St James’ Cricket Club, 1908 and 1910

Identifying articles donated or loaned to Glamorgan Archives is generally straightforward, particularly when the donor is able to provide the relevant detail. However, occasionally we have to use networks and contacts to “join the dots” in compiling a comprehensive description of new items added to the collection.

A recent example of such networking arose when two photographs of St James’ Cricket Club were added to the collection. Both were formal team photographs taken in 1908 and 1910. So far so good, but the donor was unable to provide further details. However, with information drawn from Cathays Heritage Library and with help from the Museum of Welsh Cricket we have been able to draw together background detail on the photographs.

In short, the site occupied by the church was donated by Lord Tredegar in 1877 with the aim of replacing the mission church established in the Tredegarville school. The first church on the site, known as St James the Great, was made from corrugated iron and opened in 1878. This temporary accommodation was replaced in 1894 by the stone building that can still be seen today, on the corner of Newport Road and Glossop Road, built in the early English gothic style.

It is likely that the cricket team dates back to the opening of the first church.  Certainly from 1881 onwards there are reports of games played by the church team, initially known as St James’ Choir Cricket Club but later simply as St James’ Cricket Club. By the 1890 the St James’ Cricket Club was an established side, competing with junior sides across Cardiff each year for the Cardiff District Cricket Union Challenge Cup. The club was also a founder member of the Cardiff and District Cricket League established in 1895, and league champions in 1898.

The teams in the 1908 and 1910 photographs are quite a seasoned group. The senior players include George Wozencroft, Bill Wilks, Fred Mees, Gomer Roberts and Fred Wood. George Wozencroft, a joiner by trade, was well known in cricket circles having played for a number of local sides. In his younger days George had been one of the best bowlers in the district, and he was also a talented batsman who had played for a Glamorgan Colts side against the county side. The bowling attack was led throughout this period by Bill Wilks, who worked at the Ely Colliery, and Gomer Roberts, a clerk on the Taff Vale Railway. They were well supported by the “two Freds” Mees and Woods, with George Wozencroft always ready to lend a hand.

After a spell at Llandaff Fields, by 1908 the St James’ Club was playing its home games at Whitchurch. While some clubs had cast their net wide to lure talented players, the evidence suggests that the St James’ Club was still drawn from the clerks, plumbers, joiners and shipyard labourers who lived on the maze of streets that run off Crwys Road and Castle Road (now City Road) and just north of the church.

This is an extract from the information drawn together from the Cathays Heritage Library and the Museum of Welsh Cricket. The full text can be obtained from https://www.cricketmuseum.wales/st-james-cricket-club-1908-and-1910/.  The two photographs of St James’ Cricket Club can be seen at Glamorgan Archives. Details of the early days of the Church can be found in T Ackerman, St James’ Church – A History, at Cathays Heritage Library. The Museum of Welsh Cricket is located at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. For details see www.cricketmuseum.wales. St James the Great closed in 2006 and has been converted into living accommodation.

Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

Stephenson & Alexander, Auctioneers and Chartered Surveyors – All Saints’ Church, Tyndall Street, Cardiff

Have you ever thought of owning a church? Those of a similar mind scanning the properties to be sold by Cardiff auctioneers Stephenson and Alexander in the early 20th century would have been in luck. The company records for that period include a number of churches placed on the market for sale. Perhaps one of the best known in Cardiff was All Saints’ Church, situated on the corner of Tyndall Street and Ellen Street, that was first put up for sale in 1899.

All Saints’ had been built, at a cost of £3000, with the support of the Marchioness of Bute. Constructed by local builder James Griffiths, the church, with its 100 foot square tower, was described at its opening, on 10 April 1856, as a …handsome structure… and …a beautiful specimen of Norman architecture. It was known initially as the Welsh Church and it was one of the first “modern” churches, constructed to cater for a rapidly growing population. Sited on the doorstep of the gates of the East Bute Dock and close to Cardiff Central Station, All Saints’ was perfectly situated to serve those employed in the dockland industries.

Forty years later, however, the seating for 450 people lay largely empty and the church little used. The marriage records for All Saints, held at Glamorgan Archives, reveal that, in its last two years, there were a total of five marriages. The last, overseen by the Rev Andrew Hyslop, was on 25 July 1899 when William Harris, a railway porter of Treharris Street, married Agnes Lyons. With William having moved to Cardiff from Devon and Agnes from Herefordshire the couple were typical of those drawn to South Wales at this time.

By 1899 the busy streets surrounding the church were largely the home of those that had arrived from Ireland. All Saints’, as an Anglican church, played little or no part in the life of the families living in the terraced streets running off Tyndall Street, with most looking to the Catholic church for worship and prayer. The condition of the church building was also poor.

Most of the dwindling congregation of the church was now drawn from Adamsdown and it was in this area, in Augusta Street, that the newly-weds William and Agnes Harris set up their first home. Those attending services on Sunday at All Saints’ from Adamsdown had to navigate a series of footbridges across the main railway line and pass through the closely packed terraced houses running off Tyndall Street.

The decision was, therefore, taken to close the Tyndall Street site and relocate All Saints’ to Adamsdown.  The cost of the new church was estimated at £2500. To mitigate the cost All Saints’ was stripped of just about everything that could be moved including the altar, pulpit, lectern, organ, stained glass windows, font and seats. The one sticking point was the bell in the tower built on the Tyndall Street side of the church. Although valuable it was too expensive to move. It may well have been the auctioneers, Stephenson and Alexander, who came up with a solution. Whoever purchased the church would be required to buy the bell separately or deliver it to the church authorities.

The move was a success with the new church on Windsor Road opening in January 1903. It can still be seen today although it is no longer used as church. As for the original church, although there was a growing demand for factory and warehouse space in the Tyndall Street area, initially, there was little interest in the site. Eventually it was acquired by the Great Western Railway and converted for use as a power station to provide the electricity needed to light its premises. Over the years it took on a number of roles before finally being demolished in 1980. For those familiar with the area, the site on the corner of Ellen Street and Tyndall Street is now occupied by the Capital Building.

If you want to find out more about All Saints’, a list of the records held in the Stephenson & Alexander collection can be found online, under reference DSA, in the Glamorgan Archives catalogue at https://canfod.glamarchives.gov.uk/.  The Ecclesiastical Parish Records for All Saints, including the marriage records, are held at Glamorgan Archives under reference P156CW.

Background information on the church has been drawn from the collection of Welsh newspapers compiled by the National Library of Wales at https://newspapers.library.wales.  This includes a sketch of All Saints’ that appeared in the South Wales Daily News on 18 January 1899.

For those with an interest in the second church on Windsor Road, an article by David Webb, a volunteer at Glamorgan Archives, provides commentary on a sketch of the interior produced by Mary Traynor. The sketch can be found at Glamorgan Archives under reference D1093/2/16 and David’s article can be found at https://glamarchives.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/interior-all-saints-church-adamsdown-cardiff/.

Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

World War Two in South Wales: The Summer of 1943 and Heathfield House School Takes to the Fields

Exactly eighty years ago, in the summer of 1943, the Second World War was in its fourth year. Glamorgan Archives holds the records compiled by schools in this period and the log books, written up each day by head teachers, provide a vivid insight into life across South Wales during wartime. As an example we have selected the records for Heathfield House Girls’ School, situated on the corner of The Walk and Richmond Road in Cardiff.

After three years of bombing many schools in Cardiff had been badly damaged. Although Heathfield House had survived the ordeal, neighbouring schools had not been so fortunate. As a result, the 280 pupils of Heathfield House now shared the premises with 89 girls from Howard Gardens School who had been allocated three classrooms on the middle floor.

While the frequency of the bombing raids had reduced, the war has never far away, as the head teacher’s log book confirmed on the 18 May 1943 – A severe raid took place in the early hours of the morning…. Soon after midday police instructions were received to evacuate the school on account of the time bomb in the Parade.  The raid that night had left a trail of destruction that cut through the city from Llanishen and Heath in the north, to the city centre and onward to Canton.

However, with the bomb defused, it was school as normal the following day.  Along with the usual round of lessons the challenge to the pupils that week was to raise money for ‘Wings for Victory’, a national campaign to support the Royal Air Force. As a relatively small school Heathfield House had a target of £250. Possibly spurred on by the recent near miss, just three days after the bombing raid, on 21 May, it was announced that the school had raised £700, close to three times the initial target. As a reward the pupils were given an extra day of holiday to be taken as an addition to the usual summer break.

With the end of term only matter of weeks away, it might have been thought that the pupils’ contribution to the war effort had already been made. But an opportunity then presented itself to go well beyond fund raising as the head teacher, Sr Mary Agnese, recorded on 10 June:

A party of 37 girls … went to Bonvilston to do farm work on the Forestry Commission Nurseries. This is in accordance with the scheme of the Glamorgan War Agricultural Committee to obtain the help of High School pupils in the working of farms. The girls … were taken by a lorrie which left the school at 10 to 10. They will be brought back at about 6.30.

This was evidently such a success that, in the following weeks, large groups of pupils from Heathfield House were to be found working in the fields in Lisvane, Sully and St Mellons. It was challenge that the pupils took up with gusto, although possibly also lured by the payment of one shilling and sixpence a day provided by at least one farm – Morgan Bros of Lisvane.

Not even the end of term, on 22 July, could dampen their enthusiasm, with the school log noting that two teachers from the school would …be running a school camp for agricultural work at Cowbridge for the three weeks beginning July 24.

The school magazine, The Heather, confirmed that 35 girls signed up, picking peas and potatoes in the fields in the day and sleeping in the Cowbridge High School gym at night. Parents were allowed to visit but only on Saturdays.

It would have been well deserved but there is no record of the pupils being awarded extra holidays for their efforts. However, there was one interesting by product. There had been a number of complaints from schools about the quality of school meals, with the head teacher of Whitchurch Girls’ observing, in July 1943, …potatoes  sodden, peas with grubs and cabbage has had slugs. Hopefully, the peas and beans picked by the Heathfield House pupils were part of the solution rather than the problem!

This is one of a short series of articles on Cardiff in the war years drawing on the records kept by head teachers at the time. A copy of the school log book for Heathfield House Girls’ School for the period 1933 to 1961 can be found at Glamorgan Archives, reference D16/3. A limited number of copies of the Heathfield House school magazine, The Heather, for the period 1944-48 can be found under reference D592/4/3. For details of the full range of school log books held for 1939-45 contact Glamorgan Archives www.glamorganarchives.co.uk.

Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

Angel Street, Cardiff – A Luxury Hotel and Famous Ironmongers on a forgotten street

Angel Street is now a forgotten street name in Cardiff. In fact, the street is now appropriately named Castle Street, given that it runs adjacent to the magnificent castle in the city centre. Angel Hotel, now situated at the end of Castle Street, used to be located opposite to the castle. Indeed, Figure 1 shows a photograph of the hotel, taken some time during the late nineteenth century. A prime location for travelling tourists and customers, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Angel Hotel seemed to be a large and comfortable place to stay.

Figure 1 – Photograph of the old Angel Hotel, late 19th Century

Figure 2 – Inventory for the Angel Hotel, 1897

The Stephenson and Alexander case file for the old hotel contains large book inventories for the Hotel that date from 1897 and 1918. We can deduct from the 1897 inventory book, as shown in Figures 2 & 3, that the hotel had at least 70 bedrooms. Some notable items that catch the eye when working through the inventory include: pictures of the then Prince and Princess of Wales, photos of Cardiff Castle, a picture of the German Emperor (perhaps Willhelm II) in a ‘gilt’ frame, a ‘China centre piece’, ‘brussels carpet’ and a ‘honeycomb counterpane’. Further to this, the case file also contains a detailed inventory of the wine cellar, which comprised of ‘cherry brandy’, sodas and ‘vino de Pacto’; for, what is a hotel without a well-stocked bar for the guests to enjoy?

Figure 3 – Bedroom 54, Inventory for the Angel Hotel, 1897

Interestingly, the file also holds a group of correspondence regarding a legal case to do with the hotel. The tenant of the hotel from 1897 to around 1918-1919 was a woman called Emily (or perhaps Elizabeth) Miles. A conflict arose between Emily and a Mr Charles Jackson, a barrister, surrounding the end of her tenancy, and whether she could take the furniture that she had bought for the hotel with her. Stephenson and Alexander seemed to act as mediators between the two, and reported that ‘Mr Jackson is bristling’, he will ‘stand it no longer’ and is ‘determined to take steps to enforce his rights’. Whilst an agreement was eventually settled for Emily’s departure, the letters make for an interesting read into a troubled relationship of the past.

Figure 4 – Plan showing 19 Angel Street, as well as Angel Hotel, circa 1883

Figure 5 – Auction particulars, 19 Angel Street

Directly next to the Angel Hotel was 19 Angel Street; described in 1882 as an ‘extensive and valuable freehold premises’, the property was owned by Mrs Fanny Lewis. The house fronted onto Angel Street, and had a large shop, five bedrooms and a kitchen; as Figure 4 shows, the building was in a ‘very important and central position’ in Cardiff.  Fascinatingly, Fanny Lewis is recorded as being an ironmonger, and her property was ‘one of the oldest houses of business in town’. It was perhaps considered unusual for a woman to be an ironmonger at this time, though Fanny Lewis appears in a couple of documents at the archives; one concerns farming, and another where she even stood as a prosecutor for a case!

Whilst Angel Street is now Castle Street, and the old Angel Hotel and Ironmongers no longer exist, this case file from the Stephenson and Alexander collection nevertheless provides an interesting insight into Victorian and Edwardian life in Cardiff, businesses ran by women, and even human conflicts. These case files can be accessed via the Stephenson and Alexander collection by searching for these references: DSA/2/74, DSA/12/3161, DSA/12/439 and DCNS/PH/9/51.

Hannah Bartlett, Cardiff University SHARE Placement Student

Howard Lodge, Cardiff – Manor house and gardens to new student accommodation

Howard Lodge once stood close to Howard Gardens, which is near to both Newport Road and Cardiff city centre. The area is now home to modern student accommodation which has only been built in the last couple of years, as well as residential streets, with the remnants of the gardens still present. A part of the third Marquess of Bute’s (John Crichton-Stuart) Estate, Howard Lodge, as with Howard Gardens, likely derived its name from the Marquess’ wife, Gwendolen Fitzalan-Howard.  The gardens came to be open to the public during the late nineteenth century, though the lodge, as seen from the plan in Figure 1, remains obscure in records.

Figure 1 – Ground Floor Plan and Lands of Howard Lodge

The Stephenson and Alexander collection contains a detailed case file regarding the auction and sale of Howard Lodge, which took place on the 10^th of August 1882 (Figure 2). From a photograph of the property enclosed on the file, shown in Figure 3, we can see that the lodge was of a substantial size. Indeed, it was recorded that the ‘house has recently been erected by the Proprietor, for his own occupation’, and whilst we can only speculate whether the Marquess ever took up residence there, the proprietor was Mr Thomas Waring. Thomas Waring, a popular engineer who worked in the Cardiff area, wished to change his residence. The lodge was certainly well-equipped as a home and was in a beneficial location for a working man: ‘it is pleasantly situated in the best residential part of town, within three minutes’ walk of the Taff Vale and Rhymney Railway Stations’. The house itself was of a ‘striking character’ and ‘superior quality’, suited to ‘convenience and comfort’, and was constructed with a ‘gothic design’. As we have seen previously within these blog posts, the gothic trend in architecture was highly prevalent during the late Victorian era.

Figure 2 – Howard Lodge auction particulars

Figure 3 – Photograph of Howard Lodge, late 19th Century

The plans included in the case file hold rich detail on both the interior and exterior of the lodge, with floor plans included for all four stories of the lodge (Figures 1 & 4). The house was nothing short of luxurious for the time, and contained a China pantry, WC/lavatory, reception rooms, a ladies’ dressing room, and a billiard room. Outside, there was a coach house and stables, a green house complete with ‘hot water appliances’, and a spacious garden, which is noted as having been ‘laid out and maintained by the Marquess of Bute’ himself.

Figure 4 – Structure of floors for Howard Lodge

As a leading land and property owner in Glamorgan, the Marquess of Bute owned a wealth of residences. Yet, Howard Lodge seems to have been shown careful care, given his input in the gardens, and was the spacious home of Mr Thomas Waring. Whilst the area is now home to student accommodation, the photo included in the case file certainly does the forgotten lodge justice. The case file for Howard Lodge can be accessed via the Stephenson and Alexander collection under the reference: DSA/2/79.

Hannah Bartlett, Cardiff University SHARE Placement Student

Womanby Street Chapel, Cardiff – Non-Conformist Religious Worship and a Troublesome Sale

Womanby Street, situated in the city centre of Cardiff, is known nowadays for its vibrant nightlife venues and pubs. During the 1800s, though, Womanby Street was once home to a sizeable church called Trinity Chapel. Trinity Chapel can be seen clearly in this photo of Womanby Street, dated 1891 (Figure 1). An impressive structure, it dominates the photograph, though the eagle-eyed among you will notice the familiar silhouette of Cardiff Castle’s walls in the background. Alas, the chapel no longer stands; many historical and religious buildings in the UK have become lost to us throughout the years, and it seems that a car park was erected on the site of the chapel.

Figure 2 – Plan of Womanby Street, the chapel is highlighted

First built in around 1696, Womanby Street Chapel was erected as a nonconformist place of worship. Nonconformity in this period was a way of denoting those who interpreted Protestantism differently to the state and, following the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660, Wales witnessed a rise in Nonconformist groups. The chapel had to be re-built in 1847 due to a fire and, by the late 1880s, motions were in place to put the chapel up for auction. Indeed, case files within the Stephenson and Alexander collection suggest that the building was to be sold in order to build a new chapel on Cowbridge Road. However, the documents also imply that the sale was not an easy process.

Figure 3 – Auction particulars for the chapel

Figure 4 – Letter concerning frustrations that the sale had not been completed

The auctions for the sale of Trinity Chapel are recorded as having taken place in September and October of 1890 (Figure 3). It seems, however, that Stephenson and Alexander had an array of issues when trying to sell the Chapel, which are all documented in a case file of letters, exchanged between the company, architects, and solicitors (Figure 4). Most notably, the file contains letters written by Edwin Seward, a famous architect responsible for designing many of Cardiff’s buildings, who was likely being consulted over the construction of the new chapel. Whilst Trinity chapel seemed to be snapped up at auction, Edwin writes to Stephenson and Alexander that he had ‘not been in a position to report that the above is actually sold to your correspondent for the price named’, and that the ‘actual sale…has not yet been concluded’. Indeed, Mr Alexander had recently left for London, and voiced his frustrations through his letters that the original price was not accepted.

Figure 5 – Apology letter surrounding key difficulties

Figure 6 – Rough inventory of the chapel

Figure 7 – Letter describing the new tenants’ wishes to discard of furniture and aspects of the chapel

An eventual sale seems to have been completed in around March 1891, but the troubles did not end there. Upon trying to enter the building, the new tenant (Gill Blackbourne) had issues with the keys, which even modern homeowners can likely sympathise with. A swift apology letter was sent (Figure 5), with the company stating: ‘I am sorry you have any difficulty about the key’. Furthermore, there was some conflict with the new tenants’ intentions for the chapel. Within the sale adverts, the company emphasised that the chapel would of course be perfect for the ‘purposes of religious worship’. The new tenants, however, wished to remove and sell any remains of the chapel, including: the pews and organs, the pulpits, stools, and even a gas oven, all documented in letters and a rough inventory (Figures 6 & 7).

The New Trinity Chapel was built, using the sale proceeds, on Cowbridge Road in 1894, and it seems that the old chapel was eventually demolished. Once a stunning, gothic chapel with a wealth of religious history, various records from baptisms, weddings and events at both the old and new chapels can be accessed at Glamorgan Archives using the reference DECONG6. For the Stephenson and Alexander documents on the chapel, see: DSA/12/382 and DSA/2/160.

Hannah Bartlett, Cardiff University SHARE Placement Student

20 Park Place, Cardiff – Victorian Manor House to Modern, Fine Dining Restaurant

This blog post will be the first of a series of five that relate to the Stephenson and Alexander collection at Glamorgan Archives. The collection is extensive, and home to a wide variety of material that links to the activities of the auction and chartered surveyor company, in particular concerning the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A foray into the collection does not simply reveal property records. As these five blog posts will demonstrate, the collection also details people, who lived, worked and experienced life around a hundred years ago.

Up for auction on both Thursday the 4^th of July 1889 and Thursday the 2^nd of July 1891 was the beautiful, gothic manor of 20 Park Place, Cardiff (Figure 1). If you’re familiar with Cardiff, 20 Park Place still stands today, located close to both City Hall and the National Museum, and is now a fine dining restaurant and bar. Described within the case files as a ‘substantial, well-built and commodious leasehold house’, the property was situated in a ‘most desirable part of Cardiff’ and is noted for its ‘elegance’ and ‘durability’.

Figure 1 – 20 Park Place, now

 

Figure 2 – Auction particulars, 1891

 

The particulars for the auction (Figure 2) explain how the executor of the will for the previous owner of the house had decided to sell it. Indeed, it states that the property had been ‘lately in the occupation of Alderman McConnochie, deceased’. An Alderman was a member of local government, and the deceased resident of 20 Park Place was in fact John McConnochie. A fascinating figure to the history of Cardiff, McConnochie was Chief Engineer of the Bute Docks and at one point served as Mayor of Cardiff from 1879 to 1880. Yet, the documents within the case file reveal to us some interesting and personal findings about John’s home. The property was constructed ‘for his own residence’ in 1872, and included a basement, ground, first and second floor, with the outside containing a stable and coach house. The house also contained a library, servant quarters and a billiard (recreational) room. The inventory within the case file provides further insights into John’s luxurious home: he had silver dining ware, a ‘revolving’ library chair, mahogany furniture, a painting of ‘Scottish scenery’ and even a ‘steel suit of armour’.

Figure 3 – Architect designs

 

Figure 4 – Architect designs

 

The diamond of these case files, however, has to be the original architectural designs for the property. One can imagine John in consultation with his ‘distinguished’ architect, who was in fact William Burges, renowned for designing many buildings in Cardiff, such as Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch. As we can see in Figures 3 and 4, the house has hardly changed, and still holds an imposing presence on Park Place. The popular trend of gothic architecture is clear, with the property’s arches and dark colour scheme.

Next time you wander through the city centre of Cardiff, take time to admire 20 Park Place, which was once a carefully designed abode, built for the sole purpose of being John McConnachie’s home. These case files can be accessed within the Stephenson and Alexander collection at Glamorgan Archives, by requesting: DSA/12/358 and DSA/2/166.

Hannah Bartlett, Cardiff University SHARE Placement Student

World War Two in Cardiff: The “Outlaws” Have a Bath in the Rain

In June 1942, almost three years into the Second World War, the news reached the boys of Gladstone School in Cardiff that soap was to be added to the list of items that were rationed in schools.

Stacey Road, 21 May 1942, p302 (EC31/2)

No doubt those in the school yard who were fans of Richmal Crompton’s “eternally scruffy” school boy, William Brown, and his band of 11 year old “outlaws” received the news with delight. Little did they know, however, that their reprieve was to be short-lived.

Regular air raids over the major cities had taken their toll, with many homes destroyed and families in temporary accommodation. In response, Lever Brothers, producers of the famous Lifebuoy soap at their factory at Port Sunlight, had devised a scheme to provide practical help to families in the cities that had been badly hit by the raids. The firm equipped, at its own cost, a fleet of twenty-five vans to provide mobile Shower Bath Units. Known as the Lifebuoy Emergency Bath Service, each vehicle contained an oil fired steam boiler, a water tank, eight collapsible shower cubicles and a plentiful supply of soap and towels. The vans were staffed by three female attendants who were charged with moving the equipment from site to site and supervising the showers.

The local authority in Cardiff had no hesitation in accepting the offer of one of the vans with the decision that it would be used, primarily, in schools. As it turned out Gladstone School was one of the first schools in Cardiff to receive a visit, when the van, with its Lifebuoy logo, appeared in the school yard, on Wednesday 17 June 1942. It was quite an occasion with the Mayor, Alderman James Hellyer, and other members of the council also attending to inspect the new shower unit.

For budding “outlaws” there was only one means of escape. Parental approval had to be secured for a shower and priority was given to those who did not have a bathroom at home. However, the records show that 126 boys had a shower that afternoon under the supervision of the school nurse and the Lever Brothers staff. For some it would have been the first time that they had seen a shower, as opposed to a traditional bath, and the cubicles set up in the school yard were described as providing “a bath in the rain”.

Over the coming months the Lifebuoy van was to become a familiar sight in school yards across the city providing a much needed and very welcome service to the school children of Cardiff.

Ninian Park School, 19 June 1942, p283 (EC42/3/2)

Splott Road Infants, 26 June 1942, p340 (EC30/1)

You can read more about the visit of the “bath in the rain” to Gladstone School in the Western Mail and South Wales News, Thursday 18 June 1942, p4.

This is one of a short series of articles on Cardiff in the war years drawing on the records kept by Headteachers at the time. For details of the school log books held for 1939-45 contact Glamorgan Archives www.glamarchives.gov.uk.

Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

Glamorgan Juvenile Convictions

On 4 October 1857 Edmund Matthews and Stephen Anderson, aged 11 and 12, appeared at Cardiff Borough Petty Sessions court on a charge of stealing two sacks worth 4s.  On the same date Sarah Taylor, aged 13, was charged with stealing 100lb of iron from the Taff Vale Railway Company.  All three were convicted, receiving sentences of three months, one month and two months hard labour respectively.  They are thus the first to appear on record in a major series of documents relating to juvenile convictions.

These court hearings took place under an ‘Act for the more speedy Trial and Punishment of Juvenile Offenders’ of 1847.  Forms recording convictions under this act were sent to the Clerk of the Peace and preserved amongst the Quarter Sessions records.  The system remained much the same until 1879, when convictions ceased to be collected centrally as a result of administrative changes.

The juvenile convictions themselves are bound into 14 volumes, each one containing some 150 convictions.  This article will look at the first volume, covering the years 1847-1852, as an example.  Each conviction appears on a separate parchment, and is expressed in a standard form laid down by the Act.  Some are entirely handwritten, but many of the courts used printed forms created for the purpose with only the variable details handwritten.

The date is given first, followed by the place; the name of the offender; the names of the justices, who sign and seal each form; the type of court; the date of the offence and the offender’s age on that date; the place where the offence was committed; the item stolen, its estimated value, and the name of its owner; and the sentence, including where it would be served and / or administered.  Several offenders may appear on the same form if the offence was carried out jointly, and sometimes information is omitted, for example if it proved impossible to judge the offender’s age precisely.

The occurrence of joint offences means that the 141 documents in this first volume represent 152 convictions.  Of these, 67 were the decision of Merthyr Tydfil Police Court, 33 of Cardiff, 22 of Swansea Borough Petty Sessions, 16 of Neath, and the remainder shared between Cowbridge, Bridgend, Llandaff, Caerphilly, Llantrisant and Aberdare.  This would seem to confirm the view that juvenile crime, or at least the prosecution of juvenile offenders, was rare in rural areas.

Many of the thefts were connected with local industry.  Of these 152 convictions, 44 were for thefts of coal, quoting amounts from 10lb to 200lb.  The precision of some weights given – 29lb, 68lb etc. – suggests that more than guesswork was involved here, though quite how a 13 year old girl stole 200lb of coal may be difficult to imagine.  Nearly three quarters of these coal thefts were carried out by girls, twenty of whom were aged 13 years or over, and it seems likely that most of these were employed as surface workers at local mines.  There were, of course, thefts of iron too.

The most ambitious industrial theft was that committed by Benjamin Evans, aged 13, who stole ‘a machine’ worth £50 belonging to Sir Josiah J. Guest of Dowlais Iron Works.  This is the most expensive item that appears in the volume.  Occasional thefts of rope, sacks, or small tools also appear, and amount to no more than a few shillings in value.

Prosecution in all these cases must have been at the instigation of the managers and owners in the industries affected.  For the other thefts, complaints often seem to be from shopkeepers, whose livelihood would be threatened by pilferings.  This can be demonstrated by cross referencing thefts of food in 1852 with entries in a trade directory for that year: John Hughes, from whom Thomas Kenvin stole 84lb potatoes, was probably John Hughes, grocer, of High Street, Dowlais; the owner of 2lb of bacon stolen by Dennis Murray may have been John Cross who ran a grocer’s shop in Great Frederick Street, Cardiff.

Other food thefts were of veal, lemons, apples and tea, and all took place in Merthyr, Swansea or Cardiff.  The total of 10 convictions is surprisingly low; one may suspect that there was a resistance to prosecute for the lesser offences of this kind.

Some thefts of clothes or footwear may also have constituted shoplifting.  Boys commonly stole a coat, a cap, or a pair of boots, but the five thefts by girls include more substantial armfuls.  The youngest offender was Mary Davies, aged 8, who stole a cotton frock, a silk frock, a bedsheet and a clothes brush; a 15 year old, Elizabeth Jones, stole a basket, a dress worth 20s, an apron, a kerchief, a pair of clogs, a bonnet and an umbrella – perhaps all these were the contents of the basket?  One assumes that these girls’ motive was profit rather than use, and this was probably so for Elias Roberts, who stole a coat and trousers along with 5 sovereigns.  Another boy was convicted of stealing two handkerchiefs in October 1852, and was in court again six weeks later for stealing a coat.

There are 15 convictions for thefts of money, many pickpocketing, and this increases to 17 if thefts of watches are included.  It is striking that no girls appear in this group, and the boys are of a younger age than the average.  One of the watches was stolen by a 7 year old.  The only 15 year old is the head of a gang of younger boys, and such joint enterprises are frequent.  A purse containing £15 provided the largest sum; there were also the 5 sovereigns mentioned above, and £4 in a cash box.  On the other hand there were thefts of small change, the smallest being 3½d.

There are other diverse thefts.  Some are clearly of shop goods, for instance a joint theft of 96 pieces of crockery; there are other items of hardware, including a looking glass.  Lead, tobacco, cress seeds, a spade, and a bell complete the list.

In terms of sentencing, there are clear patterns discernible.  The most striking difference is that between the fate of boys and girls.  This was partly provided for in law, as whipping was a penalty reserved for boys.  But it’s also clear that the use of fines as an alternative to imprisonment was almost exclusively applied to girls.  Half the girls therefore escaped with a fine of 5s or 10s, whilst of the three boys who suffered this penalty one paid the maximum possible fine of £3.

Six girls and six boys received the punishment of brief imprisonment and the average was about 10 days served.  Surprisingly, the figures for sentences of hard labour are roughly equivalent for boys and girls, with the length of sentence averaging 25 days.  40 boys, however, were sentenced to hard labour plus a whipping, and the hard labour here had an average of 20 days.  A further 17 boys suffered imprisonment and a whipping, with an average of 12 days in prison.

There was one major change in sentencing during the years 1847-1879.  A series of Acts introduced the possibility of sending offenders to reformatories or industrial schools.  The former were for those convicted of imprisonable sentences, the latter for any others who came before the court.  However, it appears such sentences were considered as additions to the penalties already available; Thomas Barry, who stole six rhubarb tarts in 1864, was sentenced to 14 days hard labour and 4 years at reform school.  Comparable offenders in the early-1850s would only have served the hard labour.

These few examples provide an impression of the experiences of young law-breakers during the 19^th century.  Thanks to the hard work of Glamorgan Archives volunteers, in particular Laurie Thompson, the calendars of the Glamorgan Juvenile Convictions can now be searched using the Glamorgan Archives catalogue Canfod http://calmview.cardiff.gov.uk/ using the reference Q/S/JC, allowing further investigation into patterns of juvenile crime and punishment in 19^th century Glamorgan, and the possibility of tracking down criminal ancestors!

Solomon Andrews and the Early Cinemas of Glamorgan

The birth of the cinema took place in 1895, when Louis Lumière staged the first projection of moving photographic images to paying audiences in Paris. Showing motion pictures soon became a popular form of entertainment. After the First World War, cinema developed rapidly into a major form of mass entertainment, reaching its height of popularity in the 1930s. By 1934, there was one cinema seat for every ten persons in South Wales. It was a lucrative business for local entrepreneurs to become involved in.

The firm of S. Andrews and Son was founded by Solomon Andrews.  Born in Trowbridge in Wiltshire, Andrews settled in Cardiff in the 1850s. He initially set up in business as a baker and confectioner. His business interests soon spread into such diverse areas as undertaking, furniture removal, the provision of omnibus and tramcar services, shops and department stores, property management and development, and collieries.

The company first ventured into the cinema business in 1911, with the conversion of the roller skating rink at The Hayes, Cardiff, into a cinema. The Central cinema opened in March 1911, and remained in the company’s hands until November 1959, when it was sold with The Hayes Buildings, after extensive fire damage.

Following the success of the Central cinema, S. Andrews and Son acquired land in Swansea and the Castle cinema opened in 1913.

In 1915 the site of the old town hall in Hannah Street, Porth, was leased by the company, and a new cinema was constructed.

The Central cinema, Porth, opened in 1916, and functioned as a cinema until 1974, when it was taken over completely as a bingo hall. Records for this cinema include cash books detailing the weekly finances for the years 1917 to 1930. The earlier volumes list weekly admission figures, and they give information on the programmes of films. There are also notebooks giving the weekly programmes of films covering the period from 1919 to 1945.

Among the many films recorded in the notebooks, various classic titles appear, such as David Copperfield with W.C. Fields and Basil Rathbone (shown in 1935), and Jane Eyre with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles (shown 1944). Popular films included Hitchcock’s thriller The Lady Vanishes starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave (shown 1939), and The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland (shown 1940). The latter was retained at the Central for six days instead of the customary three days, due to its popularity.

Various programmes covered six days, including the Shirley Temple films Poor Little Rich Girl (shown 1937), and the Little Princess (shown 1940), and also Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Swing Time (shown 1937). Hollywood, from an early date, dominated the cinema industry and this is reflected in the records of the Central.

Two of the films shown at the Central cinema, Porth, were more directly concerned with the South Wales valleys. Proud Valley, starring Paul Robeson and Rachel Thomas, was shown in 1940 and again in 1943.  And probably the most famous film ever made about Wales, How Green was my Valley, was shown in 1942.

An interesting group of records from the Central cinema, Porth, are the management letters, which run from 1920 to 1947, with a gap for the years 1928 to 1934. These are letters from the manager of the Central to the directors of Castle and Central Cinemas Ltd., to keep them informed of the daily business of the cinema. They cover the period when cinema-going was at its peak, and they help to throw light on social and economic conditions in the South Wales valleys. Information given in the letters includes the general business of the cinema, the programme and popularity of films, maintenance of equipment, repairs to the building, and the hiring of staff. The manager does, however, mention a local or national event, inasmuch as it affects the cinema business and attendance figures. Therefore the letters contain information on local and national strikes, the proposed closure of a local colliery, and local disasters such as fire or flood.

The Andrews family also owned the Olympia cinema, Queen Street, Cardiff, which opened in 1922.

Solomon Andrews and Son played a large part in the history of cinemas in Glamorgan. The company provided an important entertainment service, and much of the documentation relating to their involvement in the cinema business has survived.  Records of Solomon Andrews and Son are available to consult at Glamorgan Archives and the catalogue, which can be accessed through our website www.glamarchives.gov.uk, can be browsed under reference DAB.