From the Cardiff Times 150 years ago today…..
A New Statue in Cefn Cemetery
Tag: Cefn-Coed Cemetery
The New Inn: ‘Mormon’ meeting place
by Freda Entwistle
The New Inn, Penydarren, was located at no. 307 High Street, but was demolished in the late 1970s for modernisation.
It was a typical public house: the ground floor providing an entrance to the pub itself; living accommodation for the family of the licensee at the rear of the building; and the floor above provided a sizeable hall, which was hired out for various events and activities to local groups.
One of those groups was the Latter Day Saints or ‘Mormons’ – officially members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In the early 1840s William Henshaw, a new convert to the cause, was sent to Merthyr Tydfil, to preach the gospel.
In the History of the Church, Joseph Smith recorded:
Sunday, February 19, 1843 —– Elder William Henshaw having been directed… to go to South Wales, he commenced preaching in the English language privately to several families in Pen y darren, near Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire. A number of the people believed his testimony, and this day he baptized William Rees Davis, his wife, and two of his sons, and commenced preaching publicly in Brother Davis’s house, about one-third of the people only understanding the English language.
The Davies’ home soon proved too small for the growing membership. It became necessary to look for premises to accommodate the growing membership and inquiring minds from the public. The New Inn provided such a meeting place. Penydarren thus became the first branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Glamorgan, established on 25 March 1843. The branch grew to a membership of 50 by the end of 1843.
Several other branches were established in the Merthyr area in the ensuing years, often meeting in public houses such as the New Inn. There is evidence of the Penydarren branch still in existence in the 1851 Religious Census, which confirms the New Inn as one of the meeting places the Latter-day Saints used for their services.
William Rees Davies was later assigned to the Rhymney area and became branch president there before he, his wife Rachel and their children emigrated with the first large company of Welsh converts in 1849.
Another early member of the Penydarren LDS branch was Abel Evans (left). Born in Carmarthenshire, he moved to Merthyr where he was baptised by William Henshaw, 10 February 1844, and became a stalwart member of the Penydarren branch. His six years of devoted missionary service throughout Wales brought many other converts into the Church.
Fluent in Welsh, he was often called upon to translate sermons given in English by visiting church authorities, for the benefit of those who only spoke and understood Welsh. In 1850 he emigrated to the Great Salt Lake Valley in Utah Territory, but in 1865 he returned to Wales as a missionary. Sadly he died here in November 1866, and is buried in the cemetery at Cefn Coed.
Fatal Gas Leak at Merthyr
From the Merthyr Express 90 years go today…..
A follow up story from the Merthyr Express….
Merthyr’s Historians: Charles Wilkins
Over the years, Merthyr has produced some excellent historians, and I would like to introduce a new feature celebrating some of them. To mark the 110th anniversary of his death, we kick off with Merthyr’s first ‘official’ historian – Charles Wilkins.
Charles Wilkins was born on 16 August 1830 in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, the second of nine children of William Wilkins, a Chartist bookseller, and Anna Maria Wilkins. In 1840 the family moved to Merthyr, with William Wilkins opening a shop on the High Street (opposite the current Lloyd’s Bank), and eventually becoming postmaster at the post office adjoining his business. At the age of fourteen, Charles left school to work with his father as a clerk at the post office.
In 1859, Charles married Lydia Jeans and they settled at Springfield Villa in Thomastown. The (by contemporary accounts) idyllic marriage was shattered in 1867 when Lydia died giving birth to their third child.
The following year, Charles married Mary Skipp in Topsley, Herefordshire, and she would bear him two further children.
In 1871, William Wilkins died, and Charles took over as postmaster.
From 1846 to 1866 he was also librarian of the Merthyr Tydfil Subscription Library of which Thomas Stephens was secretary.
From the age of fourteen, Charles began writing articles for local and national Welsh newspapers, and in 1867, he published ‘The History of Merthyr Tydfil’, the first ‘official history of the town. It was subsequently extended and re-published in 1908.
As well as writing some fiction, he also wrote several other major historical works including:-
- Wales, Past and Present (1870) (The History of Wales for Englishmen)
- Tales and Sketches of Wales (1879, 1880)
- The History of the Literature of Wales from 1300 to 1650 (1884)
- The History of Newport (1886)
- The South Wales Coal Trade and Its Allied Industries (1888)
- The History of the Iron, Steel, Tinplate and Other Trades of Wales (1903)
In 1877, he was “initiated into the mysteries of the Druidic lore”, and at the 1881 National Eisteddfod, held in Merthyr Tydfil, he won a £21 prize (approximately equivalent to £2,100 in 2019) and gold medal for the best “History of the Literature of Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire from the earliest period to the present time.” In 1882 he founded ‘The Red Dragon: The National Magazine of Wales’. That same year, it was reported in the Western Mail (7 December 1882) that, “after careful examination of the various works written by Mr. Wilkins”, he was “unanimously elected to the super graduate Degree of Literature (Lit. D.)” by the Druidic University of America and its affiliate in Maine.
Charles Wilkins retired as postmaster at the end of 1897 after almost 50 years of service. He died at Springfield Villa on 2 August 1913 and was buried at Cefn Cemetery.
Although his history of Merthyr contain some inaccuracies; bearing in mind when it was written, and that a lot of it was based on oral history; it is a remarkable work, being the first of its kind to chronicle Merthyr’s history, and it is an invaluable resource to use as a starting point for further research.
You can download the 1867 version of Wilkins history of Merthyr here:
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_History_of_Merthyr_Tydfil/FWk1AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
The 1908 revision is available here:
Walter William Meredith – The Man Who Secured Penydarren Park for Sport
by Phil Sweet
History is full of individuals who accomplish notable deeds and then fade from memory. One such gentleman is Walter William Meredith. This short article will hopefully both bring his story to life and recognise his achievements.
Walter Meredith was born on New Year’s Day 1863 and was the second child of William and Harriet Meredith who resided at 125 High Street in Merthyr. Walter’s father was a successful jeweller and had the financial means to invest in his son’s education.
Meredith initially attended Lloyd’s School in Merthyr. It was at this school that he first participated in the code of football which existed at the time. When he was eleven Meredith attended Taunton School and, during the five years he spent there, represented the school at both rugby and cricket.
He then spent the next three years at Shrewsbury School and whilst a pupil at the school he became acquainted with Association Football. Meredith proved to be a quick learner and went on to represent the school at football, cricket and running. During this time his rugby skills weren’t forgotten as he occasionally turned out for Merthyr RFC whilst home on vacation.
Meredith’s talents were not just confined to the sports field and on leaving Shrewsbury School in 1882 he was articled to a firm of solicitors in the City of London. While he was in the Capital Walter’s sporting career continued to flourish. He joined the London Athletic Club and on Wednesdays played rugby for a team called the Anomolites which was a combination of members of the London Athletic Club and doctors from the various London hospitals.
He was also a member of the Hermits & Phoenix Football Clubs which later merged into the well-known Clapton club. Indeed whilst he was with Clapton Meredith played at right back in the Clapton team which won the London Association Junior Cup. A true sporting all-rounder Meredith also competed in cross-country competitions for the Clapton Beagles team and during the summer months was a regular and successful participant in athletic sports held within easy travelling distance of London.
In 1887 Walter passed his final law examination and qualified as a solicitor This event saw him curtail his athletics career. However, his interest in sport was not extinguished completely as he served for a season as Secretary of London Welsh RFC.
In June 1891 Meredith returned to Merthyr to open his own solicitors practice in Market Square and resided with his parents and older sister Kate at 125 High Street. Back in his home town Walter wasted little time in throwing himself into the civic life of the area. As well as being President of Merthyr RFC and Secretary of Merthyr Athletic Club, in 1904 he was appointed High Constable of Caerphilly Higher.
Shortly after being appointed to the latter office Meredith made his lasting contribution to the sporting life of the town when he concluded the negotiations, on behalf of Merthyr Athletic Club, with the Bolgoed Estate for a 99 year lease on Penydarren Park which at the time was in great danger of being built on. This agreement secured for the people of Merthyr a central and well appointed venue for sporting activity which had previously been so lacking in the town.
Having secured the use of Penydarren Park for sport the twelve-strong syndicate of prominent townsmen who comprised Merthyr Athletic Club wasted little time in levelling the arena to create a playing field as well as athletics and cycling tracks. The ground was officially opened on Saturday 9th September 1905 when Swansea RFC took on Merthyr RFC and immediately became the home to Merthyr RFC, Merthyr Thursdays RFC and Merthyr Ladies Hockey Club.
These organisations were the first of many such clubs to take up residence at the ground. Although Penydarren Park has become synonymous with football in the town, having hosted both Football League and European Cup Winners Cup matches, the arena has also played host to touring international rugby teams and greyhound racing. Equally as significant is the fact that it has allowed countless thousands of children and adults in the Borough to engage in a variety of sporting pursuits.
Whilst securing the lease on Penydarren Park was undoubtedly Walter Meredith’s lasting civic legacy to Merthyr Tydfil his interests were not just confined to the sporting arena. As well as being an enthusiastic archaeologist and a recognised authority on the history of Merthyr Tydfil Meredith was the long-standing Secretary of both the Merthyr & Aberdare Incorporated Law Society and Merthyr Chamber of Trade & Commerce.
Politically he was a strong supporter of the Conservative Party acting as party agent in the town for the first decade of the twentieth century. Ten years earlier he had been one of the founder members of the Merthyr Constitutional Club eventually becoming the club’s president after holding the post of vice-president for eighteen years.
Walter Meredith was a bachelor who, following the death of his parents, moved with his spinster sister to 2, Courtland Terrace. He died on August 2nd 1932 whilst on holiday at Aberdw in Mid Wales where he was indulging in another of his life-long passions – angling. His funeral took place Friday August 12th at St David’s Church where he was life-long member. He is buried in Cefn Cemetery.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Evening Express
Merthyr Express
1871 Census
1881 Census
1891 Census
1901 Census
1911 Census
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.
Reader, take a ride by the Taff Vale Railway from Merthyr to Troedyrhiw, and the locus in quo ought to be recognised.
Mr Henry Kirkhouse was the chief mineral agent at Cyfarthfa, but two of his sons were with him. They resided at Llwyncelyn. Old Mr Wm Williams (known as No 8) was the mechanical engineer; he lived at Pwll Watt. Mr Thomas, the cashier, lived at Nantygwenith Turnpike Gate. Mr Jeffries was the furnace manager at Cyfarthfa, and Mr John Jones was so for Ynysfach. There were some excellent workmen at Cyfarthfa – Saunders, the master moulder of one part and Wm Thomas of the other foundry. The master fitter’s name has slipped my memory, but one of the men, David Charles, can be recalled.
Cyfarthfa was always celebrated for its machinery and engines. Watkin George, the predecessor of Mr Williams, was a man of noted ability; and, as far as known, that reputation is still maintained. George Cope Pearce was the mechanical engineer for a quarter of a century, his predecessor being his brother-in-law, John P Roe. The Williams family were good engineers too.
I forbear to mention some things that can be remembered lest I am prolix, but George Cope Pearce was so original that some two or three things will be stated. His desire for engineering was so strong as to induce his running away from home (his father was the custos of Hereford cathedral), and in coming to Dowlais he enquired for work. Seeing he was not of the class that generally applied, enquiries were made of him, with the result that, while he was hanging on in hopes, his father was communicated with, and came for him; but Sir John (Guest) agreed to take him on after spending some terms at King’s Engineering College. This was done, but his family and friends endeavoured to turn him.
In 1838 he was loco. superintendent at Dowlais; but as was the general rule, he did not get money enough to satisfy him, and went to Messrs Powell at Clydach, near Abergavenny, and engaged in their service. This becoming known, Mr Thomas Evans took him in hand, and by fair promises induced him to write a letter abandoning the idea. Cope could not get the advance expected, and ere three months had gone, Mr Evans began ruling with usual iron rod. They had a few words, and, upon Mr Evans alluding to his having written the letter, heard, “Oh yes; but I forgot to post it”. What followed need not be said. He went to Clydach, and, after a few years, thinking their machinery did not require such a high-priced man, Messrs Powell spoke to him, pointing out what an easy place he had. “Oh then you want a smash or two, I suppose. Well, I daresay that can be arranged, if you wish”. Do not think this is untrue, for it is a fact.
He left Clydach some years ago and came to Cyfarthfa. He was very friendly with William Menelaus. Menelaus was a hot-tempered man, and Pearce was quite the opposite. “Now Menelaus”, he said, “you are very foolish to go on so; it would pay you better to pay a man 30s a week to do the swearing”. He was a good horologist, a microscopist and a musician. Amongst his other makings was a machine to delineate sound curves.
My last visit to Cefn Cemetery was to pay the only tribute to his memory, and I was rather surprised at the paucity of attendance, knowing how highly he was esteemed. He sleeps, however, quite as soundly. During one of the many conversations I asked him, “Why did you leave Cyfarthfa?”. “Well, you see, I had been there some time, and got on very well with the old ones, but somehow or other, not much with the young ones, and rather than lose my temper I resigned”.
To be continued at a later date.
Adrian Stephens and the ‘Steam Whistle’
by Laura Bray
Following on from the recent article about J.O. Francis’ romantic reminiscences of the railway, you have to ask – what is a railway without a locomotive and what is locomotive without a whistle?
“The Western Mail” had an answer, printing, on Friday 4th January 1935, an article with the banner “Romance of the First Steam Whistle”.
Like so many inventions, the steam whistle was born in the Dowlais Iron Company. Its inventor was Adrian Stephens, a Cornishman by birth, who had come to Merthyr in the early 19th century, and had initially worked as Chief Engineer at the Plymouth Iron Works before moving to a similar role in the Dowlais works in about 1827. Here he had charge of the mill and the blowing engines.
Never a place blessed with health and safety standards, iron working was particularly dangerous, and in about 1835 there was an explosion where one of the old non-tubular boilers burst, with the loss of several lives. An investigation into the incident suggested that there was negligence – smoke and grime had made the safety gauges unreadable, and the stoker had failed to ensure an adequate supply of water was pumped in.
John Josiah Guest tasked Adrian Stephens with the job of finding a way to prevent a reoccurrence, and after some experimentation with a long tube similar to a tin whistle, and then some organ pipes that Stephens asked Guest to source, he eventually came up with a local copper tube, made like a bosun’s pipe, but wider and with a larger vent. The end of the tube was fixed to the top if the boiler, with the other held submerged in the water in the boiler. As the water ran dry, the steam was pushed up the pipe and a shrill whistle sounded, thereby allowing action to be taken before the pressure caused an explosion. Not surprisingly, the workers hated it, regarding it as a nuisance to be put out of action. Stephens therefore enclosed it in a cage, and it was in this form that it was adopted by all the Merthyr ironworks – and then added to every boiler, railway locomotive and steam ship around the world.
Stephens did not patent his invention. Writing to his niece in 1872 he said “Neither in want, nor caring for money at the time, I did not think of taking a patent”. He was even unsure about which year he had introduced it, guessing 1835, as it was before Guest was created a baronet (1838).
But his steam whistle was not the only railway connected achievement – Stephens was also credited with planning the “Lady Charlotte”, the first locomotive to be used at the Dowlais Works.
After Guest’s death, Stephens moved to the Penydarren Ironworks, where he invented, according to his son, the “Hot Blast”, which made the furnaces hotter and more efficient, before ending his career as a Civil Engineer for Anthony Hill in the Plymouth Works.
Stephens died in 1876 by which stage his invention had revolutionised steam safety. He is buried in Cefn Cemetery, within hearing distance of the Merthyr-Brecon/LNWR trains whistling up and down the track.
So the next time you hear the “whoo whoo” from the heritage railway or the magnificent Flying Scotsman, think of Adrian Stephens and Merthyr’s role in that Age of Romance.
Merthyr’s Boxers: Joe Johns
The latest boxer featured, Joe Johns, was born 130 years ago today.
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.
In Memoriam: Meta Scott
Following on from the last article, here is a very moving tribute to Meta Scott that appeared in the Cardiff Times on 30 January 1892.
How hard it is to realise the dreadful truth that poor Miss Meta Scott has passed from our midst to the Great Beyond; and that never again shall we see her on the concert platform or in front of a competitive choir!
True, we had missed her from her favourite post for considerably more than a year, but we knew that she lived, and Hope bade us look forward to the time when we should see her again. But Hope, alas was deceptive. That slight, fragile figure for whose reappearance we so often looked, and sighed when we found we had looked in vain, now lies cold and immovable in the Cefn Cemetery. She who was wont to thrill vast audiences with her marvellous performances on the pianoforte and the violin will never again waken the melodies of earth. She has gone to waken sweeter music among the angels. Yet poor human nature refuses to be comforted with this knowledge, “for frightful to all men is death, from of old called King of Terrors”, and we mourn with heavy hearts the loss of one who in public was a brilliant musician, and in private a true and sincere friend.
It is not necessary to enter into details of the career of the deceased lady; those details have already been given by the daily papers. Her career was, as everyone knows, brilliant from first to last. Hers was a life of assiduous labour from her very childhood; she was in very truth a slave to her art. The amount of hard work the poor slight figure got through was really remarkable, and there can be but little doubt that her end was brought about in the same way as that of Kirke White was. There is something unspeakably sad in the thought of one who had toiled so hard, and who was in very truth a child of genius, passing to the tomb just at the moment when the gates of fame were open to her.
Poor Miss Scott was a favourite with all classes wherever she went. She never appeared at a concert without calling forth unbounded enthusiasm from her audience, and as an eisteddvod accompanist she was eagerly sought after. On many occasions have I heard her praised by the adjudicators for her excellent playing with the choirs.
Her last days were full of incidents of an intensely pathetic nature. She was taken ill shortly after the Brecon Eisteddvod, but she continued her work until imperatively commanded to desist by her medical adviser – fighting the fell consumption, that was gnawing her young life away all too soon, with a courage that none who knew her imagined she possessed. But as months of gloomy illness succeeded one another, and that poor fragile form grew weaker and weaker, the sufferer lost hope, and realised that she had been all too surely “nipt by the winds’ unkindly blast”. She saw that all the high hopes which her friends centered on her, and that the career which had opened out so brilliantly and which promised such a glorious future were all to be buried in the merciless tomb.
On the first day of the present year she dictated a little poem which she bad composed on the death of the old year. It was the wail of farewell which the stricken child of genius poured out upon the world she was so soon to leave. A friend came to visit her, and the sufferer on being given her violin attuned its strings and played “Lead, kindly Light”. “There”, said she at the close, “you have heard me play for the last time on earth”.
A few hours ere her poor body lay tenantless she heard the singing of a funeral party that was passing along the road. She requested those near her that at her own funeral the grand old hymn, “Bydd myrdd o ryveddedau” should be sung. Reader, canst thou think of that pathetic request without shedding a tear? And her request was granted. When I heard that old hymn sung with such wonderful impressiveness at Swansea Eisteddvod last August I little thought that ere six months would pass it would be sung by a host of sorrow-stricken men and women over the unclosed grave of poor Meta Scott. But so it was. She whose career had been so meteoric in its brilliancy and whose end was so inexpressibly sad, was laid to her rest amid the strains of the hymn she had asked them to sing at her funeral.
It is not Merthyr alone, but the whole country that is poorer by her loss.
Meta Scott
Today marks the 130th anniversary of the death of another of Merthyr’s great musical talents – Meta Scott.
Meta Scott was born Sarah Margaret Scott in 1860, the daughter of William Scott, a grocer at Brecon Road.
William Scott, an able musician, played the flute in a small band which met in the family home, so the young Meta was surrounded by instrumental music from an early age. It was inevitable therefore that she soon showed her own musical talents, and began taking music lessons at the age of seven, soon excelling in both the piano and violin. It is said that she would practice for up to fifteen hours a day.
The hard work paid off and she was accepted at the Royal Academy of Music to further her studies, winning medals for playing both the violin and piano, and out of 500 students, Meta was chosen as the official accompanist for the Academy at a prestigious concert at St James Hall.
Following her graduation, she moved to Cardiff, and began her career as a performer. She was in demand throughout Wales as both an accompanist and a soloist, and also began teaching. Also, almost uniquely at the time for a woman, she formed and conducted several small orchestras throughout Wales, taking them to various Eisteddfodau and competing with very best of local musicians.
The pinnacle of this achievement came at the National Eisteddfod in Brecon in 1889, held in the grounds of the Castle. At the Eisteddfod, she led an orchestra from Merthyr in one of the principal competitions, reaching the final, but narrowly losing out to the Cardiff Orchestral Society under the leadership of Dr Joseph Parry.
It was soon after the Brecon Eisteddfod that Meta Scott became ill. At first it was thought that Meta was suffering from the effects of over-work, but it was soon realised that she was in fact suffering from tuberculosis. She cancelled all of her engagements and returned Merthyr where she fought a losing battle against the disease for the next two years. She died at her family home on 15 January 1892 at the age of 31.
Her funeral was attended by all of the prominent musicians and citizens of Merthyr, and as the funeral cortège made its way from Brecon Road to Cefn Cemetery, hundreds of people lined the route to pay their respects to the beloved musician. The cortège was headed by the Cyfarthfa Band, and followed by the massed choirs of Merthyr who had joined together to pay tribute to Meta. The service was conducted by Rev J G James, the minister of Market Square Chapel, and members Meta’s own orchestra, who had narrowly missed out on first prize at the Brecon Eisteddfod, carried her coffin to her final resting place.