Glebeland Street – Page 2 – The Melting Pot

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.

Above Gillar Street there was no opening on the right hand side used as a thoroughfare until John Street (now part of the entrance to the railway station) was come to, and John Street was really a private road, for there was a door across near the Tramroad, which was often locked. Then on the same side, adjoining the premises of the Brecon Bank, was a narrow road leading to the Tramroad and Professional Row.

On the left hand side, after Three Salmons Street, was the Swan opening, now called Swan Street I believe, and, with the exception of an opening into a malthouse and back entrance of three or four houses, there was no other until the one at the post-office (Glebeland Street) was come to.

The market was held in Three Salmons Street, along the High Street for a part, and in the yard between the ironmonger’s shop (now Mr Wm. Griffiths’s) and the next shop above. In Three Salmons Street a Mr Kay kept a boot and shoe establishment. At the corner was a druggist’s kept by one Farley. Mr Walter Smyth afterwards took this place, and subsequently moved to next door above, but which was then a butcher’s shop kept by Mr Lewis Lewis, who was also a partner with Mr David Williams, Ynyscynon, in collieries in Aberdare.

The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian – 9 May 1846

The next above was then, as now, an ironmonger’s kept by Job James who also had a business in Cardiff, then, I think, but am not quite sure, a saddler’s kept by Adney, then a draper’s, Mr William James, whose sobriquet of ‘Billy for Snuff’ was, no doubt, fully deserved. Mr Stephens (whose cottage in Mount Pleasant has been alluded to) also had a shop there, and Mr Daniel Thomas (a brother of Dr Thomas, of the Court) kept a leather and curriery business; while at the very corner, in a very small building, Francis Argust carried on boot and shoe making.

Crossing Swan Street, what is now the Court Arms was then the London Warehouse, kept by Mr Lewis; and above, in one of the three or four houses before coming to Mr James’s malthouse, Barclay and Perkins opened a place for the sale of their ales and stout.

The Bristol and West of England Bank was first opened in Merthyr in another of those houses. The manager at the opening was a Mr George Pearce. The Gable end of Mr James’s malthouse abutted on the High Street, an adjoining, standing back a couple of yards, was the residence of that gentleman. I have said ‘Billy for Snuff’, and it is but right to explain that it originated in his having his snuff (for High Dry and Queen’s were much in vogue) from Bristol by coach via the Passage near Chepstow rather than by slow sloop to Cardiff, and barge thence to Merthyr. No doubt it was kept freer from moisture as well as arriving earlier at its destination.

To be continued at a later date…..

Merthyr’s First Synagogue

by Carl Llewellyn

With scant records regarding the Jewish migration to Merthyr Tydfil, I decided to research the beginnings of the Jewish community in the town. It has been reported that there has been a Jewish presence in Merthyr Tydfil since the 1820s. One example is Polish born Solomon and Leah Bloom, whose eldest daughter Ann was born in Poland in 1826, with their eldest son Abraham being born in Abercanaid in 1828. Subsequently all of Solomon and Leah Bloom’s other children were born in Merthyr Tydfil. Therefore Solomon and Leah Bloom came to Merthyr Tydfil around 1827.

With the rapid expansion in the iron industry in Merthyr, in the 1830’s another Jew named Joseph Barnett came to the town from Swansea. Joseph and his wife Sarah were born in Poland, all of their children were born in Swansea. Joseph Barnett opened a shop on Merthyr High Street – on the 1841 census it describes Joseph Barnett as a shopkeeper but in reality he was Pawnbroker. The 1841 census indicates there were at least 21 Jews living in Merthyr Tydfil.

With four iron works dominating the Merthyr Tydfil locality, more Jews escaping the persecution in the Russian controlled countries became attracted to Merthyr Tydfil, with business prospects either as Pawnbrokers, Hawkers or Glaziers.

By the late 1840’s the number of Jews trebled. Up until now the Jewish religious services may have been held either at Solomon Bloom’s or Joseph Barnett’s houses, it was rumoured a synagogue was located in the area of Bethesda Street and Brecon Road, but there is no evidence of this whatsoever. However a synagogue did exist at the rear of No 28 Victoria Street – Joseph Barnett’s pawnshop. Below is an extract from an 1851 map of Merthyr showing this synagogue.

The usual date given for the establishment of the Merthyr Hebrew Congregation was 1848, but statistics for Merthyr Tydfil dated 1846 clearly states that a Jewish place of worship existed with 30 seats and 25 in attendance at services. As the statistics were published in 1846 it could be determined the figures were probably collated in 1845. Yet in T. E. Clarke’s guide to Merthyr Tydfil dated 1848 it does not mention the existence of a synagogue in Merthyr Tydfil.

At that time there was a Rabbi by the name of Barnett Asher Simmons. According to Ben Hamilton’s article “The Hebrew Community” he visited Merthyr Tydfil and officiated at services for the Merthyr Tydfil Hebrew congregation before the arrival of Rabbi Harris Isaacs from Ipswich, in 1850.

Harris Isaacs, a widower, had served the Jewish community at Ipswich for 27 years before coming to Merthyr, and living at 53 Glebeland St. His calling as a Rabbi did not provide him with living wage so he opened a Pawnshop to supplement his income.

By 1852 the number of Jewish families in Merthyr Tydfil had grown considerably, and congregants were in want of a larger place of worship. An appeal was sent to the Jewish Chronicle for assistance with funding for a new synagogue, Adverts appeared in the Jewish Chronicle dated 27 February 1852, 12 March 1852 and 9 April 1852. Below is the notice which appeared in each edition giving a list of donations, which included 18 members of the Merthyr Hebrew congregation.

When sufficient money had been collected, the Jewish elders of Merthyr Tydfil began making preparations for acquiring a site and requesting quotations from builders to build a new synagogue. The laying of the foundation stone for the new synagogue, which was situated behind the Temperance Hall, took place on 28 May 1852, and it took another eight months for the new synagogue to be completed. The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian Glamorgan Monmouth and Brecon Gazette dated 19 February 1853 mentioned the inaugural ceremony took place 22 February 1853, when the Chief Rabbi A. L. Green of the Great Synagogue, London officiated on the occasion. Sadly there are no newspaper reports giving a detailed account of the opening of the Synagogue, but it was reported that there was accommodation for 93 persons, with 60 seats reserved for Jewish gentlemen, and 33 seats for Jewish ladies. Seat rentals ranged from £5.4s to £1.6s per annum.

An excerpt from an 1860 map of Merthyr showing the second synagogue

Shop Floor Collapse

Below is a transcription of an article that appeared in the Weekly Mail 110 years ago today (4 April 1908):

SHOP-FLOOR COLLAPSE

OYSTER-BAR MISHAP AT MERTHYR

There, was an alarming occurrence at an oyster saloon in Glebeland Street, Merthyr, yesterday, the stone flooring of the shop giving way and several persons having narrow escapes from being killed.

Mrs. Flower, the occupier, was out at the time, and a servant-maid, named Flye, was standing behind the counter talking to her brother, and there were three other lads also in the shop. The boys were precipitated into the cellar below, but Flye saved himself from falling by clinging to the counter, which remained intact.

One of the lads, who lives in Paynters Terrace, Bethesda Street, was rather badly hurt, and was taken home in a cab, but, beyond shock, the others escaped injury.

On the surface of it this is a simple article, but it is also an fascinating study of social history. For instance – who knew that there was an oyster bar in Glebeland Street? Indeed, who knew that there was an oyster bar in Merthyr at all? Also, there are some interesting facts there for family historians and genealogists.

I think that so much can be learned from looking at old newspapers – sometimes you can learn far more from papers than from reading a serious history book.

Joseph Williams – ‘Y Tyst’

by Carl Llewellyn

Joseph Williams was born at St Clears, Carmarthen, and came to Merthyr as a boy in 1842 to be apprenticed to his cousin Rees Lewis as a bookbinder. After serving his apprenticeship, he left Merthyr and went into business as a grocer at Llangattock. In 1872 he bought the printing business of Mr Thomas Howells (who had died the previous year) in Glebeland Street, which formed part of the block of buildings erected for Merthyr Express.

He continued at the premises for a few years before moving to other premises in Glebeland Place, extending his offices and putting in new machinery which helped with the journal publications. Some time after moving to the new premises, Williams took over the printing and publishing of the Welsh Congregational Newspaper. The newspaper had previously been published in Liverpool from its inception in 1864 under the title “Y Tyst Cymreig” (The Welsh Witness) then at Dolgellau, under the name of “Y Tyst a’r Dydd” (The Witness and the Day), but in the year 1892 the latter part of the title was dropped and it became known as “Y Tyst”.

Joseph Williams’ ‘Tyst’ Office in Glebeland Place

Joseph Williams also published two monthly periodicals – the religious magazine “Cenad Hedd” (Messenger of Peace) from 1880, and “Cronicl Cenhadol” (The Missionary Chronicle) established in 1897, recording the work done in the foreign mission field by the London Missionary Society, both magazines were well known throughout the Welsh Independent denomination.

He was a life-long teetotaller, and from his earliest years in Merthyr Tydfil was closely associated with the temperance organisations which came into being in later years. Notably he was indentified with the well known society “Cymmrodorion Dirwestol” a literary society devoted to the preservation of the Welsh language, his connection enabling him to render great service to Welsh literature. He was for many years a most zealous and efficient secretary of “Cymmrodorion Dirwestol”, and in that capacity he had a good deal to do with the promotion and production of the long series of successful Eisteddfodau held at the Temperance Hall on Christmas Day.

In religion Mr Williams was a Congregationalist. He was a member of Zoar Chapel, until 1850 when Joseph Williams with 59 other members of the chapel transferred themselves to Ynysgau, due to the demise of the minister Rev T. B. Evans, who’d lost the respect of his congregation through his persistent indulgence in intoxicating liquors. As a result Ynysgau Chapel almost became extinct. With the influx of members from Zoar, the congregation began to increase, giving the chapel a new lease of life. Only two of the 60 members of Zoar remained at Ynysgau – Joseph Williams and William Powell. Joseph Williams never coveted office or position, but his remarkable faithfulness to the church won him the foremost positions in Ynysgau Chapel – where he was prepared to lead others were willing to follow. In 1875 he was elected a deacon; he became the chapel treasurer from 1880-1892 and he also became the Sunday school superintendent.

In politics Joseph Williams was a Liberal and was ardent in the maintenance of his principles. He was regarded not to be extreme or bigoted, or self-opinionated in the slightest degree. He was a fair minded man ready to hear the other side, and meet it with kindly discussion. Through being an active member of the Nonconformist Committee he was co-operated in the political organisation of the Liberal party in Merthyr Tydfil.

In 1899 Ynysgau Chapel celebrated the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the cause plus the clearance of Chapel debt. The chairmanship was given to Joseph Williams who gave an account of his connection with the church during his 50 year membership, and he called upon his son D. D. Williams to read out a very ably written history of Ynysgau Chapel from its establishment.

Joseph Williams died in July 1903, and at his funeral service at Ynysgau Chapel was remembered as a naturally able man, and his acquaintance with Welsh literature was extensive. He possessed a large amount of knowledge which was very accurate, and was a man of sound judgement, an upright character and a credit to the community.