Connecting people and history
On 1 December 2011 the City and County of Swansea admitted its first female hereditary freemen. Mrs Nicola Carvalho and Mrs Claire Goss are pictured here with the Lord Mayor of Swansea, Cllr Ioan Richard. The Archive Service played a key role in the revision of the Council’s rules to admit the sons and daughters of hereditary freemen on an equal basis. The past year has been the most challenging for the Archive Service for a number of years, faced by a sudden sharp downturn in use following a reduction in our opening hours in April 2011. Anecdotal evidence suggests this is a pattern seen in other UK local authority archives, although the data is not yet available. Despite the disappointing statistics and the economic gloom, the year has seen some noteworthy achievements, not the least of which is the publication online of our archive catalogue. Indeed, now seems a good time to take stock of the some of the less well-trumpeted contributions we are able to make to our local community and further afield.
This year’s report has a particular focus on the positive role of volunteers in the Archives. The Archive Service works with volunteers of all ages in both our Swansea and Neath offices. Our Neath service point relies on a rota of Neath Antiquarian Society members who volunteer their services in the archive searchroom on a regular basis to help keep the branch open to the public. In contrast, the work of our volunteers in Swansea is more project-oriented. All of our volunteers are motivated by their desire to make a contribution to preserving our shared documentary heritage. In the process, they enlarge their own knowledge of that heritage and develop new skills. In this report, two of our
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
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Engaging new audiences
volunteers provide written contributions about the satisfaction they derive from their work.
relating to collections held in both our Swansea and Neath repositories.
On 7 July 2011, the combined West Glamorgan Archive Service and Neath Antiquarian Society catalogues went online in searchable form, an important milestone in the history of the Service. Until recently the archive catalogues were available in paper form only, and there were few ways to search them other than by visiting the record office.
In 2010, further grant funding was used to purchase the module that enables the database to be searched remotely on the Internet. The user interface was configured in-house by Archive Service staff and is the first website in Wales using CALM software to include bilingual search and help pages.
The online catalogue project started in 2007 with the CyMAL-funded purchase of CALM, a widelyused archive management software package, and a year later two members of staff started the task of marking up the catalogues for uploading into the database. In less than two and a half years, over 161,000 document descriptions were loaded into CALM
Accessible in the searchroom and anywhere with Internet access, the new catalogue has almost totally replaced the card indexes and paper catalogues in the Swansea searchroom, though these are still on hand for researchers who prefer more traditional methods. The online catalogue is of particular use in our Neath service point, where the collections had never been indexed and were difficult to search by name, place or subject.
www.archifaucymru.org.uk www.archiveswales.org.uk Publicly-funded archives in Wales meet together under the umbrella of Archives and Records Council Wales (ARCW). ARCW acts as a focus for collaborative projects which will benefit archive users across Wales, seeking external funding from a variety of sources. West Glamorgan Archive Service continues to play an active role in the organisation, which is currently chaired by Glamorgan Archives. At the end of the previously reported all-Wales cataloguing project Powering the World: Looking at Welsh Industry through Archives in July 2011 (a project which included the cataloguing of the surviving business records of Yorkshire Imperial Metals), ARCW submitted a successful application for Welsh Government funding through CyMAL for a follow-on project to publicise the value of Welsh business archives. Profiting from Powering the World, a project based at the Richard Burton Archives Swansea University, included another cataloguing project amongst its several elements, this time for the listing of the coal mining records collected by the South Wales Miners Museum at Afan Argoed which were transferred to West Glamorgan Archives several years ago. The records have now been catalogued by project archivist Stacy Capner and are available to researchers in our Swansea searchroom. 2
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
Swansea resident Ellen Davis stands beside two panels from the Archive Service exhibition ‘Jewish Refugees in South Wales 1933-1945’. The panel on the left tells the story of how she came to Britain from Germany on a kindertransport. The panel on the right reproduces the document which helped bring her to safety in the United Kingdom in 1939. The major Archive Service exhibition of the past year was created for the Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in Swansea in January 2012. Entitled ‘Jewish Refugees in South Wales 1933-1945’, it was created by archivist David Morris using the published and unpublished stories of Jewish refugees, Holocaust survivors and their descendants. Their testimonies as recorded in the exhibition are a poignant but inspiring tribute to the contribution a refugee community can make to the economic and cultural life of its host community. The exhibition, which was for the most part funded by a Welsh Government grant through CyMAL, is currently on display at the National Waterfront Museum Swansea until the beginning of July. Further CyMAL funding allowed for the development of resources for schools visiting the exhibition, challenging students to make links between their own experience, local history and world events. Bookings have been made for display in the National Assembly for Wales Cardiff and in St David’s Church Neath on either side of next Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January 2013. The exhibition was extensively reviewed in Bimah, the magazine for the Welsh Jewish community. Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
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Another significant success story in 2011/12 has been the rapid growth of the schools education service in its second year which more than tripled the number of teachers and pupils reached, from 514 in 2010/11 to 1,758 in 2011/12. This was in no small part due to the energy and enthusiasm of the two staff who deliver most of the school sessions, archivist Katie Millien and Production Assistant Anne-Marie Gay. The service is free and available to all schools in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, who can book either directly or through Swansea Council’s 4-site programme. Schools have the choice of organised sessions at Swansea Civic Centre, Neath Mechanics Institute and Port Talbot Library or to arrange for us to visit to deliver sessions on their premises. As well as the option of a locality study centred on the individual school, the current curriculum-linked topics offered include ‘The Three Night’s Blitz and the Home Front’, ‘Rich and Poor Victorians’ and (for those visiting Swansea) ‘Behind the Scenes at the Archives’. Plans for introducing a session on the Tudors in time for the start of the next academic year are well under way. Part of our education programme is delivered in partnership with the National Waterfront Museum Swansea. This year we delivered sessions entitled ‘Getting to the Grips with the 1851 Census’, ‘The Copper Smoke Trials’; and on the tragic 1940 sinking of the Arandora Star. Many of these sessions were delivered to pupils studying for the Welsh Baccalaureate. A highlight of this year has been the work with pupils from Waun Wen Primary School, Swansea to help them create their own archive. As part of a community project, the children brought in documents and objects from home and were shown how to catalogue, preserve and store them. We have also been privileged to help in celebrating Gorseinon Junior Schools Centenary by working with all classes on a locality project.
Who is using the service? Registered Users by Area
Swansea
56.04%
Neath Port Talbot
11.99%
Rest of Wales
17.11%
England, Scotland
4
& Northern Ireland
13.38%
Republic of Ireland
0.09%
Rest of the World
1.39%
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
The graph to the left shows the distribution by postcode of our registered readers (those with an Archives Wales reader’s ticket obtained from us) as at 31 March 2012. The results are almost identical to last year’s. Note that many researchers visit on a casual basis without needing a ticket because they don’t use original documents. This particularly applies in our Neath and Port Talbot service points which are used mostly by family historians.
Further information about our service use comes from our use of a voluntary diversity monitoring form which is issued whenever a researcher applies for a reader’s ticket. 45% of our readers who registered in 2011/12 were male and 55% female. The largest age group who registered for a reader’s ticket was aged 55-64 (29%), the next highest being in order: 65-74 (22%), 45-54 (16%), 35-44 (11%), 22-34 (10%), 14-21 (9%) and 75+ (3%). In comparison to last year’s cumulative figure, there has been a slight increase in the younger age groups and a compensating slight decrease at the upper end of the age range. In a question about national identity which allowed more than one box to be ticked, 59% classed themselves as Welsh, 21% classed themselves as British, 16% as English, 1% Scottish and 3% as other, which included Irish and overseas nationalities. Apart from English, 3% put Welsh as their main language. 51% said they could not understand any Welsh, 35% could understand some, with 15% able to understand the language. Just 1% were from a non-White background, down from last year’s cumulative total of 2%. 11% of our registered readers considered themselves to have some form of disability. In summer 2011, the Archive Service commissioned research amongst a panel drawn up to represent a fair cross-section of the Swansea population (Swansea Voices). Overall, 40% of respondents were aware of West Glamorgan Archives and the Family History Centre in Swansea Civic Centre. Awareness was higher amongst respondents aged 60+ (62%) and 4559 years (47%), low among 16-24 year olds (13%) and below average amongst those aged 2534 (32%) and 35-44 (31%). By area, more respondents in the South West (59%) and West (45%) sub-areas of Swansea said they knew about the facility compared to those living in the North (31%), and Central and East (35%) sub-areas. 13% of respondents said that they had previously visited the Archives at the Civic Centre. This figure was again higher amongst respondents living in South West (19%) and West (16%) subareas in contrast to those living in the less affluent sub-areas of Central & East (12%) and North (9%). Respondents aged 60+ tended to visit more often than respondents in other age groups. The respondents who knew of our existence were asked for more detail on what they knew about the service we provide. In addition to help with family history research (96%), high proportions also knew that the Archives sold publications on local history (88%), that we can provide information on the history of the local area (79%), that we offer users free access to family history websites (77%), and sell cards and gifts (62%). Just over half were aware that there is assistance available for researching a publication/article (55%), help with school, college or university work (54%), and family history starter workshops (52%). Fewer knew that they could get information on the history of their house (41%) and that the Service offers archive skills workshops (35%). The respondents who had never visited the Archives before were asked to indicate why. The main reason for not having made a visit, stated by 33% of the 688 respondents who had never visited, was not knowing where the Archives are located. The other reasons were Archives are not relevant to me (15%); Wouldn’t know what to do there (13%); Don’t know what information is held there (13%); Don’t know what an archive is (8%); Didn’t know it existed (7%); Not interested (7%); No time to visit (6%); The Archives are not open when I want them to be (2%). Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
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Building and preserving our collections
refurbished Guildhall storage area, effecting an exchange of contents between the two storage areas. In the intervening year while building work is in progress, the contents of the Guildhall out-store are being held in a variety of locations with varying degrees of accessibility for production in the searchroom. Inevitably, difficult decisions had to be made regarding part of the archival material held in the Guildhall, some of which was transferred to other repositories able to provide a home for it. In particular, long runs of bound copies of newspapers were donated to Cardiff University Library and the National Library of Wales. Some uncatalogued series of Council records (though nothing donated by individuals to the former Swansea City Archives) were subject to retro-appraisal and parts were destroyed as not being worthy, on second view, of retention for their archival value. In this way, the collection was slimmed down by around 25%.
THE RECONSTRUCTION OF SWANSEA 1941-1958 The next Archive Service publication in 2013 will be by Dinah Evans, a modern and contemporary historian at Bangor University. Based on her 2007 thesis, the book will address the issues involved in the rebuilding of Swansea, the relationship and interaction between central and local government in the process and the reasons why the town was rebuilt as it was.
D/D NAI L/64/1 during conservation work at Gwynedd Archives. The Archive Service received a grant from the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust (with CyMAL match funding) to repair 97 engineering drawings relating to locomotives, ships and gasworks in the Neath Abbey Ironworks Collection. The project forms part of our ongoing efforts to conserve and make more accessible this nationally and internationally important collection of engineering drawings. The primary role of the Archive Service is to preserve our documentary heritage for the benefit of future generations, receiving additional gifts and deposits of archive material while maintaining and developing the greatest degree of access to the collections in its care. The archives are kept in environmentally-controlled strongrooms in Swansea Civic Centre, although a significant minority of the whole collection was until this year held in an out-store at Swansea Guildhall. As reported last year, the out-store in the Guildhall was condemned by The National Archives during its 2010 inspection as being unsuitable for archival storage, but no easy answer presented itself as to how to transfer the contents of the out-store to the Civic Centre when they far exceeded the available space in the existing strongroom complex. In the event, a solution to this conundrum was forced upon the Service by the imminent closure of part of the Guildhall for repair and restoration work to the building fabric and the need to remove the entire contents of the out-store in advance of the contractors moving on-site. Two basement rooms in the Civic Centre which are currently used as records management storage and possess some of the requirements for the storage of archives would be upgraded once the work in the Guildhall was completed. The contents of the two Civic Centre rooms in question would be transferred to the 6
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
At over 4 metres in length and width, the largest item (and one of the last) to be transferred from the Guildhall to the Civic Centre was this rolled 1852 plan of Swansea, seen here held aloft by staff of George Bros removals. The map scale is a generous 10 feet to the mile.
Conservation work carried out in 2011-2012
39 volumes 102 plans
In Swansea, as in many other blitzed towns and cities, there was a conviction that the Government would be sympathetic to their cause and would understand that public confidence would only be motivated by the restoration of war damaged areas. Therefore they would allow Swansea to be rebuilt as Swansea people wanted it to be rebuilt. There were however two camps in the town, those who wanted to recreate the old prewar Swansea in its original footprint and others who sought to embrace modernism. In the end, the process of reconstruction in Swansea would revolve less around a contest between traditional and modern and more on the struggle to erect any buildings at all.
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How we performed in 2011/12
The number of visits to West Glamorgan Archives during 2011/12 was 9,815. This figure is down by over 17% from last year’s record-breaking use of the service. While this decrease was to be anticipated as a result of cuts to our opening hours, it was all the same greater than expected and represents a return to a level of use just over the number of visits achieved in 2007/8. Swansea, which saw a reduction of its opening hours from 40 to 34 per week with the ending of Saturday opening, saw a fall of just under 20% in individual user visits, while Archive Service users in Port Talbot Library halved almost exactly when the hours we were present there halved in April 2011. Neath figures remained more or less stable with the same number of opening hours as last year, as did overall numbers attending in group visits. There have however been some notable success stories for the year: the education service more than tripled its outreach from 514 to 1,758 (sessions were mostly delivered on school premises) and this also had a beneficial effect on the numbers reached in group sessions (a combined figure for adults and children), which more than doubled to 2,244.
Total members of the public visiting the Archive Service during 2011-2012: 9,815
Including: Swansea Neath Port Talbot Group visits
6,643 2,178 441 553
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 previous year, in this case our peak year of 2010/11. Analysis of the most recent CIPFA statistics available shows that West Glamorgan Archive Service was the 17th busiest local authority archive service in the UK in that year (up from 24th in 2009/10), coming in behind Leicestershire and just one reader visit ahead of the East Riding of Yorkshire. Within Wales, West Glamorgan had by far the highest number of reader visits in 2010/11, with figures 79% higher than Gwynedd Archives, the next busiest service. With 11,394 individual reader visits in 2010/11, West Glamorgan accounted for 26% of the 43,066 visits to local authority archives in Wales in that year.
During June 2011, the Archive Service once again took part in the Public Services Quality Group National Survey of Users to British Archives. Archives across the UK have been seeking feedback from their users since 1996 and this was the second time that a national customer survey had been carried out since the refurbishment of Swansea Civic Centre. Respondents in both Swansea and Neath rated the amount of information available in advance of their visit more highly than when the last survey was carried out in 2009. Overall levels of customer satisfaction remain at the high levels achieved in 2009, although there was a comparatively low score on physical access to the Neath Mechanics Institute, which at 69% stands out as a blip from the otherwise high scores. 8
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
Percentage of correspondents who rated the Service as ‘good’ or ‘very good’
Swansea score
Neath score
UK average
Pre-visit information (telephone) Pre-visit information (printed materials) Website Opening hours Physical access to and in the building
97% 95% 93% 95% 98%
100% 100% 100% 98% 69%
93% 90% 84% 83% 93%
Visitor facilities Catalogues and guides (including online guides) Document delivery Microfilm and fiche viewing facilities
99% 97% 98% 91%
90% 100% 94% 97%
88% 86% 91% 84%
Copy services On site computer facilities Quality and appropriateness of the staff’s advice Helpfulness and friendliness of the staff
97% 97% 97% 98%
98% 98% 100% 100%
81% 88% 94% 95%
The archive’s service overall
98%
100%
96%
Assisting TV and radio programme researchers is a standard but infrequent part of our work. However one week in August 2011 saw a sudden rush of activity. On 10 August, television and radio comedian Steve Punt visited the Archives in Swansea Civic Centre to record for a programme, ‘Punt P.I.’, about the eccentric inventor Harry Grindell Matthews, which was aired on 10 September on BBC Radio 4. In the same week we were approached by ITV seeking images of cockle pickers for a series on British food narrated by Adrian Edmondson, ‘Ade in Britain’; also by BBC4 seeking images of the Mumbles train for a programme on British trams; and by ITV Wales for images of the copper industry which were used on a ‘Wales Tonight’ Swansea special on 17 August.
SOME FEEDBACK ON THE SCHOOLS SERVICE IN 2011/12 “I think that the most important aspect of your visit was the enthusiasm and enjoyment which you both showed whilst working with the children.” “It is a very brave thing to do to bring old and unique documents into a school and allow 120 children, in total, to handle them without mishap. You carried this task off beautifully and the children had a very enjoyable and informative experience.” “I think that they exhibited their Thinking Skills very well in some of the questions which they put to you and in the responses which they gave to the questions which you put to them!” (Grange School, West Cross, Swansea)
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Staff changes
A significant change occurred at the start of the year as part of a planned series of measures introduced by both parent authorities to reduce the 2011/12 joint Archive Service budget by 10%. In April 2011, the joint records management service was dismantled, each parent authority taking responsibility for its own service. The post of Records Manager was deleted from the Archive Service staff structure and the records management support staff were transferred to the authority where they were based. Port Talbot-based Records Assistant Lynwen Davies transferred to Neath Port Talbot Legal Services, while the Swansea records management staff remained part of the Archive Service team if not the joint budget. Records Manager Rosemary Davies was transferred sideways during this process to the vacant post of Senior Archivist, so this exercise was thankfully completed without any need for redeployment outside the Service. The Archive Trainee for 2011/12 is Rhodri Lewis from Swansea, a graduate in History of Cardiff University. Rhodri has secured a place on the postgraduate archives management course at Aberystwyth University for 2012/13. Volunteers during the year have included Sarah Ellis, Lucy Soper, John Curtis, Steffan Dennis, Christine Febbraro, Ashley Jenkins, Andrew Thynne and Vivien Lake. Christine Febbraro has kindly contributed an article to this report about a project she took part in this year.
The Archive Trainee Scheme The Archive Service trainee scheme has provided a springboard into the archive profession for 25 graduates since it was introduced in 1994 (some years having seen two trainees in post). Although nationally advertised and highly competed for, many of these trainees have come from West Glamorgan and most have gone on to take up a place on the postgraduate archives management course at Aberystwyth University. Former WGAS Archive Trainees are scattered in jobs across the UK, some of them by now having reached senior positions in the profession. Two of the current Archive Service staff started their careers here as Trainees. I undertook a traineeship at West Glamorgan Archive Service in 2009/10. This gave me a great deal of practical experience that helped ensure a place at Aberystwyth University’s Department of Information Studies during the academic year 2010/11. I am currently a Project Officer at the Ceredigion Archives where I have recently been planning and executing the transfer of the Ceredigion Archives to new premises. (Andrew Westerman from Tywyn in Gwynedd)
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Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
Below is a short interview with one of our volunteers, John Curtis.
When did you start volunteering with the Archive Service? March 2010, just over two years ago.
What were you given to do? When I began volunteering for the Archive Service I was given the task of inputting index cards describing the photographic collection held in the Archives. Once that was completed I did a few smaller projects for the Service until, in February 2011, I began to enter the information contained on index cards describing the 35mm slide collection.
What do you enjoy about your visits? The archive staff and the Archive Trainees always make me feel welcome when I am in the searchroom and they value what I do each week. As I generally volunteer on a Thursday that happens to be the day when several ladies from the Glamorgan Family History Society come to the archives to index names from school registers and other records. I have therefore also got to know some of those people quite well. Also there have been a number of people studying for PhDs using the archives to carry out research for their dissertations. I have found it interesting to learn how their research projects have progressed each week and seeing how much information they often obtain over a few months of research.
What benefits do you think the Archives will derive from your work? Researchers visiting the searchroom were previously not generally told about the slide collection because it had not been indexed and access would have been too difficult to arrange. The collection of both photographs and slides is quite extensive and varied and, once the online catalogue includes them all, it will be a valuable resource for researchers. Although the catalogue will not have the actual image shown on the cards, a researcher will have a very good idea from reading the text whether a photograph or slide is what they wish to see for their research.
What benefits do you get out of being a volunteer? Volunteering for the Archive Service has given me a good understanding of the general duties of an archivist and the varied tasks performed within an archive. At the same time it has made me realise that, although I would probably have enjoyed some of the aspects of an archivist’s duties, my physical disabilities are such that I would not be strong enough or able to do document handling. I think volunteering with the Archive Service has been generally enjoyable for me and I hope what I have done will be helpful and useful for those studying both local history and family history in the months and years to come.
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Acknowledgements
As the final touches were put to this report, it was with great sadness that we learned of the death of local historian Bernard Morris. Among Bernard’s many published books and articles are three works which were published by the Archive Service, The Houses of Singleton (1995), Historic Swansea (2005) and George Orleans Delamotte: A South Wales Sketch Book (2007). We are all the richer for his wide-ranging and scholarly contribution to the history of Swansea and Gower and he will be much missed. One of our most long-standing partnerships is with the Neath Antiquarian Society. As usual, I would like to pay tribute to the Society’s current rota of volunteers, without whom we would be unable to provide a service in Neath: Christine Davies, Robert Davies, Clive Evans, Martin Griffiths, Philip Havard, Josie Henrywood, Annette Jones, Peter Loaring, John Marston, Hywel Rogers, Gloria Rowles and Janet Watkins. In this, as in preceding years, the Ethel and Gwynne Morgan Trust has made a generous donation to the work of the Service, for which we are very grateful. 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 of the work of the Service during the past year. Particular thanks are due to Cllr John Miles who stood down as a Swansea Councillor in 2012 after many years of support for the Archive Service and the work of the Committee.
Kim Collis
West Glamorgan Archives Committee
As at 31 March 2012 Chairman HM Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan D. Byron Lewis Esq. CStJ, FCA Vice-Chairmen City and County of Swansea Councillor K. E. Marsh County Borough of Neath Port Talbot Councillor D. W. Davies Representing the City and County of Swansea Councillor M. E. Gibbs Councillor J. T. Miles JP Councillor H. M. Morris BA, BSc Councillor R. Ll. Smith Representing the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot Councillor D. K. Davies JP Councillor M. L. James Councillor W. E. Morgan BSc Councillor J. Rogers BEM, JP
West Glamorgan County Archivist May 2012
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
This report has been printed on 100% recycled paper and is distributed to a selected mailing list. It is published online in English and Welsh at www.swansea.gov.uk/westglamorganarchives
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Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Director of Finance and Corporate Services D. W. Davies BSc, IPFA Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
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West Glamorgan Archive Service
‘Try Allin’s’: an invitation to reflect on a Neath commercial stalwart’s story
STAFF As at 31 March 2012 West Glamorgan Archives Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road, Swansea 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.......................................................................................Rhodri Lewis BA Production Assistant .......................................................................Anne-Marie Gay MA Family History Centre Supervisor ...............................................Elizabeth Belcham MA Archives Reception Assistant.........................................................Rebecca Shields BA Office Manager..........................................................................Don Rodgers MA, PGCE
Neath Antiquarian Society Archives Neath Mechanics Institute, 4 Church Place, Neath Tel. (01639) 620139 Archivist .....................................................................................Michael Phelps BA, DAA Supervisor ....................................................................................................Liza Osborne
Records Management Service (City and County of Swansea) Records Officer......................................................................Andrew Brown MSc (Econ) Records Assistant .........................................................................................Linda Jones
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Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
Richard Allin (centre) with his sons Richie (left) and Tommy (right), and grandsons Richard (left) and Norman (right), c.1927 (NAS/Ph/55/3/6) During the summer of 1969 British troops were deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland as rioting escalated in the Province, Glamorgan County Cricket Club was in the process of securing a 2nd county championship title, the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales, took place within the walls of Caernarfon Castle, entertainer Judy Garland was found dead at her London home, Muammar Gaddafi seized power in Libya ousting King Idris I in a coup, Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission, the Queen granted city status to Swansea, the Beatles were photographed on the zebra crossing near to the entrance to the Abbey Road studios in London for the cover of their Abbey Road album, Swansea City Football Club faced a season in the English Fourth Division…and Allin’s grocery business at 10 Wind Street in the town of Neath was about to close for the last time. Richard Allin and Sons Limited was one of a number of family grocery enterprises whose names were so well known in Neath for decades. Richard had been born in 1858 in the Devon parish of Shebbear, son of William and Mary Jane Yeo Allin. William, a miller, died when Richard was a boy and within a few years of this Mary and her family had crossed the Bristol Channel (in their case in a coal boat bound for Neath Abbey) to make a new life in South Wales, like so many other Devonians before and since. The Allins initially stayed with the Hunkin family in Neath and had established themselves at 16 Briton Ferry Road by the time of the 1871 census, close to the residence of Samuel Hunkin, a butcher, from Black Torrington in Devon. Richard Allin at this time was employed as an Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
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errand boy and gained his first experience of the grocery business with Gregory and Phillips of Neath. By 1881 he was boarding at 6 Castle Square, Swansea, the premises of Taylor and Company’s grocery, where he worked as an assistant. He subsequently became manager of the store and lived in Gorse Lane, near the Saint Helen’s ground, with his wife Annie and their children. Having received a thorough grounding in his trade and appreciating what was required to make a success of it, Richard Allin was now prepared to change from being an employee to a proprietor. In November 1891 he took over premises in Wind Street, Neath, and there he and his wife sought to establish Allin’s Stores, working, to quote a celebratory booklet about the firm, ‘from early morning to late at night, to give the best service to their customers, who at first were very few indeed.’ However the business grew steadily and assistants were employed. After initially living on the premises, the family settled at 11 Gnoll Avenue, Neath. Several of the couple’s children, including Bessie Agnes, Violet, Richie, Tommy and John Redvers became involved with the enterprise. The store was open from 8am to 11pm, so all contributions were welcome. Even as youngsters the boys might help by taking grocery orders on small hand or sack trucks to parts of the town, the truck having been oiled in readiness for their journey after school. The grocery business at that time was of course so very different from today. The skill of packing items such as butter, which would arrive at the shop in hundredweight kegs, or sugar, which would come in two hundredweight sacks, had to be acquired by the staff. Coffee beans were purchased to be ground by hand on the premises. Tea was delivered in large chests and then blended; the family created their own Allin’s blend which they packaged and labelled, and which gained a reputation. Cheese, weighing up to 90 pounds a time, would be cut up in sections for display in store. An appealing display of items for sale was always considered to be of great importance. Dexterity in manual handling as well as mental arithmetic was vital for employees. The range of items on offer increased as time went by, and a strong trade in bacon was developed. Bacon would arrive from Bristol by train or from Ireland having been shipped to Swansea. Supplies of clotted cream and honey were sent up from Devon. Good relationships were forged with supplying firms like Bryant and May Ltd, the Imperial Tobacco Company, the Mazawattee Tea Company and Spillers Ltd. The key to the success of Allin’s Stores was quality, both in the goods and produce supplied, and in the service to customers, whether they had placed their order in person, or by letter or note. Residents taking their carriages to Wind Street would find Richard Allin coming out to greet them, opening their carriage door and escorting them inside; orders were taken and prepared while customers waited, sitting on chairs provided. The business secured the custom of a number of prominent citizens in the locality, such as Frederick W Gibbins of Garthmor, J E Moore-Gwyn of Dyffryn, Sir Griffith Thomas of Cwrt Herbert, Colonel J E Vaughan of Rheola and Godfrey Williams of Aberpergwm. A delivery service involving four horse and cart drivers was established which covered Aberdulais, the Afan Valley, Briton Ferry, Cadoxton, Clyne, Cwmgwrach, Glynneath, Melincourt, Pontneathvaughan, Resolven, Skewen and Tonna. Richard Allin was always ready to make changes when he felt they were necessary for his business to prosper, such as from horse-drawn to motor transport deliveries. Machines for grinding coffee and slicing bacon were introduced to the store, and the conversion from gas to electric lighting was promptly made. Richard Allin was an early subscriber to the National Telephone Company. However 16
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he was also conscious of the need for co-operation between those in the trade, and was a founder and president of the Neath and District Grocers Association, and president of the South Wales Grocers Association. The sound training which employees received meant that they were well equipped for the day they might choose to strike out on their own, just as their employer had done before them. Local grocers who did this, with the blessing of Richard Allin, included Thomas G Ball of Windsor Road, Ben Davies of Bridge Street, and John H Moule, Old Market Street. The size of the business was increased by catering connections with hospitals and schools. The firm worked with the Divisional Food Office in Cardiff and Glamorgan County Council to provide food to public institutions during the Second World War, also serving as a store for commodities like flour, in case supplies from Swansea were cut off. In 1933 the name of Richard Allin and Sons Limited had been adopted for the firm and, from this time until his death on 24 April 1937, Richard Allin was able to spend more time enjoying his leisure, attending cricket matches and the opera, playing bowls and visiting family members at Ammanford, Neath and Swansea. The national probate listings record the total of his effects as £9,619 11s. The business continued in family hands and by 1969 was being run by Mrs Mary E Allin, widow of John Redvers Allin, with her daughters Mrs Elizabeth Nicholls and Miss June Ashton Allin. Faced with the increasing difficulties of operating a concern such as this in the changing commercial times, Mrs Allin commented: ‘We are not able to take on contracts as before; we have not the men. We women cannot be expected to man-handle the heavy packages. Elizabeth now has family responsibilities. Trade is changing so rapidly, and prices going up, with quality coming down. We feel that it is best to close now.’ The slogan ‘Try Allin’s’ would be used no more in Neath and its surrounding district. No longer could people feel that if they wanted it, Allin’s Stores would have it or would soon be able to get it for them. But the fact that they had thought this for so many years showed the central place the business had occupied in the life of the town.
Michael Phelps Archivist West Glamorgan Archive Service
Archives Records held at Neath Antiquarian Society Archives: Oral history recordings (now transferred to CD by the Society and available for research) Subjects covered include Allin’s Stores; Giant’s Grave in the early twentieth century; life in service at Gnoll House; Neath Fair in the 1920s; the development of coal mining in the upper Afan Valley; and the Tennant Canal.
Advertisement for Allin’s Stores, c.1910 (NAS X 10/5)
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Swansea through the Decades: a volunteer project
insight into that time period can be gained. It is a very personal experience looking at a photograph – many emotions might come into play: nostalgia, happiness, regret or sorrow, and sometimes even indifference. Images of a non-personal nature might serve only to supply detail, to supplement the written word or provide unique information in the place of written text. The winning photograph featured, as chosen by the volunteers, shows Wind Street around 1879 looking towards Castle Square. ‘Island House’, the building in the centre of the image, had many functions. Originally the building was used by local butchers and farmers to sell their produce. By 1880 permission was granted to demolish the building in order for that section of Wind Street to be widened. Records show that the Mackworth Hotel was a well established family and commercial business in the 19th century. It was an important stopping-off point for the Royal Mail and commercial coaches. The coach to the right of the photograph, rather like a modern taxi or minibus, displays a destination board ‘to all the hotels’. The Mackworth hotel continued to serve the local community well until the late 1890s when a compulsory purchase order by the government of the day necessitated the owners to relocate to High Street. After demolition of the building, the New Post Office was built on the site in 1901. The photographer of the time performed an important role when he committed to film the images of these historical buildings and thus preserved something of them for future generations. Individuals are drawn to images for different reasons. An older photograph might, for example, seem more intriguing because the scene is far removed from our modern way of living. I was personally drawn to this particular image of Wind Street because of the richness of the details portrayed: other people will be drawn to different aspects of the scene. Looking at such a photograph today, as our eyes fall on a very unfamiliar scene, we are prompted to ask ourselves “What must it really have been like on that particular day?” ‘Swansea through the Decades’ is an ongoing volunteer reminiscence project sponsored jointly by Swansea Central Library and West Glamorgan Archive Service which started in September 2011. It was awarded a CyMAL grant in the summer of 2011 as part of a programme to create new content for the website People’s Collection Wales. A team of a dozen volunteers chose and digitised 100 historical images of Swansea from the collections of the Central Library and the Archives, the volunteer having to write a few words why they chose each picture and what that picture meant to them. The 100 photographs ranged from late Victorian times to the 1970s and were arranged into decades before being mounted on the website. The above picture of Wind Street received the most votes. One of the volunteers was Christine Febbraro, who writes here about the project. Taking part in the project has been an immensely rewarding and enlightening experience. As a nonnative of Swansea, it has been fascinating to see the ever-changing face of the city through photographic images. The Central Library and Archives hold a vast collection of photographs. Many images testify to Swansea’s industrial past, but many are of a more personal nature, moments which were captured on photographic film of special events and of people going about their everyday lives. A photograph can evoke diverse emotions in different kinds of people. A memory, seemingly forgotten, is suddenly fresh and vivid in all its detail. The observer of the image is magically transported back in time, re-living an experience or just remembering how things were and maybe how times have changed. Sometimes the image records a time in the distant past and so valuable 18
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Wind Street has always been one of the main arteries of the city. Today, while some of the original functions of the street have been retained, ever increasing numbers crowd onto the street in the evenings and weekends to sample the local bars and restaurants before moving on to other venues in the city. The modern-day reputation of Wind Street can be far reaching! The banks that once served the commercial and business residents are long gone, only the names above some of the more elegant wine bars testify to the area’s financial past. A photographic image remains a powerful tool in reaching out to all types of people and encouraging contemplation. Now the results of the project have gone live on the website People’s Collection Wales, visitors to the site are able to reminisce and leave their own recollections and memories, adding enrichment to our understanding of what it was really like to live in the past! Christine Febbraro Volunteer West Glamorgan Archive Service The results of the project can be seen online at http://www.peoplescollectionwales.co.uk/User/swanthrdecades Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
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Appendix 1: Depositors and Donors
Appendix 2: Accessions of Archives, 2011-2012
The Archive Service is grateful to the following individuals and organisations who have placed local and historical records in its care during the twelve-month period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012.
The archives listed below have been received by gift, deposit, transfer or purchase during the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012. Not all items are available for consultation immediately and certain items are held on restricted access.
A Ace; J Algar; W Arnold; Dr R Austin; Revd K Baldwin; Dr B Blain; A Blethyn; R Bodenham; N Bowen-Morris; P Bowyer; E Broady; Mrs N Brooker; A Chesterfield; J Clark; Mrs M Clough; Dr N Cohen; Mrs W Cope; Mr N Cormack; Revd M Cox; Mrs B Davies; Mrs E Davies; J Davies; P Davies; S de Winter; C Ellis; Ms M Fabb; Revd G Fisher; Mrs M Giddings; Ms J Godding; P Goodall; Revd G Green; Revd D Griffiths; Mrs I Griffiths; Ms J Griffiths; M Griffiths; Ms J Gruffudd; P Hall; E Harris; Ms S Harris; M Hill; W Holley; T Hopkins; Ms D Howells; Ms E Hughes; G Hughes; C James; C Jenkins; Ms P Jenkins; Ms D Jones; J Jones; M Jones; Mrs A Kampen; R King; R Kneath; A Lewis; B Lewis; D Lewis; J Lewis; Revd B Lodwick; Ms A Long; S Luke; G Maggs; Mrs P Mallett; D Michael; Ms N Morgan; Mrs P Morgan; Ms J Morris; R Morris; M Norman; Ms D Phillips; Dr V Phillips; Prof. N Pope; Mrs L Powell; C Reed; Ms S Rewbridge; J Richards; G Roberts; Mrs W Roberts; A G Robins; P Rogers; I Rogerson; Ms C Stevens; E Stradling; Mrs J Taylor; Ms C Taylor; D Thomas; G Thomas; L Thomas; T Thomas; Ms W Thomas; Mrs E Thompson; M Thompson; P Tillotson; L Toft; K Tucker; Dr M Waymark; K Williams; N Williams; Mrs T Williams; Revd L Woollacott; J Wright; Miss J Wykes Birchgrove School, Swansea; Bishopston Community Council; Blaenhonddan Community Council; Bristol Channel Yacht Club; Ceredigion Archives; Coedffranc Community Council; Friends of Blaengwynfi Library Reading Group; Garnswllt Welfare Association; Glais Primary School; Glamorgan Archives; Gorseinon parish; Graig Infants School; Gwent Archives; Killay Community Council; Llangennith, Llanmadoc and Cheriton Community Council; Llangiwg parish; Longfields Association; Mynyddbach Chapel, Swansea; Neath Port Talbot Methodist Circuit; Neath YMCA; Oystermouth Historical Association; Pennard Community Council; Pennard parish; Pen-y-bryn School, Swansea; Pontardawe Town Council; Resolven Community Council; Soar Maes yr Haf Welsh Independent Church; South Wales Baptist Association; South Wales Police Authority; St Helens Primary School, Swansea; Strick and Bellingham solicitors, Swansea; Swansea Bay Port Health Authority; Swansea St Gabriel parish; The Penllergare Trust; Waun Wen School, Swansea
PUBLIC RECORDS SHRIEVALTY Inauguration of Mrs Susan Waller Thomas as High Sheriff of West Glamorgan: Warrant and Declaration, 19th April 2011 (H/S W) POLICE AND FIRE AUTHORITY South Wales Police Authority: minutes, 2009-2011 (D/D SWPA 32/4-5) Swansea Constabulary personnel files and miscellaneous papers, 20th century HOSPITALS AND HEALTH Stouthall Maternity Hospital: register of cases, 1944-1951 (with gaps); Guy's Hospital Nurses' League Register, 1944-1951 (D/D H/Sto 45) OTHER PUBLIC RECORDS Swansea Prison: newscutting book, 1959-1963; Prison Governor's Handbook, 1969; Commissioner's minute book, 1935-2003 (D/D PRO/HMP 18/1-3) National Coal Board: Garngoch, Daren and Torclawd Collieries, plans, early 20th cent (D/D PRO/HSE 104-107)
RECORDS OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND PREDECESSOR AUTHORITIES UNITARY AUTHORITIES Neath Port Talbot County Borough ‘Modernising Local Government: A New Democracy Plan for Neath Port Talbot’, May 1999 (CB/NPT X 48) Electoral register, 2012 Review of Electoral Arrangements: Draft Proposals, (CB/NPT X 49) City and County of Swansea Electoral Register, 2012 (CC/S RE 32-33) County Borough of Swansea: Replanning and Reconstruction of Swansea town centre, preliminary rough sketches, by Ernest Morgan (Swansea Borough Architect), 1950s (B/S) Draft Scheme for Re-Planning and Re-Development of the Central Town Area: Plan and explanatory notes, 1943 (D/D Z 168)
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DISTRICT COUNCILS
Oystermouth Secondary Modern School: photographs, 1950s-1960s (D/D Z 862/1-10)
Pontardawe Rural District Council: Medical Officer of Health reports 1943, 1946, 1948
Pen-y-bryn Special School, Swansea: log books, c.1950s-1980s Resolven Infants School: admission register, 1878-1921 (E/N 23/3/1)
POOR LAW UNIONS Gower Poor Law Union: Overseer's account book for Port Eynon parish, 1890-1910 (U/G 37) Pontardawe Poor Law Union: vaccination registers, 1880-1896 CIVIL PARISH/COMMUNITY COUNCILS Bishopston Community Council: minutes, 1992-2010 (P/103/5/1-19) Blaenhonddan Community Council: minutes, 1950-1998 (P/245/5-19) Coedffranc Community Council: minutes, 2000-2009 (P/220/35-43) Killay Community Council: minutes, 1996-2007 (P/307/4-7) Llangennith, Llanmadoc and Cheriton Community Council: minutes, 2008-2009 (P/109/21)
St Helens Primary School, Swansea: log books: Girls, 1874-1892; 1904-1969, Boys, 1874-1970, Infants, 1886-1978, Primary, 1971-1992; admission registers: Under 5s, 1945-1948, Infants, 19261976, Juniors, 1947-1997, Boys 1922-1946; attendance registers: 1960; 1996; correspondence, 1900s-1970s; Montessori lectures books 1 and 2, 1947-1948, 1974-1997 (E/S 25) Skewen Girls School: admission register, 1875-1893; summary attendance register, 1875-1891 (E/N 30) Swansea Grammar School: School Magazines, 1918-1923 Waun Wen School: admission register, 1964-1993; punishment book, 1927-1938; inventory, 19761990; memorandum on closure of and exclusion from school, 1927; Board of Education Public Elementary Schools returns for the year, 1912-1939; circulars, 1919-1942 including The Position of Schools in the event of Invasion and Waste Paper Salvage, 1942; photograph, 1912-1993; DVD containing interviews with members of the local community, 2012 (E/S 31)
Llangiwg Community Council: minutes, 1977-1984 (P/59/18) Pennard Community Council: copy of burial register for Community Council burial ground, 19502011 (P/117/7/7) Pontardawe Town Council: minutes, 2001-2010 Resolven Community Council: minutes, 2000-2004 (P/214/19) Papers relating to the Rhyndwyclydach Parish Council, Forge Fach and the Clydach Swimming Baths, 20th century
EDUCATION RECORDS Coedffranc Council School: photograph of pupils, 1911 (E/N 10/2/1) Creunant School: Postcard of the New Council School at Creunant, 1912 (E/N 11/5/1)
ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH RECORDS Gorseinon: parish magazines, 2010 (P/305/CW/239) Pennard: marriage registers, PCC minutes, churchwardens' accounts, annual reports and accounts, photographs, graveyard surveys, copies of the Gower Church Magazine, Mother's Union Journal and Church Monthly magazine, 20th-21st century (P/117/CW/32-113; N/MUJ and N/CM) Llangiwg: banns register and choir account book from St Mary's, Ynysmeudwy, 1926-2010 (P/59/CW/118-119) Swansea St Gabriel: annual reports, parish magazines and service register, 2004-2011 (P/319/CW/131-137) Swansea St Mark: photographs taken by Gareth Jenkins of Gwalia Housing of the church prior to demolition, 2011 (P/322/CW/49-59)
Glais Primary School: 7 log books and 4 admission registers, (E/W 44/1/1-7; E/W 44/2/1-4) Graig Infants School: Admission registers; book of memories; Log books, Logbooks, photographs, press releases, admission registers, 1970s-2011 (E/S 14)
NONCONFORMIST RECORDS
The Nisian (Neath Grammar School for Boys) magazines, 1941-1954; various pamphlets and brochures relating to the West Glamorgan area, 1911-2002 (D/D Z 368/19-41)
Baptist West Wales English Baptist Association: minutes of executive and conference meetings, 1939-1994; reports for Annual Assemblies, 1970-1988; Home Mission Fund annual report, 1983; directories for Annual Assemblies, 1939-1994 (D/D Bap/W 1/3-4/3)
Research papers relating to John William Cadwalladr, former headmaster of Oxford Street School, Swansea, 2011 (D/D Z 166/92)
Pantygwydr Baptist Church Swansea, sewing class, 1934; Brynmill Brotherhood and Sisterhood, 1930; Memorial Baptist Chapel Sunday School, c.1910-1934 (D/D Z 817/2-4)
Mayhill School: log book; school registers, ephemera and photographs, c 1949-1980s
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Cymdeithas Hanes Bedyddwyr Cymru: Trafodion, 1928
Churches' Broadcasting Council: administrative records, 1975-2008 (D/D CBC 42-44)
Calvinistic Methodist
Coedffranc Salvage War Comforts and Presentation Fund register, 1946 (includes names of servicemen and service numbers); Ordnance Survey plan showing railway network around Swansea, c 19th century; Lôn-las and Brithdir Estates sale catalogues with plans, 19th-20th centuries (D/D An 7/1-4)
Gorffwysfa Chapel, Skewen: annual reports, 1980s-1990s (D/D CM 19/11/26-19/12/1) Methodist Aberavon Methodist Circuit: minutes (D/D Wes/A 91-109) Neath Port Talbot Methodist Circuit: Cradle Roll register; United Methodist Souvenir Chronicles; The Methodist Year Book, 1929-1977 (D/D Wes/N); Briton Ferry and Aberavon circuit register of baptisms, 1876-1962; Port Talbot Wesleyan Methodist Chapel baptism register, 1897-1956; Aberavon Circuit baptism register, 1883-1964; Wesley Hall, Port Talbot baptism register, 1956-2001; miscellaneous documents relating to Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Port Talbot and Cwmavon Church Council; brass plaque, 19th and 20th centuries (D/D Wes/A and D/D Wes/N) Welsh Independent
Programmes and other ephemera relating to Côr Meibion Aberafan, Swansea Grand Theatre and Swansea Festival, 20th century (D/D Z 114) Cwmtawe Heritage Collection: plans, strategies, studies, reports including photographs relating to canals and industry in the Ystalyfera-Ystradgynlais area, 1875-2007 Cymdeithas y Ddrama Gymraeg Abertawe: minutes, financial records, correspondence and photographs, 1925-1962 (D/D CDG 1/1-5/13) Garnswllt Welfare Association: minutes, accounts and social committee books, 1946-2010 (D/D GWA 1/1-2/1)
Tabernacl Newydd Independent Chapel, Port Talbot: church magazine, 1908 (D/D Ind 44/3a)
Records of Hafod Brotherhood AFC, 20th century
Programmes for events at Siloam Chapel, Pentre Estyll, 1953 (D/D An 8/1-2)
Longfields Association: minutes, reports, financial records, photographs, 20th-21st centuries (D/D LA)
Hope Congregational Chapel, Pontarddulais: Photocopies of conveyance and trust deeds, 19321935 (D/D Ind 45/1-2) Soar Maes yr Haf Welsh Independent Church, Neath: ‘Ar y Cledrau’ quarterly church magazine, 20102011 (D/D Ind 2)
Neath Round Table: annual handover dinner, order of proceedings, 2005; Neath Round Table 50th Charter Dinner, 2005; Mumbles Beer Festival programme, 2005 (D/D Z 873/1-3) Neath YMCA: annual report, 2011 (D/D YMCA/N 2) Oystermouth Castle Lodge of Oddfellows: notices of AGM and Half Yearly Meeting, 1911-1912 (D/D Z 287/14-16)
Oriel yr Annybynwyr Cymreig (Photograph gallery of Welsh Independent ministers), 1914 (D/D Z 857/1) Penllergare Trust: report and accounts, 2010-2011 (D/D PT 37) Mynyddbach Chapel, Swansea: title deeds and trust deeds, 1797-2011 (D/D Ind 24/54) General Chapel histories, 1963-2005; annual report 2002/3, inventory of contents and historical notes, Philadelphia Chapel, Morriston, 2002-2003; programmes for special services, 1999-2002; historical notes on St Margaret’s, Crynant, 2001; notes on the Rev. M H Edwards of London, 1942-1944; certificate of Hugh Owen Jones Bachelor of Divinity, 1934; serviceman’s registration card Calvinistic Methodist Church of Wales, Second World War; wedding photograph of Edwin Lewis, 1936; photograph of departure of Rev. J Fardre James for Australia, Swansea High Street Station, 1958 (D/D Z 576/135-143)
Swansea and District National Eisteddfod: minutes of Loughor Appeal Committee, 2004-2011 (D/D Eis 3/1-2) West Glamorgan Pre-retirement Council: minutes, bank statements, correspondence, sample courses and contracts, 1979-2011 (D/D WGPRC 1-7)
ESTATE AND LEGAL PAPERS Pre-registration title deeds relating to properties on Vernon Street, Hafod, Swansea, 1867-1934 (D/D Z 871) Pre-registration deeds of 100 Eversley Road, Sketty, 1888-1975 (D/D Z 867/1), 59-64 Odo Street, Hafod, 1905-1926 (D/D Z 863/1)
SOCIETIES, ASSOCIATIONS AND THE ARTS
Records relating to 93 Talbot Road, Port Talbot, 1933-2006 (D/D Z 841/1)
Records relating to the Birchgrove and Heol-las Comforts Fund during the Second World War, including payments register, accounts and photographs, 1940s (D/D Z 851/1-13)
Old deeds relating to the William Martin Estate (Ynystawe Estate), c. 1855-1963
Bristol Channel Yacht Club: minute book, 1875-1881 (D/D BCYC 1/1b)
Neath Abbey estate: facsimile marriage settlements of Gruffudd Rice and Katherine Hoby, and of Edward Cressett and Albinia Rice, 17th-18th centuries (D/D Z 684/6-7)
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INDUSTRIAL, MARITIME AND RAILWAY RECORDS
PERSONAL PAPERS
Sales particulars for Main Colliery, Skewen, n.d.
Papers relating to G. Johnson and the experimentation in wireless telegraphy, 1920s (D/D Z 838/1)
Welsh Midlands Railway plan, 19th century
Letterheads re Davies Ironmongers, Pontardawe; World War II certificates and ration book; OS maps annotated with info re. coal workings in Neath area; Highway plan re. 4071, 20th century; scrapbook of documents and ephemera around George Ernest Taylor (1873-1958) founder of Gower Vanguard Motor Co. Ltd. and pioneer of buses in Gower, (D/D Z 679/12/1-4)
Photographs and certificates relating to Albert Ace's Cycle shop, c.1920s-1950s Plans, minute book, certificates, correspondence, and other papers relating to various cement companies, 1870s-1920s (D/D Z 868/1-60) Ynisci Colliery (Messrs Darren Coal Co.), Ystradgynlais: account book, 1896-1897 (D/D Z) Swansea Bay Port Health Authority: miscellaneous records including Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot arrivals register, inspection of food register, register of nuisances, register of sickness, register of rat destruction, c.1923-1990
In memoriam certificates for Major Brinley Lewis who died fighting in the First World War, 1917 (D/D Z 842/1-3) Papers of Maurice Broady of Swansea (1926-2010) relating to his research into the history of the Celtic Stained Glass Studios, Swansea, c.1945-2002 (D/D MB) Facsimiles of records relating to Alphonse Kampen and his son Willie Kampen from Antwerp, Belgium, who came to Swansea as a translator, 1914-1919 (D/D Z 843)
Swansea Bay Port Health Authority: records relating to the control of smallpox, 1960s Swansea Co-operative Congress souvenir brochure 1917; TUC souvenir brochure 1928; minutes of Swansea Central Dry Docks Limited, c. 1903, c. 1903-1928 (D/D Z 866/1)
PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED WORKS ON LOCAL HISTORY Published histories of chapels and churches in West Glamorgan; plan of historic Swansea by W. C. Rogers; orders of services for local churches, 20th century (D/D Z 769/1-4) A History of the Port Health Service in Swansea Bay, 1873-2011 The Letters - my reward and Kerry's Children by Ellen Kerry Davis, c.2002 (D/D Z 859) Officers' Tour (Illustrated), 10 May 1945 by T. E. Stradling (a sequel to Swansea: South Wales, Strands of World War II Volumes 1-3), 2007 (D/D Z 338/46) Swansea and Port Talbot Docks website photographs and articles, 19th-20th century
REMINISCENCE AND ORAL HISTORY The Friends of Blaengwynfi Library Reading Group: oral histories relating to Blaengwynfi, and copies of documents relating to Blaengwynfi Library, 2012 (T 29)
Bundle of ‘Ein Cyngor’ magazines; newspaper cuttings relating to Weavers Mill, 1980s; Location plan of Tinplate Works of South Wales, 1960s-1980s Papers relating to Colonel Frank Stanley Morgan, 1920s-1980s (D/D EH 81/1-5) Records relating to John Glyn Rees of 4 Richmond Villas, Swansea (D/D EH 82/5-8) Presentation Certificate to David J Proctor for services as Secretary to Siloam Tent of Rechabites, Cwmbwrla, Swansea, 1915 (D/D Z) Diaries and papers relating to Joan Ellis, 1954-2011 (D/D EH 80/1-9) Diary of Dorothy Kirkman of Sketty, recording wartime events in the area, 1941 (D/D Z 865/1) Photographs of samplers made in Margam by the David family of Crickwellt, Margam, and background notes, 1840s (D/D Z 671/3-7) Maps, photographs, business histories, 1860-1990 Photographs of Pontardawe, Ynysmeudwy and Ystalyfera areas, early 1900s-1994 (D/D Z 80) Letter from George Pengree to a Mr Mathewman of Sheffield, 1789 (D/D Z 852/1-2) Sales particulars; photographs; letters and poetry of Ethel Rosate Lunn; Pennard Carnival; Transcripts of Bible College Wales documents; notes on the History of Oystermouth; slides, 1960s-2000s (D/D Z 166/93-105)
Recordings collected for the BBC Radio Wales programme ‘What makes a city?’ 2011 Account of the sinking of HMS Repulse in 1941 and the service of Bryn Balsdon of Mumbles, 2011 (D/D Z 854/1) ‘War Memories’ by Malcolm J. Hill, a typescript personal reminiscence of Neath and Briton Ferry during the Second World War, c. 2011 (D/D Z 368/42) 26
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PICTORIAL AND FILM DVDs: interview with John Foster RAF stationed at Fairwood during the Second World War, and with Alexander Imlach of Swansea Home Guard, 2011 (D/D Z 717/22-23) DVD of interview with Prof. Vivian Pope in which he gives an account of his career, c.2010 (D/D NVP 56) Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012
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DVD showing footage of traffic on Carmarthen Road, Waun Wen, 1960s (D/D Z 840/1) ‘What Became of Goat Street’ CD-ROM, 2011 (D/D Z 837/1) DVD covering the early years of flight on Gower - 1911 -1951, 2011 (D/D Z 717/22) Colour slides of Gower, and Swansea china [1950s] taken by Alwyn Geoffrey Thompson Photograph of Aberavon Town railway station, c.1910 Photographs of Gorseinon, Loughor, Pontarddulais and Penllergaer, 1930s-2000s Images from ‘The History of Chess in Wales’, n.d. (D/D Z 112/2) Postcards of Sketty Church, 1910 Photographs of Ynysmeudwy-uchaf farm, 1933; Slides of Velindre tinplate works, 1995; Photographs of Frederick Reed 1953-1960; Photographs of Capital Cinema, Ystalyfera, 1930; Photograph of Main Road, Ystalyfera, 1930; Bundle of photographs of an archaeological excavation at Ystalyfera Ironworks, 2011; Bundle of plans (n.d.) and photographs (1980s) of Swansea Canal, 1930-2011 Edwardian Postcard of Mumbles Train at St. Helens, c.1910 (P/PR/2/3/59) Photograph album of Penllergare House and woods, 1914 (D/D Z 853/1-23) Digital copies of photographs of Swansea docks during the Second World War, c.1942-1945 Photographs of Glynneath and the upper Neath Valley, including the Rheola Aluminium Works, Pontneddfechan Silica Mines and Pontneddfechan Gunpowder Works, 19th-20th century Slides showing the Lower Swansea Valley, c.1983 (D/D Z 844/1) Photographs of the Swansea Canal and associated industries, 20th century Photograph of Port Talbot Docks, 1966 (PPR/81/VI/4/4) Two postcard views of Neath Road, Resolven and Bishopston, c.1910 Photographic print and negative of the Monico Temperance Hotel with notes from Kelly's Trade directory, 20th century Slides of Godre'rgraig landslide, Dec. 1965 (D/D Z 602/9-10) Photographs of march through Swansea by the Royal Welch Fusiliers,1994 (D/D Z 585/12)
MAPS, PLANS AND SURVEYS W. C. Rogers collection: plans (copies) of Swansea Town, Townhill and the lower Swansea Valley (originals in RISW), mid 20th century (D/D WCR/Pl) Survey of Whitford Lighthouse, Gower, 2008 (D/D Z 850/1) Set of negative plans of Patti Pavilion, c.1994 (D/D Z 855/1-14) 28
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2011-2012