West Glamorgan Archive Service: Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014

Annual Report of the County Archivist

Adroddiad Blynyddol Archifydd y Sir

2013-2014 A joint Service for the Councils of the City and County of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot County Borough Gwasanaeth ar y cyd ar gyfer Cynghorau Dinas a Sir Abertawe a Bwrdeistref Sirol Castell-nedd Port Talbot

West Glamorgan Archive Service West Glamorgan Archive Service collects documents, maps, photographs, film and sound recordings relating to all aspects of the history of West Glamorgan. It is a joint service for the Councils of the City and County of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot County Borough.

Our mission is the preservation and development of our archive collections, to safeguard our documentary heritage and to enable research in order to further our collective knowledge. We are committed to providing information and the opportunity to engage with archives to everybody.

West Glamorgan Archive Service Civic Centre Oystermouth Road Front and back covers: Swansea Munitions work at Taylor and Sons Foundry, Briton Ferry, SA1 3SN during the First World War (D/D TAY/PLA 7)  01792 636589 westglam.archives@swansea.gov.uk

@westglamarchive

www.swansea.gov.uk/westglamorganarchives

Connecting people and history

Winners of the ‘Tell us your Story’ competition, William Davies of Neath and Pauline Anderson of Swansea, seen here receiving their prizes on 9 May. See p13 below for more information about the competition. Also in the picture are our reception and Family History Centre staff Rebecca Shields and Lorna Crook.

2013/14 has been a full year for the Archive Service, with the purchase of one of our most important archive collections, continuing expansion of our service to schools and involvement in some interesting outreach projects.

All this has been achieved despite severe budget pressures on both parent local authorities which have in particular created a degree of uncertainty about the future of the Neath Mechanics Institute, our second service point. The lease of the Institute is held by the Neath Antiquarian Society and it

is through partnership working with the Society that we together provide public access to their substantial archive collections. The grant that the Society receives from Neath Port Talbot Council to maintain the building was called into question as part of the Council’s review of grants to the third sector.

The future of the Mechanics Institute is secured for the moment thanks in no small measure to a vigorous defence of the status quo by the Neath Antiquarian Society with support from service users in Neath.

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ACQUISITION OF THE NEATH ABBEY IRONWORKS COLLECTION

The Neath Abbey Ironworks Collection consists of over 8,000 engineering drawings dating from 1792-1892 which include designs for mine pumping engines, railway locomotives, marine engines and iron ships, all of which were manufactured in the foundry attached to the blast furnace at Neath Abbey Ironworks. While the foundry’s customer base was drawn mostly from South Wales, it included clients from elsewhere in the United Kingdom, from France and Germany, with some orders placed from British entrepreneurs developing mining operations as far away as Mexico and Australia.

The collection has been held here on deposit for many years but in September 2013, following an approach by the owner of the records, West Glamorgan Archive Service purchased it through generous support from the PRISM Fund (administered by Arts Council England) and the Friends of the National Libraries.

With the purchase completed, we used this to raise awareness of the collection and by linking news of the acquisition to a national marketing campaign for archives we were able to gain extra reach. In the second half of November 2013, Archives across the UK and the Republic of Ireland created a range of events and press releases under the banner of ‘Explore Your Archive’. The story reached the BBC Wales website, S4C news, the South Wales Evening Post and the Twittersphere. Using a Welsh Government grant, two portable banners were designed and printed which were used at various venues, including the launch of the ‘Explore Your Archive’ campaign in Wales at Gwent Archives on 14 November.

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Our two banners publicising the acquisition of the Neath Abbey Ironworks collection created for the launch of the ‘Explore Your Archive’ campaign, November No other collection like this has survived from South Wales and the collection may be unique in the UK in the range of engines depicted and its chronological extent. In January, an application was made for the collection to be enrolled on the UK register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. The result is expected in June.

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The Archive Service was one of the collaborating partners in the preparation of the volume ‘The Pleasure of Unravelling Secrets: Contributions to Swansea & Gower History’, published by the Gower Society and launched at Swansea Museum on 19 October.

It is a compilation of some of the best writings of the late Bernard Morris as chosen by a group of former colleagues and friends. In both content and format, it is a fitting tribute to a widely respected and much missed local historian of Swansea and Gower.

You can purchase a copy for £18.50 plus postage from the Archives online shop.

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Our exhibitions on display

Our Neath Abbey exhibition on display at Cadw’s Open Day at the site, July

Our exhibition ‘Jewish Refugees in South Wales 1933-1945’ set up for display at St David’s Church Neath, January

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Our two exhibitions commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War will be displayed in Neath Civic Centre in August and Swansea Civic Centre in October/November. They are available for display in other public venues in West Glamorgan outside those dates. They were funded by a Welsh Government grant through CyMAL: Museums Archives Libraries Wales.

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Our Education Service

Pengelli Primary School

Penclawdd Primary School

Tonmawr Primary School

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We offer free archive education sessions for schools in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

Pupils and teachers can either visit the Archives in Swansea or alternatively we can run the same sessions in schools using facsimile documents. Either option allows pupils the experience of using primary sources; letting them explore information contained in interesting and unusual formats and conduct their own research.

Although it is currently mostly aimed at Key Stage 2 pupils (aged 7-11), small numbers of pupils from the Foundation Phase (aged 3-7), Key Stage 3 (aged 11-14), GCSE (aged 14-16) and Welsh Baccalaureate (aged 14-19) have also taken advantage of the service this year.

The main Key Stage 2 topics covered this year have been ‘Rich and Poor Victorians’, ‘The Three Nights Blitz’ and ‘Edgar Evans’. A new topic called ‘Tudors at Work’ was officially launched in September and it has proved to be very popular, with 13 classes booked in between September and March. Pupils get the chance to study original Tudor documents as well as find out about the pros and cons of being an apprentice during the reign of Henry VIII. The session ends with pupils making their own apprenticeship indentures and setting their own seals.

In academic year 2013/14, the decision was made to offer a locality study as a CD resource for a school rather than a led session. The option has proved to be popular, with eight CDs being purchased since September. A typical CD includes maps, census, trade directories, parish records, school records and photographs.

September 2013 also saw the launch of new marketing material for the service. The new brochure now links all available topics directly with the national curriculum for Wales making it easier for teachers to identify whether each topic is suited to their curriculum needs. The brochure is available on our web pages www.swansea.gov.uk/archiveseducation For 2014, we are introducing a new session aimed at Key Stage 3 pupils looking at the First World War and its effect on West Glamorgan. We have been working to develop this session with Cefn Hengoed School Swansea and are grateful to Helen Ball, Head of History, for her assistance in creating its content and her willingness to trial this module with her pupils.

Just wanted to say a huge thank you from myself and the children for the wonderful afternoon today. They were totally enthralled by all the material that you brought in and it will certainly inspire them in their learning. I have looked at the brochure that you sent by email and will definitely be contacting you in the future! Angela Thompson (Penclawdd Primary School) Dear Katie, A big thank you to yourself and colleague for your visit to our school last Thursday. The children in both classes thoroughly enjoyed having such lovely visitors and the learning experience fitted in so well to the curriculum. We finished off the week by having grandparents in for the afternoon. We had over 40 relatives talking about their own seaside holidays in the past. So lots of history learnt during the week. Best wishes, Odette Weir (Tonna Primary School) Dear Katie and Anne-Marie, Thank you so much for the brilliant presentation which you gave to my Y5 History class today about the Swansea Blitz. The children really enjoyed your visit and gained a huge amount of knowledge from the excellent resources which you brought and from the way in which you organised and engaged with the groups. Kind regards, Sue Brice (Grange Primary School)

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During the year we were awarded a Welsh Government grant through CyMAL: Museums Archives Libraries Wales to purchase a whiteboard for use with school groups in the archive searchroom. Here it is seen in use for the first time during a visit by Clun Primary School, 17 February.

2013/14 ARCHIVE EDUCATION STATISTICS Total number of teachers and pupils attending archive education sessions

1,710

Comprising: Sessions held in the Archives Sessions held in schools

233 1,477

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Engaging new audiences

The launch of the Swansea Chinese community’s DVD at Sketty Hall, Swansea, 14 October The Archive Service is committed, through an energetic outreach programme, to try to engage as many people as possible with our shared history, whether or not they choose to use our service on-site afterwards. Raising public awareness of the importance of recording and preserving our history is a key element of the service we provide. More often than not, the way we reach new audiences is through collaborating in partnership projects with community groups.

In November 2012, the Swansea Chinese Community Co-op Centre received funding from Heritage Lottery Fund Wales to carry out an oral history project. The aim of this project was to capture the memories of the older members of the Chinese community in Swansea and to identify the earliest evidence of Chinese settlement in the town. The project was supported by the Connected Communities programme at Swansea University and, as a project partner, West Glamorgan Archive Service provided assistance in identifying primary sources for the project that documented the history of the Chinese community in Swansea over the last century. The earliest reference that we were able to find was a marriage of an Ah Chow to Mary Jane Westwood at Swansea Register Office in January 1910. Ah Chow was a steward on a Merchant Service vessel and Mary Westwood a domestic servant: both were living in Port Tennant in Swansea.

The output of the project is a DVD entitled ‘All Our Stories: Immigrant Experience of the First Generation Chinese Immigrants in Swansea and Surrounding Areas’ which contains ten digital stories from older members of the community. A copy of the DVD is now deposited in the Archives and it will be an invaluable resource that will help future generations of academics, researchers and family historians to gain a greater understanding of the history of Chinese settlement in South Wales.

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Mining Josef Herman

Picture reproduced by kind permission of Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru Do you know there wasn't a minute, quite honestly there wasn't a minute of feeling out of it? Everything was open to you. If you wanted, you had it, if you didn't want it, you didn't have it. And when I made my broadcast [on] Ystradgynlais as a Welsh mining village, you know, the whole village whenever they saw me, “Ay bach, you did us proud.

Ay bach, you did us proud.” (Josef Herman interviewed by Paul Thompson, 1991. Extract from British Library oral history recording C466/04, accessible via the BL website) Transforming Tate Britain: Archives and Access is a major Heritage Lottery Funded programme of digital access, learning and participation based at the Tate Gallery Archive London. One of its five partnership learning projects from across the UK is Mining Josef Herman which will draw stimulus from émigré artist Josef Herman, who travelled to Britain as a refugee from Poland in 1940 and moved to Ystradgynlais in 1944. The combined collection which is the focus of the project, held both in the Tate Gallery Archive and the Josef Herman Art Foundation, comprises a substantial number of drawings and sketches providing a unique insight into the lives of villagers in Ystradgynlais during the eleven years he lived there from 1944 to 1955. The project will work with the Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru and a range of local partners, including the Archive Services of Powys and West Glamorgan, to enhance the locally-held collection with a community archive. In the process, it will provide extra content for the Tate’s new Interactive Learning Hub. West Glamorgan Archives has played an active role in the development of the local project, including mentoring the project’s archive intern. On 6 February, we helped the Tate in the delivery of a Training and Practice Sharing Workshop on community archives at Ystradowen Community Centre which was attended by several Swansea Valley community groups.

Find out more about the project here

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Who is using our service?

The graph to the left shows the distribution by postcode of those of our service users who have obtained an Archives Wales reader ticket from us since the scheme started. Only users of original documents need a ticket and hence the figures underrepresent people using the Neath service point. Increasingly, people using the Archives Wales ticket here have already registered at one of the other participating offices, which also biases the data.

Launch meeting of the Cynefin local project ‘Exploring Gower’s Ancient Woodland’, Swansea Civic Centre 14 November In June, we received the exciting news that the Heritage Lottery Fund had approved a £486,000 grant to Archives and Records Council Wales for the digitisation and web-mounting of the tithe maps of Wales. As project manager for Stages 1 and 2 of the application process to HLF, I had been closely involved in the development of this project which is entitled Cynefin: Mapping Wales’ Sense of Place. Six local projects have been chosen across Wales to complement the main project and engage a wider range of people with their archival heritage: one of these is to take place on Gower. Entitled Exploring Gower’s Ancient Woodland, it will link Gower tithe maps to existing ancient woodland inventories and identify discrepancies 12

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between the two documentary sources. Groups of volunteers drawn from Swansea and Gower environmental groups will carry out surveys of ancient woodland indicator species to investigate different categories of woodland and in the process collect data on the relative health of Gower’s undisputed ancient woodland. A report of academic standard will be created by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, one of the project partners. There is an article later on in this report about the Cynefin project.

‘TELL US YOUR STORY’ COMPETITION The ‘Tell Us Your Story’ competition was run in archives across Wales in the spring of 2013

by Archives and Records Council Wales,with prizes funded by a Welsh Government grant.

Entrants were invited to write about their experience of using their local archives and one prizewinner was chosen from each archive office which participated in promoting the competition. Here is the winning entry from Swansea, written by Pauline Anderson: I’d been thinking about researching my family history for quite some time when I noticed, on the Swansea Council website, that the Archive Service was offering free 2-hour work shops on how to go about it. The one I was most interested in was how to research my family tree. So I immediately sent the department an email to book myself a place. On the day of the course I was very impressed with the ladies who were running it. They gave some excellent information, including which websites to look at and where to find specific information. Also, if you registered with them you would be able to have the use of the Archive’s computers to view the websites for free. I was so inspired to find out more that I booked myself an appointment with one of the Archives staff in the Family History Centre.

I knew from my mother that her grandparents had originated from Romania and that she also had connections with the Isle of Man but with this small amount of information Archives staff member Elizabeth was able to find out that my great great grandmother’s family had actually emigrated from West Prussia (now Poland) to Liverpool in the 1850s and my great grandfather had arrived there from Romania in the 1880s.

Since then I have become addicted searching through census records to see who you can find on there. It’s great being able to pop down to the Archives in my lunch break or go on a Tuesday evening after work. Ancestry.co.uk and Find my Past are two very useful websites.

Last week I managed to trace my grandfather’s family back to 1824 on the Isle of Man. My sister and I plan to go there for a holiday in the summer to see if we can find any other ancestors from the parish records as the census records only go back as far as 1861.

Hopefully we may be able to find some living relatives.

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Building and preserving our collections

Swansea Hundred Petty Sessions minute book at the start of repair and conservation work by Gwynedd Archives Conservation Unit (photo courtesy Gwynedd Archives) A significant accession during the year has been the deposit by Swansea Central Library of a collection of materials relating to the First World War, which seems to have been the brainchild of Assistant Librarian D Rhys Phillips in 1914. Phillips collected a range of archival and published items which he later described as ‘songs, photos, war maps, lists of local fallen men etc’. The items deposited constitute the only identifiable extant part of what was intended to become the Swansea War Museum Library. This interesting collection is described in an article later on in this report.

By far the largest accession during the past year has been one of photographs and files of newscuttings from the local Swansea newspaper the South Wales Evening Post. They were deposited as a result of the newspaper’s move out of its offices in Adelaide Street, which it had occupied since the 1960s, to new smaller premises in High Street, and (with a few exceptions) the collection does not predate the building which it was removed from. At the time of writing this collection has not been processed but, when it does become available to researchers, the photographs in particular will form a valuable addition to our record of local change across five decades.

We were pleased to receive a collection of deeds and administrative records from a former board secretary which illustrate the radically changing fortunes of Swansea Town, then City, Football Club during the period from the 1960s to 1980s. The records cover the club’s earlier period in the top flight of English football before its recent success in the Premiership.

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A collection of architectural drawings from the 1980s came to light during preparatory work for the refurbishment of the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea in summer 2013, which show Swansea City Council’s contribution to the redevelopment of the South Dock as the city’s Maritime Quarter. Quality was achieved through the Council’s insistence on developers using a pattern of architectural enhancements which were provided for them. The distinctive 1980s architectural style of post-modernism is very much in evidence in the beautifully thought-out details which draw on Swansea’s maritime heritage. One or two designs are more free-drawn initial ideas for the redevelopment of the area, as in the tower block design reproduced here.

Mention was made in last year’s report of the work we are doing to make our oral history recordings more accessible. During the past year, this work has continued and we have also received some quite different collections of recordings. One of these comes from a project run by the Swansea Canal Society back in the 1980s to record the memories of residents of the Swansea Valley. The result is a good number of cassette tapes, with recordings of staged interviews, informal conversations and formal lectures. Work is underway to convert the interviews to digital form to make them more accessible.

We have also turned our attention to a series of films created by Swansea City Council during the second half of the twentieth century. Many of them are records of the mayoral year of various of Swansea’s mayors and incidentally reveal, sometimes in snippets and sometimes in more detail, the resurgence of the town after the Second World War. There are also films of several royal visits, the 1964 National Eisteddfod held in Swansea and the 1969 royal grant of city status.

In order to minimise use of the original material, the oral histories and films have been converted to digital form and indexed and they are now made available on two dedicated computers in our Family History Centre. There is a newly-completed user-friendly bilingual public interface to facilitate access to the screen and sound collections.

Along with five other Welsh archives, the Archive Service has volunteered as a pilot for a joint initiative between Archives Wales and the Archives Hub to create a single online portal offering access to the full multilevel archive catalogues of Welsh repositories. This would be achieved in the first instance by a trial upload of some of each institution’s existing online catalogues to the Archives Hub, with several options for the location and nature of the portal which are currently being investigated.

The petty sessions minute book illustrated above after conservation work was completed by Gwynedd Archives.

It can be made available for use by researchers for the first time since it was deposited with us. (photo courtesy Gwynedd Archives)

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How we performed in 2013/14 The number of visits by individuals and groups recorded by West Glamorgan Archive Service at its Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot service points in 2013/14 was 9,531 which is almost exactly the same as the figure for the previous year (9,526).

Total members of the public visiting the Archive Service during 2013-2014: 9,531

2013/14 IN NUMBERS

107 263 324 855 1,710 8,546 10,560 13,146 187,215

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talks or learning sessions delivered family history starter sessions given reader’s tickets issued to new users people visited our stalls at external events school pupils attended our learning sessions individual visits to the archives documents issued in our Swansea searchroom people reached during the year on and off-site records on our electronic catalogue

Including: Swansea Neath Port Talbot Group visits

5,597 2,670 279 985

Figures for usage of the service are submitted annually to CIPFA, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. The figures which are published annually by CIPFA relate to use of local authority archives in the UK in the previous year, in this case 2012/13.

Analysis of these statistics shows that, based on the number of individual visits to use the archives, West Glamorgan Archive Service was the 14th busiest local authority archive service in the UK in that year (up from 19th in the previous year). Using this measure which excludes school and group visits, we came between Devon and Hertfordshire in the table.

Within Wales, we were once again by far the busiest service for individual visits, with figures 58% higher than secondplaced Gwynedd Archives and our 8,850 total accounting for 29% of the 30,818 visits to ten local archives in Wales in 2012/13 (note that three Welsh services did not supply figures in 2012/13).

It is worth noting that, had our Neath service point been closed, we would still have been the busiest service in Wales but only fractionally above Gwynedd Archives with its two service points in Caernarfon and Dolgellau.

Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014

In summer 2013, the Archive Service commissioned research amongst a panel drawn up to represent a fair cross-section of the Swansea population, known as Swansea Voices.

The questions asked were similar to those asked in a previous research exercise in 2011.

Overall 51% of respondents had heard of the Archive Service, up from 40% two years ago. As we learned before, residents in west and south west Swansea aged 55 or over were most likely to have heard of us and residents in north Swansea aged 16 to 44 were least likely to have done so. 54% of those who knew of our existence had heard about us through word of mouth and 25% through a newspaper story. 35% of respondents who knew about our existence had paid us a visit, a figure substantially increased from 13% in 2011.

44% of respondents who had visited us had done so to pursue their family history, 27% to research the history of their local area and 18% the history of their house. Older residents aged 65 to 74 are significantly more likely than average to be visiting us in order to research family history, while residents in south west Swansea are significantly less likely to visit the Archives for family history research in comparison to the other main reasons, house history and study of the local area.

The age group least likely to visit the Archives are residents aged 45 to 54 who are in work. The major reasons overall for not visiting were given as Not interested (30%), Don’t have enough time (27%), I wouldn’t know what to do there (19%), Don’t know what information they have (14%) , Don’t know where to find them (14%) and Don’t think archives are relevant to me (12%).

A MYSTERY SOLVED The mystery surrounding the image on the front cover of last year’s annual report has been solved, thanks to the help of staff at the National Museum of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth.

The Royal Navy warship was identified by them as HMS Calliope, which was famous for being the only ship to weather a devastating tropical cyclone in Samoa in 1889. It is an incident still celebrated in Royal Navy tradition because of the outstanding skill displayed by the captain while breaking out of harbour to ride the storm at sea.

A newspaper account of the celebrated warship’s visit to Swansea in 1900 can be read online on the new website Welsh Newspapers Online by following the link here.

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Staff changes Although there have been no changes in the permanent staff in 2013/14, long-serving Senior Archivist Rosemary Davies is taking voluntary redundancy at the end of June 2014 and it seems appropriate to record her contribution to the work of the Service here. Rosemary is well known locally as an expert on family history and over the last fifteen years has helped to develop our resources for family historians as well as giving many family history classes and talks to groups. She has also at points during her time with us had responsibilities for records management and for our service points in Neath and Port Talbot.

The Archive Trainee for 2013/14 is Catherine Stewart from Llanelli. Catherine is a graduate of Cardiff University from where she holds a BA in History.

Volunteers during the year have included Howard Batey, Eric Burdett, John Curtis, Catherine Dancyger, Steffan Dennis, Linzi Eckley, Rhian Evans, Christine Febbraro, Rebecca Hollis, Susan McGuire and Alys Rosser. Susan McGuire has very kindly written an article for us on the history of Crug Glas Chapel Swansea, which can be found later on in this report.

Acknowledgements This year we have been fortunate to receive grants for specific projects from the PRISM Fund (administered by Arts Council England), from the Friends of the National Libraries and from Welsh Government. We also acknowledge the generosity of the Ethel and Gwynne Morgan Trust for its annual donation in support of the service.

The Archive Service could not provide the level of service outlined here without the enthusiasm and dedication of its staff in Swansea and Neath. In particular this year, I would like to highlight Production Assistant Anne-Marie Gay, who in March was awarded a Master’s degree in Archive Administration by Aberystwyth University with a distinction for her thesis ‘Insect Pest Management: a Study of Archive Services in Wales’.

Nowadays, volunteers are playing increasing supporting roles and our most long-standing arrangement is with the Neath Antiquarian Society. I would like to thank the Society’s volunteers, with whose regular contribution we are able to continue to provide a service in Neath: Christine Davies, Robert Davies, Clive Evans, Martyn Griffiths, Philip Havard, Josie Henrywood, Annette Jones, John Marston, Olive Newton, Hywel Rogers, Gloria Rowles and Janet Watkins.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the chair and members of the West Glamorgan Archives Committee for their interest and support during the year. In particular, I would like to record here my appreciation, on the occasion of his retirement, of Swansea Council’s Head of Culture and Tourism Iwan Davies for his oversight of the Archive Service over the past decade. …………………………………………..

Kim Collis West Glamorgan County Archivist April 2014 …………………………………………..

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West Glamorgan Archives Committee As at 31 March 2014 Chairman HM Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan D. Byron Lewis Esq. CStJ, FCA Vice-Chairmen City and County of Swansea Councillor R. V. Smith County Borough of Neath Port Talbot Councillor D. W. Davies Representing the City and County of Swansea Councillor K. E. Marsh Councillor P. Meara BA, MSc, DPhil, FRSA Councillor J. A. Raynor Councillor C. Thomas JP Representing the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot Councillor J. Dudley Councillor M. L. James Councillor P. A. Rees Councillor A. Wingrave Representing the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon The Venerable R. J. Williams MA, BEd, BD, Archdeacon of Gower Representing the Diocese of Llandaff The Reverend Canon S. J. Ryan SBStJ, MA, FRGS, Rector of Neath Representing Swansea University Dr L. Miskell FRHistS Representing the Neath Antiquarian Society Mrs J. L. Watkins City and County of Swansea Head of Culture and Tourism I. Davies MSc Neath Port Talbot County Borough Director of Finance and Corporate Services H. Jenkins IPFA

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West Glamorgan Archive Service STAFF As at 31 March 2014 West Glamorgan Archives Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road, Swansea SA1 3SN Tel. (01792) 636589 Fax (01792) 637130 Email: westglam.archives@swansea.gov.uk Website: www.swansea.gov.uk/westglamorganarchives County Archivist............................................................................................Kim Collis MA, DAS Assistant County Archivist.........................................................Andrew Dulley MA, MSc(Econ) Senior Archivist...............................................................................Rosemary Davies BA, DPAA Archivist.........................................................................................David Morris PhD, MSc(Econ) Archivist............................................................................................Katie Millien BA, MSc(Econ) Archive Trainee...........................................................................................Catherine Stewart BA Production Assistant................................................................Anne-Marie Gay MA, MSc(Econ) Family History Centre Supervisor............................................................................Lorna Crook Archives Reception Assistant.....................................................................Rebecca Shields BA Office Manager.......................................................................................Don Rodgers MA, PGCE

Neath Antiquarian Society Archives Neath Mechanics Institute, 4 Church Place, Neath SA11 3LL Tel. (01639) 620139 Archivist...............................................................................................Michael Phelps BA, DPAA Supervisor.................................................................................................................Liza Osborne

Records Management Service (City & County of Swansea) Records Officer...................................................................................Andrew Brown MSc(Econ) Records Assistant......................................................................................................Linda Jones

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Swansea’s Hall of Memory: the War Museum Library

As the nation starts to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War, the Archive Service has received what remains of Swansea’s War Museum Library, the result of the efforts of librarian David Rhys Phillips. Phillips is remembered today as a prominent eisteddfodwr and historian, probably best known for his authoritative History of the Vale of Neath (1925). He had a life-long passion for books: after training as a librarian in Oxford, he took the position of Welsh Assistant in Swansea Library in 1905, with responsibility for cataloguing the library’s Welsh collections. He was in post still at the start of the war.

Despite some initial optimism that the war would be a quick affair and all over by Christmas, it soon became clear to more thoughtful people that this optimism was misplaced and the war’s reach would extend far into ordinary people’s lives on the Home Front in a way that previous wars had not. Steady streams of leaflets, posters and booklets were sent to local councils to be circulated in schools and public institutions, including public libraries. To many, these must have appeared to be ephemeral items of no long-term value. In Swansea Library however, Phillips, supported by Borough Librarian Samuel Thompson, began to collect the material that arrived with a view to preserving it for posterity.

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This activity continued throughout the war and in the decade that followed the Armistice became part of the campaign to commemorate the fallen. While the most familiar and enduring monuments of the First World War are the memorials that can be found in cities, towns and villages across the country; less well known are the collections of memorabilia, books and ephemera compiled to document it. The most famous of these collections is in the Imperial War Museum, a museum which began as a concept in 1917 after a letter written to the Prime Minister David Lloyd George by Swansea West MP Sir Alfred Mond. The task of collecting material began soon afterwards, but it was not until the summer of 1920 that the museum opened its doors. Located initially in the Crystal Palace, it hosted two million visitors in little over a year.

Sir Alfred Mond’s vision went way beyond the creation of a single national museum. There would be a network of local institutions as well. He explained at a meeting of the War Museums Association held in London (as reported in the Cambrian Daily Leader of 26 June 1917): ‘The Central Museum must confine itself to a large extent to dealing with the war in its broader outlines, and although it was intended that the records preserved therein should be as complete as possible, there remained important functions for the local museums to fulfil. There should be displayed in such museums examples of all kinds of work done locally for war purposes, and a full list of those who had gone forth to fight for their country. The deeds of local regiments should be recorded as fully as possible, and the people should be able to feel that they had in their own museum a ‘Hall of Memory’ in which were preserved the names of those who had taken a gallant part in the great struggle.’

In Swansea it was thought that a museum could be established, second to none in the provinces, reflecting the uniqueness of the town and its involvement in the war. However, while the idea was laudable, someone would have to pay for it, and Swansea Council was split on the matter. They estimated that it would cost between £20,000 and £30,000 to build special premises, and to do so would be to duplicate the work of the Imperial War Museum.

Instead, the Local War Museums Committee minutes record that on 12 October 1917 they decided, ‘To make a collection of printed matter, illustrations and objects, shewing what has been done locally in all spheres of war work and how the various effects of the War have been dealt with’, at the much more reasonable (but still not inconsiderable) cost of £1,000. D. Rhys Phillips was given the task of supervising the collection and preservation of the records, and he was to have a temporary assistant as well.

The Council discussed the matter sporadically over the next two years, eventually establishing the War Museum and Library in March 1919. The collection was to be split between the Central Library and the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, both situated on Alexandra Road. Appeals to the public went out in the local press for additional materials, to be collated by Mr Phillips.

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The collection recently transferred from Swansea Central Library to the Archive Service is only a fraction of the original total. In addition, it once boasted several hundred books and a variety of museum objects. The bulk of the surviving collection consists of booklets and pamphlets, which range from scholarly articles on aspects of the causes of the war to propaganda, aimed at everyone from the man and woman on the street to their child in school. There are recruitment posters (although notably not the famous image of Lord Kitchener), advertisements for rallies and fund-raising events and posters urging greater household economy. Most of these are not particular to Swansea – they were either generally published or circulated by central government. The important part of the work of the local war museums was to gather together material relating to the activities of local people. Here the collection is not as strong: while there may have been more local material that has since been lost, it may equally be that there were not the resources to facilitate the extension of this part of the collection, or that the appeals that were made were not sufficient to ignite the interest of the town.

In the end, both locally and nationally, the focus of remembrance turned inexorably towards setting in stone and bronze the names of the men who had fallen. The Swansea War Museum Library did not in the long term become the ‘Hall of Memory’ that Sir Alfred Mond had envisaged. It can be argued that the Imperial War Museum flourished while the collections of local institutions such as Swansea’s sank into insignificance. D. Rhys Phillips attributed the decline in interest in his War Museum Library to a shift to the left in local politics and a change in post-war priorities. He died in 1952 at the age of 79, having lived through the Second World War. Nonetheless, the concept of the ‘Hall of Memory’ is just as valid today but can only be achieved with the help of the local community. Most people can point to at least one family member who either fought or died in the First World War and, with the passing of a century, the desire to remember lost ancestors is as strong as ever. The Archive Service is intent on preserving the stories of those local people who survived the war just as much as those who fell, and although we cannot create a physical space for remembrance, we are keen to receive and preserve photographs, letters and stories from people whose hard work and sacrifice we commemorate at this time. …………………………………………..

Andrew Dulley Assistant County Archivist West Glamorgan Archive Service …………………………………………..

View a digital image of the newspaper article referred to, as displayed on the National Library of Wales’ website Welsh Newspapers Online, by clicking on the hyperlink contained within the article.

References Records held at West Glamorgan Archives, Swansea: Swansea Library Collection: Swansea War Museum Library (SL WL) Swansea County Borough Council: Local War Museums Committee minutes, contained in minutes of miscellaneous and special committees, 1917-1924 (TC 8/12)

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Cynefin: Mapping Wales’ Sense of Place

Extract from the tithe map of Llangendeirne, Carmarthenshire (courtesy Carmarthenshire Archive Service) On 17 September 2013, the Heritage Lottery Fund announced a grant of ÂŁ486,000 to Archives and Records Council Wales (ARCW) for a three-year project to digitise the tithe maps of Wales and to present the geo-referenced maps with their accompanying apportionments as a searchable online resource. Archives and Records Council Wales is an umbrella organisation for public archives in the country and includes representatives from thirteen local authority and five university archives, the National Library of Wales, Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales and the Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales. Five years in development by ARCW, this was our second major award by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the first being for the development of our online aggregated fonds-level catalogue, now known as Archifau Cymru Archives Wales.

Tithe maps represent what are often the first large-scale maps of Wales and there exist 1,091 of them covering almost the whole of the country by parish. They were produced in the 1840s across England and Wales under the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 as part of the process to commute to a monetary payment the system of tithes in kind. Each map is accompanied by an apportionment or award which divides the tithe rent-charge over the lands in the parish and which as a result lists landowners and tenant farmers in the parish at the time of the agreement.

Three copies of each parish map were made. All the original maps and awards were sent to the Tithe Commissioners in London and are now held in The National Archives (TNA). Two 24

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contemporary copies, which were originally deposited with the parish and with the diocesan registry, are now generally to be found in local record offices and the National Library of Wales (NLW) respectively. Because they are held on one site, it is the diocesan set of maps held by NLW which will be digitised during this project. However the Tithe Commissioners’ set of apportionments will be used, since these have already been digitised at TNA. Twenty Welsh parishes do not fall within the six dioceses of the Church in Wales and copies of these will have to be sourced from English record offices in the Marches. Fourteen Welsh tithe maps are missing from the diocesan set of maps and nine are in an unusable condition: they too will need to be sourced from elsewhere. Of the remaining maps, a survey in November 2012 by the NLW’s Map Librarian showed that 13% required major conservation work, 64% minor treatment, 7% cleaning only and 15% needed no action. An important element of the project is the conservation of these maps before they are digitised and this involves the recruitment of a trainee conservator at NLW. The project has the title Cynefin: Mapping Wales’ Sense of Place. It uses a Welsh word Cynefin which has no direct equivalent in English, although it is commonly translated as ‘habitat’ or ‘place’. A less precise definition comes from the writings of the Anglesey-born landscape artist Kyffin Williams: ‘[Cynefin] describes that relationship: the place of your birth and of your upbringing, the environment in which you live and to which you are naturally acclimatised.’ Its use here suggests that studying the tithe maps and related local archives can help us to unravel the complexities of how the place where we grow up and its past history shapes our early development and how the place we now call home informs our world view.

For the reason that the majority of the tithe maps to be conserved and digitised are held there, the day-to-day management of the Cynefin project will to a large extent be centred on the National Library and the building provides a base for the project manager appointed in December 2013, Einion Gruffudd. However, although the technicalities of digitising and webmounting the maps and apportionments consume a large part of the project and its budget, there are two key elements of outreach and community engagement which will potentially bring the digitised resource to a much wider audience in Wales and further afield.

The first element of outreach work consists of six local projects spread across Wales based around the heritage of the tithe maps, each one devised by a community group or groups working with a local authority archive service. The six local projects have been chosen to engage with as wide a variety of community groups as possible and arose from ideas that came out of a series of consultative forums held across Wales during the development stage of the project. To support them, from the autumn of 2014 there will be two project officers, one based in north Wales at Conwy Archives in Llandudno and the other in south Wales at Gwent Archives in Ebbw Vale.

In Conwy, two local projects will run at opposite ends of the County Borough. In Penmaenmawr on the north Wales coast and Llansannan in the Conwy uplands, local history societies will use the maps to research and record more of their local heritage, involving local schools in this process. The Llansannan project, run by the Bro Hiraethog Historical Society, will be the one project of the six to work entirely in the Welsh language.

A third local project run by the Ceredigion Local History Forum aims to record key village buildings on the tithe maps focusing on public houses in particular. Leaflets and a website will help to promote and publicise the many old village pubs in the county which are historic buildings as well as being a social focus for the local community.

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On the Gower peninsula, a fourth project will use the maps to help verify areas of ancient woodland and subsequently volunteers from environmental organisations and other local societies will carry out surveys investigating its state of health. The project will work with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David to strengthen the project’s academic output. Related work with primary schools on Gower will involve a John Muir Award application for Key Stage 2 pupils for at least one of the participating schools.

Gower local project consultation in Newton Village Hall Swansea on 20 September 2012 In the former mining village of Betws near Bridgend, a fifth project will create an embroidered parish map. Digital copies of tithe and other maps will be printed on textiles and these will then be embellished to create community art and personal records of shared routes, which can represent either physical or emotional journeys, or a combination of both. The textiles will use colour and stitch lines added by participating volunteers, who will create patterns encapsulating significant moments in their lives and that of the community.

Finally, the sixth local project will work with a network of heritage organisations, community groups and individual volunteers to open access to a unique collection of documents held in Gwent Archives relating to the Chartist March on Newport in 1839. It will achieve this by transcribing and geo-tagging the detailed accounts of court proceedings for over 200 people examined as part of the treason trials following the march and its violent finale. This information will then be displayed geographically on the People’s Collection Wales website using the tithe maps as a base.

The outputs of these six local projects will be enhanced by a series of fifteen workshops in other parts of Wales. Additionally, through the production of a Cynefin project toolkit, there will be an ongoing opportunity for local communities to engage in similar projects to produce their 26

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own contributions to the overall project, for example in the form of local tithe trails. The toolkit will provide templates and case studies of how the tithe map resources have been used by local communities and schools. An outreach and engagement officer will be appointed to help bring together the final phase of the project, creating the toolkit and co-ordinating the workshops.

The second key element of outreach work in the overall project contains an element of innovation not yet seen in similar tithe projects. We will use online crowd-sourcing to both georeference the digitised tithe maps, that is to locate the map images in physical space so that they can be linked to other datasets which record the same space, and to transcribe and geotag the tithe apportionments, linking each field enclosure on the map with the entry in the tithe apportionment. We believe this is the first tithe map digitisation project which will use online volunteers to both transcribe and geo-tag the apportionments and to geo-reference the maps.

Having carried out an assessment of previous projects, we decided during the development phase on grounds of cost not to proceed with stitching the maps to create a seamless map of Wales but to join each map to its neighbours through their geo-location co-ordinates. However, this is a rapidly changing business environment and it may yet be possible to commercially stitch the maps building on development work carried out for other clients.

Another element of the project is the creation of a GIS application which will be made available free of charge to national and local planning authorities across Wales. The process will involve allowing in the first instance the digitised images to be captured by planning authorities and it is hoped that some of these authorities will stitch the images to increase their functionality and thereby benefit us. For planners, the digitised tithe maps will push the date of historic mapping generally available in Welsh GIS systems back by a further forty years.

Cynefin represents the largest tithe map digitisation project to date and raises some questions for archivists about search interoperability and transcription standards. Potentially one day the geographic areas covered by online tithe maps may be capable of being linked (the project will have one virtual boundary in the north east with the Cheshire online tithe project) and it is best to plan for this possibility before too much of England and Wales is digitised. Cynefin is truly an ambitious and demanding project which will break some new ground and raise the bar for future tithe digitisation projects. …………………………………………..

Kim Collis County Archivist West Glamorgan Archive Service …………………………………………..

This article was written for submission to ‘ARC’, the monthly magazine for members of the Archives and Records Association of the UK and Ireland. The Archives and Records Council Wales project ‘Cynefin: Mapping Wales’ Sense of Place’ is supported by Heritage Lottery Fund Wales and by the Welsh Government.

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The Diaries of Margaret Penderel Jones of Garth, Rhyd-y-fro, 1871 to 1897

Extract from Margaret Jones’ diary for 5 October 1876 (courtesy Mrs J. Morris) In 2014 the South Wales Record Society will publish its latest book, ’The Diaries of Margaret Penderel Jones 1871 to 1897’, which transcribes the diaries of a Victorian small landowner in the Swansea Valley who was unusually for the time an unmarried woman. In this extract from the introduction (reproduced here by kind permission of the editor and the South Wales Record Society) Dr Peter Jackson, former Professor of Business Studies at Swansea Institute of Higher Education, outlines the content and nature of the diaries of Margaret Jones.

From 1871 to 1897 Margaret Jones kept a record of the daily events and incidents which she saw as significant in annual editions of Lett’s Rough Diary or Scribbling Journal, with three days allocated to each foolscap page and Sunday being restricted to 3 lines. Eighteen of her diaries for these 27 years have survived and together they evoke an age when social relationships were hierarchically stratified and the ownership of land conferred privilege and responsibility. Her diary entries, written in a clear and unaffected style, refer to the seasonal and daily routines of her household and estate, the maintenance of her property and the physical environment, the dynamics of domestic life, visits to and from her relatives, friends and neighbours, the employment of full-time and occasional staff, purchase of consumable items (particularly of house coal and beer, fortified wines and spirits), payment of taxes, tithes, rates and rents and her frequent trips to Swansea and the more leisurely excursions to holiday locations. All were noted with a disciplined regularity and, being personal and confidential entries, were expressed with candour and a lack of pretension.

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Carte de visite of Margaret Jones (courtesy Mrs J. Morris) Her diaries were essentially domestic and local records and, whilst not unaware of the many crucial national and international events which occurred during these decades of social and political upheaval, Margaret’s diary entries were almost invariably confined to her personal, social and physical environments and rarely referred to any issue which did not directly concern her. More regrettable is the omission from the diaries of information pertaining to the working of Margaret’s separate farms. Their location and topography remain unchanged but Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014

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the physical difficulties of extracting a livelihood from substantial areas of marginal and scrub land, the working of the fields, the crops planted, livestock reared and the productivity of her tenants are not recorded. Margaret delegated full responsibility for farm management to her tenants and confined herself almost exclusively to her role as rentier, noting only the payment and arrears of rent. In contrast, the proximity of Garth House to Garth Farm permitted frequent references to seasonal work in Garth’s fields and around her personal enclave, with diary entries recording when hay was mowed and gathered, trees planted, fields manured and limed, potatoes set, parsnips, turnips, vetches and oats sowed, and garden vegetables, flowers and shrubs planted. There were also regular reports of her output of dairy products and their sale, but details of the farms’ livestock and land usage are not described. Replying to a summons served on her by the Pontardawe magistrates on 20 April 1883 Margaret revealed that her stock was restricted to two cows, a bull calf and a horse.

In addition to her diaries Margaret’s archive contains an uncatalogued miscellany of documents. She was a prolific letter writer and many of her first drafts and duplicates of letters have survived. She also kept itemised accounts of payments and receipts, records of rents collected and deferred, dairy production of salt butter, cream and cheese and day books listing hourly payments to her workers. Her early school copybook from 1848 provides examples of her precocious fluency, with descriptive exercises and drafts of her weekly letters home to “My Dearest Mamma”, written in a tutored cursive style which was later abandoned in her diaries.

She also retained much of her incoming correspondence and many of these letters, some still in their stamped envelopes, from friends and relatives complement her own writings and serve to illustrate the considerable interchange of correspondence which took place before the local introduction of the telephone. From these sources an impression of several key attributes of Margaret’s character emerge: she was a forceful, independent, practical, active, sociable and influential person, respected by local society, admired by her circle of friends and regarded with considerable affection by her extended family of relatives.

Margaret’s diaries, correspondence, notebooks, photographs and cartes de visite constitute a uniquely personal commentary on the activities, pleasures and tribulations of her daily life. She recorded the significant and mundane details of her interactions and relationships with the many individuals who inhabited different spheres of her life and she also revealed the difficulties of attempting to monitor the management of those who were responsible for her various sources of income. Both her social and financial environments provide the main underlying themes of her narrative. ………………………………………………………………….

Peter Jackson Editor ’The Diaries of Margaret Penderel Jones 1871 to 1897’ …………………………………………………………………..

Archives Records held at West Glamorgan Archives, Swansea: Records of the Jones and Penderel families of Garth, Rhyd-y-fro, 19 th-20th centuries (unlisted) You can purchase a copy of ’The Diaries of Margaret Penderel Jones 1871 to 1897’ and other South Wales Record Society volumes by clicking this link to the list of available publications on their website.

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William Bishop and the expansion of Port Talbot

Mixed housing in the southern part of Port Talbot, c.1910 From libraries and leisure centres to social services and schools, we are used to our Welsh councils being a one-stop-shop for a variety of services. Most of these functions began in Victorian times in one form or another, but the bodies that provided them were in many ways quite different from the councils we are accustomed to today. Their records provide a unique insight into the development of the region at a time of great change. One of the documents received during the year was the annual report of the Inspector of Nuisances for Margam Urban District Council for 1916. As part of a wider series of records for that council, it gives us a glimpse of the checks and balances that governed the development of Port Talbot south of the River Afan.

Many of the more mundane council services originate in the provision of poor relief. More progressive Victorian social theorists recognised the importance of tackling the causes of poverty as well as offering relief to the poor. Little could be done to control the market forces that could close factories and lay off entire workforces, but there was plenty that could be done to tackle the other major cause of poverty, disease. First sanctioned under the Public Health Act 1848, local boards were set up to improve sanitation in the most heavily built-up areas.

They consisted of elected or co-opted board members, and had powers to oversee matters such as sewerage, water supply, the paving of streets and the regulation of slaughterhouses.

Subsequent Acts in 1858 and 1875 gave additional powers, and urban expansion resulted in an ever-increasing number of boards which were set up wherever local people wanted to regulate their own affairs.

The people of Margam were no exception. Much of the parish has always been very rural, but Victorian industrialisation in and near Aberavon was beginning to change the west of the parish. Once, as its name suggests, a hamlet of a few small houses, Taibach was beginning to develop into a populous northern suburb of Aberavon. Christopher Talbot, Member of Parliament and a major local landowner, took a keen interest in the new developments. At a meeting of local ratepayers in March 1884, he argued strongly for the formation of a local board for the parish, saying that the management of sanitation was currently costing them ÂŁ120, and promising (to loud applause) that he would make sure that a local board would not cost them Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014

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any more (reported in the Weekly Mail, 8 March 1884). The board was formed soon afterwards.

The minute books of the Margam Local Board do not survive, but the decisions were regularly reported to the press. We know that the position of Inspector of Nuisances was advertised for the first time in 1893 for an annual salary of ÂŁ80, which was to rise to ÂŁ100 the following year.

William Francis Bishop was appointed: a 35-year-old Bristol man and former plumber, his experience would stand him in good stead for the inspection of sewers, toilets and water supplies. Biographical information about William Bishop is contained in the 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses: they show he and his family moved to Taibach, living first at 21 Caradoc Street, before moving to roomier premises at Groes-wen-ganol.

The following year 1894 saw the first major reorganisation of local government. The aim was to simplify the rather messy patchwork of ad hoc local bodies with responsibility for different areas into a standardised pattern of district councils responsible for regulation and service provision.

Local boards became Urban District Councils, and the inaugural meeting of Margam UDC was held in January 1895. William Bishop continued his duties as Inspector of Nuisances over the next twenty years.

Bishop’s annual report for 1916, which has recently been deposited in the archives, shows that he was still a man of considerable energy. During that year he carried out a total of 7,553 inspections which suggests an average of around thirty inspections every working day. Most were of residential properties, including toilets and drains. His comments on the housing situation in the parish give an interesting insight into the standard of the new housing developments: The new houses in the district are generally well built, and are in all cases provided with a proper drainage system to the Public Sewer. Water closet accommodation with proper flushing apparatus, and separate water supply for domestic and flushing purposes is laid on in all cases. The houses are well lighted and ventilated and have properly paved yards. There is still a great dearth of suitable house accommodation for the working classes and at the present time there is not a vacant house in the district, and only five houses in course of erection, and with the increasing population 32

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and the establishment of new works in progress the question of housing accommodation requires the serious consideration of the Council as it is now impossible to deal with many of the insanitary dwellings and cases of overcrowding that exist in the district.

The new works he refers to were most probably the Margam Steelworks. Set up by Messrs Baldwins with a view to supplying steel for munitions, work began on the new works in August 1916. By the time production began in 1918, the workforce would have further inflated a population that was already mushrooming. In 1901 it was 9,014, rising to 14,713 in 1911 and again to 17,774 in 1921. The pressure this placed on the existing housing stock was acute.

An important part of the role of the Inspector of Nuisances was to monitor outbreaks of disease and report them to the Council. These reports were complemented by reports of the Medical Officer of Health. Not that this was plain sailing: at the Council meeting reported in the South Wales Daily Post of 13 October 1897 the Council considered a committee report on the ‘alleged strained relationships existing between certain officials of the Council, viz. Mr Bishop, inspector of nuisances, and Dr Davies, the medical officer … A resolution patching up the difference was adopted.’ William Bishop’s report for 1916 lists the number of occurrences of scarlet fever (44), diphtheria (23) and various childhood diseases. This was more than officious counting: it was his duty to take action to limit the spread of infection where possible. Take for instance the case of Ada Skyrme, who was tried in Aberavon Magistrates’ Court in January 1899. She had scarlet fever and had been sent to the sanatorium for treatment in isolation, as was the custom. This could be traumatic for parents and children alike, and her parents had withdrawn her, exposing others to the risk of infection, and nursed her at home. The newspaper had no doubt that ‘an offence had undoubtedly been committed,’ but it was alleged that Ada had been neglected in hospital and the caretaker was drunk, and accordingly the charges were dropped. Nonetheless, as was reported in the Cardiff Times of 14 January 1899, William Bishop argued that he had been obstructed in the execution of his duties.

The final part of the 1916 report lists the workshops inspected under William Bishop’s second title of Inspector under the Factories Act. There was a stocking maker, a flannel weaver, eight tailors, twenty-two dressmakers and milliners (one of whom was his own daughter), a cycle works, sixteen bake-houses and two sausage manufacturers. Overall, in one relatively modestly-proportioned document, we get an interesting snapshot of conditions in Margam and southern Port Talbot.

This document is just one of several series of records from the early twentieth century Margam Urban District. There are minutes recording all the decisions of Council, and a set of reports and letter books that detail more fully its activities. Most of these relate to the registration of trades and the inspection of premises. Copies of William Bishop’s other annual reports can be found in the Sanitary Inspector’s letter books among the Margam UDC records.

In 1921, Margam Urban District Council came to an end. The built-up western part of the parish was clearly less of a separate town, but rather an integral part of a rapidly-expanding Port Talbot. Aberavon Borough and Margam UDC were amalgamated, with the addition of Baglan Lower and the Cwmafan area, to make the new Borough of Port Talbot. The last of William Bishop’s reports to have survived is dated 1922. It is typed rather than hand-written, and begins with an address, not to the Margam Urban District, but to the newly-formed Borough of Port Talbot. How long William Bishop continued there in post is not known, but, going by the writing in some of the other volumes in the collection, he may have retired in his seventies. He died in 1939 at the ripe old age of 82, and was laid to rest in the family grave at Holy Cross, Port Talbot. In his lifetime, Aberavon had been transformed from a modestly-proportioned small town to a thriving seaport and industrial centre. It is often said that the architects of Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014

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healthcare are not so much the doctors as the men who clean the drains and provide clean water, and it was the efforts of William Bishop and his colleagues that have ensured that the housing stock in the Margam district was solid and dependable, and that the sanitation was all that it should be. …………………………………………..

Andrew Dulley Assistant County Archivist West Glamorgan Archive Service …………………………………………..

View digital images of the newspaper articles referred to in this article, as displayed on the National Library of Wales’ website Welsh Newspapers Online, by clicking on the hyperlinks.

Archives Records held at West Glamorgan Archives, Swansea: Arthur Rees collection: annual report of the Inspector of Nuisances for Margam Urban District Council, 1916 (D/D Xlm 95) Margam Urban District Council: records of the inspection of dwelling houses, 1911-1920 (UD/Ma 113-115)

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Crug Glas Calvinistic Methodist Chapel

Crug Glas Chapel Swansea, 1986 ( © Crown copyright: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, ref. DI2014_0194 C.496230) North of the Old Duke Public House in Upper High Street is a mound overlooking the Prince of Wales Road and the Hafod. It is now crowned with the ruined walls of houses, the burnt-out shell of an Anglican mission church, and the foundations of a recently-demolished chapel. In the early eighteenth century this green hillock Crug-glas - was the resort of drunkards, card sharpers, prize fighters, and all the riffraff of the fairground for which the area was frequently used. It has entered the legendary lore of Calvinistic Methodism because it was here that the great Howell Harris preached on a number of occasions in the late 1730s and early 1740s and faced some of the most hostile audiences of his preaching career. (F.G. Cowley in ed. Glanmor Williams, ‘Swansea: An Illustrated History’, 1990) As F.G. Cowley points out above, long before Crug Glas Chapel was built, Howell Harris, one of the main leaders of the Welsh Religious Revival, preached on or near its future site. The event is infamous because an attempted shooting of the great preacher miserably failed here, the would-be assassin subsequently perishing in a nearby limekiln, where he had retreated to sleep off his drunken stupor.

Crug Glas Chapel was built two generations later in 1799. The congregation had initially worshipped in rooms in Castle Street until, because of an internal dispute within that Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014

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congregation, a breakaway group decided to build a permanent chapel. Gomer Morgan Roberts, in his history of the Chapel produced for its 150 th anniversary, records: The leader of the retreating party was David Thomas, brewer by profession, and former member of the Calvinistic Methodists in Llansamlet. David Thomas started building a new chapel on the piece of land in Greenhill, and decided to present it to the Methodists. He won others to comply, David Francis, John Simons, Peter David, and Samuel Lloyd, the preacher. The chapel was opened in June 1799 by the renowned David Jones of Lan-by. He refers to the opening day in a letter to his wife on June 20, 1799: ‘I am to-morrow at eleven to open a fine new chapel at Swansea.

The chapel was formally presented to the Methodists in 1802. The deed is dated 21 December of that year. It reads, ‘David Thomas, Gentleman, presents the Chapel and all the new built Meeting House situate at Greenhill...in the franchise of the town of Swansea.’ The Chapel trustees were Ebenezer Morris, David Rees, Hopkin Bevan, David Francis and John Simon.

The property was leased for 999 years at the rate of 1d per year. The deed was signed by David Thomas, Ebenezer Morris, David Rees, Hopkin Bevan, David Francis by mark and John Simon by mark.

Gomer Roberts gives an account of the Reverend John Jones, who preached near the chapel under strange circumstances in 1827: There was a fair held in Greenhill, and he decided to hold meetings at Crug Glas on the day of the fair and hired a piece of the field for half a guinea. There was nothing special in the afternoon, but in the evening he preached about William Williams’ window which was in the chapel inscribed with the words, ‘Give an account of thy supervision’. John Jones started to preach but there was little notice taken. He raised his eyes to the sky. Before long he called a large crowd who had come to the fair in order to entertain them. He started to sing with his fiddle in the mid field, and the people danced before him. The dancing stopped when he stopped playing his fiddle. There was (it is alleged) a crowd of four or five thousand. It was said that there were only two or three hundred at the edge of the field who left without hearing the gospel. There was always a fair at Greenhill but never one like that.

Roberts also writes of a famous preacher at the Chapel, the Reverend David Howell. He was the third of seven sons of David Howell and Elizabeth Hughes. Reverend Howell was first married to Mary, daughter of one of the deacons at Crug Glas, John Cadwalader. Mary died on 3 February 1838 at the age of 38 years and a memorial was placed to her and the children of their marriage on the wall of the Chapel, while Reverend Howell, his second wife Ann, and their children were later buried in the graveyard.

People once used to come to the Chapel cemetery to see the grave of Anne Bowen, who died 24 October 1853 at the young age of 20. She was, at her death, engaged to the Welsh language poet and clergyman William Thomas (1832–1878) who used the bardic name of ‘Islwyn’. Islwyn’s two best known poems were both called Yr Ystorm ('The Storm’) and were written in response to the sudden death of his fiancée. He also wrote these words for her tombstone: Anwylyd, gorphwys! Mae fy nghalon i Yn ddrylliau dan y beddfaen gyda thi’.

Oh! rhwng y ser, dysgleiria tecach byd Lle bydd y rhai fu erioed yn un Drachefn fyth yn nghyd Mewn gloewach fyd!

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After a long history touched on here, the congregation of Crug Glas Chapel gradually began to diminish in the twentieth century, partly due to the decline in numbers of Welsh language speakers in the local community. In June 1986, the Chapel closed its doors for the last time and each member of the congregation was given a hymn book to commemorate the event.

Mr Myrddin Ponsford, a former member of the Crug Glas congregation, recalls, ‘Crug Glas was one of three Chapels that amalgamated after diminishing congregations made it sense to join into one chapel. Crug Glas was in Greenhill, Babell was in Fforestfach (opposite where the B&Q store now stands on Carmarthen Road), and Jerusalem was also on Carmarthen Road, near to Fforestfach Cross. Crug Glas and Babell closed and all three congregations met in Jerusalem. Sadly, Jerusalem was not in a very good structural state, so the congregation moved again to Trinity in Sketty Park Road, which still exists today. When Crug Glas was closed and being stripped out, the congregation could take a something. I remember that the organ was taken to Tabernacle in Mumbles, the minister there at the time was Reverend Grenville Fisher.’

Newsletter no.8, Summer 1989, of Capel (The Welsh Chapels Heritage Society) reads, ‘Crug Glas, Swansea (Presbyterian) has now been demolished, but as a result of swift warning arising from a previous meeting of the branch in 1987 the graveyard memorials have been carefully recorded and a report on them will be published.’ From this information it can be established that Crug Glas was demolished sometime between 1987 and 1989. In 1993, the Glamorgan Family History Society published its Crug Glas monumental inscriptions survey, which is presumably the report that was referred to in the Capel newsletter. The survey noted a stone plaque fixed to the Chapel wall which confirmed Roberts’ account that Mary, first wife of Rev David Howell, lay interred within the Chapel. According to the plaque, also interred there was Sarah their daughter, who died 11 November 1847 aged 18 years and three infant children (it is not clearly stated if they were the issue of David and Mary Howell): Row 4 Plot 6 The first is a stone plaque fixed to the Chapel Wall measuring 52" high and 26" wide. The transcrption reads " Within this chapel lies interred the remains of Mary, wife of Rev David Howells of this town, who died on February 3rd 1838 aged 38yrs. Also of three children who died infants.......Also Sarah, daughter of the above who died November 11th 1847 (?) aged 18yrs Row 10 grave 11..........The second reference is a stone headstone and kerbstone, the stone being broken in two and the top part laying upon the grave. I believe this memorial indicates that Rev David remarried. "In memory of Ann, the beloved wife of David Howells......who departed this life July 22nd 1872 age 62...........also, the Rev David Howells, who departed this life August 4th 1873 age 76yrs. Also John Cadwallader Howells, son of the above................also Martha widow of John Cadwallader Howells,.....................also William Sidney youngest son of the last named"

The site stood derelict for roughly ten years until the land was first registered at the Land Registry on 9 July 1998, following a sale on 3 June 1998 by the Properties Board of the Calvinistic Methodist Church of Wales (or the Presbyterian Church of Wales) to Swansea Housing Association Limited. On 19 October 1998, Swansea Housing Association gave two months’ notice of intention to remove human remains, tombstones and other memorials commemorating deceased persons in order to develop the site for housing.

Genealogist John Ball, in an article posted on his website in 1998, wrote: An observant member of the Glamorgan "RootsWeb" genealogy mailing list spotted the notice and drew it to the attention of fellow List members. I decided to visit the churchyard for myself. Briefly, the graveyard is in an appalling state of neglect!!

There are, I would guess, well over 100 gravestones, many of whose inscriptions are still perfectly legible. The earliest I saw dated from the 1830s, and the latest was from 1920 – but obviously I did not do a full survey. Some of the gravestones are Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014

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badly eroded, and others have toppled over or collapsed. The graveyard is on sloping land, and is heavily overgrown. Maintenance of the site would have to be done by hand. Access to the graveyard on foot is good at two points, but two of the boundaries of the graveyard overlook a sheer drop of at least 20 feet, supported by a retaining wall. There is no sign of the chapel which once adjoined the graveyard.

Crug Glas Chapel and graveyard, taken from the Glamorgan Family History Society survey published 1993 (by kind permission of Glamorgan FHS). The plan mistakenly places the Chapel directly alongside High Street, its true location was further back from the High Street than indicated here.

A visit to the Cemeteries and Cremations Section at Swansea Civic Centre has identified that 35 remains were exhumed from Crug Glas Chapel graveyard in November 1999. They were all 38

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cremated respectfully at Swansea Crematorium and the ashes placed in separate urns. The first 17 were cremated in November 1999 and the other 18 in early 2000. Steve Griffiths, of Coastal Housing disclosed that during test drilling of the site, the drill hit upon the crypt and human remains were found interred there. Work then had to pause while the Home Office were informed. The Cemeteries Section confirmed that six sets of human remains were cremated on 16 November 1999 and it is possible that these were the remains discovered in the crypt. Furthermore, it is likely that five of the six remains were of Mary Howells, Sarah her daughter and the three infants referred to on the plaque.

John Ball wrote in a follow-up report on his website, ‘I re-visited Crug Glas graveyard on 12 May 2004. Part of the burial yard has been destroyed and the remainder is totally enclosed in six-foot-high wooden fencing, preventing access. Some of the gravestones are still in situ, while others have been removed from their original positions and stood upright against the fencing. The whole area is overgrown with dense vegetation. One wonders what will happen if any descendants of the deceased decide to visit the graves of their ancestors!’

Crug Glas graveyard in 2013 (author’s picture) Swansea Housing Association and Dewi Sant Housing Association joined forces in April 2008 to become Coastal Housing Group Limited and they now own the graveyard, which has been left to rot and decay. It is now impossible to access what is left of it, which is of concern as there are still many graves inside. Recent attempts to ascertain exactly which graves were exhumed and which remain have proved difficult. Surely it is time the graveyard was cleaned up and due respect given to those interred there. ……………………………………………

Susan McGuire Volunteer West Glamorgan Archive Service ……………………………………………

The author would like to thank the following for their assistance in writing this article: John Ball; Mervyn Ponsford; Swansea Cemeteries and Cremations Section; Glamorgan Family History Society; Steve Griffiths of Coastal Housing Group Ltd and staff at the Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, the National Library of Wales and West Glamorgan Archives.

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Appendix 1: Depositors and Donors The Archive Service is grateful to the following individuals and organisations who have placed local and historical records in its care during the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014.

Mrs J Alderton; Ms G Armstrong; Mrs J Banfield; Mrs V Bastian; Mrs A Benger; Mrs C Beynon; S Button; N Carnie; Ms B Chapman; Ms S Cole; R Cowley; Miss L Crook; Ms E Davies; G Daniels; G Davies; Revd J Davies; J Davies; W Davies; G Dennis; P Duggan; Mrs B Essex; Mrs J Evans; Mrs E Ewens; Mrs G Fawkes; Revd G Fisher; Mrs E Fletcher; G Gabb; D George; K George; Dr B Gibbon; C Goldstone; V Griffiths; P Hall; E Harris; R Hepton; Revd T Hewitt; Ms M Hopkin; W Hyett; Ms Jane Hypher; Mrs E Jackson; Ms C James; Cllr H James; Ms L James; Miss E Jarvis; H Jenkins; Ms K Jermin; W Johns; Revd D Jones; Mrs E Jones; G Jones; L Jones; R Jones; T Jukes; D Kennedy; Mrs J Kerslake; Mrs Wai Fong Lee; Mrs E Lloyd; Mrs J Lloyd; Mrs S Lloyd; Ms M Lomund; M Lovelock; Ms S McGuire; B Masterman; G Matthews; D Michael; Ms J Mitchell; G Morgan; Mrs J Morgan; J Morris; N Morris; Mrs O Newton; Ms J Ogborne; S Paltridge; J Parkhouse; J Preece; Mrs L Pritchard; C Reed; A Rees; Revd I Rees; P Reynolds; A Richards; Mrs R Ridge; Canon D Roberts; A Robins; P Rogers; Ms H Roscoe; R Rowles; Mrs J Sabine; Ms L Saunders; Ms J Sherrard-Smith; P Sillick; J Sims; Ms B Sivertsen; Mrs M Small; Cllr R Smith; Ms K Spiller; Ms C Stevens; Mrs M Stray; R Strick; Mrs G Suff; D Taylor; K Thomas; Dr N Thomas; P Thomas; G Thyer; L Toft; Ms A Tribe; Mrs M Walker; Mrs J Walters; Ms P Ward; Ms S Ware; Dr M Waymark; A Williams; Ms C Williams; K Williams; Mrs M Williams; R Williams Astley Samuel Leeder, estate agents; Y Babell Welsh Baptist Church, Pontarddulais; British Federation of Women Graduates, Swansea Branch; Brynhyfryd Baptist Church; City and County of Swansea; DVLA; Eastside Historical Society; Ebeneser Independent Church, Gorseinon; Glan Afan Comprehensive School; Gower Society; Gowerton Primary School; John Francis, estate agents; Kittle Residents Association; Llangennith, Llanmadoc and Cheriton Community Council; Llanrhidian Higher Community Council; Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Authority; Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council; Old Dyvorians Association; Oxford House Industrial Society, Risca; Penclawdd Primary School; Pennard Community Council; Pennard Women’s Institute; Pentre’r Graig Primary School; Plasmarl Primary School; Sketty Residents Association; Skewen and District Industrial Heritage Association; Soroptimist International, Neath Branch; South Wales Evening Post; South West Wales Industrial Archaeology Society; Strick and Bellingham, solicitors; Swansea Bay Port Health Authority; Swansea Chinese Community Co-op Centre; Swansea County Court; Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts; Swansea Festival Patrons’ Association; Swansea Valley History Society; Swansea Women’s Gas Federation; Treboeth History Society; UNIFLOC Chemical Engineers; Women’s Archive of Wales

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Appendix 2: Accessions of Archives, 2013-2014 The archives listed below have been received by gift, deposit, transfer or purchase during the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014. Not all items are available for consultation immediately and certain items are held on restricted access.

PUBLIC RECORDS SHRIEVALTY High Sheriff of West Glamorgan: declaration of Gaynor Marie Richards, 26 Mar. 2013 (H/S W 40/1-2) FIRE AUTHORITY Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Authority: annual improvement plan, 2013 H.M. CORONER Swansea Coroner: inquest files, 1995-1996 (COR/S 2/23-24) COURTS Swansea County Court: court registers, 1858-2001 (D/D PRO/CCS 1/1-6/6) HOSPITALS Port Talbot and District Hospital: annual report, 1947 (D/D Z 914/1)

RECORDS OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND PREDECESSOR AUTHORITIES UNITARY AUTHORITIES Neath Port Talbot County Borough DVD of the re-affirmation of Freedom of the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot to the Royal Welsh Regiment, 2013 (CB/NPT CE 8/1) Register of electors, 2014 (CB/NPT RE) City and County of Swansea Inspector's reports for various Swansea primary and comprehensive schools, 1999-2010 Register of electors, 2014 (CC/S RE 36-37) Policy, performance and strategic projects files, 1996-2009 (CC/S CE 9/1-14)

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COUNTY COUNCILS Glamorgan County Council: register of electors, 1852 (GCC/RE 4/1) BOROUGHS AND DISTRICT COUNCILS Swansea County Borough Council: minutes of the Local Taxation Committee, 1932-1971 (TC 4/Local Taxation/1a) Swansea County Borough Council: visitors book of Alderman William Dewitt JP, Mayor of Swansea, 1945-1946 (D/D Z 923) Swansea County Borough Council (Swansea Library): Swansea War Museum Library Collection, consisting of First World War ephemera, posters and photographs, c.1914-1918 (SL WL 1-9) Swansea City Council: albums of aerial photographs of Swansea; slides of buildings in Swansea, 1960s-1980s (B/S Pl 6/1-221) Swansea City Council: architectural drawings showing decorative enhancements to be made to the Swansea Marina development c.1984-1989; architect's general drawings for Swansea Marina development, c.1984-1989; architectual drawings showing decorative features for the Swansea Grand Theatre extension, 1988-1989 Swansea City Council: plans, register and papers relating to schools in West Glamorgan, 20th century (B/S E 55-59) Swansea City Council: brochures and ephemera relating to the Maritime Quarter; historical note about Velindre tinplate works by Meirion Bell, c.1980s (Pl 11/22/1-15) Neath Borough Council: abstract of title of the Principality Property Company (Swansea) to property forming parts of the Briton Ferry Estate, 1952; reviews of electoral arrangements, Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales, 1996 and 2009, 1952-2009 (DC/N L) Borough of Port Talbot: Honorary Freemen's roll; framed photograph of Diana, Princess of Wales, 1925-1996 (B/PT 334) CIVIL PARISH/COMMUNITY COUNCILS Dyffryn Clydach Community Council: ‘Ymlaen’ - newsletter of the Parish of Dyffryn Clydach, c.1985-1995 (P/242/12/16) Llangennith, Llanmadoc and Cheriton Community Council: minutes, 2010-2011 (P/109/22) Llanguicke Parish Council: minute books, 1957-1966 (P/59/20/1-2) Llanrhidian Higher Community Council: minutes and accounts, 1960s-2007; rate books, 19111913, Llanrhidian Higher and Penclawdd electoral registers, 1913-1914, 1911-1914 (P/111/2839) Pennard Community Council: minutes, interment notices, burial rights record books, newsletters, 1968-2010 (P/117/3/9-10, P/117/7/8-10, P/117/8) 42

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OTHER PUBLIC BODIES Swansea Bay Port Health Authority: annual report, 2013 (PH 1/1/107)

EDUCATION RECORDS Abercregan Mixed and Infants School: log book, 1913-1968 Brynhyfryd School: admission register (girls), 1884-1900 (E/S 2/2/1) Cwm Primary School: photographs of staff and pupils of Cwm Primary School, 1910-1950s (E/S 37/5/2-8) Danygraig Boys’ School: scanned copy of a class photograph of Standard 6, Danygraig Boys School, 1919 (E/S 6/2/3) Dynevor School: log books, 1883-1983; staff registers, 1883-1941; punishment books, 19001909; attendance registers, 1924-1933; occupational positions held in 1909 by former pupils, Debating and Literary Society minute book, 1930-1932; HMI report, 1948; sports day records, 1943-1962; PTS minutes, 1971-1979; (E/Dyn Sec 1/1-3; E/Dyn Sec 14b/2; E/Dyn Sec 15/3-4; E/Dyn Sec 15a/1-2; E/Dyn Sec 24/8; E/Dyn Sec 30/1-6) Glan Afan Comprehensive School: admission registers, staff registers, school histories, photographs, ephemera, log books, school magazines, 1897-2003 (E/GAC 1-17; E/Gow Sec 45/196a; SRL) Gowerton Primary School: admission registers (mixed school), 1880-1991 (E/W 11/2/2-4) Llwyn y Bryn School: 60th anniversary commemorative book, 1888-1948; PTA minutes, 19711978, 1883-1979 (E/Ll B Sec 30-31) Penclawdd Primary School: log books, 1909-1983; 1945-1984; 1984-1989 (E/W 26/1/5-7) Penlan Comprehensive School: class and staff photographs, 1970s-1990s (E/Penl Sec 2/1-5) Penllergaer Primary School: log book, 1970-1988, photographs, campaign petition and notebook, c.1970 and ephemera, c.1910-1980s (E/W 28/1/5; E/W 28/3/2-3; E/W 28/4/1-9) Pentrepoeth School: records of Pentrepoeth and Morriston Schools, 19th-20th centuries (E/S 36; E/S 13) Plasmarl Primary School: log books, admission registers, attendance registers, stock books, photographs, 1870s-2000s (E/S 41) St. Joseph's School, Clydach: copy photographs of school children at St. Joseph's and list of pupils in photographs, 1950s (E/W 45/1/1-3) Swansea Grammar School: magazines, 1946-1954 (E/BG Sec 13/12a, 13/13a, 13/14a)

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ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH RECORDS Swansea Christ Church: photographs, plans, Bibles, hymn books, centenary brochures, newspaper cuttings relating to Christ Church, Swansea. Also includes photographs of staff and pupils at Christ Church School, 19th and 20th centuries (P/317/CW) Gowerton: register of services, 1998-2007 Landore: marriage register, 2006 (P/309/CW/76) Manselton and Cwmbwrla: service registers for St Luke's and St Michael's churches, baptism and confirmation registers for the Friends of the Young Disabled Centre, Cwmbwrla, and Sunday school attendance register, 1951-2010 (P/321/CW/32-40; P/311/CW/75) Swansea St James: parish magazines, annual report and order of service for induction of the Rev. Howell Williams, 2011-2013 (P/335/CW/59-61) Swansea, St Mary: photographs of the reconstruction and reconsecration of St Mary's Church, Swansea, 1955-1959; photographs of the rebuilding of St Mary's Church, Swansea, c.1952 (P/PR/96/5/6-8) Order of service for the 90th anniversary of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon, 14 Sep. 2013 (D/D Z 822/3)

NONCONFORMIST RECORDS Baptist Y Babell Welsh Baptist Church, Pontarddulais: marriage registers, 1957-1998 (D/D W/Bap 37/1/1-3) Brynhyfryd Baptist Church: minutes, accounts, membership records, photographs and other records, 19th-20th century; account books, Jubilee brochure, annual reports, 20th century (D/D W/Bap 36) Welsh Independent Ebenezer, Gorseinon: annual report, 2012; marriage registers, 1912-2005 (D/D Ind 25/118123) Trust deed of Ebeneser Chapel, Gorseinon; musical scores from Libanus Chapel, Gorseinon Mynyddbach, Swansea: deacons' minutes, annual reports, membership transfer records, graveyard records, financial records, records relating to church property, records relating to ministers and commemorative items, 1903-2011 (D/D Ind 24/55-78) Various chapels: Bryn Seion Sunday School register, 1951-1956; Alltwen Chapel financial reports, 1955-1985; various pamphlets relating to Dan-y-graig Chapel 1951-1959; various records relating to Alltwen Congregational Chapel (D/D Z 885)

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United Reformed Church Records relating to the following Congregational and United Reformed churches in West Glamorgan: Gnoll Road URC, Ystalyfera URC, St Helen's Road Congregational Church, Swansea, and Ritson Street Congregational Church, Briton Ferry, 19th-21st centuries (D/D E/Cong 12/2; D/D E/Cong 7/20; D/D E/Cong 6/37; D/D E/Cong 5/6-8; D/D Ind 18/5)

SOCIETIES, ASSOCIATIONS, SPORTS AND THE ARTS British Federation of Women Graduates Swansea Branch: records of the British Federation of Women Graduates Swansea including the following: programmes of local meetings in Swansea; social events; research projects; photographs, 1967-2012 (D/D BFWG 1/1-7) Records relating to Cam Carlam Folk Dancing Team, Pontardawe, 1980s-2000s Eastside Historical Society: Slides of St Thomas Carnival, 1972-1982 (D/D EHS 1-50) and CD containing images of the Eastside Carnivals, 1972-1982 (D/D EHS 51) Gower Society: photographs, programmes, newspaper cuttings, minutes, agendas and financial papers, 2006-2013; photograph album donated by Barbara Armitage: the album features old Gower views and belonged to Molly Bevan's grandfather, 1950s-2013 (D56 various) Kittle Residents Association: minutes, correspondence and accounts, 1986-2013 (D/D KRA 13) Loughor Old Age Pensioners Association: records, c.1960s-1990s (D/D LOAP 1/1-2/1) Loughor Welfare Association: minute books, c.1930s-1980s (D/D LWA 1/1-3) Onllwyn and District Welfare Society: amateur cycling and athletic sports programme, 1946 (D/D Z 908/2) Pennard Women's Institute: box file containing commemorative items, and photograph album, 2006 (D/D Xno 29/16-25) Sketty Residents Association: minutes and correspondence, 1990-2011 (D/D SRA 144-165) Skewen & District Industrial Heritage Society: photographs of Skewen and Neath Abbey, churches, chapels, social events etc, 20th-21st centuries; photographs mainly of Metal Box Factory and its employees; apprentice's log book; articles of association of the Eaglebush Tin Plate Co. Ltd, 1890, 19th-20th centuries; DVDs containing photographs of the following: Metal Box at Neath; memories of Baglan Bay; Happy Days; BP Oil Llandarcy; churches and chapels of Neath Abbey and Skewen, 2000s (D/D SIH 1-6) Soroptimist International, Neath: business meeting minute books, 1947-1993; executive meeting minute books, 1956-1989; register of attendance, 1970-1991, 1947-1993 (D/D SIN 13) South West Wales Industrial Archaeology Society: 35mm slides; CBA record cards; miscellaneous photos and pamphlets, 1950s-1980s (D/D IAS 1/1-1/2; 2/1)

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Swansea City Football Club: deeds, contracts, financial papers and other records, 1912-2005 (D/D Z 919/1-48) Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts: minutes of the Executive Committee, 1996-2013; attendance register, 2006-2013, 1996-2013 Swansea Festival Patrons' Association: minutes, correspondence and photographs, 1973-2005 (D/D SFPA 1/1-4/2) Swansea Valley History Society: plans of mines in the Pontardawe area, 20th century Swansea Women's Gas Federation: photograph albums, 1990s-2000s (D/D WGF 9-14)

POLITICAL PAPERS Gower Constituency Labour Party: minutes, correspondence and other papers, 1920s-1990s Pont-y-brenin Ward Labour Party: minutes 1951-1997, accounts 1935-1956; Llwchwr District Labour Party: minutes 1948-1957 and Management Committee minutes 19571964, 1935-1997 Loughor Ward Labour Party: minute books, c.1930s-1980s (Lab L 1/1-7; Lab L 2/1)

WOMEN’S ARCHIVE OF WALES Edna Mair Thompson papers: diaries of Edna Mair Thompson née Jenkins of Sketty, 19081994 (WAW 38) ‘Iris my mother’, by Delyth J Rees; 2013 (WAW 29) Merched y Wawr, Rhanbarth Gorllewin Morgannwg: minutes, correspondence, programmes, ephemera and other papers, 1969-2008

LEGAL AND ESTATE RECORDS Deeds of the former telephone exchange adjacent to Glen View, 1 Neath Road, Crynant, 19491990 (D/D Z 913/1) Astley Samuel Leeder collection: title deeds and documents relating to the Vivian, Benson, Calland, Ffynone and Tennant Estates, and to other properties in Swansea and South Wales, c.17th-20th centuries Strick & Bellingham solicitors: leases and conveyances of properties within the old county of Glamorgan, 1880s-1990s Pre-registration title deeds for the following properties: 2 Carnglas Road, Sketty and 32 Sway Road (120 Clydach Road), Morriston, 1890s-1980s (D/D Z 925/1-2)

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GWR notices to owners and occupiers of land affected by plans relating to bridges and lands between Baglan and Port Talbot, 1924-1927 (D/D Z 928/1-4) John Francis, auctioneer and estate agent: pre-registration title deeds and mortgages relating to properties in the West Glamorgan area, 19th-20th centuries Records relating to Swansea including volume of maps of the Calvert Richard Jones estate in Glamorgan, copy of Duke of Beaufort's estate map, and survey of the estate of Swansea Corporation, 18th-20th centuries Pre-registration title deeds for the following properties: 3 Broadview Lane, Mumbles and 562 Middle Road, Ravenhill, 1920s-1970s (D/D Z 938/1-2)

PERSONAL PAPERS Political and personal papers of W. J. Roberts of Gorseinon; Loughor mineral sales catalogue, evacuation notice, c.1930s; football and rugby programmes and ephemera, 1902-1990s (D/D Z 637/3-13) Diaries written on board a ship during the Second World War, 1944-1945 (D/D Z 916/1-2) Wesley Mission Sunday School minute book 1896-1915, envelope scheme cash book 1951-52 and lease of land at Townhill, Swansea, for mission hall with plans of the proposed building, 12 Mar. 1953; Borough of Swansea Mayor's Unemployment Fund receipts for contributions 1921; 3. Swansea Hospital Contributory Scheme membership cards 1933, 1935 (D/D Z 915/2-6) Facsimile of order of service for dedication of war memorial at St Mary's, Clydach and biographical details of Graham Liddicott, one of the men whose name appears on it, 1920 (D/D Z 628/7) Papers and ephemera relating to Ystalyfera, 20th century Arthur Rees Collection: Margam UDC: annual report of the Inspector of Nuisances and Factories, 1916; Margam Estate: instruction book of the estate agent, 1909-1924; Port Talbot branch of the Women's Gas Federation: scrapbook relating to the history of gas supply and cooking by gas in Port Talbot, c.1980 (D/D Xlm 95-97) Wartime copies of the Llwchwr Gazette and Llandeilo Talybont parish magazine, 1914-1941 (D/D Z 935/1-3) ‘Americans in the Swansea Area during the Second World War’ by Gareth Emrys Matthews, 2013 Souvenir history of Kenfig Factory, photograph of Richard Branson's yacht in Swansea Marina, 20th cent Letter from Private Tom Henwood of Ystalyfera to his parents shortly after joining the army in 1915; transcript, copy photograph of the writer and biographical information, 1915 (D/D Z 910/1) Black and white scanned photographs taken by Archibald Goldie of Alfred Chidzoy and family, Alfred and Kate Chidzoy and a portrait of Alfred Chidzoy. Written information about the Chidzoy Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014

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and Jenkins families written by Peter W. Thomas; written memories of Chidzoy family and shops, 2013; scanned portrait photograph of steeplejack contractor James Jenkins of Hafod, an advertising pamphlet for his pioneering work patenting copper lightening conductors and a newspaper article about his life, business and legacy, 2013 (D/D Z 912) Copy of diary of Evan Jones, Mormon missionary, and transcript of a diary of Jospeh Soderborg, 1893-1895 (D/D Z 931/1-2) Three vinyl records; memorial cards; bundle of letters to James T. Davies, 1903-1909; National Registration cards for William Pierce George and Mair Eluned Rees; papers and photographs relating to a car, registration number 745 RMM; copy of ‘Y Tyst’ newspaper featuring an article about Alltwen Chapel 1957, 1903-1957 (D/D Z 885) Miscellaneous items including photographs, dinner menus, invitations and greetings cards relating to Rhys Emlyn Williams. Williams was a former president of the WRU, as well as a long-serving secretary of Crynant RFC, 1950s-1980s Probate of the will of Lewis Davies, carpenter; probate of the will of David Davies; paper and CD copies of photographs and papers relating to Handel Davies, motor expert, 1850-1920s (D/D Z 927/1-6) Typed copy of biographical notes by Richard Charles Russell of Neath, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, who fought in the First World War, n.d. (D/D Z 929/1) Autograph album containing quotes, poems and sketches, 1920s-1930s (D/D Z 576/145) Letters of Sergeant David Morgan Phillips from the First World War to his family in Swansea, 1915-1918 (D/D Z 936/1-6) Records relating to Richard Charles Russell of Neath (1893-1971); Photographs of street parties; records relating to the Mumbles Lifeboat, 1915-2003 (D/D Z 929)

TRANSPORT, BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL Margam Sorting Sidings signal box train register, 1986-1987 (D/D Z 196/4) Records relating to the Clydach Nickel Refinery, 1980s Papers relating to James Strick & Sons Ltd, Greenhill Fruit Centre. Includes insurance policies, stocks and share certificates, 1930s-1940s (D/D Z 915/1) Records of Taylor & Sons, including share register, photographs, company stamps, clocking-in tokens, 20th century (D/D TAY) William Aaron James, builder, of Stafford House, Westgate, Cowbridge: various receipts and letters (receipts relate to Swansea companies), 1885-1954 (D/D Z 918/1) Mumbles Railway: St Helen's Station, fares book, 1870s (D/D Z 908/1) Accounts of milk delivery company, 1974-1988 (D/D Z 911/1/1-15 and 2/1)

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SOUND, FILM AND DVD DVDs by Peter Hall: ‘Joy that Kills’ interview with parents of a Swansea young person killed by stolen car; ‘Hands and Hearts Across the Water’ cultural exchange between Gendros Primary and Timberlane School, Virginia (features interview with Margaret Thatcher), c.1990s; ‘Swansea Boy to American GI’ - the story of Cliff Guard; and Remembrance Parade, Mumbles, 10th November 2013, ‘A Child's Mystical Christmas in Cwmdonkin Park’: poetry readings, music and interviews with members of Swansea Little Theatre, Labi Siffre (1970s singer songwriter and poet) and others, (D/D Z 717/25-29) Cassette tapes containing oral history interviews with, and recordings of talks given by, residents of the Pontardawe area, 1980s (T 30) Recording by Cartin James of the reminiscences of Mrs Margaret James of growing up in Swansea in the 1960s, 2013 (T 31/1) DVD of project connected with the replacement of the railway bridge over the River Loughor and the re-doubling of the railway track between Duffryn Junction and Cockett, 2013 Talbot-Fletcher collection of films on DVD, 20th century DVDs containing copies of miscellaneous films found by John Barker, mid 20th century Oral history DVD entitled ‘All Our Stories: Immigrant Experience of the First Generation Chinese Immigrants in Swansea’, 2013 (T 32/1)

PICTORIAL AND MAPS South Wales Evening Post: press cuttings files and photographs, 1960s-2000s Plan of Main Collieries No 4 Level (Skewen), 1880s; Plan of Cadoxton, Gellia and Torcefn Steam Coal workings, 1871; Plan of Cadoxton and Aberdulais Collieries, 1856, 1856-1880s Architect’s plans detailing a proposed new cinema at Bohun Street, Manselton, Swansea, 1937 (D/D Z 917) Aerial photographs of Neath district and of Gower; engravings of Neath Abbey and the Vale of Neath; OS 1:1250 maps of Neath, 19th-20th centuries (D/D Z 939/1-14) CD containing images used in the publication ‘Reflections of a Bygone Century’ by Glyn Davies; CD containing scanned postcards of Glynneath and Resolven, 19th-20th centuries (D/D Z 937/1-2) Postcard showing Swansea Canal, probably near Ystalyfera, c.1910 (P/PR/65viii/3/1) Aerial photograph of Penywaun farmhouse near Bryntywod, Llangyfelach (since demolished), 1990s (P/PR/52/9/1) Photographs of Swansea city centre, 2013 (P/PR various) Collection of postcards showing views of Mumbles, 19th century Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014

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Aerial photographs of schools in West Glamorgan, 1993-1996 Swansea Market, postcard, 1905 (P/PR 13/3/10) Aerial photograph of Mumbles Head, 1940s (D/D Z 920/1) Photographic negatives of Signodes factory in wartime Swansea, of Fairwood Races and other scenes, c.1940s Photographs and slides of Brynaman and Swansea, 1971-1983 (D/D Z 881/12-20) Three photographs of Oystermouth Castle grounds during a knockout cricket competition showing Cockett Parish Men's Club team members and supporters, c.1969 (D/D Z 934/1/1-3) Scanned images on CD of the following collieries: Garngoch Colliery No. 3; Brynlliw Colliery; Morlias Colliery; Mountain Colliery, 20th cent (D/D Z 933/1-11) Plan of Ynysmeudwy; plans of Swansea Canal; photographs of Swansea Valley people taken

by Clive Reed, c.1890-1990s Bacon's map of the docks, railways and tramways of Swansea, c.1920 Photograph albums showing images in the mid and upper Tawe Valley, 19th - 20th cent UNIFLOC chemical engineers: plans, 20th century (D/D UCE 1/1-77) Plan showing railways in Aberavon, early 20th century (D/D Z 930/1) Postcard views of Clydach, 20th century (P/PR collection) Photographs of staff and students at Swansea Training College, Townhill, c.1925; Upper Loughor Canteen Committee and helpers, 1921; Cymmer and Glyncorrwg railway stations, 1950s; group photograph of men in the grounds of Clyne Castle, Swansea, 1923, 1920s-1950s (P/PR) Scale drawings for the reconstruction of an Ancient Greek trireme made by J. F. Coates, 19841986 (D/D Z 921/1) Family photographs and postcards relating to Swansea and Cwmavon collected by John John of Swansea, 1930s-1950s (D/D Z 922/1-11) Slides of Aberavon, Manselton and Taibach, 1960s-2013 (D/D Z 295/13)

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Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014

Gwasanaeth Archifau Gorllewin Morgannwg Mae Gwasanaeth Archifau Gorllewin Morgannwg yn casglu dogfennau, mapiau, ffotograffau, recordiadau ffilm a sain sy'n ymwneud â phob agwedd ar hanes Gorllewin Morgannwg.Mae’n wasanaeth ar y cyd ar gyfer Cynghorau Dinas a Sir Abertawe a Bwrdeistref Sirol Castell-nedd Port Talbot.

Ein cenhadaeth yw cadw a datblygu ein casgliadau o archifau, diogelu ein treftadaeth ddogfennol a chaniatáu ymchwil er mwyn datblygu ein casgliad. Rydym yn ymroddedig i ddarparu gwybodaeth a’r cyfle i gyflwyno’r archifau i bawb.

Gwasanaeth Archifau Gorllewin Morgannwg Canolfan Ddinesig Heol Ystumllwynarth Abertawe SA1 3SN  01792 636589 westglam.archives@swansea.gov.uk

Cloriau blaen a chefn: Gwaith arfau yn Ffowndri Taylor and Sons, Llansawel, yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf (D/D TAY/PLA 7)

@westglamarchive

www.abertawe.gov.uk/westglamorganarchives

A joint Service for the Councils of the City and County of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot County Borough Gwasanaeth ar y cyd ar gyfer Cynghorau Dinas a Sir Abertawe a Bwrdeistref Sirol Castell-nedd Port Talbot