A 1930s Swansea photograph album

The Floral Clock in Victoria Park decorated for the Silver Jubilee of King George V, 1935

During the year, a photograph album was transferred from Swansea Libraries to the Archives. The photographs contained in the album show various views of Swansea taken between 1934 and 1939.We see Swansea decorated with illuminations for the 1935 Royal Jubilee and 1937 Coronation. There are also pictures of Gower, Llangyfelach, Gendros and of industrial works.

The photographer whose album this was, George Elfed Jones, was born in Swansea in1910. The 1911 census shows him living at Middle Road, Gendros with his father, a tinplate worker and his mother,occupation given as housewife. He attended University College Swansea where he studied alongside notableWelsh physicist Eddie Bowen and Myrddin Lloyd, librarian and Welsh scholar. The former later went on to play a significant role in the development of radarand the latter became a notable scholar of theWelsh language.

1935: King George V’s Silver Jubilee

The album shows howSwansea celebrated the Silver Jubilee of George V in 1935. The floral clock in Victoria Park was decorated with the phrase ‘Time Flies’ (see picture above) and both Brynmill Lodge and the Patti Pavillion were lit up with strings of light bulbs.

1937: Coronation of King George VI

Just a few years after his father’s Silver Jubilee, in1937 the UnitedKingdom celebrated the Coronation of King George VI and images showhowSwansea was decorated for the occasion.

Swansea’s

Aside

Middle Road, Gendros, the photographer’s home, alsofeatures, as in these views from 1937.

Wealso see views of Llangyfelach and Mynydd Newydd Common as they were in the 1930s.

Mynydd Newydd Common, winter of 1938

Sport

Other photographs include images of a professional tennis tournament held in St.Helen’s in 1939. The tournament was between American players BillTilden and Donald Budge as partof a European Tour.

‘Glorious Gower’, 1938

A few pages are dedicated to what G.Elfed Jones refers to as ‘Glorious Gower’ with images of Tor Bay, Oxwich Point, Caswell Point, Langland, Three Cliffs Bay and Paviland. One of the photographs is noted as being ‘The Swansea Technical College Teachers’ Biology Class Excursion to Oxwich’

In this Coronation year, the album provides an interesting insight into Swansea in the 1930s and in particular how it celebrated some past royal events

Emma Laycock Archivist

Archives

Photograph album created by G. Elfed Jones, 1934-1937 (D/D Z 1142/1)