Tag: Richard Fothergill

Women’s Suffrage in Merthyr Tydfil

Transcribed below is a report which appeared in the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian 150 years ago today – 18 October 1873.

A meeting was held at the Zoar Chapel, Merthyr, on Tuesday evening, for the purpose of hearing addresses on the Female Suffrage Question. Mrs. Crawshay, of Cyfarthfa Castle, presided, and was supported by Mrs. Fawcett, wife of Professor Fawcett, Miss Lilias S. Ashworth, of Bath, etc.

Mrs. CRAWSHAY, who was received with acclamation, said: “I share with all present their anxiety to hear the two gifted ladies who are my guests tonight; but it has been intimated to me that a few words on my own part would be acceptable to some among the audience; and as I have always found my Merthyr friends most kind and indulgent in listening to me – notwithstanding all my wicked notions – I propose making a remark on the assertion that ‘women don’t want the suffrage.’ (Applause). Mr. Henry James said at Taunton, last week, that if he were sure even half the women of England desired the franchise he would vote for it, and he seemed to fancy that he was acting in accordance with the wishes of the majority of women in England in declining to vote for it. This may to some extent be true – the black slaves did not care to be set free – there must be some little experience of freedom before it is valued. But why should the women of England, who don’t want to vote, be so afraid of the suffrage being given to those women who do? They will no more be obliged to vote than men are. There are many women who do not use this privilege – do not fulfil their duty – but it would be a strong plea to bring forward, that we must not allow any men duly qualified to vote, because some do not care to vote. (Hear, hear, and cheers).

Who is he who knows what proportion of women are anxious to have a voice in making the laws by which they, no less than men, are bound? No one – for the tyranny exercised by some men is so great that they prevent their wives and grown-up daughters hearing any discussion on the subject when anxious to do so. (Hear, hear.) To my knowledge there would have been some here tonight who are kept at home as if they were either children or idiots. Is it likely this state of things will continue? No. Because at some of these meetings the absence of Mrs. or Miss So-and-so will be deplored, and the true reason for her absence given; and those men who act thus tyrannically by their wives and daughters are the very ones who would most shrink from having such conduct traced home to them. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) It is only the most noble and the most generous of husbands and fathers who at the present time allow their women-kind the exercise of intellect; but the others will have to do so, and then Mr. Henry James will find himself obliged to vote for the enfranchisement of women, if he will either gain or retain a seat in the House. (Hear, hear, and cheers.)

I feel sure that one reason why narrow-minded men are so averse to greater independence of thought on the part of women is that they fear it might raise the standard of intelligence throughout the country. This is a strange fear, while there are physiologists who assure us that the mind of woman is in itself an inferior article to man’s mind. Perhaps they will have to modify this idea some day. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) In the year 1801, M. Sylvain Marechal wrote a book in which he discussed the question, ‘Ought women to learn the alphabet?’ This is ironical, but really it is the point where the men went wrong. (Hear, and cheers) They should have resolutely answered ‘No.’ But, only think, had they done so, what a far backward position Europe would hold now, for it is clearly a decree of Providence that one class cannot rise without the rest, any more than one individual can do so. What is the meaning of all the martyrdoms of all the ages? Only that the martyr was in advance of his time; and that is a crime so resented now, no less than in ages past, that though it is no longer punished by physical tortures, mental torture is still in vogue. (Loud cheers.)”

Mr. CHARLES JAMES, after some appropriate remarks, moved the following resolution:-  “That the exclusion of women, otherwise legally qualified, from voting in the election of members of Parliament, is injurious to those excluded, contrary to the principle of just representation, and to the laws in force regulating the principles of municipal, parochial, and all other representative governments.”

Millicent Garrett Fawcett

Mrs. FAWCETT, supported the resolution in an able speech, saying in conclusion that it was a flagrant injustice to exclude such a woman as Lady Burdett Coutts for instance, from the suffrage. They were determined to go on in their endeavours, and they would not be debarred from their purpose by any cry of unnatural alliance between themselves and the Tories. She hoped the time was not far distant when such meetings as the present would become no longer a necessity for the attainment of their object.

Mr. W. JONES, of Cyfarthfa, moved the following resolution, “That a petition to the House of Commons be adopted and signed by the chairman on behalf of this meeting, and that a memorial be forwarded to Mr. Richard and Mr. Fothergill, members for the borough, requesting them to support Mr. Jacob Bright’s Bill to remove the electoral disabilities of women.

Lillias Ashworth (in later years)

Miss ASHWORTH, who on rising to second the motion, was loudly cheered, said that doubtless many present were convinced of the justice of the claim of women to representation, but she believed more cordial support would be given were they convinced that women were sufferers from the want of representation. Referring to the borough and county members Miss Ashworth observed:- “I have lately been looking through the division list of the House of Commons, and I find that the measure to which I have alluded has not been supported by one particular party, but by Liberals and Tories. Mr. Gladstone has given his adhesion to the principle, and Mr. Disraeli has voted for the Bill over and over again. Indeed, many of the foremost statesmen in the House of Commons have voted for it, and I am pleased to find Mr. Henry Richard (loud cheers) – each year records his vote in favour of the Women’s Disabilities Bill and one of your members for the county – Mr. Talbot – has voted every time for it; but Mr. Vivian has voted against it, and Mr. Fothergill has voted against it. Mr. Vivian’s, I think, is a most hopeless case, because he has voted against it both times lately. (Laughter.)

Now, Mr. Fothergill has missed for two whole years, and I really think if you bring some pressure to bear upon him he will be very likely converted. I unhesitatingly state that it is no credit to any Liberal member in the House of Commons that he should vote against the Women’s Disabilities Bill and as a general election is not perhaps so far off, I say to you, working men, many of whom I believe I see before me, that a man who does justice to women is a man most likely to do justice to himself. When a general election comes round, I ask you, whatever candidates come forward, that they should all be questioned upon this subject, and it should be clearly elicited from them how they intend to vote when they go to the House of Commons. And another thing I should like to ask you to do is to send a largely signed petition to your members. I don’t think Mr. Richard needs one, because he seems always right. Mr. Vivian’s, I repeat, is a hopeless case, but I am sure Mr. Fothergill would appreciate one if it were very widely signed” (laughter, and much cheering) – during which Miss Ashworth resumed her seat. The resolution was seconded and carried amid applause.

The RECTOR of MERTHYR, in supporting a vote of thanks to Mrs. Crawshay, Mrs. Fawcett, and Miss Ashworth, concluded as follows:- “I was at Bath the other day, and was informed that there were thirty thousand women there, and in the height of the season, in excess of men. Why is this? Why, simply for the reason because the young men of the present day don’t do their duty in the way they ought. (Applause.) They ought to set about marrying at once. With this view, then, I hope the measure under discussion will succeed, and I hope the women who do this will get an Act of Parliament passed that a poll-tax be put on every man that is not married. (Laughter and cheering ). The assembly then broke up.

Merthyr Tydfil to Aber Cynon Tramroad – part 1

by Gwilym and John Griffiths

Some sources have recorded that this tramroad (then called a dram road) was started around 1800 by agreement between William Taitt of Dowlais, Samuel Homfray of Pen y Darren and Richard Hill of Plymouth. They added that the construction, under the supervision of George Overton, was allegedly started in 1799 and finished in 1802. Yet see under Leases 1800 for a few of the early leases in summary. It seems that Richard Fothergill was much involved in setting up these leases. In addition, the route was always described as being from Morlais Castle to Navigation House.  The route was from Pen y Darren to Aber Cynon, 9½ miles, a fall of 341 feet. Brief details were recorded in The Pen y Darren Locomotive by Stuart Owen-Jones.

The tramroad was used briefly (three times or numerous times, see below) with a trial of Trevithick’s steam engine on Tuesday 21 Feb 1804, returning to Pen y Darren the following day, but shortly thereafter the tramroad reverted to horse power for many further years. The weight of the steam-engine apparently damaged the rails. However, Charles Wilkins, ‘The History of Merthyr Tydfil’, page 252, thought that the engine, ‘after serving a long time on the tramway, was removed to a pit called Winch Fawr (in the hamlet of Heol Wermwd not the one in the hamlet of Gelli Deg), and finally taken to the top of the incline owned by the Pen y Darren Company at Cwm Bargod.’ We are not so sure. Richard Trevithick himself recorded the event from which the following summary is appropriate:

  1. On Saturday 11 Feb 1804, the fire was lit in the ‘Tram Waggon’ and Richard Trevithick worked it without the wheels to try the engine.
  2. On Monday 13 Feb 1804, they put the waggon on the ‘Tram Road’. It worked very well and ran up hill and down with great ease and was very manageable. There was plenty of power.
  3. Between 13 Feb and 20 Feb 1804 the ‘Tram Waggon’ had been worked several times. They had tried loads of up to ten tons, and it worked easily. He was sure it could cope with forty tons. Richard Trevithick intended making a smaller engine for the tram road as the first one had too much power, and would be used instead to work a hammer.
  4. On Tuesday 21 Feb 1804 they made the journey with the engine. They carried ten tons, presumably of iron, in five waggons, with seventy men riding on them for the whole of the journey. He recorded, very clearly, that it took four hours and five minutes to cover the nine miles because they had to cut down some trees and remove some large rocks out of the tram road. No mention of the stack being knocked down by a bridge or any problem with the ‘tunnel’ by Plymouth Works. They returned, but a broken bolt released the water, and the engine did not arrive back at Pen y Darren Works until the evening of Wednesday 22 Feb 1804. No mention of broken tramway plates or of having to be hauled back to Pen y Darren by horse.
  5. Later they tried the carriage with twenty-five tons of iron, and found the engine was more than a match for that weight. The steam was delivered into the chimney above the damper. It made the draught much stronger by going up the chimney. Trevithick’s locomotive was the first to employ this very important principle of turning the exhaust steam up the chimney, so producing a draft which drew the hot gases from the fire more powerfully through the boiler.

In May 1854, some forty years later, Thomas Ellis, an engineer from Tredegar, wrote a letter describing the first journey the Pen y Darren locomotive took in February, 1804. His father was at Pen y Darren when the engine was made and tried. Samuel Homfray, proprietor of the Pen y Darren Works, Merthyr Tydfil, made a bet of 1,000 guineas with Richard Crawshay, of the Cyfarthfa Works, that Trevithick’s steam-engine could convey a load of iron from his works to the Navigation House, nine miles distant.

To be continued……

Death of Mr Fothergill

The article below is transcribed from the Evening Express 120 years ago today….

DEATH OF MR FOTHERGILL

Deceased a Former M.P. for Merthyr.

Mr. Richard Fothergill, formerly M.P. for Merthyr Tydfil, died at Sion House, Tenby, early this morning after an illness extending over a month.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

The redoubtable family of the Fothergills were early identified with Westmoreland and the “North Countrie.” They were products of the North—the bleak nursery of strong men. The philosopher of the buckle and lamp has endeavoured to trace analogies between the magnetic and the mental. That we pass over; but certainly from the North came many of the pioneers of we iron and coal world, though not, be it added, without a blending of native genius.

The Fothergills first appeared in this country at Lydbrook, in the Forest of Dean, at Tredegar, and next in the Aberdare district, where the family was represented by Rowland Fothergill, who followed in the track of the Scales, and is creditably supposed to have thriven in the same ratio as that family declines. One of the Scales, who had a tendency to be pungent with his pen in after years, described Rowland Fothergill as the squire of Hensol, who “looked as though he never could stoop with his scythe to mow.”

Mr. Rowland Fothergill was a personage of note in Aberdare in 1819. He was the uncle of Richard Fothergill, and when that worthy was in his erratic youth he came and grew up by the side of the stalwart old man, trained into the mysteries of iron-making, and, when in all the strength of his manhood he careered about the valley, well mounted, scorning high- ways and dashing about the mountains, few finer types of humanity could be a cavalier amongst the Puritans, one upon whom men looked with pleasure for his man hood and frankness, and upon whom the eyes of women fell with pleasing interest.

As time past changes crept in. Mr. Rowland Fothergill drifted away from forges and furnaces to the arcadian attractions of Hensol, and when he died in the fulness of years Richard, the nephew, reigned in his stead. He was now the owner of Abernant and Llwydcoed. Ironworks, collieries, and landed estates were his. Not only had he thousands of men at his command, but a splendid array of able men as managers, agents, etc., whose descendants we see to-day—all that is left of them—in honourable positions at the Docks or elsewhere; men who since won rank in the industrial world, and held it by unswerving integrity.

When Mr. Richard Fothergill had gained a position greater than that held by his uncle, there yet opened out a longer vista of distinction We find him aspiring to annex the ironworks of Mr. Anthony Hill, the last of the famous Plymouth Iron Company, who died in 1862. His death cleared the way to the ambitious ironmaster, suggesting greater and more successful rivalry to the Crawshays and Guests by his becoming as potent in the Merthyr Valley as in that of Aberdare. In connection with others, notably Mr. Hankey, a London banker, the Plymouth Ironworks and Collieries passed into his hands, and with remarkable industry he overlooked the workings of each ironworks and colliery.

In the zenith of his career as ironmaster he met with a sad family bereavement, and for a time he was overwhelmed, trying to find in religious consolation the anodyne. In time he rallied, and it was not very long before a vacancy in the representation of Merthyr Tydfil aroused in him the ambition to become to the iron and coal district what Sir John Guest had been. Keen student of man, it was not long before he gained his end, and, amid the cheers of hurraying men, the acclamations of “Fothergill age,” and the blaze of the magenta light won from the coal, he made his way to St. Stephen’s.

Friends and enemies gave him the credit of having been an active member of Parliament. He did not sit down, resting upon his laurels, but fought for all he was worth in advocacy of the virtues of the coal of Wales. Of course, many said that in doing so he also benefited himself. Be that as it may, he unquestionably did a good deal in the interest of steam coal, and was the means first of getting good Admiralty orders and, secondly, of making the beat steam coal of Wales more widely known.

While all intent upon coal, iron, Parliament, the commercial crash came which involved him in disaster, and the star which had arisen so brightly fell. It was a terrible calamnity to him and to the district. Many a man wished that Mr. G. Clark’s intention of carrying on Plymouth Works after the death of Mr. Anthony Hill had been accomplished, and deplored the acquisition by Mr. Fothergill. Fortunately, time and the merits of the famous Welsh coal brought about eventually some modification, though to this day old furnaces long disused at Plymouth and the wreck of Abernant and Llwydcoed are evidences of the greatest disaster to the iron industry Wales ever sustained. From that time and Mr. Fothergill’s retirement from Parliament his connection with his old district has been slight. Perhaps one of the best reminders of Mr. Richard Fothergill will be his successes at Abernant House. Here, with remarkable taste, he made the unsightly tips attractive, clothing eyesores with leaflage and foliage.

 – Evening Express – 24 June 1903