Tag: Gwernllwyn House

Merthyr’s Lost Landmarks: Merthyr’s Grand Houses

Following on from the recent article about Gwaunfarren House (https://www.merthyr-history.com/?p=8282), here is a pictorial look at just ten of the magnificent ‘grand’ houses that we once had in Merthyr, but have been swept away by ‘progress’.

Firstly, the aforementioned Gwaunfarren House…

The home of the Guest family – Dowlais House…

The home of the Homfray family, Penydarren House….

The home of the Crawshay family (pre-Cyfarthfa Castle), Gwaelodygarth House….

Gwaelodygarth Fach…

Sandbrook House, Thomastown…

Gwernllwyn House, Dowlais…

Vaynor House…

Ynysowen House, Merthyr Vale…

Bargoed House, Treharris…

All photos courtesy of the Alan George Archive.

If anyone has any more information or any memories of any of these houses, please get in touch. Also, if anyone has any photos of other lost houses or landmarks in Merthyr, please let me know.

Merthyr Historian volume 33

The Merthyr Tydfil and District Historical Society is pleased to announce the publication of Volume 33 of the Merthyr Historian.

Contents:

  • A Local History Appreciated (‘The Story of Merthyr Tydfil …’ 1932) by Huw Williams
  • Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society: helping the historians of the future (The Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative Awards) by Clive Thomas
  • The history of Garthnewydd House by Lucy Richardson
  • Creating Merthyr Tydfil Educational Settlement (1930-1949): a view from behind the scenes by Christine Trevett
  • “Eisteddfod Merthyr Tydfil a’r Cylch”1958-1962 by John Fletcher
  • Japanese naval commander at Merthyr 1902 (transcription) by T. Fred Holley & John D. Holley
  • Mary Emmeline Horsfall, the lady of Gwernllwyn House: art, philanthropy and the workless in Dowlais by Christine Trevett
  • A Merthyr man’s wartime service in His Majesty’s Royal Navy by Brian, Peter & Barrie Jones
  • The dark side of convict life: an account of the career of Harry Williams (b. 1876), a Merthyr man by Barrie Jones
  • The White Horse, Twynyrodyn in the 19th century by Richard Clements
  • The first Aeronaut (balloonist) in Merthyr, 1847 (transcription)
  • Evacuees in the Borough’s Wards: ‘Merthyr welcomes evacuees…’ (transcription, 1940) by Stephen Brewer
  • Putting Merthyr Tydfil on the map by Clive Thomas
  • ‘Honouring a Dowlais Musician. Complimentary Concert …’ John Evans (Eos Myrddin) 1841-1905. A transcribed report from the Merthyr Times 1893 of ‘A Grand Performance’ by T. Fred Holley & John D. Holley
  • Gurnos Farm and the Cyfarthfa Estate by Alison Thomas Davies
  • Treharris pit-head baths and The Lancet 1908 (transcription)
  • The Lavernock tragedy 1888 and its Aberfan memorial by Stephen Brewer
  • The ‘earthly Eden’ which was dry and rustic Trelewis (newspaper items and editor’s commentary)
  • Chess in Merthyr by Martyn Griffiths
  • Lewys Glyn Cynon, Merthyr Vale poet by T. Fred Holley & John D. Holley
  • Calling local historians: banking and boxers by Stephen Brewer & Christine Trevett

This 324 page book is available to buy from the Merthyr Tydfil & District Historical Society for £13.

If you would like a copy, contact me at merthyr.history@gmail.com and all orders will be forwarded to the Society.

The Dowlais Educational Settlement

Hello everyone. My name is Christine Trevett and I’m writing a history of the Educational Settlement in Dowlais from 1928, through the  Depression to beyond the Second World War, for Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society. Some people in the Borough still have memories of it.

I am coming across names of people who were linked with that Dowlais Settlement work and with John Dennithorne  the Settlement’s Warden,  but there are limited details or no details about the people named. Were they perhaps members of your family? Have older family members heard of them and of activities linked to the Dowlais Settlement?  I would love to know.

That Settlement’s work was centred around the Horse Street Club for unemployed men, The Armoury,  Trewern House, Gwernllwyn House and The Hafod, Pant.   Here are the people I would like to learn more about:

From the early 1930s onward

  • Margaret Gardner (née Margaret Morgan Jones), social worker distributing relief in food vouchers and clothing, later a Councillor, lived in West Grove.
  • Jeannie McConnell
  • ‘Bill’ (no surname) who  may have been the local unemployed miner who was put in charge of the gym from around 1929.  Or Bill may have had different roles in the Horse Street Club (in which case  who was the ex miner who ran the gym?).
  • Beryl (née Evans). She and ‘Bill’ were helping at the Settlement at the same time.
  • Celeste Davies – worked with young children at the Horse Street site
  • James Sullivan, gym instructor (was he known as ‘Jim’?)
  • Edward Bruten – who ran some classes at the Settlement
  • Bard Bracey – similarly was a tutor – and what was his relation to F.A. Bracey who taught French and German and ‘Swedish drill for juniors’ at the Settlement?
  • Mr Fuente, who taught Spanish.

Also

  1. Beryl Williams of Pant and
  2. Valerie Hargraves of Pant – these two may have had roles at The Armoury.
  3. Mary Horsfall of Gwernllwyn House, art patron and friend of the Settlement.

If you can shed any light on this I  can be contacted by email: rctcasagroup@gmail.com

Thanks, Christine