Annual Report of the County Archivist
Adroddiad Blynyddol Archifydd y Sir
2012-2013 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 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 Swansea SA1 3SN
Front cover: A Royal Navy warship from the Victorian era visiting Swansea, postcard dated 1909 (Accession 4550)
% 01792 636589 westglam.archives@swansea.gov.uk
www.swansea.gov.uk/westglamorganarchives
follow us on twitter @westglamarchive
Connecting people and history
On 12 November 2012 Welsh Government Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage Huw Lewis (centre picture) paid a brief informal visit to West Glamorgan Archives in the company of Julie James AM for Swansea West. As West Glamorgan Archive Service enters its third decade in challenging times, it is salutary to consider the longer view of how much the service has expanded and developed over the last twenty one years from its inception, in the extent of its holdings, the quality of its facilities and the range of its outreach work. This publication looks at some of our achievements over the last year and outlines our plans for taking these forward. Hopefully, it also illustrates our willingness to embrace change and innovation while maintaining our core values as expressed in our mission statement on the inside front cover of this report. Over the last few years, there has been a gradual shift in the focus of our work to increase our level of active engagement with the local community, a lot of this taking the form of participation in
larger projects and much of it funded through challenge grants from Welsh Government. Other developments are from ideas that are homegrown and funded from our core budget. Our schools service started in 2010 and this has gradually expanded to include a number of topics, which are offered to all primary schools in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. During the year we have introduced three new topics for use at Key Stage 2, created a teaching resource for use at the Foundation Phase and worked with the South Wales Miners Museum to create a resource based on the life of a South Wales miner. We have purchased five iPads for use in class with grantfunding from Welsh Government through CyMAL. We have also engaged more directly with schools through the use of Twitter and with teachers through new online resources on their intranet.
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A significant step will take place in 2013/14 when we extend the service to secondary schools at Key Stage 3 and we have been working with Cefn Hengoed School in Swansea to pilot this. We will in the first instance offer modules on the Industrial Revolution and the First World War, with the option of upgrading our module on Swansea in the Tudor period to Key Stage 3. Our work with the First World War module will link to a touring exhibition we are planning for 2014, the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War. We have increased the variety of work our volunteers undertake. Volunteers have been working on indexing oral history recordings, sorting and listing various small collections of photographs and of building development plans. Others have been collecting references in school log books to the First World War and to Victorian childhood diseases, in order to help develop our resources for schools. We are continuing to develop our volunteer programme in order to enhance both our workplan and our volunteers’ job satisfaction.
Archives are all too often thought of as items of cultural interest of value only to the historian. However, they can often be of assistance to local authorities and other organisations in a variety of practical ways. The recent cladding of the Swansea Guildhall clock tower in scaffolding during renovation work was made possible only by reference to a set of original building plans dating from the 1930s which had been deposited in the Archives.
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 Gwent Archives. Over the past few years, ARCW has been developing a major project to digitise the tithe maps of Wales, entitled Cynefin: Mapping Wales’ Sense of Place. The Round 2 application (which had a round 1 pass in 2011) was submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund in March, with the result expected in late June. As part of the overall project, six small local projects are envisaged across Wales. One of these, Exploring Gower’s Ancient Woodland, is a collaboration between West Glamorgan Archive Service, the City and County of Swansea, Swansea Metropolitan University, two Gower schools and several Gower environmental groups including the Gower Society. If successful, project volunteers will use the tithe maps of Gower as a basis for ecological surveys to assess the health of its ancient woodland. 4
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
The work placement helped me develop my skills, learn about the world of work and about the history of Swansea. (Akshet Khanna, pupil at Olchfa School Swansea) As well as working with our volunteers, we have continued to provide training sessions and work experience to school pupils and university students in order to enhance their knowledge and skills. We are currently supporting Swansea University on a number of initiatives to increase students’ employability, including participation in their Key Heritage Skills programme. We have continued to work on upgrading the archive facility in Neath, working with Neath Port Talbot Council and the Neath Antiquarian Society. The archive searchroom there has been re-designed and partly refurbished, and a replacement central heating boiler installed. External works to the stonework have taken place and more are planned, as are further measures to stabilise the strongroom environment. 2013 sees the centenary of the death of Alfred Russel Wallace, the noted British naturalist who, together with Darwin, developed the theory of evolution. He designed the Neath Mechanics Institute, where we and the NAS collections are situated, during the time he lived in the town in the 1840s. An open day is planned for this summer by the NAS to publicise the building and its Wallace connection. On behalf of the City and County of Swansea, the Archive Service manages the enrolment of applicants to be placed on the register of hereditary freemen. In 2011 the Council admitted its first female hereditary freeman and it is pleasing to report that all eleven successful applicants for the hereditary freedom of Swansea in 2012/13 were women. Eight of them were presented with their certificates by the Deputy Lord Mayor in Swansea Civic Centre in October 2012. Deputy Lord Mayor of Swansea Cllr June Stanton presenting certificates of hereditary freedom to eight recent applicants in the Civic Centre on 1 October 2012
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Engaging new audiences
The Service has created a new touring exhibition featuring Neath Abbey, part of which is seen here on display in the ruins of the abbey at an Open Day organised by Cadw on 29 July 2012. The Archive Service is committed, through an energetic outreach programme, to engage as many people as possible with archives and with our shared history, whether or not those people choose to use the service on-site afterwards. We create touring exhibitions on local history, publish and sell books, provide a service to schools, give talks to societies and take part in community events throughout the year. Some of our outreach work is as a project partner in larger projects and worthy of mention here is our supporting role in the Connected Communities project sponsored by Swansea University where, alongside other project partners, we have been assisting local heritage groups in developing ideas for funding bids which would involve the archives either as a project resource or else as a suitable repository for the project output. Below are two of the more interesting and unusual ways in which we have communicated with a wider audience during the year. When asked to contribute to Swansea’s Be Part of It! campaign to celebrate the 2012 London Olympics, the Service decided to create a short YouTube film on the theme of the torch relay which was passing through South Wales on 26 and 27 May. Before the 1908 London Olympics there was no such torch relay but, if there had been, what would the route through Swansea have looked like? Using photographs held in the archives, Assistant County Archivist Andrew Dulley compiled a montage of views from along the torch relay route, the final result mimicking a silent film from the Edwardian era with musical accompaniment. 6
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
Innovative. Cost effective. Attracted press and PR and lots of views! A really excellent marketing execution here – so good that I will use it as an example of how do marketing on a budget in my lecture series. (Judge’s comment, Welsh Libraries Marketing Innovation Awards 2013)
The film soon attracted a good deal of online interest and, by the time the games were under way, it had been viewed on YouTube over 2,300 times in 43 countries, from Albania to New Zealand. In early 2013, it won first prize in the archives category of the Welsh Libraries Marketing Innovation Awards.
Last year we created an exhibition with Welsh Government funding entitled Jewish Refugees in South Wales 1933-1945 and launched it in Swansea as part of the Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration for 2012. This year the exhibition was displayed in the National Assembly for Wales, the Senedd, during the run-up to Holocaust Memorial Day 2013. In the year’s interval, a teacher’s pack based on the exhibition was created with further funding from Welsh Government and this has been offered free to secondary schools across South Wales. Around forty schools in the local authority areas of Bridgend, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Swansea and the Vale of Glamorgan have now received the teaching resource, which includes a recorded interview with Holocaust survivor Ellen Davies, a resident of Swansea. The exhibition ‘Jewish Refugees in South Wales 1933-1945’ was displayed in the Senedd in January 2013 to coincide with UK Holocaust Memorial Day. At a reception hosted by AM Julie Morgan on 24 January 2013, archivist David Morris is seen here talking about our work with schools. Amongst the guests were many members of the south Wales Jewish community.
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Creating Resources for the Foundation Phase
Pupils show awareness of the distinction between present and past in their own and other people’s lives. They show their emerging sense of chronology by using everyday terms about the passing of time and by sequencing a few events and objects. They know and recount episodes form stories about the past. They are beginning to recognise representations of the past, and to ask and find answers to simple questions from sources. They recognise and group items of information to communicate their awareness of the past. (Level 1 attainment target, from ‘History in the National Curriculum for Wales’) During the year, West Glamorgan Archive Service has carried out an exciting Welsh Government-funded project to develop resources for the Foundation Phase in schools, for pupils aged 3-7. Archivist Katie Millien created a CD-ROM containing an image bank of local historic photographs to be downloaded and used by teachers in the classroom The resource is based on the following four topics: Houses and Homes; Transport and Journeys; Jobs and Places of Work; Holidays, Pastimes and Celebrations Each themed resource includes teachers’ notes, timelines and suggested activities, along with a description of the image. To test her work, Katie visited seven schools in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, working with 10 classes and engaging with 265 children aged between 5 and 7. The CDs were sent to all infant and primary schools in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot and placed on the online learning gateways for teachers and education staff of both authorities. As part of the project, she also created a CD which could be used in other schools across Wales, using images sent in by other Welsh local authority record offices. All other local authority archive services in Wales have received a copy of this. It was an absolute pleasure to work with you, the children involved have looked at the timeline and discussed the past. Using the timeline with photos worked well, it helped them to place objects and people into different time periods. The resources are well thought out, and a great benefit to teachers and learners. (Crynallt Infants School)
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Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
Who is using the service? Where our users come from Swansea
55.47%
Neath Port Talbot
11.72%
Rest of Wales
17.29%
England, Scotland & Northern Ireland
13.82%
Republic of Ireland
0.09%
Rest of the World
1.39%
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 2013. 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 residents from the Neath Port Talbot local authority area.
Further information about public use of the Service comes from analysis of an anonymous diversity monitoring form which is issued whenever a researcher applies for a reader’s ticket. 56.5% of our readers who registered in 2012/13 were male and 43.5% were female. The largest age group who registered for a reader’s ticket in 2012/13 was aged 55-64 (29%), the next highest being in order: 65-74 (18%), 45-54 (16%), 35-44 (15%), 22-34 (13%), 75+ (7%) and 14-21 (2%). In comparison to last year’s figure, there has been a sizeable reduction in the percentage figure of the youngest age group, 14-21 year olds, from 9% to 2%. In a question about national identity which allowed more than one box to be ticked, 52% classed themselves as Welsh, 26% classed themselves as British, 19% as English, 0% Scottish and 3% as other, which included Irish and overseas nationalities. Apart from English, 4% put Welsh as their main language and less than 1% another language. 53% said they could not understand any Welsh, 34% could understand some, with 13% able to understand the language. Just 1% was from a non-White background. 8% of our readers registering in 2012/13 considered themselves to have some form of disability.
Senior Archivist Rosemary Davies giving beginner sessions in family history at a ‘Silver Surfers’ event for older people held in the DVLA Morriston on 4 May 2012 Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
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Building and preserving our collections
Staff member Rebecca Shields retrieving a newly-boxed volume from the strongroom shelves 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 and during the year we have renewed the strongroom air conditioning plant, which was around fifteen years old and beginning to occasionally malfunction due to some key parts reaching the end of their life. The new equipment has been set to recycle a greater proportion of the air within the system than the previous plant did, since our maritime position and moist climate provides a continuous challenge. We are improving the preservation of all loose volumes on the strongroom shelves by a programme to box each in custom-made acid-free packaging. In doing this, we are working with the conservation unit at Glamorgan Archives, which possesses the necessary equipment and experience. This work will not only protect against damage to the bindings through their being kept upright on shelves but will also prevent dust building up. We are working together with Archives and Records Council Wales to find an all-Wales solution to the problem of how to best preserve digital material at risk of technological obsolescence and deterioration. 10
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
Conservation work carried out in 2012-2013
36 volumes 325 volumes boxed
How we performed in 2012/13
The number of visits to West Glamorgan Archives during 2012/13 was 9,526. This figure represents a 3% decrease from the 2011/12 figure and is accounted for by a 10% reduction in individual visitors to the archives in Swansea. In contrast, visitor figures in Neath show a healthy 12% increase, as do the other categories of use.
Total members of the public visiting the Archive Service during 2012-2013: 9,526 Including: Swansea Neath Port Talbot Group visits
2012/13 IN NUMBERS 177
5,937 2,441 472 676
313 1,281
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 2011/12. Analysis of the most recent CIPFA statistics available shows that, based on the number of individual visits to use the archives, West Glamorgan Archive Service was the 19th busiest local authority archive service in the UK in that year (down from 17th last year). Within Wales, West Glamorgan once again had by far the highest number of individual reader visits in 2011/12, with figures 59% higher than Gwynedd Archives, the next busiest service. With 9,262 visits in 2011/12, West Glamorgan accounted for 25% of the 36,946 individual visits to local authority archives in Wales in that year.
1,471 1,531 2,147
family history starter sessions reader’s tickets issued letters and emails answered people attending off-site learning events school pupils attending our sessions adults and children attending learning events
10,997
phone calls answered documents issued in our searchrooms using archives on and off-site
26,976
hits on our website
2,948 10,447
During October and November 2012, 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 these surveys are carried out approximately every eighteen months. Levels of customer satisfaction have increased from the already high level achieved at the last survey in June 2011, with a 100% score for both Swansea and Neath on the customer’s overall perception of his or her visit. Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
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Swansea score
Neath score
Pre-visit information (telephone) Pre-visit information (printed materials)
100% 95%
96% 96%
Website Opening hours Physical access to and in the building Visitor facilities Catalogues and guides (including online guides) Document delivery Microfilm and fiche viewing facilities Copy services On site computer facilities Quality and appropriateness of the staff’s advice Helpfulness and friendliness of the staff The archive’s service overall
91% 89% 100% 100% 100% 98% 88% 98% 98% 98% 100% 100%
96% 80% 78% 91% 93% 92% 90% 100% 97% 100% 97% 100%
Percentage of correspondents who rated the Service as ‘good’ or ‘very good’
Staff changes In May 2012, Lorna Crook joined the staff as a part-time Family History Centre Supervisor. Lorna is a keen family historian herself and has previous work experience with Swansea Council. She has written an article for this report, which can be found below. Lorna has been job-sharing the post with Elizabeth Belcham, who will retire in 2013. Elizabeth has provided invaluable assistance to family historians in Swansea for over twenty years, in both West Glamorgan Archives and Swansea Register Office, and is known to many of our regular researchers. We all join in wishing her a long and happy retirement. The Archive Trainee for 2012/13 is Catrin James. Catrin is a BA graduate in Fine Art from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (now Cardiff Metropolitan University). During July, August and September 2012, the Service hosted Mike Richards during part of his traineeship on the HLF-funded Conserving Local Communities Heritage (CLOCH) Project, which is led by Glamorgan Archives and is aimed at recruiting local unemployed men under the age of 30 into the heritage sector. Mike has now secured a permanent post with Swansea Libraries. Volunteers during the year have included Stephanie Basford-Morris, Howard Batey, Sarah Chapman, John Curtis, Steffan Dennis, Christine Febbraro, Ashley Jenkins, Vivien Lake, Kirsty Matthews, Susan McGuire and Heledd Williams. 12
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
Acknowledgements
One of our most long-standing partnerships is with the Neath Antiquarian Society. As usual, I would like to thank the Society’s 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, John Marston, Olive Newton, 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.
Kim Collis West Glamorgan County Archivist May 2013
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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West Glamorgan Archives Committee
As at 31 March 2013 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 J. A. Raynor Councillor K. E. Marsh Councillor C. Thomas JP Councillor P. Meara BA, MSc, DPhil, FRSA Representing the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot Councillor J. Dudley Councillor M. L. James Councillor D. Lewis BSc, Dip Ed 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 14
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
West Glamorgan Archive Service
STAFF As at 31 March 2013 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 ......................................................................................Catrin James BA Production Assistant .......................................................................Anne-Marie Gay MA Family History Centre Supervisor ...............................................Elizabeth Belcham MA Family History Centre Supervisor ...............................................................Lorna Crook Archives Reception Assistant.........................................................Rebecca Shields BA Office Manager......................................................................................Don Rodgers MA
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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The Chidzoys: a Swansea-West Country connection
Among the photographs acquired by the Archive Service during the last year is one which shows members of the Chidzoy family standing outside their business premises at 22 Waterloo Street, Swansea around 1910. Presumably circulated by the Chidzoys as an advertisement for their business, the photograph shows several generations of a confident and successful family. Their surname is such a distinctive and unusual one that we decided to find out where the family originated and how they came to live in South Wales. Although the surname sounds on first acquaintance as though it may have originated overseas, initial web-based research showed that the major concentration of people with this surname and its spelling variations is in north Somerset, and suggested the name derives from a village near Bridgwater which is nowadays spelled Chedzoy. The Chidzoy family which migrated to Swansea can be traced back to the Somerset villages of Enmore, North Curry and North Petherton. On the 1851 census, Anthony Chedzoy, aged 18, was recorded as a lodger and agricultural labourer in the village of North Petherton. He went on to marry Jane Vile in the July quarter of 1857 in Bridgwater registration district, where the surname was recorded as Chedgey. The 1861 census shows the couple (there spelt Chidgey) with three children, Alfred, Joseph and William. Alfred ‘Chedgey’ was the first child born to the couple on 23 December 1857. By the time of the 1871 census, the 13 year-old Alfred had five siblings, all of whom lived with their mother, who was a widow. The young Alfred Chedgey moved from Somerset to Swansea at some stage between 1871 and 1878, where he married Kate Elizabeth Exall, who was born in llfracombe in Devon. The wedding announcement printed in the Cambrian on 2 August 1878 reads, ”July 28, At parish Church, Swansea, 16
Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
Alfred Chidzoy to Kate Elizabeth, daughter of Mr Henry Excell, Swansea.” In the 1881 census return for 1 Florence Street, Neath, Alfred Chidzoy (sic) is described as an insurance agent and the entry shows their first child Alf[red] H is one year old. We do not know how Alfred made the move from insurance agent to greengrocer but various trade directories between 1889 and 1895 show Alfred Chidzoy as a greengrocer at 1405 Neath Road in Hafod, Swansea. By the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved into the town centre to 7 Wassail Place, where they employed a general domestic servant and had eight children. Alfred’s three eldest children are shown helping out with the business: Alfred junior’s and Priscilla’s occupations are given as ‘greengrocer’s assistant’ and Frederick’s is ‘driver of a horse and wagon/cart’. The five youngest children are of school age: William is 13; Edith, 9; Lilly 6; Ernest, 3 and Alice, 1. Living with the family is Kate’s mother, Elizabeth Exall. By the 1911 census some of the Chidzoy children were married and were setting up their own fruit and vegetable businesses. Alfred junior remained at Wassail Square with his wife Ruth and four children (Alfred Henry, 6; Elsie May, 4; Hargrave, 2 and Ernest Graham, 4 months). Frederick had moved to Llanelli and is shown living at Tyfran Gwendraeth with his wife Susannah and daughter Mildred. Trade directories of 1914 show several Swansea branches of Chidzoy & Sons and also Frederick’s stall at Llanelli Market. The businesses proudly advertise their phone numbers: embracing modern technology must have given them an edge over their competitors, enabling them to make deliveries at short notice to larger houses able to afford a phone of their own. Although the 1911 census is the most recent available to us, there is a wealth of other records that show the family as the twentieth century unfolds. If the trade directories imply that the family was doing well, probate records prove it. Alfred Chidzoy senior died on 9 April 1929: his religious leanings are shown in a brief obituary in the Berean Christadelphian News of 1929 (available online). Baptised about 50 years previously, Brother A. H. Chidzoy of St Helens Ecclesia Swansea was said to have taken an active part in the work of the Truth in South Wales. The probate index shows that he left a grand total of £12,924, which was at the time a substantial sum. Coincidentally, on the same page of the probate index is an Anthony John Chidzoy, who died on 8 April 1929 at Castle Green, Taunton, only a few miles from Enmore where Alfred was born. His estate of £2,619 19s 3d was left to Alfred Henry Chidzoy, suggesting he was another family member, possibly a brother of Alfred senior. Historic telephone directories available online are a further source of information: 1941 listings show how the family had further expanded their business: A. Chidzoy and Sons Ltd, Fruit Merchants are registered not only at Waterloo Street, Swansea and in Llanelli Market, but also in Station Road, Port Talbot. On 24 December 1946, Kate Beatrice Chidzoy, widow, John Warlow Exall Chidzoy, wholesale fruit and potato merchant, and Beatrice Mary Gittins renewed their lease of premises in Station Road, Aberavon, from the Great Western Railway Company. Residential numbers are given for Alfred Henry Chidzoy at Winchester House, Sketty Road, while J. W. Chidzoy junior is living at Quantock, Baglan Road, Port Talbot and William J Chidzoy is at Kinfauns, Pen-y-Cae, Port Talbot. 4 November 1943 saw the death of Ruth Chidzoy, the wife of Alfred Henry Chidzoy of 60 Sketty Road, Swansea. Ruth left £296 12s 11d to her widower Alfred Henry. By 1956 the business had spread to Neath: W. J. Chidzoy is listed in the telephone directory as a fruit merchant of Bethany Square Port Talbot, 3 Queen Street Neath and 46 High Street Swansea. It also lists a D. Chidzoy at 60 College House, Llanelli: This is believed to be Douglas Frederick Chidzoy, the grandson of Alfred Chidzoy by his son Frederick, who is still listed as a fruit merchant in Llanelli Market. Hargrave Chidzoy (Alfred Henry's third child) was living at 14 Maple Crescent, Uplands, Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
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Swansea. Other family members listed include John Warlow Exall Chidzoy (known as Wally, who carried his grandmother’s maiden name Exall) living at Penscynor Court, Cilfrew, Neath, and Mrs Kate Beatrice Chidzoy; nÊe Merriman, wife of the William J Chidzoy referred to above. Various family members can be found in the 1975 telephone directory: however, by this date there are no Chidzoy fruit and vegetable businesses listed. So starting from a single photograph it is possible, through searching records available in the Family History Centre, archive searchroom and online, to find out a good deal about the people in the image and how they came to be in Swansea. Devon and Somerset have had a long association with South Wales and, like people before and after him, Alfred Chidzoy made the journey across the Bristol Channel to discover the opportunities for improving his life which industrial South Wales had to offer. Here he made his fortune and fathered a family who became an integral part of the local business community. Lorna Crook Family History Centre Supervisor West Glamorgan Archive Service
Archives Records held at West Glamorgan Archives, Swansea: Photograph of Chidzoy Fruit Stores, Swansea, c.1910 (accession 4537) and Chidzoy banana delivery van in Swansea, 1925 (P/PR/10/4/2). Lease of premises in Station Road Port Talbot to K. B. and J. W. E. Chidzoy and B. M. Gittins, 1946 (RISW/GWR 21)
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Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
Briton Ferry: a lost artist’s viewpoint rediscovered
“Britonferry Ferry”: a pencil sketch from the Delamotte sketch book held in the archives 2012 saw the death of a much respected local historian, Bernard Morris. Over a period of fifteen years, the Archive Service published three books by this author and also several articles in the Annual Reports of the County Archivist. As a small tribute to him, we are reproducing here an excerpt from the last of those three books to be published, ‘George Orleans Delamotte: A South Wales Sketch Book’. The paragraphs below are typical of Bernard Morris’ later writings, a carefully considered analysis of a topographical drawing which draws almost effortlessly upon the knowledge built up from a lifetime’s study of the local area.
“Britonferry Ferry” The scene is observed from an elevated and walled viewpoint, looking south over the ferry and the estuary of the River Neath. Despite the vast changes which have taken place, the view seawards from this location is still recognisable as that in Delamotte’s sketch. He shows the river curving seawards through the low-lying dunes and marshes which fringed the coast from Ogmore to Oystermouth. In mid-stream is the ferry-boat, with its human and animal passengers neatly depicted. On the shore to its left is the distinctive rock outcrop forming the tidal islet shown in other sketches in the album, with Rock House adjacent to it. On the opposite, west, bank is a small steepsided and well-wooded hill, shown before quarrying cut deeply into its sides. Archaeological excavations in 1991 prior to the construction of the M4 bridge revealed traces of occupation of the summit during the ‘Dark Ages’, around 500 A.D. Elsewhere such steep and prominent features are associated with local centres of power during that obscure period and this site – known as ‘Hen Annual Report of the County Archivist 2013-2014
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Gastell’ – may well have been amongst them. It is fortunate that Delamotte recorded it so clearly in its undamaged state. Now the M4 bridge rests on its truncated top. The viewpoint is intriguing. Thomas Baxter’s 1818 watercolour of the same scene appears to have been drawn from the terrace in front of Vernon house (until 1754 known as Briton Ferry House), which also had a stone parapet wall. However, Delamotte’s viewpoint is much higher than Baxter’s and also rather further from the ferry. The stone parapet wall, and the smartly-dressed figures, suggest a deliberately-contrived lookout point on a walk high above the mansion, in the area known now as Shelone Wood. In Delamotte’s time this was thickly wooded, and footpaths still lead around its top through ancient oakwoods. From only one location can the view south be matched to this sketch, at the north end of Shelone Wood hill where a three-sided spur projects to form a small promontory. Curving around its edge can be found still the lowest courses of a wall of native sandstone laid in white lime mortar, likely to be the remains of that same wall drawn by Delamotte nearly two centuries ago. The high woodland paths with the contrived viewpoint overlooking the river echo on a modest scale other, more famous, romantic walks, such as that at Piercefield above the Wye, in an area certainly known to both our artist and his patrons. The artist produced an oil painting from this sketch.
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Near Briton Ferry With no title or other written information on it and no particular features depicted, this is the sort of pleasant rural scene which seemed likely to defy attempts to identify its location. The foreground trees are skilfully drawn, and their general inclination towards the left suggests a prevailing wind from the right. In the valley below them are level fields, divided by post and rail fences rather than hedges or stone walls. Two groups of buildings are shown, one almost hidden near the centre of the valley, and the other on rising ground on its further edge. One of these is a neatly-drawn thatched cottage, with two floors and a frontage formed symmetrically round the main doorway. It has two chimneys, one on each end wall. It is a typical small house of a type likely to have been built in the later part of the eighteenth century or early in the next. Beside it is another building, perhaps an outbuilding, though its central chimney, and the absence of visible evidence for an upper floor, suggests that it is another house or cottage, older than its neighbour and maybe its predecessor. Behind these buildings well-wooded slopes rise steeply. So much for the detail, but where is the subject of the view? The internal evidence of the sketch alone does not help very much. The answer comes from George Delamotte’s series of fine watercolour ‘character’ portraits of men and women from the ‘lower orders’, prepared for his patron, John Rolls of Vernon House, Briton Ferry, mostly in the years just before 1820. One of these is entitled “Rees – the cowman at Briton Ferry”. Rees is shown with a cow and holding his milking bucket, standing in open countryside. If the background looks familiar it is because it has been taken from the untitled pencil sketch shown here, or more precisely, from the left hand half of it. There is no mistaking the main elements: the valley between the hills, the slender tree leaning to the left, the level fields in the valley divided by post and rail fences, and the two groups of buildings. The thatched one has lost its neighbour, but the other features match too well for doubt. Rees was “cowman at Briton Ferry”, so this narrows the search for the location of the scene. The hill immediately north of the site of Vernon House still has some open fields on its top today, as well as the extensive ancient woodland of Shelone Wood. Houses old and new now cover its eastern slope as well as the flat land between it and the hills across the valley. Through that valley runs the road to Neath (the A474) and the Swansea to Paddington railway line. Despite these man-made changes, some work with maps combined with on-site exploration, leaves little room to doubt that Delamotte’s sketch was made looking south-east from near the top of Shelone Hill, and that the rural valley he depicts is the now built-up heart of Briton Ferry. ‘George Orleans Delamotte: A South Wales Sketch Book c.1816-1835’ remains in print and is available for sale in the Archive Service bookshop price £28 or by post through our website. Later this year on October 19th, a memorial volume of Bernard Morris’ writings featuring a selection of his articles written over a period of more than fifty years will be launched at Swansea Museum. ‘The Pleasure of Unravelling Secrets: Contributions to Swansea and Gower History’ is available at a special price of £15 for pre-launch orders and at the launch itself. The Archive Service is contributing and helping to fund the preparation of this publication and will be taking orders for the book. See our website or contact us for more information about this from 1st August onwards.
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Cwmgelli House, Treboeth and its families
Cwmgelli House c.1950 (reproduced courtesy of Mrs Brianna Moore) Cwmgelli House (SS654969) occupied a prominent position in Treboeth between the present-day Pineway and Cwmgelli Drive and close to Heol Gerrig and Llangyfelach Road. The site represented one of the oldest inhabited in this part of Clase Lower, one of the eight administrative districts of the parish of Llangyfelach created during Tudor times.
Early History The property also fell within the fee or manor of Trewyddfa abutting, in part, its north-western boundary which ran along what became Llangyfelach Road. The fee comprised customary or copyhold lands which came under the ultimate ownership of the lord of Gower, all copyholders and tenants holding their lands at the will of the lord according to the custom of the manor. In the 1650 survey of Gower, instigated by Oliver Cromwell, Thomas Williams was named as copyholder ‘in iure vxoris for a tenemt called Cwm y Gelly’ and paying an annual customary rent of 4s 6d. Williams also held in the right of his wife ‘Tir y doynau’, paying 9d. customary rent. In the 1764 survey, when the Duke of Beaufort was lord of Gower, members of the ‘prolific and important’ Franklen family were in possession of Cwmgelli with Mary Franklen, an infant, named as the copyholder and John Franklen as tenant, paying an annual rent of 5s. 3d. It should be noted however that, although representations of properties appear on Lewis Thomas’s 1761 map of the fee of Trewyddfa, not one is situated in the precise location of Cwmgelli House. 22
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Cwmgelli House c.1880 (reproduced courtesy of the Ordnance Survey)
Farming and Coal In 1773 Cwmgelli was acquired by Thomas Lott of Lower Forest in the parish of Llansamlet, becoming the main residence of that significant Swansea family. Lott had acquired the property as well as ‘Tyr Dynau’ in December that year from John Plant, a gentleman of Swansea. Lott was subsequently admitted to both these ‘customary farms’ on 30 December 1773. Although Lott was the copyhold owner of Cwmgelli, the tenants of the land in the 1770s and 1780s (as named in the 1774, 1776 and 1788 land tax assessments for Clase Lower) comprised representatives of two of the most powerful families in the district, namely Gryffydd Price of Penllergare (1774 and 1776) and John Morris I of Clasemont (1788). These tenancies were reflective of the farm’s rich mineral resources which are further underlined by the tithe apportionment of 1838, giving the farm’s area as 88 acres 3 roods 11 perches and showing its occupation by the Swansea Coal Company. There are also subsequent multiple references to ‘Cwmgelly’ in the various censuses from 1841, which denote individual cottages headed and occupied by working non-agricultural households, mainly coal miners. The 1841 and 1861 censuses however name the main property as ‘Cwmgelly Farm’ and ‘Cwmgelly Farmhouse’, respectively headed by a farmer in 1841 and a farmer’s labourer in 1861. It is not surprising that the land was strongly associated with coal, as Treboeth and its common represented one of the oldest coal-mining sites in the Swansea district, with a map of 1736 and plan of 1768 showing coal pits there (the latter stating that they were sunk in 1758). Singlestorey cottages and workers’ settlements also emerged in the area from the early eighteenth century. Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
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The Lott Family The Lott family had been long established in the Swansea district and was one which, over time, rose in social and economic status. Thomas Lott (1735-1808) of Cwmgelli was previously of Lower Fforest and had acquired Ynystawe House in 1792/93 from Michael Southcote (?1746-93) of Llangynog, Carmarthenshire. Along with Fforest, Ynystawe in earlier times had been the ancestral home of the Popkin family, Southcote himself being the son-in-law to Thomas Popkin of Brincoch and Elizabeth his wife. Thomas Lott seems to have been the son of Rowland Lott (d. 1748) and Jane (d. 1752) and the brother of Ann (d. 1810) and Samuel (d. before 1752). On 3 January 1763 Thomas married Martha Williams with whom he had at least four children - Thomas (d. 1803); Martha (1763-1843); Joan? and William (1771-1806). Martha, his wife, died before 1779, Thomas subsequently marrying Margaret (1722-1809). Lott seems to have been the person mentioned as a beneficiary of the will of the industrialist Robert Morris (d. 1768) who owned a house on the Strand wherein his servant ‘Thomas Lott now dwells’. Lott was also a trustee of the Swansea Harbour Trust, established in 1791, a shareholder of the Mumbles Railway and proprietor of Thomas Lott & Deal Trade Company which was a local firm of timber merchants in The Strand, Swansea.
The Martin Family Thomas and Martha’s eldest daughter, Martha (1763-1844), married Edward Martin (1762/63-1818) on 23 January 1788. Martin was a colliery engineer and mining surveyor from Cumberland who inter alia had been the Duke of Beaufort’s chief mining agent in Wales. The couple made Ynystawe House their primary residence. On Thomas Lott’s death in February 1808, Martha inherited Cwmgelli and ‘all several messuages, tenements, farms and lands in the parishes of Llangyfelach, Llansamlet and Ilston’. Although not named in Lott’s will of 6 February 1808, the lands in Llangyfelach parish would have included Tir Deunaw which was in close proximity to Cwmgelli. On the 1838 tithe apportionment Edward and Martha Martin’s second son, William (1801-79), was named as owner of Cwmgelli as well as one of two Tir Deunaw holdings, Tir yr Heol Ddu and Cwmrhydyceirw.
Edward Rice Daniel Cwmgelli became the home of Edward Rice Daniel (1829-1905) and his family in the 1860s. An alderman and JP, Daniel, who was born in the parish of Aberavon, was to become one of the major industrialists in the Swansea district. Along with his illustrious brother-in-law, Sir John Jones Jenkins (1835-1915), who was raised to the peerage as Baron Glantawe in 1906, he owned the Cwmfelin Tinplate Company and Cefn Gyfelach Colliery Company. Daniel, who was High Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1891, was to become synonymous with the socio-economic as well as the cultural and urban development of Treboeth and occupies a prominent burial place close to the mortuary chapel in Cwmgelli Cemetery, which opened in 1895. His wife Elizabeth (née Joseph) (1828-1922) is buried in the same grave. In 1892 Cwmgelli House was described in a newspaper report as being ‘pleasantly situated in its own grounds’.
Later Years After Elizabeth Daniel’s death the house was occupied by different families - in 1923/24 (Thomas) and 1924/25 (Edwards). By the early 1930s, the house and farmland came into the ownership of David 24
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John Martin Williams. He and his family lived in part of the house, converting the remainder of the property into separate apartments with the land containing an orchard, lawn, coach house, cowshed and other outbuildings. Among those resident in the house in 1935 were the Lewis and Richards families later followed by the Bancrofts from 1938 to the 1950s. David Williams and his wife remained resident in the property until c.1961, when it was sold. A small garden nursery operated on the site for a few years with the house continuing to be in multiple occupation. Four families lived there in 1963 and 1965 and two in 1971 and 1987/88, the last occasion the house was shown as being inhabited in the electoral registers. After a short period of non-occupation, the house was demolished in c.1989, the land having previously been sold for prospective housing development. The latter however has not materialised and the site remains undeveloped.
Sources This very brief account of Cwmgelli House has drawn upon a number of primary and secondary sources. The main primary material are the lordship of Gower surveys of 1650 and 1764, the land tax assessments for Clase Lower (1774, 1776 and 1788), the Ynystawe estate MSS (D/D SB) held at the West Glamorgan Archive Service, the Llangyfelach tithe map and apportionment (1838), census enumerators’ returns (1841-1911) and electoral registers (1922-89). The main secondary works are: Jeff Childs, ‘Landownership Changes in a Glamorganshire Parish, 1750-1850. The Case of Llangyfelach’ in Morgannwg XXXVIII, 1994, pp. 42-87; Gerald Gabb, Jubilee Swansea II: the town and its people in the 1890s (Swansea, 1999); Stephen Hughes, Copperopolis: Landscapes of the Early Industrial Period in Swansea (Aberystwyth, 2000) and W. H. Jones, History of the Port of Swansea (Carmarthen, 1922; facsimile edition, Swansea 1995).
Acknowledgements I am most grateful to the following people for providing information on Cwmgelli House: Mr Neil McGregor; Mrs Myra McGregor, Mrs Brianna Moore; Mr Joe Stephens (of Tasmania) and his correspondents and Dr Peter Williams of the Treboeth History Society. Jeff Childs South West Wales Industrial Archaeology Society The above article is reprinted from the Bulletin of the South West Wales Industrial Archaeology Society, no.115 (October 2012) with their kind permission. The author is currently preparing a volume for publication by the Archive Service entitled ‘Farms and Families of Llangyfelach’. For more information on the Society’s activities and to read selected extracts from past Bulletins, see their website http://www.pete-hutch.co.uk/swwias.html
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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 2012 to 31 March 2013. R Aston; R Austin; Mrs A Bastian; Mrs H Brayley; Revd P Brooks; J Burge; S Button; Mrs B Cardy; Ms S Caws; D Cobley; Ms C Daniel; Mrs G Davies; J Davies; M Davies; Ms S Davies; S Dennis; D Dow; Ms F Edwards; K Edwards; A Evans; Mrs E Ewens; Miss M Falck; K Fifield; Mrs G Garmey; D George; P Goodall; Ms J Griffiths; Mrs K Griffiths; Mrs P Grove; D Harris; M Hill; Ms M Hopkin; Miss E Howell; Ms M Howells; S Howells; Y Parch. B Hughes; N Hughes; O Hughes; W Hyett; Mrs G James; Miss E Jeffreys; H Jenkins; Ms S Jenkins; J Jewell; W Johns; Ms A Jones; Ms D Jones; Mrs E Jones; J Jones; P Jones; Revd A Knight; R Lanchbury; J Lawrence; R Leonard; Revd B Lodwick; J Mainwaring; A Mason; G Mead; A Melville; D Michael; J Mitchell; B Morgan; Dr P Morgan; V Morgan; Mr L Morris; M Norman; Ms A Norton; Mrs S Parrish; R Porch; C Reed; N Rees; Ms S Rewbridge; Mrs L Ribton; Mrs R Ridge; A Robins; Ms C Rogers; Mrs J Sabine; P Sillick; J Skidmore; J Skinner; R Smith; B Sterio; Mrs M Stray; D Taylor; Mrs D Thomas; Ms M Thomas; R Thomas; L Toft; R Tomos; Mrs A Tribe; Mrs M Walker; R Walters; Ms D Wan Heddon; E Williams; J Williams; Dr P Williams; Ms T Williams; Revd T Williams Abertawe Bro-Morgannwg Local Health Board; Bishopston Community Council; Charity Commission; Cilybebyll Community Council; Communities First; Côr Meibion Aberafan; Cwmbwrla Primary School; Dinas Noddfa Welsh Baptist Church; Ebeneser Welsh Independent Church, Gorseinon; Forestry Commission; Gorseinon Parish; Gower Society; Gowerton Parish; Isle of Wight Library Service; Killay Parish; Loughor Parish; Penllergare Trust; Rectorial Benefice of Central Swansea; Sketty Parish; Skewen and District Historical Society; Soroptimist International Swansea; Strick and Bellingham, Solicitors; Swansea Canal Society; Swansea Drugs Project Ltd; Swansea Rugby Club; Tonner, Johns, Ratti solicitors; Treboeth History Society; Women’s Archive of Wales; Ystalyfera Heritage Society
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Appendix 2: Accessions of Archives, 2012-2013
The archives listed below have been received by gift, deposit, transfer or purchase during the period 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013. Not all items are available for consultation immediately and certain items are held on restricted access.
PUBLIC RECORDS SHRIEVALTY Warrant and declaration of appointment of William T Hopkins as High Sheriff of West Glamorgan, and order of ceremony, 3 April 2012 (HS/W 39/1-2) HOSPITALS AND HEALTH Cefn Coed Hospital, Swansea: deeds, 1696-1959 (D/D H/CC 45/1-91) Hill House Hospital, Swansea: registers including admission and discharge registers, hospital opening programme, and register of staff, 1929-1990s (D/D H/HH 1/1-4/3) OTHER PUBLIC RECORDS Swansea Prison: nominal register, calendars of prisoners, procedural manuals, minutes, staff registers, plans, and other records relating to Swansea Prison, 1906-1987 (D/D PRO/HMP)
RECORDS OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND PREDECESSOR AUTHORITIES UNITARY AUTHORITIES Neath Port Talbot County Borough Register of electors, 2013 (CB/NPT RE) City and County of Swansea Electoral Register, 2012 (CC/S RE 32-33) Register of electors, 2013 (C/C S RE ) Consultant's report on the Hafod, Morfa and White Rock copper works sites (15 reports scanned to CD), 2003-2004 (CC/S E Dev 9/1-2) Council tax valuation lists, 1993-1998 (TR 8) COUNTY COUNCILS Glamorgan County Council: West Glamorgan Valuation Court minute book, 1950-1956 (GCC/LV 1) West Glamorgan County Council: statement of accounts, 1986-1994 (WGCC/FIN)
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COUNTY BOROUGH/DISTRICT COUNCILS Swansea County Borough/City Council: register of completion certificates for houses built in Swansea, 1936-1940 (BE 37/1/4); rating valuation lists, c.1934-1990 (TR 4); public footpaths and rights of way in the County Borough of Swansea, 1924 (B/S 237) Gower Rural District Council: rating valuation lists, 1956-1982 (TR 5) Llwchwr Urban District Council: rating valuation lists, c.1935-1985 (TR 6) Pontardawe Rural District Council: rating valuation lists, 1955-1991 (TR 7) CIVIL PARISH/COMMUNITY COUNCILS Bishopston Community Council: minutes, 2011-2012 (P/103/5/20) Cilybebyll Community Council: minutes and accounts, 1999-2007 (P/73/3/11-12 and P/73/4/7) Nicholaston Civil Parish: minute book, 1900-1982 (P/113/2)
EDUCATION RECORDS Banwen School: school log books, admission registers, attendance registers, photographs, miscellaneous, 1896-2007 (E/W 2/1/3-5; E/W 2/2/1-7; E/W 2/3/1-7; E/W 2/4/1-7) Bishop Gore School magazines, c.1930s-1970s (E/BG Sec 22/1-49) Ysgol Gymraeg Castell-nedd: photographs, correspondence and other papers relating to the setting up of the school, 1948-1994 (E/N 31/1/1-5/2) Cwmbwrla Primary School: log books; admission registers; pupil transfer forms; visitors book; Medical Inspector records; photographs; other records, 1875-2012 (E/S 5/1-9) Gowerton Girls' Grammar School: photograph of pupils, July 1955 (E/Gow G Sec 19) Photograph of Gowerton Intermediate School, 1940s-1970s (E/Gow Sec 53/1) Hafod School Old Boys Association Menu, 1936; Hafod School Laundry Class exercise book, 1920, belonging to Daisey James (D/D Z 887/1-2) Manselton Primary School: Infants’ School log books, 1902-1992 (E/S 12/1/2-3) Pontardulais Secondary Modern School: log books and photographs, c.1940s-1972 (E/Pont S Sec 1/2-7, 3/1-9) Records relating to Swansea Girls' High School (Llwyn-y-Bryn) (E/Ll B Sec 12/15 and 29) Swansea University student year photographs, c.1930s (D/D UCS 13-14) Copy photographs of Port Eynon School, 1920; Bishopston School, 1917; group of children (named on reverse of photograph) opposite Will Jones Farm at Bishopston, Gower, 1963, 1917-1964 (E/W 3/2/1; E/W 34/2/1
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ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH RECORDS Gorseinon: parish magazines, 2009-2011 (P/305/CW/238-241) Gowerton: photographs of the church building, windows, architectural features, furniture, fixtures and fittings, and plate, taken for the church inventory, 1980s (P/306/CW/74) Killay: photographs of former vicar of Killay the Rev. Chancellor Hywel Hughes, 1939-1987 (P/307/CW/30); Parish magazines, 1985-1993 (P/307/CW/31-36) Loughor: annual reports and PCC minutes, 2010-2011 (P/112/CW/151-153) Penmaen: church accounts, service registers, altered tithe apportionment, deeds, receipts and correspondence, registers; accounts; records relating to church properties; annual accounts and Penmaen School, 1809-1990 (P/116/CW/33-44) Pennard: PCC minutes, visitors' book, Gower parish magazine and other administrative records, 20th-21st centuries (P/117/CW/113-131); churchwardens' records, Finance Committee minutes and accounts and papers relating to the Millennium Window in Pennard Church, late 20th century (P/117/CW/132-138) Sketty: parish magazines, records relating to the Mission to Seamen, and parish boundary map, c.1900-2000s (P/316/CW/) Skewen: service registers for St Mary's Church and Llandarcy Mission Church, 1959-1974 Rectorial Benefice of Central Swansea: marriage registers from Swansea St Mary and Christ Church, 1994-2012 (P/123/CW/1344 and P/317/CW/66) Swansea, Christ Church: parish magazines and parish log book recording happenings in the parish, 1919-1996 (P/317/CW/67-78) Swansea, St Mary: accounts, administrative papers, parish magazines, annual reports and orders of service, 1925-2011 (P/123/CW)
NONCONFORMIST RECORDS Baptist Dinas Noddfa Welsh Baptist Church, Landore: membership records, church registers, deacons' minutes, burials, accounts and photographs, 1855-2012 (D/D W/Bap 35/1-9) Calvinistic Methodist Libanus, Gorseinon: group photograph, c.1950s (D/D CM 25/2) Welsh Independent New Siloh, Landore: building lease, 1885 (D/D Ind 21/3) Ebeneser, Gorseinon: annual reports, 2010-2011 (D/D Ind 25/116-117) Soar, Blaendulais: annual report, 2011 (D/D Ind 25/190/7)
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SOCIETIES, ASSOCIATIONS AND THE ARTS Côr Meibion Aberafan (Aberavon Male Voice Choir): records, including programmes, photographs and newspaper cuttings, 1967-2011 (D/D CMA 1/1-3/43) Gower Society: photographs, newsletters, programmes, financial statements; AGM minutes and agendas, newspaper cuttings, slides; committee minutes, policy statments., 2000-2012 (D 56) Records relating to the King George VI Memorial Club, Taibach Old Gorian Society (Oxford University): minute book, 1936-1949 (D/D Z 900/1) Penllergare Trust: Minutes and reports relating to the management of the Penllergare site, 2000-2007 (D/D PT) Skewen and District Historical Society: minutes, 2008-2012 (D/D SHS 1/11-12) Swansea Drugs Project Ltd.: annual reports, petty cash ledgers, accounts, some publications published by the project., 1990s-2010s (D/D SDP 1/1-4/3) Swansea Rugby Club: copies of photographs belonging to the club, 1879-2001 (D/D RC/S 16-17); records relating to Swansea Rugby Club, 1920s-1960s (D/D Z 610/3-5) West Glamorgan Youth Theatre: photographs and programmes 1970s-1990s (CC/S Ed 2/40) Soroptimist International, Swansea: minute books, 1980s-2000s (D/D SIS 1/1-3/1) Elim Chapel, Craigcefnparc, Dramatic Society minutes, 20th cent. (D/D Z 903/1) Craig Cefn Parc Co-operative Society: minutes, mid 20th century (D/D Z 903/2) Women's Gas Federation magazines, 1965-1967 (D/D WGF 7-8) Programme for Neath Opera Group in The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Adelina Patti Theatre, Craig-y-Nos, 1968; Rhaglen Cymanfa Ganu Genedlaethol: Yr Urdd Eisteddfod at Gwaun-caegurwen, 1937, 1937-1968 (D/D Z 906/1-2) Gower Pageant brochure, 1924; The Eisteddfod Valse composed by C. Tamlin-Ruthin, 1891, 18911924 (D/D An 13/1-2)
WOMEN’S ARCHIVE OF WALES MEWN Swansea: minutes, reports and publications, 1996-2000 (WAW 37) Scrap book and typescript relating to the Skewen War Comforts Fund, 1940-1952 (WAW 38)
ESTATE AND LEGAL PAPERS Sales catalogues, 1858-1914 (D/D Z 883/1-19) Legal documents relating to a plot of land in Brynaeron, Dunvant, Swansea, 1914-1921 (D/D Z 889/1-3)
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Epitome of title to part of the former Calvert Richard Jones estate, 1885 (D/D Z 888/1) Pre-registration title deeds of property in Knoll Avenue, Uplands, Swansea, 1908-2000 (D/D Z 890/1) Grant regarding supply of electricity for premises known as Caederwen, 1932 (D/D Z 893/1) Strick and Bellingham, solicitors: miscellaneous papers including sale catalogues, probate, deeds, 20th century; records from the Richardson (Pantygwydr) estate, Swansea, 19th century; deeds and probate records, 20th century; pre-registration title deeds of 194 Oxford Street, Swansea, 19th and 20th centuries (D/D SB)
BUSINESS, MARITIME AND RAILWAY RECORDS Account book for the reconstruction of the Loughor Railway Viaduct, 1908 (D/D Z 884/1) William Jones, Grocer, Ynysmeudwy: receipts, c.1900 (D/D Z 565/12) Official Opening of the King's Dock, Swansea: programme, 23 November 1909 (D/D Z 901/1) Family and business papers of D. Llewellyn Williams, shoemaker, Crythan Road, Neath, 20th century (D/D Z 899/1)
PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED WORKS ON LOCAL HISTORY William Gammon: the man, the boat, the legend, 1980s (D/D Z 879/1) Casualties of World War One: Former Employees of the Mond, Clydach, Swansea by W.H. Hyett, September 2012 (D/D Z 628/6) Llysenwau Cwmtawe, a poem about Swansea Valley nicknames, 20th century (D/D Z 892/1) Brief history of Llangyfelach and sale particulars 1899 for properties in Oystermouth and Cadoxtonjuxta-Neath, n.d. (D/D An 17/1-4) A History of Waunarlwydd by William Johns, n.d. (D/D Z 904/1) Ynyspenllwch Forge and Iron Works; and The Clydach Nickel Refinery, 2009-2012 (D/D Z 602/11/1-2) History of William Dillwyn Llewelyn of Penllergare by Malcolm J. Hill c.2012 (searchroom library)
PERSONAL PAPERS Programme for the Queen's visit to Margam Country Park (with autograph signature of Sam Warburton, captain of Wales Rugby Team), 26 April 2012 (D/D Z 168/8) Photographs, notes and studies relating to Trebanos, 1900-1960s; photographs, booklets and other records relating to Pontardawe, 1890-1949, 1890-1960s; newsletters, publications, photographs, press-cuttings and notes relating to Pontardawe and district, 1887-1996; folders, compiled by the depositor, of historical information, ephemera, photographs and newspaper cuttings relating to the Pontardawe area, 19th-20th cent. (D/D Z 80) Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
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Newspaper cuttings relating to local fairs, 1920s-1930s (D/D Z 878/1) Davies family papers, n.d. (D/D Z 576/144) Photographs and letters of Daisy M Ackerman of Swansea, 1915-1950s (D/D Z 881/1-11) Midwife training case book of Mair Eluned Rees; midwife’s register of cases of Mair Eluned Rees; 2 nurses’ registration cards; 4 nursing certificates; 5 mining engineering certificates; Clydach Building Society subscription book; 7 photographs; 2 family trees for the Rees and George families, 1930s2000s (D/D Z 885/1-3) Family history notes on the Gwynn(e) family of Gower, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, 17501837, 2010 (D/D Z 709/16) Bundle of personal papers, including photographs of Gorseinon, pamphlets relating to David Rhys Grenfell, Welcome Home Fund, Gorseinon and District Distress Fund and Llwchwr Urban District Council year book, 1910-1953 (D/D Z 886/1-16) Photographs of Belgrave Gardens and the Mumbles Train, c.1950; rugby programmes, 1930s-1970s (D/D Z 744/4-10) Photograph of procession in Castle Street, Swansea; ephemera relating to local businesses, c.1900 (D/D Z 727/16-20) David Rees Collection: photograph albums, loose photographs, slides and watercolour paintings of local views in the Port Talbot area; printed books and local historical journals relating to the Port Talbot area; files of notes and unpublished monographs relating to the Port Talbot area originally by Leslie Evans; ephemera (orders of service, programmes etc.) relating to events in the Port Talbot area., 20th century A guide to physical exercises used by the military, 1916 (D/D Z 727/15) Enlistment notice and passport photograph of Arthur Evans, Gorseinon, 1944-1960 (D/D Z 894/1-3) Records relating to Cyril Archibald Aston, his service in the Second World War and his experiences as a POW (captured at Dunkirk), 1940s (D/D Z 891/1-3) Printed card of thanks to tinplate works employees of Mr Richard Baldwin Thomas given in celebration of the golden wedding anniversary of Mr and Mrs Richard Baldwin Thomas on 18 July 1909. Lists all tinplate works owned by Richard Baldwin Thomas, 1909 (D/D Z 895/1) Commemorative programmes and brochures, 1913-1973, (D/D Z 368/43-49) Taylor Family Collection: photographs and other records, 19th-20th centuries (D/D TAY) Family records of the Button family of Dryslyn Road, West Cross, Swansea, including Second World War service records, 19th-20th cent. (D/D Z 907) Collection of documents relating to the Swansea Valley including chapel ephemera and school photographs, 1904-c.1960s (D/D Z 885)
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REMINISCENCE AND ORAL HISTORY Interviews regarding Swansea City Football Club recorded by Mal Pope for BBC Radio Wales, 16 April 2012 (T 28/14) Oral history recordings of interviews conducted by Mrs Elizabeth Jones of Rhydyfro with Pontardawe residents, 1979-1981 (T 30/1-3) Tales of Kilvey Hill: discovering my Welsh heritage by D. Wan Heddon, 2012 (D/D Z 896/1-2) Swansea Canal Society: oral history recordings of Swansea Valley residents' memories of the Pontardawe, Clydach and Ystalyfera areas, 1980s-1990s (D/D Z 80) DVDs containing interview regarding Twin Radio (Gorseinon's Legend); interview with warrant officer Howell Evans, Pontarddulais regarding Second World War Lancaster bomber raids; and the Royal Welsh Regiment parade at Swansea, 2012 (D/D Z 756/6-8)
PICTORIAL AND FILM Video of the ceremony to confer the honorary freedom of Swansea on Alan Williams MP, 5 December 1989 (P/VID 4/1-3) Postcards of St. Paul's Church, Sketty, c.1910 (P/PR) Photographs of Pontardawe industry and of John Emlyn Francis of Pontardawe, 20th century (D/D Z 80) Aerial views of Paxton Street, Swansea, c.1976 (P/PR) Copy photograph showing the level crossing, Skewen, c.1920s (P/PR) Mumbles railway calendar created by John Lawrence using photographs taken by him in 1959, 1992 (D/D Z 880/1) National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales: recording of ‘Hiawatha’ performed by pupils of Swansea schools, 1964 Drawing of Mumbles lighthouse by E. Duncan, n.d. (D/D Z 882/1) Forestry Commission: aerial photographs, 1970s-1990s Photograph of Singleton Park showing Mr Graham Vivian, the Prince and Princess of Wales, James Harries (head gardener to Lord Swansea), Mr Hussey Vivian (Lord Swansea) and Lady Vivian and a gardener, n.d. Photographs showing the Mumbles Railway, passengers and people along the promenade, Swansea, c. 1910 (P/PR) Photograph of excavation work for building West Glamorgan County Hall, c.1980 Photographs - life at work and home of a steelworker; interior of the Dyffryn Steelworks (Richard Annual Report of the County Archivist 2012-2013
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Thomas and Baldwin), Morriston; a bowls match, and other items relating to the steel industry, mid 20th century (D/D THS 1/1-4/3) Photographs showing Nelson Terrace, and Mr A Melville as a boy, c.1940 Postcards of Swansea Harbour Trust building, Pennard Castle and Pantteg Chapel,Ystalyfera c.1910; photograph of Aberavon Town Station after closure in 1962 Postcard showing Swansea Hospital, and St Helen's Road with trams, c.1904 (P/PR) Postcard views of Swansea and Gower, n.d. Copy of photograph of staff garden party at Penllergare House, 1911 (P/PR) Photographs of Brynsyfi House, Swansea, 1908-1913 (D/D Z 902/1) Photograph of Chidzoy's Fruit Stores, Park Street, Swansea, c.1910 (P/PR) Postcards showing general view of Swansea, Swansea Library, and a soldier in First World War uniform, early 20th century Photographs showing Mulberry Harbour, 1944 (including metal roadway designed by Rees & Kirby, civil engineers of Morriston); Swansea University section of Home Guard, 1940s; Blitz damage in Swansea, 1940s; VJ Day celebrations, Brynmill, 1945; Anne Tribe as a child in gas masks and in a siren suit, 1940s; ration book and identity card, 1940s (D/D Z 905) Postcard of an unidentified ironclad warship visitng Swansea Docks, 1909 Postcard of Swansea from Townhill, early 20th century; postcard of Wind Street, Swansea, c.1900 CD-ROMs containing scanned copies of the Will Hughes collection of photographic glass negatives (views of Ystalyfera) and of the ‘Tick Tock’ watch factory (D/D YHS 1/1-2)
MAPS, PLANS AND SURVEYS Plan of Tirdonkin Merthyr Collieries Six Foot Seam, early 20th century (D/D PT 39) Swansea Harbour: plans of dock buildings, 20th cent. Plan and section of Ilston Church and brief history by L.A, Toft, 1990s (D/D Z 602/10/3-4)
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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
Clawr blaen: Un o longau rhyfel y Llynges Frenhinol o oes Fictoria yn ymweld ag Abertawe, cerdyn post dyddiedig 1909 (Rhif derbyn 4550)
% 01792 636589 westglam.archives@swansea.gov.uk
www.swansea.gov.uk/westglamorganarchives
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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 Bwrdeistref Sirol Castell-nedd Port Talbot