Merthyr Tydfil

• Merthyr Tydfil Central Library
  High Street
  Merthyr Tydfil
  CF47 8AF
• Merthyr Tydfil Free Library
  1886-1938: minutes, register of borrowers, list of papers and periodicals supplied to Penydarren Reading Room
  [Merthyr Tydfil Central Library]

Here is a substantial reading list of books which relate to Glamorgan, either county or parish.

References to the town of Merthyr Tydfil at

• The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth

• Merthyr Tydfil Gas Company
  1868-1949: minutes, reports, accounts, wages books, correspondents, specifications, plans, photographs [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff]
• Brecon & Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway Company
  • 1859-1922: minutes, staff records, contracts, miscellaneous papers, accident records, Board of Trade papers, correspondents with other railways and with Railway Clearing House, correspondents and papers relating to property, gas and water supplies etc
    [Public Record Office, Kew, London - Reference: RAIL 65, 1057]
  • 1860-69: act, general accounts and receipts, notes and plans etc
    [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: 736-740]
  • 1860-1882: legal papers
    [National Library of Wales, Department of Manuscripts and Records]
• Evan Davies, grocer
  1916-39: accounts
  [National Library of Wales, Department of Manuscripts and Records]
• WP Davies, grocer
  1900-10: ledgers, vouchers
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff]
• Dowlais Gas Company
  1855-1949: articles of association, register of shareholders, minutes, accounts
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, cardiff]
• Dowlais Iron Company, iron and steel manufacturers and colliery proprietors
  • c1783-c1930: letter books, correspondents, balance sheets, accounts, legal papers, agreements, patents, staff and wages records, plans, leases, deeds, photographs
    [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: D/DG]
  • 1837-20th cent: Dowlais and East Moors Works records
    [British Steel Records Centre, Shotton, Shotton Works, Deeside CH5 2NH - Reference: HMC list]
• Dowlais Savings Bank
  1852-1890: records
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: D/DG section I box 4]
• JL Francis, chemist
  1847-c1960: records
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff]
• Jeremiah Homfray & Company, ironfounders
  • 1786-1833: corresp and papers, mainly relating to internal dispute
    [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: D/D Pe]
  • 1786-88: accounts and correspondents
    [National Library of Wales, Department of Manuscripts and Records -Reference: MS 15593E]
  • 1788: bills of lading
    [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: D/D Xhy 1/1-5]
• Rees Lewis, printer and publisher
  1857-71: correspondents
  [National Library of Wales, Department of Manuscripts and Records - Reference: NLW MS 22436B]
• Plymouth Ironworks & Collieries
  • 1809-41, 1891: account book, letter book
    [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: D/D X 357]
  • 1852: printed business diary of Anthony Hill
    [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: D/D X 123/4]
  • 1786-1813: letter book and furnace accounts
    [National Library of Wales, Department of Manuscripts and Records - Reference: NLW MSS 15334-38]
  • 1805-19: partnership papers
    [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff]
  • 1883-93: managers' diaries
    [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: D/D NCB]
• Simons family, solicitors
  1849-1927: diary 1849, papers 1849-1927
  [National Library of Wales, Department of Manuscripts and Records]
• David Williams & Co Ltd, brewers
  1833-54: ledgers
  [Enquiries to Business Archives Council, The Clove Building, 4 Maguire Street, Butler's Wharf, London SE1 2NQ]

The Glamorgan Family History Society have produced a set of microfiche containing Monumental Inscriptions for the following burial grounds :-

• Parish Church of St. Tydfil's Well

Images of Pant Cemetery, near Merthyr Tydfil, by Brian Wagstaffe

Ynysgau Cemetery, Merthyr Tydfil (NB. - this site disappeared in June 2006) - here (was) is a list of names from headstones later moved to other cemeteries.

• (The graveyard was attached to Ynysgau Independent Chapel, which was built in 1749 and inaugurated in 1750. The graveyard was one of the oldest in Merthyr with some tombsones/monuments dating back to 1773 and 1776. The Chapel was demolished in March 1967 as part of the Merthyr Town Improvement Plan. The remains of those buried at Ynysgau Chapel were exhumed between 10th - 27th October 1969, and re-interred at the Ffrwyd section of the Cefn Cemetery. Many of the old tombstones were indecipherable with age and only some 49 names were legible. Unfortunately, the chapel registers have not survived, it appears that they were lost when the chapel was flooded (the chapel was adjacent to the River Taff). Further unidentified human remains were found at the site during excavation for a new road and were re-interred at Cefn Cemetery on 6 March 1998. Allan Harrison, June 2004)

From Kelly's South Wales Directory 1923 (ArchiveCDBooks) - transcribed by Gareth Hicks

• A cemetery at Cefn-coed-y-cymmer was formed im 1859 and comprised an area of 40 acres. The Ffrwd cemetery, comprising 50 acres, at CEFN, was opened in 1905; the cemetery at Aberfan was formed in 1877, and comprises an area of 6 acres; Beechgrove cemetery was formed in 1888 and contains 3 acres; all are under the control of the Merthyr Corporation. The Jewish cemetery is at Cefn-coed-y-cymmer,

The Glamorgan Family History Society have produced a set of microfiche containing an enumerated transcription and a personal name index. These are available for the years :

• 1841 - (Registration District of Merthyr Tydfil, includes Aberdare and Gelligaer)
• 1851 - HO107/2458 (Merthyr Tydfil Lower RSD)
• 1851 - HO107/2459 (Merthyr Tydfil Higher RSD)

Visit their website for information on how to purchase.

NB. "Merthyr Tydfil is divided into Upper and Lower districts for census and registration purposes and Upper Merthyr Tydfil is 'officially' missing for 1841.
The Public Record Office cannot say whether it is lost or destroyed.
The missing section includes all of the parish of Vaynor, most of Penydarren, the top section of Cyfarthfa and most of Dowlais.
A part of Dowlais is actually in the 'lower district" situated to the far east of the main town and Dowlais High Street, the area north of the top of Twynrodyn".(Adrian Hedges, March 2013)

The People's Collection Wales site has much material for Merthyr Tydfil, use the onsite search box

See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph of St Tydfil's Church

Chapels Database - a list of all known non-conformist chapels or other non-Anglican religions in the parish

See Welsh Chapels and Churches for photographs of various churches/chapels in this parish

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Merthyr Tydfil, St Tydfil's Church
• Wesley Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• Merthyr Tydfil - Hope Chapel
• Unitarian Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• The ruins of the former Tydfil Hall Forward Movement Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• Penuel Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• Salem Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• Salem Chapel, Heolgerrig, Merthyr Tydfil being demolished
• Shiloh Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• Zion Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• Park Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• Market Square Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• Tabernacle Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• Zoar Chapel - interior
• Jerusalem Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil
• Adulam Welsh Independant Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil. Built 1831, Rebuilt 1857. Demolished 1990's
• Adulam Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil, Deacons 1930's
• Adulam Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil, Sunday School
• Adulam Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil, Ladies Choir 1920's
• Adulam Welsh Independent Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil. Appeal for financial assistance to clear debt on chapel in 1884
• Horeb Welsh Independent Chapel, Penydarren. Built 1839. Rebuilt 1853, 1909 and 1974. The third chapel built 1909 - considered to be one of the finest chapels in Merthyr Tydfil the chapel was destroyed by fire when an arsonist set the building alight on the night of 28 April 1973
• Merthyr Tydfil - Salvation Army Citadel
• Church of Christ, Merthyr Tydfil
• Williams Memorial English Congregationalist Chapel, Penydarren, Merthyr Tydfil taken in 1983
• Old Graig Chapel and Graig Houses, Abercanaid, Merthyr Tydfil
• Bethesda Chapel, Bethesda Street, Merthyr Tydfil
• MERTHYR TYDFIL SYNAGOGUE

For full and up-to-date details of their holdings see the sites of Glamorgan Record Office and/or West Glamorgan Archives

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

The church is dedicated to St. Tydfil's Well, is in the Benefice of Merthyr Tydfil, St. David, and Diocese of Llandaff. Details of the present incumbent of this benefice can be found at the Church in Wales website. The church can be found at grid reference SO050063 .

A transcription of the registers is available from the Glamorgan Family History Society for the years: Baptisms, 1703-1837, Marriages, 1717-1837, Burials, 1704-1838.

Pontmorlais - for full and up-to-date details of their holdings see the sites of Glamorgan Record Office and/or West Glamorgan Archives

GRO - Glamorgan Record Office, Cardiff
PRO - Public Record Office, London
WGAS - West Glamorgan Archive Service

The following Religious Institutions are covered in the Mormon International Genealogical Index (IGI) :-

• Pontmorlais, Calvinistic Methodist - Christenings, 1807-1837
• Pontmorlais, English Wesleyan - Christenings, 1804-1837

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Merthyr Tydfil Ecclesiastical Parish records " ....... including facsimiles of parish registers, 1704-1873; papers relating to church affairs, 1920-1948; accounts, 1921-1965; churchyard schedule, 1911; photograph, 1928; personal papers of the Reverend Charles Edward Thomas Griffith, 1885-1900; miscellaneous records, 1874"

Modern Parishes & Chapels of Ease :-

• Merthyr, St. David
• Merthyr, St Tydfil's Well
• St. Peter, Abercanaid
• Cyfartha - Parish formed in 1857 from Merthyr Tydfil
• Christ Church, Dowlais - (Christ Church) Parish formed in 1837 from Merthyr Tydfil
• All Saints, Dowlais
• St. Luke, Gellideg
• Christ Church, Georgetown
• St Mary & The Holy Innocents, Merthyr Vale
• St. John the Baptist, Troedyrhiw
• St. Matthias - Parish formed in 1900 from Merthyr Tydfil and Gelligaer
• St. Cynon - Chapel of Ease to Llanfabon, joined Treharris St. Matthias in 1951

GRO - Glamorgan Record Office, Cardiff
NLW - National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
WGAS - West Glamorgan Archive Service
PRO - Public Record Office, London

A set of fiche have been produced by the Glamorgan Family History Society covering the registers of Ebenezer Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil, for the period 1793-1837. Visit their website for information on how to purpose the fiche.

The following Religious Institutions are covered in the Mormon International Genealogical Index (IGI) :-

• Merthyr Tydfil, St. Tydfil's Well - Christenings (BT's), 1820-1858, Marriages, 1820-1837
• Merthyr Tydfil, Ynysgau Presbyterian - Christenings, 1786-1837
• Merthyr Tydfil, Zoar Independent - Christenings, 1810-1837
• Merthyr Tydfil, Adullam Independent - Christenings, 1833-1837
• Merthyr Tydfil, Bethesda Chapel Independent - Christenings, 1809-1837
• Merthyr Tydfil, Wesleyan Methodist - Christenings, 1807-1837
• Dowlais, Christchurch - Christenings (BT's), 1839-1863
• Dowlais, Bethany Independent - Christenings, 1825-1837
• Dowlais, Bryn Sion formerly Bethel Independent - Christenings, 1829-1837
• Dowlais, Hermon Calvinistic Methodist - Christenings, 1828-1837
• Pont Morlais, Calvinistic Methodist - Christenings, 1807-1837
• Pont Morlais, English Wesleyan - Christenings, 1804-1837
• Georgetown, Bethel Baptist - Births, 1810 & 1821-1837
• Twyn-yr-odyn, Presbyterian or Unitarian - Christenings, 1804-1836

Merthyr Tydfil on the spartacus site

Journey to the past - Merthyr Tydfil

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Merthyr Tydfil, Cyfarthfa Castle
• Extracts from 'A guide to Merthyr Tydfil', by T. E. Clarke, 1848 (reprinted 1894)

Conservation Areas in Merthyr Tydfil, Cwmfelin, Cyfarthfa Park, Dowlais, Morgantown, Thomastown, Treharris

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council site

Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney - on Wikipedia

A Photographic Tour of Old Merthyr - lots of photographs on Alan George's site

Pontmorlais Circus - on the Alan George site

Alan George's site (places not shown elsewhere on these pages)

• Geograph
• Flickr

Transcript of name listing for Merthyr Tydfil, from Commercial and Trade Directories, for the years:-

From Kelly's South Wales Directory 1923 (ArchiveCDBooks) - transcribed by Gareth Hicks

• PEN-Y-DARRAN, 1 mile north-east, is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1871. The church of St. John is a plain building of stone,...the chancel was rebuilt in 1904 at a cost of £2500, a new vestry added and a new altar erected in the side chapel: there are 400 sittings. The register dates from the year 186I. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £320, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Llandaff and the Board of Patronage, ... St. Mary's Mission church is an iron building, erected in 1902-3, and having 200 sittings. A parish room and mission hall was erected near the church in 1893-4; it includes reading and billiard rooms, and will seat 300 persons. Radcliffe Hall, erected under the auspices of the Forward Movement Committee, was opened by Miss Ethel Radcliffe, daughter of Mr. Henry Radcliffe, of Penarth, after whom the hall is named. The building, which cost £2350, will seat 700, and the schoolroom 400. The populatiom in 1911 was 9,893.
• PENTREBACH, the ecclesiastical parish of PENTREBACH was formed in 1860 from that of Merthyr Tydfil. The church of St. John the Baptist, erected in 1852, is a edifice in the Gothic style, ...: in the chancel is a memorial window to the late Anthony Hill esq., (d. 2 Aug. 1862) the church has 400 sittings, all free. The register dates from the year 1869. There are also Methodist, Congregational and Wesleyan chapels . St David's Church which seats 280 persons is used fof Welsh services only. The population of Pentrebach ecclesiastical parish 1911 was 8,699.

• Ancient Order of Druids: Merthyr district
  1839-49: records
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff]

The transcription of the section for Merthyr Tydfil from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

Descriptions of the parish from; A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1833) by Samuel Lewis and A Topographical Dictionary of The Dominion of Wales by Nicholas Carlisle, London, 1811

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Merthyr Tydfil to another place.

Some of the hamlets, towns and villages within this parish

Description, with image, of Morlais Castle at www.castlewales.com by Jeff Thomas

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• The Castle Cinema, Merthyr Tydfil. 1947.
• Election pamphlet for S O Davies in Merthyr Tyfil by-election in 1934
• Merthyr Tydfil - Chapel Row
• Photograph of the Market Tavern, Merthyr Tydfil by Bertram Owen, c.1900
• The Market Square ,Market Hall & R.T.Jones, Department Store, Merthyr Tydfil.
• Recollections of Merthyr Tydfil in 1877, by W. Edwards, 1934
• Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council bus, HB4833
• Relaying Merthyr Tydfil's tram lines, 1914

Recollections of Merthyr Tydfil in 1877 by W Edwards - on the People's Collection Wales site (use search box)

A brief history of the Merthyr Tydfil uprising, 1831-1832 has been provided by Bob Sanders

Historical snippets re Merthyr Tydfil. Various contributors

The Merthyr Tydfil Turkish Baths

'A Sanitary Survey of Glamorganshire' by the County Medical Officer, William Williams, published in 1895. Extracts relating to MT by Brian Comley, 2000

Fox, Kenneth Owen. The Merthyr Election of 1906, National Library of Wales journal. 1965, Winter Volume XIV/2.

Williams, Gwyn A. The Merthyr Riots: Settling the Account. National Library of Wales journal. 1959, Winter Volume XI/2.

From Kelly's South Wales Directory 1923 (ArchiveCDBooks) - transcribed by Gareth Hicks

• Merthyr General Hospital, founded in 1887, is a structure of red brick in the Queen Anne style, erected at a cost, including the site and furnishing, of £6,000. An accident receiving ward was added in 1897 at the cost of Sir William Thomas Lewis bart. G.C.V.O., afterwards 1st Baron Merthyr (d. 1914); in 1907 the large ward was extended and a children's ward added, and in 1922 a new wing was presented by Mr. and Mrs. H. Seymour Berry at a cost of £12000. There are now 92 beds.

The water supply is obtained from a gathering ground, chiefly mountain moorland, of nearly 5000 acres, on the southern slopes of the Breconshire Beacons, in the old red sandstone formation. The impounding reservoirs are in the county of Brecon, and consist of:-The Pentwyn reservoir, having a top water area of 100 acres, and capacity of 346 million gallons, constructed in 1858; the Lower Neuadd reservoirs having a capacity of 75 million gallons, constructed in 1876; the Upper Neuadd reservoir, having a water are of 60 acres, and a capacity of 345 million gallons; Taf Fechan reservoir, now (1923) in course of construction will have a capacity of 3,300 million gallons. The sewerage works were completed, at a cost of £104,100 by the late Local Board.

The town is lighted with gas supplied by the Merthyr Gas Company, formed in 1836 and incorporated in 1868, and also by electricity.

• Merthyr Tydfil tithes
  1778-95: tithe account books
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: D/DE]

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Canal Navigation 1790-1869 "The series consists of accounts, schedules of memorials of purchase of land, and other papers associated with the Glamorganshire Canal, 1790-1869."
  "The Glamorgan Canal Act was granted Royal Assent in June 1790, enabling the construction of a canal from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff. Part of the Act specified that papers relating to the company should be deposited with the Clerk of the Peace and kept with the County Quarter Sessions records. The canal was opened in 1794, and traffic reached its peak in 1851. After this time, competition from the railways led to its gradual decline"
• Finance Act 1910 domesday books "The Finance (1909/1910) Act (or Finance Act 1910) included provisions for taxing any increase in the value of land, by undertaking a baseline valuation of all land owned in England and Wales in 1909 against which subsequent sale prices could be compared................and involved the compilation of Field Books and maps listed all property; a 'Domesday' book summarising this information, ............... listing all holdings of a particular individual). The Welsh Region was divided into 11 districts, including the Abergavenny, Newport and Merthyr Tydfil Districts, which included Monmouthshire"

Merthyr Tydfil Police Force 30 October 1908 outside Merthyr Police Station - on the People's Collection Wales site

This diagram shows the position of this parish within the county of Glamorgan - click on this to see a full size diagram of the county

Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

Various items on the People's Collection Wales site

• Map of Merthyr Tydfil, c. 1830 -
• Plan of the parish of Merthyr Tydfil in the County of Glamorgan

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SO052033 (Lat/Lon: 51.72006, -3.373876), Merthyr Tydfil which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• OpenStreetMap Cymru (Welsh counties only)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

The People's Collection Wales site has much material for Merthyr Tydfil, use the onsite search box

• Hillside Surgery
  c1869-c1967: prescription and surgery books, accounts, papers etc
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff]

Merthyr Tydfil Boer War Memorial - on the Roll of Honour site

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Merthyr Tydfil - new War Memorial
• Merthyr Tydfil War Memorial
• Armistice Service at Merthyr Tydfil War Memorial 11 November 1936(1932?)
• Memorial photograph to the members of the Merthyr Tydfil Police Force who served in World War I
• Killed in Action - Merthyr Pioneer 19-02-1916
• Merthyr Soldier Killed - Monmouth Guardian 23-03-1917

Parish of Merthyr Tydfil - placenames on the 1841 census. Transcribed by Deric John

Places, villages, farms etc within Merthyr Tydfil parish as shown on the online parish map from the CD of Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. (Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.). (Extracted by John Ball)

• Taf [70] - Aber-canaid, Aber-fan, Cefn-glas, Cnwc, Coal Level, Craig-yr-Efail, Glamorganshire Canal, Hafod-tanglwys, Nant-y-maen, Perth-y-gleision
• Gellideg [71] - Aber-canaid, Blaen-canaid, Clwyd-y-fagwyn, Cwm Glo, Cwm Pits, Dynefor Arms Inn, Gelli-deg, Glamorganshire Canal, Graig, Heolgerig, Iron & Steel Works, Ochr-y-mynydd, Pleasant View, Rifle Range, Tai-mawr
• Garth [72] - Bryniau, Cyfarthfa Castle, Dowlais, Garth, Goitre Pond, Gyrnos, Madoc's Castle, Merthyr Tydfil, Morlais Castle, Pant Station, Pen-y-darren, Pwll Glas, Tower, Water Works
• Heol-wermood [73] - Cae-Harris, Clyn-mil, Cwm Bargoed Station, Cwm Blacks, Dowlais, Dowlais Top Station, Ffos-y-fran, Iron Works, Merthyr Common, Merthyr Tydfil, Mountain Hare, Pentre-bach, Pen-y-darren Pits, Pen-y-garn-ddu, Pen-y-lan, Pitwell Pond, Pont-ysgallog, Rifle Range, Trecatty, Twyn-y-Waun
• Cynon [74] - Begwns, Blackbrook, Cwm Bargoed, Cwm Cothi, Dyffryn Colliery, Edwardsville, Fforest, Garth House, Merthyr Vale, Mount Pleasant, Nant-y-fedw, Pen-y-graig, Tir-Cook, Troed-y-rhiw, Ynys Owen

Newspaper extracts

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Merthyr Tydfil Fire Brigade
• Tent Pegging Penydarren Park, Merthyr Tydfil
• An account of the Merthyr ironworker, 1869
• Extracts from 'A visit to the iron works and environs of Merthyr Tydfil in 1852'
• Programme for the official opening of the Hoover factory, Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil, 12 October 1948 [image 1 of 4]

Local Collieries not shown elsewhere on this site;

• Ffochriw Colliery (near Merthyr) on the Welsh Coal Mines site
• South Duffryn Colliery, Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil on the Welsh Coal Mines site

Plymouth Ironworks on Alan George's site

1871 census - Pubs, Inns, etc, for Merthyr Upper and Lower with details of head of the establishment, location, head, age, occupation, birthplace. Compiled by Barrie Jones

From Kelly's South Wales Directory 1923 (ArchiveCDBooks) - transcribed by Gareth Hicks

• There is also an iron foundry and brewing and flannel weaving are also carried on here. The Plymouth iron works and collieries, to the south of Merthyr, were purchased in 1863 of the representatives of Mr. Anthony Hill and are now carried on by Hill's Plymouth Co. Limited; they consist of three separate works, viz. Plymouth, Pentrebach and Duffryn. In connection with the iron works are six collieries, yielding on an average upwards of 2,000 tons per day. At the South Duffryn pits are an immense pumping engine and two pairs of large air compressor engines. Electric power is very extensively used at these collieries for lighting, pumping and haulage; the electric lighting is also extended to the adjoining village of Abercanaid.

• Merthyr Tydfil borough elections
  20th cent: correspondents and papers of Dr AWL Seaman rel to biographies of MPs c1880-1914
  [National Library of Wales, Department of Manuscripts and Records, Reference: Minor lists 1986]
• Merthyr Tydfil (Brecon Road) Liberal Association
  1888-1919: correspondents
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff - Reference: D/DXes

The People's Collection Wales site has much material for Merthyr Tydfil, use the onsite search box

Merthyr Tydfil - on Peter Higginbotham's site

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Merthyr Tydfil Poor Law Union, Workhouse/Public Assistance Institutions and Cottage Homes records 1836-1970

The Population of Merthyr Tydfil was as follows, and a more detailed breakdown is available.

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Merthyr Borough Petty Sessional Division records 1895-1964
• Merthyr Tydfil Borough Police records 1908-1971
• Merthyr Tydfil Borough Records 1852-1973
• Merthyr Tydfil Civil Parish records " ........ comprising valuation list, 1915; vestry minute books, 1799-1919; overseers minute book, 1904-1924"
• Merthyr Tydfil Local Board of Health 1850-1894
• Merthyr Tydfil Urban District Council records 1895-1903
• Merthyr Tydfil/Mid Glamorgan East coroner records 1959-1992

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Merthyr Tydfil Division Elementary/Primary schools records " ...... including log books and admission registers relating to Abercanaid Board school, 1872-1926; Aberfan school, 1888-1968; Abermorlais school, 1868-1970; Brecon Road school, 1902-1959; Caedraw school, 1875-1957; Clwydyfagwyr board, 1896-1943; Cyfarthfa school, 1971-1989; Dowlais British/Central school, 1873-1949; Gellifaelog school, 1888-1984; Georgetown schools, 1874-1969; Heolgerrig school, 1877-1928; Merthyr Vale Board school, 1879-1968; Mount Pleasant school, 1912-1952; Pant school, 1882-1962; Pantglas school, 1902-1966; Pengarnddu school, 1865-1958; Petrebach school, 1865-1942; Queen's Road school, 1873-1968; St. Cynon's National school, 1876-1915; Sandbrook House Rheumatic Hospital school, 1937-1959; Treharris school, 1881-1958; Troedyrhiw school, 1876-1966; Twynyrodyn school, 1875-1901; Woodlands school, 1905-1936; Ynysowen school, 1968-1990"
• Merthyr Tydfil Intermediate/County Secondary school records 1890-1914
• Merthyr Tydfil School Board and Education Committee Schools records 1863-1931
• Merthyr Tydfil School Board records 1871-1907

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Bedlinog School, n.d.
• Old Caedraw School, Merthyr Tydfil
• Children assembled outside a school in Merthyr Tydfil, c. 1890s
• Class at Mount Pleasant School, Merthyr Tydfil, 1920s

Ancient Order of Druids: Merthyr district

• 1839-49: records
  [Glamorgan Record Office, Cardiff]

An Amorous Israelite from Pontmorlais - from the Merthyr Express 1847

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Drawing of St Tydfil's Hospital
• Members of the Côr Mawr photographed at a reunion in Merthyr Tydfil, 1914.
• Bryntaf Girls Band, 1934
• Using a washboard, 1940s
• This trombone was awarded to the Corris Brass Band at the 1881 National Eisteddfod in Merthyr Tydfil.
• The Corris Brass Band after their performance at the Merthyr Tydfil National Eisteddfod of 1881, with their prize, a baby trombone.
• Pant Baths, Merthyr Tydfil
• This picture taken at an unknown time depicts the thriving community that would attend one of the many entertainment events at the Miners Hall during the time it was active.

• Merthyr Tydfil Turnpike Trust
  1829-1841: records
  [Glamorgan Archive Service, Cardiff]