friends and relations in nearby streets. Hanging up stockings a hundred years ago would not have involved a purpose made, festive embellished stocking but instead a large sock that would be filled with whatever gifts could be afforded; fruit, nuts, a sugar pig and perhaps a small toy.
To be continued…….
Funeral of Josiah John Guest
From The Welshman 170 years ago today….
Merthyr’s Chapels: Williams Memorial Chapel, Penydarren
Williams Memorial Congregationalist Chapel, Penydarren
At the beginning of the 20th Century it was decided to build an English Independent Chapel for the rapidly growing population in Penydarren.
A committee of representatives of local Independent chapels was set up in 1901 and they agreed that the first task was to establish a Sunday School. This opened in Penydarren Boys School on 9 March 1902. More than a year was to pass before the first church service was held there on 12 April 1903, and on 25 May, the church was officially formed with 32 members, and a special service was held in Horeb Chapel.
The future of the church was discussed at a meeting presided over by Alderman Thomas Williams, J.P. (right), who owned much land in Penydarren. He was a staunch follower of the Independent movement and a supporter of the new church, and promised to make a gift to help build it. However, Alderman Williams died just two months later, but he had already arranged for a plot of land to be leased to the chapel in Brynheulog Street for 999 years at a rent of just one shilling a year. It was thus decided to name the chapel in honour of him.
On 19 November 1903, a meeting took place to discuss building the new chapel, and Messrs Owen Morris Roberts & Son, Porthmadoc were chosen to design the chapel. The committee decided that the cost of the building was not to exceed £1,800
The original plan submitted included a gallery and a schoolroom, but the committee decided that this plan was too ambitious and costly for their chapel, and also the members of the other Independent Churches recommended that the cost should be no more than £1,000, as there had been a very disappointing response to the original appeal for financial aid towards the building of the chapel.
After several further revisions of the plans, a tender was accepted for the work from Mr Samuel Evans of Dowlais, the cost being £1,258, and the stone laying took place on 19 July 1906.
The official opening of the chapel took place on 25 October 1906, and it was first used as a place of worship two days later. Due to an oversight however, the church wasn’t officially certified by the Registrar General as a place of worship until 2 July 1917.
The Chapel closed in 1996 and was subsequently demolished.
Merthyr Tydfil and its Brave Souls of War
by Gavin Burns
Upon moving to Merthyr in 2010 and in the years that followed, it always struck me as strange that there were multiple war memorials scattered around with names (Pant/Cefn/Troedyrhiw etc), but that the main war memorial was locked away in Pontmorlais, with no record of any names. Fast forward to 2019 and a chance advert on Ebay caught my eye, where a 1914/1915 trio of medals were up for sale to a Merthyr man who had been killed in World War 1. Unfortunately I can’t remember the name and I didn’t purchase them, but it made me look into how many men had died from Merthyr at the time and how were they commemorated.
This slowly morphed into my current project which members may have seen, which is called “Merthyr Tydfil Remembers – The WW1 & WW2 Memorial Project”. Initially set up as a Facebook page for somewhere to post some of my research, it became apparent that people across the Borough have found the articles and pictures really interesting, and it has grown from there.
The aim of the page is to find out about the men and women who gave their lives in both wars. Where they lived, where they served & their actions which resulted in the ultimate sacrifice, their lives. The end goal is to be able to have a full memorial list which is accessible for everyone, to allow us to always remember. I certainly didn’t realise the magnitude of the task at hand until I found a rough estimate of numbers who had passed.
When the War Memorial in Pontmorlais was opened in 1931, the memorial handbook states that they believe over 1140 names would have had to be added, and due to the number, the names were not included on the memorial but in a hand out, which would turn into a “beautifully bound and illuminated book, to be deposited at Cyfarthfa Castle and then the Free Library”. Unfortunately, this never happened. The handout is now the basis of my project, and what has become apparent, is the number of anomalies within the booklet.
Noting it is 2022 and we now have the internet, but also with the various research methods now available (including most importantly WW1 pension records), I have begun cross referencing each name in the 1931 booklet to ensure they are from Merthyr. Alongside this, I have been searching through the Merthyr Express & Western Mail from 1914 – 1919, locating photos and articles that were published weekly of the men who served.
Whilst I have marked a number of entries as needing to be potentially deleted, the most important aspect is the 60+ men (and rising) who I have found from Merthyr who were missing from the initial memorial booklet. Work is ongoing, although it is a huge project.
Some of the stories of sheer bravery I have come across from Merthyr has been astounding – and one I feel that needs to be highlighted. Everyone is aware of John Collins winning the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Beersheba (and so they should), but some other examples below which are not in the ‘public eye’ so to speak:-
- Sgt John Owen (Dowlais), who was killed in the fighting at Bourlon Wood, Cambrai with the Welsh Regiment. He was found dead on top of a German Bosche Dug Out, having single handily bombed the dug out, killing 40 Germans. Remarkably, John was not awarded with a gallantry award (however, I am still convinced he must have been!)
- Lt John Arthur Howfield (Vaynor), who was awarded the Military Cross for attending to casualties under heavy shell fire, and rescuing a comrade whose clothes had caught fire following a hit from a German shell. He was later killed in action in September 1918.
- Company Sergeant Major, David Jones (Penydarren), who was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in October 1917 for actions at St Julien where he captured an enemy stronghold and killed the Garrison. He was subsequently killed by a German sniper whilst looking for an injured officer in no mans land in November 1917. David has been recently rededicated following the identification of his body this year.
- Private James O’Brien (Dowlais) who was awarded the Military Medal for taking part in a German Trench raid with the Lancashire Fusiliers, where he was involved in hand to hand combat with the Germans. Such is the magnitude of the raid, the Lancashire Fusiliers Museum has a highlighted citation on the raid, which shows 2 x Military Crosses, 1 x DCM and 6 x Military Medals were awarded in connection with the raid.
Since I have started this project, it has brought me into contact with so many people who have been willing to share pictures & stories of their relatives, which has enabled me to post them onto the page and I am very grateful.
Some of the brave men I have researched:-
An open request to anyone reading this – if you have any pictures, stories, memorabilia etc. from relatives (or even non relatives) from Merthyr and would be willing to share with myself, that would be fantastic. I am keen to continue sharing stories to ensure their memory stays alive. I am also a keen collector of war memorabilia to Merthyr to preserve items locally, and to ensure they are ‘brought home’.
Lest We Forget.
For further information on the memorial project or how to adopt a Merthyr war grave, please go to www.merthyr-remembers.co.uk