First World War – Page 2 – The Melting Pot

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.

The Gellfaelog Flood in 1922. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive.

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…….

Merthyr Historian Volume 32

What’s in the newly-launched 50^th Anniversary volume of Merthyr Historian?

The answer is more than 450 pages about the history and communities and notable people linked with the lower end of our Borough.

It’s called Troedyrhiw Southward and Taff Bargoed. Glimpses of Histories and Communities.

This is what is in it …

FOREWORD: Lord Ted Rowlands

REGIONAL MAP

WELCOME TO OUR 50^th ANNIVERSARY VOLUME

I. THE ROAD THAT RUNS THROUGH IT …

Clive Thomas, ‘History, geography and the construction of the new A470 from Abercynon to Abercanaid’. A photographic account with commentary

II. PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

Christine Trevett, ‘The Idiot of Cefn Fforest farm: learning disability, lunacy and the law in 17^th century Merthyr parish’
Transcription, ‘Visit to the Merthyr Sewage Farm’ (1872,South Wales Daily News)
Huw Williams, ‘A North South divide and the Troedyrhiw Sewerage Farm: a case study in local history’
Bleddyn Hancock, ‘Fighting for breath, fighting for justice: how a small Welsh Trade Union took on the British government on behalf of tens of thousands of coal miners suffering and dying from chest disease’

III. WAR, COMMEMORATION AND PEACEMAKING

Eirlys Emery et al., ‘Treharris remembers – Treharris yn cofio: a recent community project to record the past’
Gethin Matthews, ‘Honour to whom honour is due’: reports of First World War unveilings in the Merthyr Express, with special reference to those in the south of the Borough’
Craig Owen, ‘Born of Bedlinog – the man who united nations. The Rev. Gwilym Davies, world peacemaker’

IV. COMMUNITIES AND PROJECTS

Mansell Richards, ‘The Gateway to Merthyr Tydfil Heritage Plinths project’
David Collier, ‘The Saron graveyard project, Troedyrhiw’

V. LOCAL POLITICS AND WORKERS’ EDUCATION

Martin Wright, ‘Aspects of Socialism south of Merthyr and in Taff Bargoed in the 1890s: a window on Labour’s pre-history’
Daryl Leeworthy, ‘Workers’ Education in the lower County Borough: a brief history of an enduring idea’

VI. BALLADMONGERS AND MUSIC MAKERS

Stephen Brewer, ‘Idloes Owen, founder of Welsh National Opera’
Alun Francis, ‘Getting your timing right at Glantaff Stores – and what happened next’
Wyn James, ‘The Ballads of Troed -y-Rhiw’

VII. SPORT AND OUR COMMUNITIES

Alun Morgan, ‘1950s football rivalry between Merthyr Town and the Troedyrhiw-Treharris clubs’
Ivor Jones, ‘A community and its sport, a short history of Bedlinog Rugby Football Club’

VIII. THIS BOOK WOULD NOT BE COMPLETE WITHOUT …

John Holley and T.Fred Holley, ‘Troedyrhiw Horticulture 1876 –’

IX. OUR HISTORICAL SOCIETY: SOME HISTORY

Clive Thomas, ‘Before heritage began to matter. Only the beginnings’
The Society’s Archivist: an interview

CONTENTS OF Merthyr Historian vols. 1-31 (1974-2021)

BIOGRAPHIES OF CONTRIBUTORS

Volume 32 of the Merthyr Historian is priced at £15. If anyone would like to purchase a copy, please get in touch with me at merthyr.history@gmail.com and I will pass on all orders.

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.

The Merthyr Knuts with Sgt John Collins front centre

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:-

Pte Ieuan George (Vaynor Villas) – awarded the Military Medal in April/May 1917 ‘ for conspicuous bravery during a bombing attack on the German lines, during which he was badly wounded in both arms’. He was killed in action by a German Sniper on 14th July 1918.

Pte Llewellyn Thomas Samuel (Dowlais) – discharged due to sickness on active duty & died in 1920. Buried at Pant Cemetery.

2nd Lt Richard Stanley Evans & his brother Captain Rees Tudor Evans’ (Brynteg Villa), who were both killed in action on the same day at the same battle in Gallipoli (10th August 1915).

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

Escape from Russia, 1917: The Cartwrights’ Story – part 2

by Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

However, all of this was to change in 1917. By 1914 the number of foreign nationals in Hughesovka had fallen considerably, although many were still employed by the New Russia Company in key technical and management positions. Following the outbreak of war a number of the young men had left to travel back to Britain to enlist, but life for many of those in Hughesovka continued although, increasingly, the factories were charged with the production of munitions and steel to fuel the Russian war effort. By 1917, however, after 3 years of heavy losses of men and territory, the war was going badly for the Russian Army with a morale rapidly disintegrating and the economy on the verge of collapse. Matters were brought to a head early in the year with disorder and riots in the capital Petrograd (formerly St Petersburg) fuelled by severe food shortages. The Tsar, appreciating that he could no longer rely on the Army, abdicated and power was passed to a Provisional Government of liberal Duma politicians led by Alexander Kerensky.

If, however, the families in Hughesovka thought that this might lead to an improvement in their situation they were sorely disappointed. Kerensky’s decision to continue the war was unpopular and increasingly the Provisional Government competed for power with the Petrograd Soviet. The flames of revolution were further fanned in April by the return to Russia of the Bolshevik leader Lenin.

Faced with the breakdown of government and, in many areas, law and order, the families in Hughesovka would have felt increasingly isolated and threatened. As relatively wealthy individuals and symbols of foreign ownership they were a target for both revolutionaries and brigands. The Cartwrights and many others began to consider their options. Leaving behind their lifestyle and most of their possessions would have been a difficult decision but, by the summer of 1917, their options were severely limited. Many families, including the Steels and Calderwoods, had already left or were hurriedly preparing to leave. Leah Steel, who returned with her parents to London in July 1917, recalled that, prior to leaving, …. in our area mobs of people roamed around claiming everything as their own, but they never took away or claimed anything from our home [DX664/1]. It may well have been the news of the first Bolshevik uprising that was the deciding factor in the Cartwright’s decision to quit Hughesovka. There was, however, an added complication. Gwladys was expecting their second child, Edward Morgan, who was born in the summer of 1917. In addition, Gwladys’ passport had been granted for a 2 year period in 1915 and was due to expire in the latter half of 1917. Even though she must have been heavily pregnant we can see from the documentation that she took the precaution of renewing her passport at the British Consulate in Odessa in June 1917 and only weeks after her son’s birth, Edward’s name was added to her passport on 7 August.

By August the die had been cast and the Cartwrights faced a lengthy and dangerous journey back to Britain soon after the baby’s birth. Those travelling from Britain to Hughesovka had used either the southern sea route through the Mediterranean and the Black Sea to Odessa or the overland route by train through Holland, Germany and Poland. Both routes were now closed by the fighting. The only option left was to travel north to Petrograd and from there through Finland, Sweden and Norway before crossing the North Sea back to Britain.

Leaving Hughesovka, probably on the last day of August, the first leg of the journey would have been by train to Petrograd, a journey of some 900 miles. Transport had largely been requisitioned for the military and this would have been, at best, an uncomfortable journey of many days, with the family snatching whatever space they could find in train corridors and carriages. The Cartwrights would have had no option but to travel light with little by way of clothes and possessions and carrying as much food as possible. Travelling by train across a war torn country they would have faced interminable delays and the constant threat of arrest and robbery. Mary Ann Steel, who made the same journey several weeks later, with her mother and three sons, insisted on taking her mother’s samovar on the journey. As the family recalled she was determined that they would be able to … boil their own water and brew tea on all the railway platforms upon which they were turned out along the way [D431]. From Gwladys’ passport we know that they were in Petrograd by the second week of September. At this point they must have been exhausted but, to add to their troubles, the city was now the centre of the revolution. Although Kerensky had resisted a coup by the Army, control of the city was slipping away increasingly to the Petrograd Soviet and the Bolsheviks. It was only weeks before the Bolshevik revolution and the Cartwrights would have seen the chaos in the streets with skirmishes between armed factions. In addition, food was at a premium and they would have had to queue each day to secure bread and the bare essentials.

Fortunately for the Cartwrights, by 12 September, the British Consulate was able to arrange passage for the family across the nearby border into Finland and from there onward across Sweden to Norway. The Swedish consul in Petrograd granted the family a travel visa, on 11 September, at a cost of one US dollar or 4 shillings and 5 pence. The destination on their passport was given as “home” and the length of stay as “indefinite”. The visas were valid for only 10 days and it is little surprise that the Cartwrights left Petrograd immediately on receiving the necessary travel documents. There must have been immense relief at reaching neutral territory and, in particular, for Gwladys and her young baby and daughter. Their journey was, however, far from over. The family would have travelled through Finland by train to Tornio and, two days after securing their visas in Petrograd, on September 14, they crossed the border, at Haparanda, into Sweden. Crossing Sweden they finally arrived in Norway. The Cartwright papers contain a postcard of a hotel by a lake in Vossvangen where the families waited, at last in relative comfort, for a ship, with Royal Naval protection, to take them from Bergen to Aberdeen. The family arrived in Aberdeen on the 7 October, many weeks after starting their journey from Hughesovka. Like most of those who left Hughesovka in 1917 they were never to return to Russia. The Bolshevik revolution, only weeks later, effectively meant the end for the New Russia Company with Hughesovka renamed Stalino in 1924.

The Cartwrights returned to South Wales. Like many of those who had prospered in Hughesovka, Percy found it difficult in the post era, with rising unemployment, to find similar work. However, from letters held in the Hughesovka Research Archive, Percy did resume his career working for the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company [DX727/4] while living in Bargoed. No doubt he carried his love of amateur dramatics with him throughout his life. It is difficult to see, however, how any play could be any more dramatic than the tale that the family from Dowlais could tell of life on the Russian steppe and their flight from revolutionary Russia.

This article is reproduced here with the kind permission of Glamorgan Archives. To view the original article, please follow the link below.

Escape from Russia, 1917: The Cartwrights’ Story

Merthyr’s Boxers: Joe Johns

The latest boxer featured, Joe Johns, was born 130 years ago today.

Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Joe Johns born Joe John (18 September 1892 – 18 September 1927) was a professional boxer from Wales. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, John was notable for becoming the Welsh lightweight champion in 1915. He was successful at a domestic level, but his career was curtailed by ill-health.

John’s early professional career was based mainly in Wales. His early successes normally came through points decisions, his victories rarely ended by a knock-out.

He won his first competition at the age of 15, weighing in at six stone. By the time he won his first recognised national fight, a disqualification win over Young Walters at Cardiff’s Badminton Club, he weighed eight stone eight pounds. On the 12 September 1910 he took the Welsh 9 stone 4 pounds title, which resulted in an invitation to fight at the National Sporting Club in London. The next year Johns undertook more fights outside Wales, including bouts in Liverpool, and a win over American Fred Sidney at St James Hall in Newcastle.

Towards the end of 1911 his health was affected by rheumatism and defying medical orders, he continued fighting; losing to Tommy Mitchell in Sheffield and a month later he was outpointed by Nat Williams in Liverpool. Even when he took breaks from professional contests, he continued fighting in charity matches, usually with his mentor ‘Peerless’ Jim Driscoll. In 1913, with the now properly constituted Welsh lightweight title set at a nine stone nine pound limit, he fought Arthur Evans in a twenty-round eliminator for a shot at the current title holder, Dai Roberts. He and Evans fought in front of a crowd of 4,000 at Merthyr’s Drill Hall with Johns winning by points after the bout went the full distance.

Johns’ challenge against Roberts ended in farce. The twenty round bout only reached the seventeenth round after the referee, Mr J.W. Thwaites of the National Sporting Club, declared the match a ‘no-contest’. He stated that the protestations from a member of Johns corner, trying to bring to his attention infringements by Roberts, distracted him so much that he was unprepared to risk his reputation by giving a verdict.

Despite being married with a family, and suffering from rheumatism, on the outbreak of the First World War Johns joined the British Army, being assigned to the Royal Engineers. In 1915, Roberts moved up to welterweight, vacating the lightweight title. This led to Johns and Arthur Evans meeting for the title on 22 May at the Cardiff Arms Park. Johns took the fight by points decision making him the Welsh lightweight champion. Johns held the title for just two months, when he again faced Evans this time at Liverpool Stadium where the two men were now stationed. The match, refereed by reigning British welterweight champion Johnny Basham, was halted in the 16th round, when Johns was unable to continue fighting after being knocked down late in the previous round.

Johns undertook one more fight after the end of the First World War, a defeat to Danny Arthurs in Merthyr. Johns died of pneumonia in Merthyr Infirmary on his birthday in 1927. He is buried at Cefn Coed Cemetery in Merthyr.

As boxing isn’t my region of expertise, this article has been transcribed from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Johns_(boxer). I’m sure that there lots of people out there who know a lot more about boxing than me, so if anyone would like to write something about Merthyr’s great boxing tradition, please get in touch at merthyr.history@gmail.com.

Storming Iscoed House, Pontmorlais 1935

by Christine Trevett

It was a Monday afternoon – the afternoon of February 4^th 1935 to be exact, and it had been snowing heavily that day. The women arrived first at Iscoed House, Pontmorlais, which housed the area offices of the Unemployment Assistance Board. There, the plan went, an orderly deputation which would include the district secretary of the National Unemployed Workers Union (NUWM) would be speaking with officials. Perhaps as many as a thousand women were part of the protest outside. They had marched there with around double that number of men, coming from all directions to reach Pontmorlais in a United Front demonstration during the Means Test protests of that year. Such things were happening all over South Wales and elsewhere.

The Unemployment Assistance Board

That had been set up by the government in the previous year (1934). It administered means-tested assistance to those who had no contributions-based unemployment benefit. In the Depression of the 1930s the Merthyr region was very hard-hit economically and many people were affected by Means Test decisions, a Test which at this time was creating even further hardship. Opposition to it was widespread, with the criticism coming from not just the working classes and the unemployed, so that the government was getting jittery. From 1931-June 1935 it was a National Government (a coalition) under the leadership of Labour’s Ramsay MacDonald and with Conservatives, Liberals and others in it.

Protests in Merthyr Tydfil region

Not quite two weeks previously, in January 1935, there had been another United Front demonstration. That Front was a sign of temporary Labour Party/Communist collaboration where The Means Test was concerned and that January demonstration had brought perhaps ten thousand people to Penydarren Park. They had marched there in organised processions from all parts of the Borough. Many women were in the throng, and carrying infants.

The crowd had been addressed by Wal Hannington, one of two organisers of the National Unemployed Workers Union (NUWM). Not a local person, he had also been the Communist candidate in Merthyr’s bye-election in the previous year. The crowd was addressed also by John Dennithorne, Warden of Dowlais Educational Settlement (the seat of all kinds of social and educational work) and by ILP (Independent Labour Party) leaders.

A deputation was agreed (it included two local ministers of religion) to interview officials at Iscoed House. They would present grievances and protest the unemployment assistance legislation. On that day the deputation had been told that its concerns would be passed on. The Western Mail of 23^rd January 1935 (p. 10) had reported that the gathering ‘dispersed in good order’.That had been then. But come February 4^that Iscoed House, matters would change from being orderly.

On February 4^thtraffic was brought to a standstill on Brecon Road as the demonstration took its course and from all quarters marchers were heading for Pontmorlais. The protest was being overseen by a contingent of police not large enough to be effective if trouble broke out on a large scale, given the numbers in the demonstration, but then the organisers of this United Front demonstration did not seem to be expecting trouble.

The actual march and deputation had been organised by the NUWM and by invitation it was also being led by the London-born Warden of Dowlais Educational Settlement, the same John Dennithorne (mentioned earlier). Dennithorne, who had served in World War I, was a Quaker and a pacifist.

Accounts of what happened

There are some first-hand accounts of the events of Fabruary 4^th, including one from John Dennithorne and another from Griff Jones, a local NUWM member who had been with those ‘starting off from Pengarnddu with banners’(an interview with him is kept in the South Wales Miners’ Library collection in Swansea university). Also there is a fictionalised account by the Clydach Vale born novelist and NUWM member Lewis Jones in We Live – his novel about those times.

The deputation was doing its work inside the building and thousands were gathered outside. UAB clerks on an upper floor had been ‘making faces’ at the crowd (Griff Jones recalled). They soon stopped, as the slim cordon of police was clambered over by a determined group –‘a mob of men who were prepared for anything’ as John Dennithorne called them.

With no previous sign of their intention they had made ‘a sudden rush’, so The Western Mail recorded. Stones were hurled through the office windows, shattering glass over the clerks; the gate of Iscoed House gave way; Dennithorne expected to be arrested. Inside the building he clambered onto a windowsill to be heard but ‘a howling mob’, now inside, shouted down his appeals against violence. ‘Old bug whiskers’ (a jibe at the bearded Warden, who was 39 years old) was told to ‘get down!’ as furnishings and fittings were being broken up and records angrily plundered for burning. Blood was spattering through the air, John Dennithorne recalled. Only a couple of well known South Wales Communists were suffered to speak.

It was the police which persuaded the violently protesting minority to disperse and to leave the grounds of Iscoed House. Hundreds of thousands of protestors had been on the nation’s streets that day. Given the strength of feeling nationally against the government’s stance there was some rethinking of the legislation. The Western Mail was already recording on February 5^th that ‘To-day Mr. Oliver Stanley (Minister of Labour) will probably announce changes in the regulations to meet the special grievances raised. New instructions have already been sent to area officers’.

There is more about this and those times in:

Lewis Jones, We Live (Parthian Books 2015)
Daryl Leeworthy, Labour Country: political radicalism and social democracy in South Wales 1831-1985 (Parthian, 2018).
Christine Trevett Dowlais Educational Settlement and the Quaker John Dennithorne (Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society, 2022)
Stephanie Ward, Unemployment and the State in Britain: the Means Test and Protest in 1930s South Wales and north-east England (Manchester University Press, 2013)

Captain Nelson Morris Price C.B.E., J.P.

by J Ann Lewis

A Merthyr Express headline 60 years ago today, on 18 August 1962 read “Captain Nelson M. Price: the Man Who Stopped a King is Dead”.

The headline referred to an event in 1936 during the visit of King Edward VIII. Captain Price had organised an unofficial parade of his former colleagues in the old Fifth Welsh Battalion in front of the Castle Cinema. As the procession passed, the Royal car stopped, and Captain Price told the King “These men want you to see them, in the hope that you may be able to bring new industries to the Borough so that they may find work”. The King got out of the car, to the astonishment of his ministers, and spoke to the 52 men on parade. The King again departed from the official programme and paid a visit to Dowlais, and it was there that he made the famous remark, “Something must be done”.

Nelson Price was born on 22 May 1892 near Bethesda, North Wales, and when he was quite young, his family moved to Dowlais, settling in Broad Street. Within a few years however, his father died, leaving a widow and eight children.

Nelson volunteered for service on 4 August 1914, the very day that the First World War was declared. He served in Gallipoli, Egypt and Cyprus before being discharged as no longer being fit for service, and he returned to working in the collieries, where he had been studying to become a mining engineer prior to the outbreak of the war.

Following the armistice, he decided to become involved with welfare work relating to the war disabled, war widows and orphans. He was a founder member of the Royal British Legion, becoming the first Chairman in the Wales Area. He also worked tirelessly for the War Pensions Advisory Committee, and was appointed Chairman of the North East Glamorgan War Pensions Committee, being acknowledged as an authority on War Pensions Regulations. He was a champion for the War disabled for over 42 years, and his work was recognised when he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1939, Officer of the Order in 1946 and Commander of the British Empire in 1960.

It was during his time as Chairman of the British Legion in Wales, that he was instrumental in negotiating the gift of Buckland House in Bwlch (the former home of Henry Seymour Berry, Lord Buckland) to the British Legion as a home for ex-servicemen.

During his lifetime, Nelson Price was also appointed Chairman of the Merthyr Magistrates, Chairman of the Lord Buckland Trust, Lifetime President and Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of the Merthyr and District Angling Association. He was also a lifetime member of the Cardiff Athletic and Rugby Club.

At the time of his death in 1962, he was living in Caeracca Villas in Pant, in a house named ‘Cilfoden’ – the village of his birth. His wife Jane Ann survived him by two years.

Dowlais Central School: Women Teachers during the First World War – part 2

by Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

In the post war period it is thought that many, and possibly as many as half, of the women employed during the war across all sectors of the economy left or lost their jobs. In particular, the Restoration of Pre-war Practices Act 1919 underlined the expectation that women employed during the war would give up their jobs to returning service personnel. In January 1919 the Merthyr Borough Council served warning to all married female teachers that their contracts were to be terminated.

The Director of Education reported that having regard to the probable early release from Military Service of a number of men teachers he had given notice to all married women (temporary) teachers now serving under the Authority to determine their engagement at the end of January, and that any further employment after that date would be subject to a week’s notice on either side. Merthyr Tydfil Borough, Education Committee, minute book no. 29, BMT1/29 p.183.

Once again Claudia George and Margaret Davies were casualties of the Authority’s decision. At subsequent meetings the Authority agreed to re-employ 28 male teaches on release from the Armed Forces in February and further 10 in April 1919 (Merthyr Tydfil Borough, Education Committee, minute book no. 29, BMT1/29 p.246 and p.474)

This might have been seen as surprising in the light of the provisions in the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919 that removed restrictions on the appointment of women. In practice employers saw the Act as providing the opportunity to appoint women to previously all-male professions. However, it was not seen as establishing a right for women to be considered for employment on the same terms as men. This was graphically illustrated in the teaching profession in south Wales in 1923 when 58 married women teachers dismissed by the Rhondda Education Authority brought a case against the Council. In Price v Rhondda Urban District Council it was ruled that the Council had not violated the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act by dismissing the teachers. During this period the imposition by many local authorities of a formal marriage bar in the teaching profession was based on the belief that employers could, where they wished, continue to restrict employment to one sex.

The First World War led to new opportunities for many women in the teaching profession. Many schools could not have continued without the influx of married women and for the first time, in most areas of Wales, women were employed in boys’ schools. Set against this, in the post war period, in the limited circumstances where married women were able to secure employment in schools, their contracts were likely to be terminated with a month’s notice. The records for Dowlais Central confirm that, on 4 March 1919, there were 21 teachers employed at the school – 12 men and 9 unmarried women (Dowlais Central School, log book, EMT 9/6 p.91. The creation at the end of the First World War of the National Union of Women Teachers was, therefore, a potent symbol of the further battles that lay ahead to improve equality of opportunity.

Dowlais Central Schools. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

This article is reproduced here with the kind permission of Glamorgan Archives. To view the original article, please follow the link below.

Women Teachers during the First World War

Dowlais Central School: Women Teachers during the First World War – part 1

by Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

The First World War provided an unprecedented opportunity for women to move into roles and occupations previously reserved for men. The creation of the Women’s Land Army and the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps were very visible examples of women moving into new areas. It is estimated that approximately 1.5 million women joined the workforce during the First World War and just about every sector of the economy saw an influx of women to meet both the increased demand for labour and to fill the gaps left by men away in the armed forces.

In many respects the experience of 1914-18 led to momentous changes. The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 enshrined the principle that individuals should not be disqualified from jobs on the grounds of gender. In addition, the Representation of the People Act 1918 enfranchised approximately 8.5 million women. However, while wartime pressures opened new doors many women still encountered discrimination at the workplace both during the war and in the immediate post war era. The school log books and local authority minutes at the Glamorgan Archives chronicle both the advances made by women in the teaching profession in this period and also the setbacks frequently encountered.

Schools were particularly hard hit by the loss of male teachers to the armed forces from August 1914 onwards. In response, local authorities were forced to relax the convention that, on marriage, women resigned from teaching posts in schools. However, as in the pre-war era, they were only employed where there were staff shortages and it was accepted that appointments were liable to be terminated at a month’s notice if suitable alternative candidates could be found.

An entry by the Head teacher of Dowlais Central, Richard Price, in the school log book for December 1915 provides just one of many examples of the precarious nature of work in school for married women in this period.

Mrs Margaret Davies, TCT, commenced duties on Monday December 6/15. Mrs Davies is a married lady and left her last appointment at Abermorlais Girls’ School in July 1907. Dowlais Central School, log book, EMT 9/6 p.37.

Mrs E Claudia George, TCT, commenced duties on Wed afternoon, 8 December. Mrs George is a married lady and left her last appointment as TCT at Tyllwyn School, Ebbw Vale at Xmas 1908. Dowlais Central School, log book, EMT 9/6 p.38.

Yet only 7 months later Richard Price confirmed that Claudia George and Margaret Davies, along with a Mrs Cummings, had ‘finished their duties at this school’ (Dowlais Central School, log book, EMT 9/6 p.50).

This was just the beginning of an ongoing round of employment and dismissal for Claudia and Margaret throughout the war. By October 1916 both had been re-employed (Dowlais Central School, log book, EMT 9/6, p.52). However, two months after the end of hostilities, on 31 January 1919, both women had ‘left the service of the Education Authority at this school on the afternoon of this day’ (Dowlais Central School, log book, EMT 9/6, p.86).

During the war the records of Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council confirm that there were frequently up to 40 married women teachers employed in schools in the borough. This included appointments to boys’ schools that would have been unheard of prior to 1914. However, the advice provided to the Borough Council Education Committee in July 1916 by Rhys Elias, Director of Education, underlined that, while the authority felt that it had little option but to employ married women in schools, there was a determination to end the appointments as soon as possible.

The committee agreed that notice be given to all married women teachers and to terminate their engagements at the end of the month of July 1916. Claudia George and Margaret Davies were, therefore, just 2 of 40 women that lost their jobs as a result of this decision. Their places were filled by students completing their College Course or Pupil and Student Teachers finishing their period of apprenticeship. (Merthyr Tydfil Borough, Education Committee minutes, BMT1/26 pp.602-3). This approach was followed throughout the war with married women employed to meet shortages on short term contracts that were terminated as soon as alternative candidates could be found.

To be continued…..

This article is reproduced here with the kind permission of Glamorgan Archives. To view the original article, please follow the link below.

Women Teachers during the First World War

Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society

The Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society is pleased to announce its lecture programme for the first half of 2022 – the Society’s 50th year!!!

Annual membership is £12, but you are welcome to come to any lecture – whether you are a member or not – guests pay £2 per lecture, the lectures a free to members. Everyone is welcome!!!!