1. Thomas Powell (1781–1864) of the Gaer, Newport. He was a tough, enterprising man who died leaving 16 collieries that formed the basis of the famous Powell Duffryn Coal Co. Ltd.
2. John Nixon (1815–1899) of Co. Durham, a pioneer of the Welsh export coal trade and great innovator of mining technique. He sank many pits and was owner of Nixon’s Navigation Co. Ltd.
3. Samuel Thomas (1800–1877) started business as a grocer in Merthyr in 1820; started in the coal trade in 1835; then sank pits in Aberdare 1845, and in Rhondda in 1870. He was founder of the Cambrian Coal Co. Ltd., and father of the first Viscount Rhondda.
4. David Davis of Blaengwawr (1797–1866) sank collieries at Hirwaun, Maesyffynon, Blaengwawr about 1845–50. He started in business as a grocer in Hirwaun, but he and his sons Frederick and Leonard Davis built a giant coal business in Aberdare and the Rhondda Fach.
    
5. Lesser Coal Owners of the Aberdare Valley in 1840s.
   Smaller owners of coal pits in this period were such men as:— J. Kenway of Cwmaman; Heath and Evens of Werfa; Bevan of Fforchneol; Mordecai Jones of Nantmelyn; J. Brogden of the Bwllfa; Shepherd and Evans of Cwmaman; the Protheroe brothers of Fforchaman; Robert Carr of Cwmneol; James Lewis of Plasdraw; Taylor and Cory of Mountain Ash; William Thomas of Llettyshenkin. David Williams, (Alaw Goch), of Ynyscynon.

All these men were Liberal businessmen, who generally believed in the current doctrine of non-intervention by the State in the affairs of the individual. They were mostly at odds with the landlords whom they felt took the cream of their profits through the mineral royalties system.

3. The Men in the Ironworks and Collieries — 1800–75.

(a) With the establishment of the big ironworks at Aberdare in 1800, ironworkers, miners and other workers poured into the district. Conditions of living were rough but no worse than in the agricultural districts from which they came and the better wages in Aberdare were the cause of the inflow. Colliers in north Glamorgan in 1816 earned 18s. 0d. to 21s. 0d. a week for a 12-hour day. Child labour was common. Wages were monthly but were often in arrears. The truck shops of the the area, at the Hirwaun, Llwydcoed, Abernant and Gadlys ironworks were accepted as institutions of the industrial scene as long as they were felt to be fairly run.

(E. Evans – “History of Miners of South Wales”. pp.8–10).

Any oppression, economic or otherwise by the masters was met by strikes. From 1800 to 1840, there were frequent strikes against wage reductions in the Aberdare district.

(b) With the rapid expansion of the north Glamorgan and Monmouthshire towns in the 1830s there burst forth a reforming fever among the ironmasters and trading people and a revolutionary mania among the workers for the Reform of Parliament, as the panacea of all social evils. Merthyr Dissenters were the spearhead of the Reform agitation, but the Dissenters of Aberdare at Hen Dŷ Cwrdd (The Old Meeting House) 1751, long had radical leaders.

Tomos Evans (Glyn Cothi), Unitarian minister there (1764–1833), had long been an opponent of Pitt etc., and carried on revolutionary activity in South Wales during the years 1789–1818.

(Notes on Hen Dŷ Cwrdd, Aberdare, Rev. D. Jacob Davies, 1957).

The professional men and shopkeepers led the agitation for Reform, but they were backed by the big industrialists in the upland valleys, such as Ben Hall, William Crawshay, Sir John Guest, Rowland Fothergill and John Scale, who were large ironmasters.

The utterly miserable conditions of the workers aided the movement to Reform: — “At one pit only three miners out of seventy were not on parish relief...” Wilkins — “History of Merthyr”. p.17).

Housing, education and health conditions in the north Glamorgan iron districts were utterly deplorable. Hours of work were 12–14 a day, 7 days a week. Children from 4 to 7 years worked in the pits or works for 1s. 6d. to 2s. 0d. a week. The industrial diseases of nystagmus, beat knee, rickets, rheumatism and T.B. were rife. Wages for all labour were pitifully low. (Ness Edwards – “John Frost and the Chartists in Wales,” — pp.1–5).

3. Revolt in Merthyr and Aberdare.

The summer of 1831 saw the two valleys in a fever of excitement. On 9th May a riotous assembly of workers was condemned by the magistrates. On 30th May, a vast Reform meeting in Merthyr demanded reform of local government, the Church and elections. On 2nd July 1831 the workers marched to Aberdare seized Abernant House and forced Fothergill to give them food. They pillaged the truck shops, destroyed the Court of Requests, and stopped all the works.

On the arrival of the troops, the ironmasters and the troops shot and badly wounded 60 people. The next day the troops and ironmasters hunted down the strikers. A stern punishment was given to the workers for daring to protest against the intolerable living conditions. Dic Penderyn was hanged; many others were transported and imprisoned. (Edwards, John Frost and the Chartists of Wales, pp.6–7).

But there was no change in the intolerable conditions of the people.

The Monmouthshire Merlin wrote:

“...There will be revolution in South Wales if there is not a Reform Bill”. Nov. 1831.

In February 1832 there appeared for the first time the anti-ironmaster, anti-blackleg, terrorist organization known as the Scotch Cattle. It appeared first in Nantyglo, Monmouthshire, and it terrorized the coalfield sporadically for many years. Its aim was to maintain the wages and conditions of the workers.

In June 1832 the passing of the Reform Bill was celebrated by the rich classes in Merthyr and Aberdare by banquets. But the new franchise was confined to £10 a year householders. The workers and other sections of the people felt cheated of their just rights.

4. Life after the Reform Act.

In 1832 there were again reductions in wages. Trade unions were legal but were not recognized by the employers, who victimized anyone joining a trade union.

“Wage reductions led to violent agitation against the employers.” Merthyr Guardian, 16th July 1834.

In the years 1835–37 there was widespread Chartist agitation for manhood suffrage etc. The depression of 1838 led to numerous strikes in the industrial districts of South Wales. In Merthyr 10,000 workers demonstrated for work, and reform. In 1839 the Home Office knew there were 600 men secretly drilling in the uplands of South Wales. A Chartist reform petition was sent to the Home Secretary. At church in Merthyr, 1200 Chartists in uniform paraded. Dr. Price of Llantrisant was national delegate for the Aberdare and Merthyr districts.

An uprising was planned. John Jones, Unitarian minister in Aberdare, and Owen Evans of Cefn, Merthyr, were chosen to lead the Aberdare Chartists to seize Newport. The activity of government agents caused them to hide. But the men of upland South Wales marched to Newport and were defeated there. Their leaders John Frost, Zeph. Williams and Will Jones were sentenced to death. Huge demonstrations saved them and instead they were transported to Tasmania for life.

(“J. Frost and the Chartists in S. Wales,” Ness Edwards. pp.10–11).

5. After the Chartist Rising in South Wales.

After the failure of the march on Newport in 1839 the people continued their struggles for better living conditions, by means of strikes, most of which were inspired by men who were Chartists and Owenites.

In 1848 the coalowners of the Aberdare valley demanded a 20% cut in wages, the men struck work for 14 weeks, but had to return defeated. In 1852 and 1857 there were similar strikes each time for resistance against wage cuts and each time the men were beaten.

6. Masters and Men Unite for Struggle.

But the struggle between masters and men in the Aberdare valley continued whatever the condition of trade. The men formed unions to protect their interests, and the masters formed more permanent associations of ironmasters and coalowners.

The men’s union at this time was the Aberdare & District Miners Union. It was led by David Morgan, (Dai o’r Nant).

The masters’ union was led by William Thos. Lewis, M.E., of the Bute Estate, Mardy House, Aberdare. It was called the “Aberdare Steam Collieries Owners Association”.

SOME STRIKES IN THE ABERDARE VALLEY.

	May 1864		Nine weeks strike. Abercwmboi door-boys
	July 1865		Miners of Fforchaman Pit. Defective ropes
	1871		Men of Aberdare valley. 3 months against a reduction of 20% in wages
	1873		Valley strike against reductions in wages
	1875		Valley strike for a raise in wages

The strikes of the 1870s involved great bitterness, for the coalowners brought in blacklegs from Staffordshire and Cornwall, under the notorious Paul Roper and Captain Godden, both well-known professional strikebreakers.

7. The Sliding-Scale Agreement to Regulate Wages.

The strikes of 1871–73–75 were such bitter struggles, exhausting both men and owners, that they led to a truce agreement called the Sliding-Scale Agreement. Under this, the level of wages was tied to the selling price of coal on the markets of the world. This agreement was to bring an uneasy general peace to the coalfield from 1875 to 1898.

8. Explosions and Accidents in Aberdare Pits and Ironworks.

There was a casualty list every month in the ironworks and mines of the Aberdare valley; but sometimes there would be a disaster that would reach the headlines of the newspapers of Britain.

(“Notes on History of Aberdare”. Rev. Ivor Parry, l964).

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