Timeline 1990 -95

 

1890

March:

Tenders were invited from contractors for the “(…) Alteration, Renovation, and Improvements of Sardis English Baptist Chapel, Resolven. Plans and specifications could be viewed at the office of S. C. Jones, Architect and Surveyor, 6 Queen Street, Neath, and sealed tenders were to be sent to T. W. James, 12 Railway Terrace, Resolven, not later than 26 March 1890. The lowest, or any tender, was not necessarily accepted.”

The following newspaper advertisement was placed: “Steam Coal Seams, near Resolven, to let on lease; top veins workable by levels, lower measures by pits. For particulars apply to Wm. Jones, Ty’n-yr Heol, Tonna, Neath.”

At the Neath Petty Sessions, contracts were awarded for scavenging in the Neath area, with Thomas E. Bowen being awarded the contract for Resolven at a cost of £9. (Scavenging was historically subsumed under “The Poor, Highway and Scavenging Rate” and was the nineteenth- century equivalent of present-day waste re-cycling.)

April:

Ynysarwed Colliery, which had lain idle for some sixteen years, was re-opened by its new owners Lancaster, Speier and Company. Representatives from the Company had recently visited the Colliery and inspected the underground workings and plant, and expressed their satisfaction with what they saw. In addition, a new railway siding had been opened. “At this Colliery the celebrated No. 1 Penygraig seam is being worked which, as a purely steam coal, has attained a high reputation. It has been subjected to the fullest trials by the Government at Woolwich Dockyard with such results that it has been continued on the Admiralty List. There is at present being produced about 100 tons per day, but it is expected very shortly to increase the output to 300 or 400 tons daily, including the No.2 seam, which is also being worked, and it is intended to develop as well the No. 3 seam.  There is also an opportunity for a large number of colliers finding employment here.”

At the Neath County Petty Sessions, the new rates payable for the relief of the poor were announced. The rate fixed for Resolven rate-payers over the next three months would be ten pence in the pound.

May:

Details of the death of the former vicar of Resolven, the Rev. Walter Griffiths, were published. He had died at his home, Dulais Fach, on a Sunday at about midnight. The previous Friday he had appeared to be in his usual robust health, “(…) but incautiously he had walked out into his grounds in his slippers with a friend. He then caught cold which, on Saturday, developed into congestion of the lungs. Mr. Griffiths’ name was a household word at Neath, whilst in the County few men were better known. He was the son of the late Lewis Griffiths of Ynys -y-Gerwn, and the brother of the Rev. David Griffiths, the present vicar of Resolven. He was 66 years old. (…) and was one of the oldest County Magistrates on the Bench, and often presided at the Neath County Petty Sessions. He was Chairman of the Neath Highway Board, Chairman of the Neath Rural Sanitary Authority, (…) and also an old member of the Neath Board of Guardians and of the Assessment Committee. He became interested in the Aberdulais Tin Works by having married Mrs. Wayne, the daughter of the late William Llewellyn, the founder of the works. He possessed considerable property in Breconshire and Glamorganshire, and was a staunch Conservative in politics.”

An inquest was held following the death of John Rees, a single man aged 54, who worked as a coal-weigher at Resolven Colliery. His body was found floating in the South Dock, Swansea. A witness gave evidence stating that “(…) the deceased was a very temperate man, and by no means likely to commit suicide. He had some friends on the yacht ‘Rheola’ and he must have fallen into the water accidentally when crossing the foot-bridge.” Medical opinion indicated that in all probability the fright and shock caused by the sudden immersion in the cold water had produced death almost immediately. The verdict of the inquest was ‘Found Drowned.’”

A. G. Smith, of Lletydafydd, Resolven, a pupil at Neath Proprietary School, (a private, independent, profit-making school), passed the Local Cambridge Examinations held at the Neath Centre with second-class honours in “Preliminary Subjects, Religious Subjects, English, Latin, French, Mathematics, and Drawing”. (These examinations were for ‘Juniors’ under the age of sixteen and would be, roughly, the equivalent of today’s GCSE). “The difficult character of the examination may be judged from the fact that, of the senior boys under eighteen, not quite 24 per cent passed in honours, and of the juniors under sixteen only about 28 per cent. There were 8,897 candidates for the examination.”

In memory of his late brother, the Rev. David Griffiths, vicar of Resolven, offered a very valuable site at Tonna, together with the sum of £2000, for the purpose of erecting a church there, dedicated to St. Anne.

June:

An ongoing discussion in the newspapers on the derivation of the place-name ‘Resolven’ continued with the opinion of a third correspondent who gave the following grammatical rule: “When a place derives its name from a person, the personal name always succeeds that of the place, (examples: ‘Treforus’, ‘Hafodowen’, ‘Llety Dafydd’), but if the person takes his name from a pre-existing place, the personal name invariably precedes that of the place (example: ‘Will Ty Mawr’). So the original form of Resolven should never be written, as one correspondent suggests, as ‘Solven Rhys’, but as ‘Rhys Solven’ the place ‘Y Solven’ existing long before the person ‘Rhys’”.

George Smith of Resolven was present at a meeting of the Swansea Stock Exchange at which the main item of interest was the amount of tin-plate which had been shipped during the previous week “(…) the largest known in the history of the port.” Large-scale shipments were still continuing and, among the steamers being loaded at present, was the famous SS. Missouri.

July:

Members of the Bridgend Otter Hounds Team were scheduled to meet, (water permitting), for a hunt at Resolven on Friday 11 July, arriving by train from Neath at 8.23a.m.

David Williams of Resolven was present at a meeting  held at Aberafan of the Committee set up to oversee the allocation of the monies collected, (some £20,000), in support of the families of the 88 colliers who had tragically lost their lives in the explosion in March at the Morfa Colliery, Taibach, Port Talbot. (A month before this tragedy, 176 colliers had been killed at the Llanerch Colliery, Pontypool in a similar disaster.)

Melincourt Brick and Tile Company (Limited) was registered on 23 July, with a capital of £5000 in £5 shares, as the new owner of both the Brick Works at Melincwrt and the fire-clay beds attached to it. Share-holders included: J. Taylor, of Neath, a  brick manufacturer; S.T. Haine, of Newport, a glass merchant; A. Haine, of Cardiff, a coal merchant; M. Mordey, of Newport, a ship-builder; J. Linton, of Newport, a contractor; and  J. H. Carney, also of Newport, a ship-builder. The registered address of the Company was The Exchange Buildings, Bute Docks, Cardiff.

J. D. Shakespeare, who had been the third manager of the Cardiff and Swansea Smokeless Steam Coal Company for a period of thirteen months from September 1874, expressed his great concern at the present developments at Resolven Colliery. In his time as manager, he “(…) had arranged with Colonel Beaumont and Sir Lyon Playfair, of the Diamond Boring Company, to put down a bore hole through the Tyrrau strata, Resolven, at a cost of only £2,000, and, had that proved the seam, we should long since have been working a thriving business, and spent £50,000 less in sinking than the work at Cwm Clydach has cost us, while at the same time the railway was within a few yards for transit, whereas at Cwm Clydach the railway is one and a half miles distant, and the coal itself more than  half a mile away from the surface.”

August:

At a meeting of the Neath Rural Sanitary Board, the vicar of Resolven, Rev. David Griffiths, proposed Dr. Whittington as his candidate to fill the vacancy for the post of Medical Officer and Public Vaccinator, with a salary and emoluments amounting to about £300 a year. “He had much pleasure in doing so, for Dr. Whittington was a native of the district and was well-known; he was an old member of the Board of Guardians, and consequently was well-acquainted with Neath and its valleys and the important duties of the office. In his opinion, as a medical man, Dr. Whittington was a peer amongst peers.” Evan Bevans formally seconded the nomination.

The following job vacancies were advertised: “Wanted. Men, Boys and Girls, used to Brick Works; good wages, and constant employment guaranteed. Apply Melincourt Brick Works, Resolven.”

September:

Richard Davies, of Resolven, won the third prize in the horse-shoeing competition which was held at the Industrial Exhibition at Aberafan. “The busy and prosperous borough of Aberavon wore its holiday appearance on Mabon’s Day, all being full of bustle and excitement. The daily trains from the Rhondda Valleys brought down several thousand visitors. Visitors also arrived in large numbers by the Great Western Railway trains from the surrounding district.”

Mary Jones of Llwyncoedwr, Ty Llwyd, and Heolhir Farms, Resolven, advertised for sale by auction on 18 September the following contents of her farms: “ Sheep: 300 breeding ewes, 50 fat wethers, 240 store wethers, 260 lambs and 10 rams. Cattle: 12 Hereford cows, 2 heifers in calf, 8 steers, 8 calves, 10 yearling steers and calves, and 1 Hereford bull a year old. Horses: 1 bay horse (named ‘Captain’), 1 black horse (named ‘Farmer’), 2 cobs (named ‘Robin’ and ‘Billy’), 2 fillies and 1 mare and suckling. Implements: 1 mower by Samuelson, 1 winnowing machine, 1 plough, 1 harrow and 100 new hurdles. Crop: 1 rick of hay.”

October:

Harvest Thanksgiving Services were held at St. David’s Church, the sermon being preached by the vicar of Goytre, Rev. J. L. Clougher, former curate of Resolven. “The church was very neatly decorated, an anthem being well rendered by the choir under the able superintendence of Hopkin Morgan.”

Hopkin Bevan, a collier at the Ynysarwed colliery, was taken suddenly ill at work and died shortly afterwards. ”It is alleged that, in spite of several requests for medical assistance, the works’ doctor refused to attend. An inquest will be held. It is rumoured that the other workmen refused to go to work on Tuesday in consequence of the conduct of the medical gentleman.”

A resident of Tonna wrote the following letter: “Sir. It has of late fallen to my unhappy lot to traverse the parish road running between Aberdulais and Resolven, and never have I walked over a more wretched highway. In many places the road is simply impassible, especially on the road below Ynysarwed Farm. I have made enquiries and find the road is managed by the Neath Highways Board. Year in year out, the puddles have it all their own way, and why the ratepayers in the district do not bring the Board to book is a mystery to me. (…) I should like to point out a very dangerous spot near the Melincourt Colliery. The old drift close beside the road, and now full of water, is quite open to the road, not a shadow of a fence to prevent people falling in. Once in, there would not be the slightest chance of coming out alive (…).” 

On the anniversary of the death of the Rev. Daniel Rowlands, Llangeitho, the minister of Seion Chapel, Resolven, Rev. Moses Thomas, was one of the guest preachers in a new schoolroom built for the use of Calvinistic Methodists in the parish of St. Mary Hill. The building cost £205 to build, and a contribution of £150 towards this cost was made by Jonathan Howells, “(…) a zealous Churchman of the evangelical school.”

William Davies was sentenced to three months in prison for stealing a watch on 26 November 1889 from Thomas Davies, a collier living at Resolven.

November:

Arrangements were in place for the visit of two Members of Parliament to Resolven. S. T. Evans, (the Member for Neath), and W. Abraham, ‘Mabon’, (the Member for the Rhondda). They would speak to constituents at Bethania Welsh Baptist Chapel on 17 November.

Thomas Anthony, a drayman employed by E. Evans Bevan of the Vale of Neath Brewery, died in a very sad manner on Wednesday 7 November. He was returning home from Resolven, having delivered some casks of beer to the New Inn, and “(…) it is surmised that, in crossing the river bridge which is very narrow and dangerous, the dray came in contact with the side of the bridge, with the result that he was thrown off one of the casks on which he was seated, into the water. The river was very high in consequence of the heavy rains. The horse and dray were discovered on the bridge, but there was no sign of the drayman. On Thursday morning a search was instituted and the unfortunate man’s body was found about half a mile from the bridge. One of his hands was clasped in the branch of a tree. The deceased had evidently made a brave struggle for his life.”

“Found, November 15th 1890, English Lever Watch with Steel Albert, and, if not claimed within seven days, finder will be responsible for keeping it. Apply J. B. Davies, 3 Yeo Street, Resolven, Neath.”

December:

A meeting of the Temperance Benefit Friendly Society was held this month in the Temperance Rooms, Resolven. Rev. Moses Thomas presided, and Brother Parr of the Merthyr and Aberdare Division and Brother Thomas of Aberdare delivered “ (…) eloquent and impressive addresses showing the many advantages of the Society as compared with other Friendly Societies.”

Resolven rugby team played against Neath Institute at Neath, resulting in a win for Resolven by one try to nil.

The following newspaper advertisement appeared: “Wanted. Man to Heat Tinhouse Pots; must be accustomed to the work, sober, and steady. Apply Clyne Tin Works, Resolven.”

On Christmas Day, the annual eisteddfod was held at Bethania Chapel, with a large attendance both in the morning and evening. J. T. Williams, Drehir, occupied the chair. David Howells (Gwynalaw) adjudicated the singing and Benjamin James, Aberdulais, the prose. The greatest interest centred on the chief choral competition, the set- piece being:  “Briallen Gyntaf y Gwanwyn.” Five choirs competed: Brynseion, Cwmbach, Aberdare, Bethania, and Resolven Philharmonic. “The first- named choir was adjudged the winner. In the evening a grand concert was held, D.  Howells and Llinos Emlyn being among the artistes who took part.”

David M. Evans of Railway Terrace, Resolven was successful in the examination for the A. C. diploma set by the Tonic Sol-fa, College, London. He was seventeen years old, and would eventually become one of Wales’ greatest musicians.

 

1891

January:

The Welsh drama ‘Jack y Bachgen Drwg’ was performed under the auspices of the Resolven Temperance Society in the village schoolroom. Eighteen actors took part in the performance and the room was crowded to excess.

At a general meeting of the Resolven Working Men’s Club, under the presidency of T. W. James, it was unanimously resolved to form a Literary and Debating Society in the village. It was also decided that one object of the Society would be to help people attain a thorough knowledge of the Welsh language. Rev. D. G. Morgan was appointed the president of the new Society, and John Evans and John Davies were appointed treasurer and secretary respectively.

The subject for the first debate organised by the Resolven Literary and Debating Society was: “Is alcohol taken in moderation injurious to the human system?” M. Williams opened the debate in the affirmative and John V. Jones in the negative. “An animated discussion followed, with vigorous arguments ‘pro’ and ‘con’ by John Evans, Thomas Price and J. T. Williams.”

February:

The following advertisement appeared: “Wanted immediately, a Medical Practitioner for the Resolven Collieries; qualifications required with application; Welsh and temperate habits preferred. Apply Watkin Evans, Resolven, Neath.”

S. T. Evans presented a petition to the House of Commons on behalf of the Congregationalists of Resolven (and of many other churches in the Neath and Bridgend areas) in favour of closing public houses on Sundays.

Charles Oakley, a fireman, was summoned by the ‘Resolven Tinplate Company’ for £2 damages caused by his absence from work on 2 and 3 February. “The tinhouse foreman proved that the defendant neglected to go to work on the dates mentioned, thereby causing the loss of 80 boxes, since the pots got cold and were unready for working the following day.” The defendant replied by saying “(…) he had given notice of his intentions to stay away, and sent another man to take his place, and the work went on as if he had been there himself.” The defendant, however, was ordered to pay £2 damages and costs.

March:

A tremendous storm hit Resolven. “Such a storm is not remembered in the Vale of Neath for a great number of years. The mail-cart from Neath to Glynneath was unable to run, the mail having to be sent by train, and the driver trudging to the outlying districts on foot. The different collieries in the neighbourhood are at a standstill, their tramlines and inclines being impassible. (…) Snow has been falling for 24 hours.”

Another petition was sent to the House of Commons by S. T. Evans on behalf of the members of Jerusalem Chapel, Resolven, this time against the Sunday opening of museums and art galleries.

At a meeting of shareholders of the Cardiff and Swansea Smokeless Steam Coal Company, the lessees of Resolven Colliery, held on 18 March at the Cannon Street Hotel, London, it was resolved almost unanimously to approve the proposal that the property of that Company be sold to Cory Brothers and Company for the sum of £95,000. The property consisted of Resolven Colliery and the Pentre and Church Collieries in the Rhondda. The Cardiff and Swansea Company was already in debt to the Cory Brothers Company to the amount of £51,000 and “(…) the balance is estimated to produce for the shareholders a sum about equal to the market price of their shares.”

 ‘Tower Tea’, which had won ‘the highest award at the Paris Exhibition of 1889’, was now on sale at D. Harris’s grocery shop in Resolven.

April:

The 1891 Census took place on Sunday 5 April, and the following is a summary, highlighting primarily those not employed as colliers and those who were born outside of Wales and who had subsequently moved to Resolven, either temporarily or permanently.

New Inn Row (11 houses including the public house): No 1: William Herbert, 45, a mason. No.10: Ebenezer Lewis, 37, an annealer in the tin works. New Inn public house: Griffith Thomas, 40, a publican, with his wife, Jane, four sons, two daughters, two servants and two lodgers. Rose Cottages (two houses): No.1: Samuel Thomas, 60, and his son William, 25, both shoemakers.

Company Street (46 houses): No.3: Robert Windsor, 38, a collier, born in Somerset, as were all of his five lodgers. No 10: David Davies, 28, a Baptist minister. No 12: G. Beazer, 40, a railway platelayer, born in Gloucestershire; his wife, Ann, 33, born in Somerset. No. 15: John Godbur, 35, a foreman platelayer born in Devon. No 23: James Poole, 37, a collier; his wife, Elizabeth, 36; their son and daughter all born in Somerset. No 28: Robert Croke, 31, and his widowed father, 51, both paving- stone cutters, the latter born in Ireland. No.31: Caroline Evans, 21, wife of George, 23, a colliery lampman born in Somerset. No. 36: Amy Davies, 42, a letter carrier and her sister, Selina, 20, a brick labourer. No 39: Alfred Deveraux, 32, a labourer, and his wife Gloria, 30, the latter born in Somerset. No.44: Sydney Parsons, 38, a greengrocer born in Somerset. No.46: Catherine Stephens, 25, an assistant teacher.

Yeo Street (42 houses): No.6: Thomas May, 26, a signalman born in Kent; his wife, Eda, born in Hampshire; his brother Ernest, 16, a grocer’s assistant born in Kent. No.7: Joseph Llewellyn, aged 2, son of Henry Llewellyn, a collier, born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. No.12: James Park, 41, a tin assorter born in Gloucestershire; his wife, Louisa born in Staffordshire; their son, Thomas, and daughter, Rosanna, both born in Gloucestershire, as was their widowed father, John, 72, a farm labourer. No 13: Fred Bailey, 30, a railway labourer born in Wiltshire; his wife, Mary, 30, born in Cornwall. No.14: James Anslow, a collier born in Devonshire; his wife Lucy, 21, and his sister, Jane, 35, a shopkeeper and confectioner. No15: James Date, 37, a collier; his wife, Mary, and their two sons all born in Somerset. No. 25: Richard James, 34, a collier born in Shropshire; his wife, Annie, born in Hereford; his mother, 82, born in Shropshire. No 33: Lewis Phillips, 24, a collier born in Shropshire, and his wife Mary Jane. No. 42: John Williams, 40, a collier born in Taunton, Somerset.

Cory Street (38 houses): Nos.1 and 2: John Jones, 40, a physician and surgeon. No.4: Thomas Homsby, 45, a collier born in Cornwall. No 8: Thomas Chewings, 42, a collier born in Somerset. No.10: John Evans, 42, an ostler. No. 14: Richard Griggs, 36, a fireman born in Devonshire, as was his wife, Lucy, 38, and their three sons, one of whom was described as an imbecile. No. 21: Edward Lacey, 29, a collier born in Plymouth. No.23: Thomas Stephens, 49 , a collier born in Hereford and two lodgers, Edward Turner, 47, a blacksmith born in Staffordshire and his wife, Sarah, born in Worcestershire. No.26: Ann Williams, 14, a grocer’s assistant and Rees Williams, 35, a tin worker. No.30: Charles Bailey, 41, a general labourer, with his wife and mother, all born in Wiltshire. No.32: William Morris, 49, a butcher born in Worcestershire. No.33: Annie Bowen, 24, born in Gloucestershire. No.34: John Thomas Boden, 41, a railway platelayer born in Shropshire and his wife Mary Jane, 38, born in Cheshire. No. 38: William Thomas, 44, a grocer, with his wife and mother-in-law the latter born in Middlesex.

Railway Terrace (24 houses): No.7: Albert Andrews, 20, a lodger employed as a railway platelayer born in Worcester. No.9: Catherine Rosser, 20, an elementary school teacher and Edwin Roberts, 27, also a teacher. No.12: Thomas James, 41, a railway station master. No.13: John Abrahams, 38, a police constable born in Devonshire. No.15: Elizabeth Jones, 19, a pupil teacher and Elizabeth Evans, 15, also a pupil teacher. No.18: Arthur Sheppard, 43, a colliery clerk born in Somerset. No.19: Daniel Parsons: 54, a railway platelayer born in Wiltshire. No.20: Dr. Robert D. Pritchard, 32, a medical general practitioner.

Vaughan Arms: Margaret Sims, 70, a widowed licensed victualler; her grandson John, 14, and her granddaughter Amelia, 17, a domestic servant. Sim’s Row (three properties situated behind the Vaughan Arms): all inhabited by colliers and their families.

Shop Row (today’s Tan-y-rhiw road; nine houses): No. 1 Gwern Vale House:  Maggie Francis, 19, a milliner, her sister, Agnes, 17, a shop assistant, and her brother Thomas John, 15, an oiler. No.2 (Clydach House): Walter Somerton, 67, a colliery flue man born in Banbury, Oxfordshire; his wife, Kezia, 47, born in Worcestershire; and a boarder, N. D. Talhade, 35, a medical practitioner born in Bombay, India.

Pentwyn Farm: Thomas Bowen, 42, a farmer, and his wife, Gwen, with their eight children and servant. Brynhyfryd (formerly Pen-y- cwar; three houses): No.3: William Saunders, 29, a collier born in Bullingham, Hereford. Woodlands Terrace (seven houses): No.1: John Jones, 43, a tea traveller. No.3: David Morgan, 37, a Congregational minister. Woodlands Cottage: Temple Stroud, 62,a  colliery manager; his daughter, Moira, 23, a sub-postmistress; and his two grandsons, Temple Williams, 6, born in Birmingham and William Williams, 5, born in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Davies Row (five houses) No.3: John Laurence, 32, a labourer born in Somerset. No.5: Thomas Davies, 41, a shoemaker, and his widowed father, 73, a retired shoemaker.

Lyon’s Place (nineteen houses). Nos. 1 and 2 occupied by the Co-operative Stores. (The latter probably began business in the 1880s; the first Co-operative Store in Wales was at Cwmbach in 1860.) No.14: Fred Green, a slaughter man and his wife, Emma, 20, the latter born in Walsall, Staffordshire. No.18: George Noel, 41, a labourer born in Redruth, Cornwall and his wife born in Oban, Scotland.

The Ton: (divided into three dwellings; one family living in each): In the first: John Owen, 37, a mechanic, his wife Elizabeth, 36, and their three children. In the second: John Morgan, 63, a school attendance officer. In the third, (the Post Office): Thomas Stroud, a stationary- engine driver, 21; his wife Mary, 21, and their son Reginald. Sim’s Place (six properties in the Ynysfach farmhouse complex): all occupied by colliers. Church Road (part of the present Neath Road; four houses):  No. 3: Frank Beaman, a colliery checkweigher, 30, born in Worcester.

Neath Road (13 houses, including one empty shop to let). The Census, unfortunately, does not record the house numbers and only in two cases gives a name of the house. Those properties in Neath Road which are named but not numbered include: Woodbine Cottage: Chris Palmer, 61, a platelayer; his wife, Jane, 60, both born in Somerset. London House (a grocer’s shop): Edward Jones, 22, a grocer; his father, David, and his mother, Elizabeth, born in Somerset. Those living in properties in Neath Road which are unnumbered and unnamed in the Census include: James Herbert, 50, and his son, William, 17, both masons; his daughters Gwen, 23, and Sarah, 19, both dressmakers. Mary Evans, 55, a housemaid, with her two brothers, five nephews and sister-in –law. Daniel Herbert, 40, and his son Thomas, 15, both masons. Mary Davies, 17, a dressmaker, and her sister Priscilla, 15, a pupil teacher. Mary Jones, widow, 75, her niece, Catherine, born in the U.S.A. and a lodger, Michael O’Brian, 50, a railway workman born in Ireland. David Harris, 31, a grocer. William Harries, 60, a butcher.

The Vicarage: David Griffiths, 57, a clerk in holy orders, and his two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. Ty’n- y- wern: John Powell, 42, a roadman, his wife Mary, 39, and their six children. Llwyncoedwr: Edward Jones, 34, a farmer; his wife Mary, 29, and their two children; also his widowed mother, Mary, 57, a retired farmer, and his two sisters, Mary and Sarah-Ann, the latter a schoolmistress. Heol hir: Evan Jones, 43, a shopkeeper; his wife Hannah, 44, and their seven children. Ffald-y-dre: William Williams, 73, a farmer; his wife Mary, 54, and their sons Howell, 21, a collier, and William John, 18, a shepherd. Waterfall Terrace (six houses): No.1: Thomas Lewis, 45, a colliery under- manager. No.5: Edward Jones, 40, a doubler in the tin works. Melincourt Cottages (six houses and the mill): The Mill: John Buchan, 38, a general labourer born in Scotland; his wife, Emma, 34, and their three children born in Hereford. Dre-hir: David Williams, 35, a cashier, his son John, 25, an accountant.

April (continued):

The following advertisement was placed in the newspapers: “Wanted for Resolven Schools, end of April, an Assistant Schoolmaster; salary £45 to £50. Apply, stating age and experience to Mr. Roberts, Schoolmaster, Resolven.”

A meeting of members of Resolven Workingmen’s Club was held under the presidency of T. W. James. “The affair was looked upon as a novelty, this being the first of its kind ever held in connection with the Club. The toasts were all drunk with water.” John Evans, of the Great Western Railway, proposed a toast to the clergy and ministers of all denominations. M. Williams proposed a toast to the iron and coal trades, and John R. Williams, of Resolven Colliery spoke of the present marketable demand for Welsh coal in comparison with that of past years and gave credit to such gentlemen as Sir Hussey Vivian. Other toasts and speeches followed.

Another advertisement read as follows: “Wanted, experienced Shepherd (Welshman), acquainted with farming; good character; £1 a week. Apply, with references, to E. Jones, Heolhir, Resolven.”

At a meeting of the Resolven Vestry held on 24 April it was agreed that “(…) a Special Sanitary Rate of seven pence in the pound for the next twelve months be implemented, and that the Assistant Overseer be paid £10 for collecting it.”

May:

At Trinity University, Toronto, W. Rhys Herbert of Resolven came first out of the 45 candidates who sat the final examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Music and was also awarded the Gold Medal offered in connection with that examination. He had left Resolven for Canada the previous summer.

The second annual eisteddfod, held under the auspices of Jerusalem Chapel, Resolven, was held in a marquee. This afternoon event was followed by a grand evening concert. The winners of the respective competitions were: Tom Davies, Trecynon, (bass solo); James Clements, Skewen, and D. Rhys Phillips, Resolven, (joint-winners for an essay on ‘Forestry’); Mary Jones, Yeo Street, Resolven, (for the best quilt); P. W. Herbert, Resolven, (fife competition); Miss Price, Alltwen, and Miss Jones, Hirwaun, (joint winners of the solo soprano competition); E. Bevan , Tonna, (tenor solo, ‘Bedd y Milwr’); J. Henry Haycock, Resolven, (drawing); D. Onllwyn Brace, Aberdare, (recitation); Hirwaun Choir, under the leadership of D. Duncan, (chief choral competition, with a prize of £12).

At the Neath County Police Sessions, Margaret Sims, landlady of the Vaughan Arms, Resolven, was summoned for unlawfully supplying alcoholic drink on Sunday 10 May. E. Gwyn Jones prosecuted and E. Powell defended. Police Constable Abraham stated that “ (…) on the day in question he watched the Vaughan Arms from 8.45 a.m. to 10.45 a.m. and during that time 16 men entered and left through the back door. Three of the men he knew lived in Resolven. At 10.45 a.m, a man named Joseph Wylde was found in the kitchen of the public house.”  For the defence it was urged “(…) that the man Wylde was employed feeding the cows, and that all the other men who had been seen simply went through the house to a road at the back.” The case was, however, proved and the landlady was fined £2 and costs.

The various Sunday Schools in Resolven held their annual march on Whit Monday. The people involved, some 1,800 in total, met at the Square at two o’clock and, preceded by the Resolven Temperance Fife and Drum Band under the leadership of T. M. Lewis, marched through the main streets of the village.

June:

The Neath District Highway Board invited tenders from contractors for the erection of Resolven Bridge which was to consist of “(…) Abutments, Wing Walls, Pier, Parapets, Retaining walls and Pillars.” Specifications of the work involved could be obtained from the Engineer and Surveyor to the Board, 58, Water Street, Neath.

A people’s vote was taken at Resolven on the following questions. Firstly: “Are you in favour of giving ratepayers the power of deciding the number of public house licences to be granted within your district?” Secondly: “Are you in favour of the prohibition of all licences for the common sale of intoxicating liquors?” To the first question, 281 voted in favour, 34 were against, and 26 were undecided. To the second question, 215 were in favour, 83 were against, and 36 were undecided.

Mrs. Smith, of Lletydafydd, Resolven, advertised for “(…) a good General Servant; must wash and iron; country girl preferred. State age, wages and references.”

July:

Glyncastle, Drehir and part of the Ton Farms were put up for sale by auction. The Glyncastle site covered some 97 acres, including Tan-y-rhiw, the fields opposite the brickworks, and the colliery office. The Ton Farm covered ten acres; and Drehir Farm covered 67 acres, which included the pump field, the barn with its adjoining field, and the orchard with its adjoining field. The total stock and implements for sale included, amongst many other items, six yearling ponies, carts, gambos, mowing machines, a turnip slicer, a plough, harnesses, a chain harrow, scythes, rakes, a manure fork, hay knives and one grindstone.

An evening concert at Jerusalem Chapel was held in honour of Mrs. John Griffiths, (Eos Resolven), who was now withdrawing from the musical scene after having supported for the past twelve years many worthy causes, both locally and further afield. The following took part in the concert: Madame Glanffrwd Thomas (soprano); Kate Morgan (contralto); William James, Eos Morgannwg, (tenor); W. F. Huddleston, (bass); and the Merthyr violin quartet.

August:

In a newspaper letter, D. Rhys Phillips, the future author of The History of the Vale of Neath, wrote about some historical aspects of the area. In discussing ‘Sarn Elen’, the Roman road crossing the top of Hirfynydd, he said that “(…) it has in many places the appearance of an old British trackway, but where it crosses bogs or brooks, its characteristics are unmistakeably Roman. Behind Pentreclwydau, the ‘Sarn’ crosses several small streams, where its foundation consists of massive, unhewn, mountain boulders, which despite the flood of centuries, still remain in the position which they were placed by the Roman legions.” He also comments that “in the bend of the mountain behind Rheola, there is a druidic circle consisting of about fourteen upright stones, varying from five to seven feet apart, with a logan stone in the middle.” The name ‘Elen’, he wrote, should be used rather than ‘Helen’, since the former referred to the wife of Macsen Wledig, the future Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus, while the latter name referred to the mother of the Emperor Constantine.

September:

C. M. Barfoot, an auctioneer of Newport, advertised the lease rental of Melincourt Brick and Tile Works, Resolven. “Capital going concern; first quality fire-clay, extending under four farms; suitable for terra-cotta, facings, bricks and fire-clay goods; 99 years’ lease at £80 rental.”

Dr. R. D. Prichard, surgeon to the Resolven Collieries, was also appointed surgeon to the Clyne Tinplate Works. Seven candidates had applied for the post.

October:

Rev. Moses Thomas, minister of Seion Chapel, Resolven, was present at the opening of the Bala Theological College, established for the training of Calvinistic Methodist candidates for the ministry, and whose new Principal was Dr. T. Charles Edwards, former Principal of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.

On 19 October, notice was received from the Government School Inspectorate that the annual examination was to take place at Resolven Infants’ School at 9a.m. on 19 and 20 November. On 23 October, Elizabeth Evans was granted leave of absence to attend the Pupil Teachers’ examination held in Swansea, and on 27 October, pupils were given a day’s holiday as the school building had been allocated for use by the Methodists of the village.

November:

Ynysarwed Colliery was put up for sale by auction “ (…) with all the seams and veins of coal and other minerals under the farms of Ynysarwed, Blaenllwyd, Penylan and Blaengarwed, comprising an area of nearly 800 acres, and estimated to contain nearly 22 million tons of coal. It was at present under the ownership of Lancaster and Speier”. Also for sale was that “(…) excellent Farm and Lands called Ynysarwed demesne (…) covering 229 acres or thereabouts. There are numerous cottages and much rich and productive land, also a large and excellent house and good farm buildings now in the occupation of Mr. Howell Morgan and others. There is also a right of fishing.”

John Lloyd of Resolven was summoned to appear at the Aberdare Petty Sessions for non-payment of maintenance for his wife and child. The couple had been married for only a fortnight and “(…) he came home one day and began smashing things. She had to rise from her bed and go to her mother’s. Her husband took the ring off her finger and tried to sell it for beer.” For the defendant, Mr Gwyn Jones said “(…) that the husband was not, in fact, the father of the child and that he was induced to marry the complainant by fraud. It was evident that she was not a fit person to keep company with any respectable man.” The Bench unanimously decided that a maintenance order should not be enforced. 

A presentation to Rev. David Griffiths, vicar of Resolven, was made at the village schoolroom on the occasion of his retirement on 24 November from the two livings of Resolven and  Glyncorrwg with Blaengwrach. He was presented by Mrs. Temple Stroud with “(…) a solid silver epergne (an elaborate table centre-piece) standing 2 feet 4 inches in height and valued at £200.” Speeches were made by the Rev. Moses Thomas, Rev. D. G. Morgan and W. Herbert. Following the presentation, a concert was held with Madame Glanffrwd Thomas and others taking part, and George G. Venables acting as accompanist. In a newspaper letter, an anonymous writer from Neath expressed his thoughts about the future of the parish. He believed that the present arrangement was too unwieldy and that Resolven should have a vicar of its own, exclusive of Blaengwrach and Glyncorrwg. He also expressed his opinion that at Resolven “(…) the Church is not a living organisation but, like the dormouse in winter, it has taken a long sleep. What is wanted is a man deeply imbued with the spirit of the Gospel who alone can put life in to the dying embers of the parish. (…) It is no wonder that the Nonconformists of Wales cry out for disestablishment.”

 

1892

January:

At an inquest held at the Royal Oak, Tonna, on the body of a twelve- month- old girl, the daughter of Henry Gething, the County Coroner heavily censured Resolven’s medical doctor, Dr .R. D. Prichard, for writing a premature certificate of death. Dr. Prichard admitted that he had not seen the child since 3 December; that he had given the father some medicine ‘out of kindness’; and that he had provided a death certificate, but he denied the father’s assertion that he had been repeatedly asked to go and see the child. The Coroner commented severely on the Doctor’s failure to attend to the child and for writing a certificate of death when he did. The Jury agreed with the Coroner’s remarks and a verdict of ‘Death from natural causes’ was returned.

At a meeting of the Rural Sanitary Authority, the authority’s medical officer reported that there had been 229 cases of measles at Resolven, and that he had thought it best to temporarily close the school there.

February:

The following advertisement appeared: “Wanted Haulier, to drive and attend to three horses; only experienced men need apply. Wages, 27 shillings per week. Clyne Tin Works, Resolven.”

On 22 February, John Edwards Vaughan, of Rheola, wrote a letter which was published in the newspapers about his suitability to represent the people of Resolven as a member of Glamorgan County Council. “Ladies and Gentlemen. It is now three years since you elected me as your representative on the County Council. I have regularly attended the meetings, and have done my utmost to further your interests in every way, so that I feel am justified in asking you to honour me with a renewal of your confidence and support.”

March:

A conspicuous feature of up-coming County Council elections was the increasing number of working-class candidates who were coming forward. For example, Isaac Evans, a miners’ agent, was standing for the Resolven Division. “This is further evidence of the increasing interest which the wage-earning classes are taking in the administration of local affairs.(…) The experiment of introducing Labour representatives into the Town Councils has been in every way satisfactory, the chosen nominees of the Trade Unions proving to be hard-working and capable men, whose action in the Councils has abundantly justified their selection.”

The results for the Resolven Division in the Glamorgan County Council Elections were as follows: Isaac Evans, miners’ agent, (Liberal): 652; J. Edwards Vaughan, gentleman, (Conservative), 471. Majority: 181. Seven working-class candidates were successful at the elections, all of them connected with the coal-mining industry. The total number of people eligible to vote was 1,757 and the number who actually voted was 1,123. The county-wide results were: Liberals: 40; Conservatives: 12; and Unionists: 5

A Mr. Lewis of the Melincourt Brick and Tile Works placed the following advertisement: “To Brickmakers. Wanted a Man to set and draw by contract.”

April:

The mangled body of John Thomas, manager of Glanamman Colliery, was found on a Sunday morning along the railway line at Resolven. Thomas had spent the previous evening in Neath visiting the home of Police Sergeant Jones who was recovering from a serious illness. “He was very cheerful, and expressed his pleasure at seeing an improvement in the policeman‘s health.” He had left Neath at 8.30 p.m. on the train to Glynneath where he was currently living. He had formerly been the manager of Gnoll and of Onllwyn collieries.

A scholarship to study for the summer term at the Tonic Sol-fa College, London, was awarded to David Evans, Resolven. 

May:

Twenty new books, fifteen in Welsh and five in English, were bought by Resolven Reading Room at a cost of £6-5-0. These included books on law, literature, history, theology, science and politics. It was at this point in time that the Reading Room also became a lending library.

The Revd. William Lloyd was inducted to the living of Resolven by the Bishop of Llandaff.

June:

At a meeting of Resolven Vestry held on 24 June it was proposed by D. Williams and seconded by John Evans of Railway Terrace that twelve oil lamps be erected at the places specified below and that this resolution be a recommendation to the Neath Rural Sanitary Authority: Main Road side of Resolven bridge; Resolven side of bridge; opposite New Inn; Company Sreet; Yeo Sreet; Railway Terrace; Lyons Row; top of Davies Street; Tan-y-rhiw; and bottom of Sims Row. It was proposed and carried that a gas oil, patent lamp no.8, be adopted and it was recommended that a local man be put in charge of these lamps.

July:

Abraham Llewellyn, an alleged lunatic, was apprehended by the police in Yeo Street, Resolven, and brought before the Neath County Police Sessions. Police Sergeant Price stated: “From information received that a man had jumped from a moving train near Neath, I traced him up the canal bank to Resolven and found him in Yeo Street. When questioned, he rambled on and became violent and tried to kick and bite me.” A witness from the Cambrian Inn, Neath, where Llewellyn had been drinking, stated: “He was strange and fancied everyone was looking at him. He told me that the Queen had sent him a special command to commit suicide.” After certificates of lunacy were issued by Drs. Lewis and Davies, Llewellyn was ordered to be removed to Bridgend Lunatic Asylum.

August:

Believing that they were being misunderstood and misrepresented, the colliers of Resolven agreed to the following resolutions being published: “That, whilst we as workmen here are ever ready to act in unison with our fellow-workmen elsewhere in any movement that is calculated to promote our common interest, we regard the present strike as inopportune, illegal, and damaging to the general welfare. That we emphatically condemn the methods adopted by the workmen of other districts coming here and dragging men and boys from their homes, and compelling them by sheer physical force to march in front of a hooting mob to other works, as being coercive and a disgrace to us as Welshmen. That we accept our employers’ offer of 20 per cent advance and re-commence work as soon as arrangements can be made.”

September:

The following advertisement appeared in the newspapers: “Found, a Black and Tan Retriever Dog; followed cart from Neath to Resolven last Saturday; on collar is the name K. Barnett, Esq. Unless claimed in five days will be sold. Apply Williams, Resolven.”

Clyne tin-plate works, owned by the ‘Resolven Tin-plate Company’, was closed for a period of three months as a result of the dismissal by the management of some of its employees.

At a meeting of the Neath Sanitary Authority, the tender of David Harris of Resolven was accepted, for ten pounds a year, “(…) to clean, light and extinguish the public lamps to be erected at Resolven.”

Alfred James Plummer, the son of E. Plummer, a former representative of the Resolven Division on the Glamorgan County Council, died from cholera on 5 September. He had been employed for a period of three years by The New Russian Company as under-manager at their collieries and ironworks in the town of Hughesovka, in the province of Ekaterinoslav, south Russia. “On 2 August the little town of Hughesovka was completely destroyed by fire through the fury of the Russians owing to a misunderstanding as to the treatment of cholera patients. Mr. Plummer and all other residents were ordered to clear out.” He and his friends barely escaped with their lives and, sadly, Plummer eventually succumbed to cholera. (In 1870, John Hughes, a Welsh ironmaster from Merthyr Tydfil along with about 100 workers and their families had sailed in eight ships to Russia. There they built an ironworks and collieries and, over the next twenty years, a new town came into being called Hughesovka. This is now Donetsk, a city in the Ukraine, with over a million inhabitants.)

Members of the Resolven Temperance Drum and Fife Band contributed £1- 1s-0d to the fund which had been set up to help the families of those killed in the Park Slip colliery explosion. The fund had now reached £670 and it was hoped to reach £1000 before it was finally closed. (Park Slip was a house-coal drift mine near Aberkenfig and the death toll was 110 men and boys).

October:

Jerusalem Chapel celebrated the centennial anniversary of the Independent Cause in Resolven with services held on a Sunday and Monday at the beginning of this month “(…) when powerful and effective sermons were delivered to large congregations by Revs. B. Evans, Llanelli; W. James, Swansea; and Ben Davies, Ystalyfera. The sum of £70 was collected towards liquidating the debt on the Chapel.”

November:

On Friday 11 November, at the Drill Hall, Merthyr Tydfil, a boxing match took place, for a prize of £400, between David St. John (Resolven) and Tom James (Aberaman). A large number of policemen were in attendance. “David St. John has never appeared before the public before in a glove fight. After an exciting scene of four rounds, St. John was declared winner. The two men, on the whole, did not punish one another very much.”

December:

About 100 colliers at Resolven Colliery “(…) brought out their tools on Wednesday. The outlook for the district is very dark. Last winter the men at the same colliery were absent from their work for about four months.”

Resolven Temperance Fife and Drum Band won the ‘marching’ competition at the Dowlais Eisteddfod, Merthyr Tydfil.  The Resolven Band was not, however, placed among the winners of the main event, the first prize being awarded to the Mountain Ash Band and the second to the Llansamlet Band.

At the Oddfellows Hall, Dowlais, Daniel Gethin Parker of Resolven was appointed president of the newly-formed Drum and Fife Band Association for South Wales. No fewer than 22 bands had declared their readiness to join such an Association, “(…) and it was also decided to send a petition to the Committee of the National Eisteddfod at Pontypridd asking them to include a Drum and Fife Band competition in their programme.”

On Boxing Day, Bethania Chapel held its annual eisteddfod. The prize of £10 for the winner of the chief choral competition for singing ‘O Father, whose Almighty Power’ (Handel), was awarded to Cwmbach Choir. Other choirs taking part were Llwydcoed, Resolven and Skewen. A concert was held in the evening at which D. Evans, ‘Eos Dar’, delighted the audience by singing penillion.

 

1893

January:

At the Neath County Police Sessions, two Resolven men, Richard Bailey, a collier, and F. H. Stokes, a copper man, were accused of “(…) attempting to steal a bottle of cherry syrup from Abraham Morris of Bridge Street, Neath and, in the process, letting the bottle fall and smash. They were severely admonished by the Mayor who said they had rendered themselves liable to three months’ imprisonment. However, they would in this case be dismissed on the payment of the costs incurred. Bailey, when arrested, said: ‘We meant no harm; we did it in fun.’”

February:

A twenty-eight year old woman living at 5 Gored Villas, Melincwrt, was found to be stricken with small-pox. Dr. T. P. Williams, the Medical Officer of Health, was trying to trace the source of the disease: “The patient and the family deny having been near Neath and they say no stranger has been at the house. Gored Villas are situated in an isolated spot, there being only 12 houses in the neighbourhood. The premises have been thoroughly disinfected under the superintendence of the Inspector of Nuisance, W. Thomas.”

Resolven Colliery, (which since 1891 had been leased to the Gelli and Tynybedw Collieries Company, but which later this year would be controlled by Cory Brothers Company Limited), was still on strike, with neither the colliers nor the employers moving one step nearer to opening up negotiations towards a settlement of the dispute. Resolven Brickworks, too, with the same employers as the Colliery, had come to a standstill early this month and there was no prospect of a resumption of work there until the colliers’ dispute had been settled. “Resolven, as far as trade goes, was never in a worse state, the company’s houses being nearly all empty and the windows boarded up. Most of the men have obtained work elsewhere.”

In the second week of this month, another case of small-pox was reported at Resolven.

The following resolution was passed at a meeting of the Tin-plate Workers’ Union: “That we, as a district, disapprove of the unmanly action of a section of the Clyne tin-plate workers who have signed an agreement with their employer to return to work to the exclusion from employment of nine of their fellow workmen who, we have reason to believe, are victimised, they having in times past taken a prominent part in connection with the Union.” It was hoped to hold a public demonstration at Neath as a further protest against the action of the Clyne workmen.

April:

At the Neath County Police Sessions, Resolven Tin-plate Company was summoned by Augustine Lewis, the Factories’ Inspector, for a breach of the Factories’ Act. “The Inspector reported having visited the works, and found two women employed there at twenty minutes to ten p.m. They had commenced the night shift at 6 o’ clock, and intended working throughout the night.” The Company was fined £2 and costs.

On Thursday 6 April, the village of Resolven was the scene of great turmoil when 32 members of the Glamorganshire Constabulary, under the command of Superintendent Thomas (Neath) and Inspector Townsend (Dowlais), arrived to enforce 51 ejectment warrants on behalf of the owners of Resolven Colliery against their tenants. The majority of the houses in Resolven were owned by the Colliery Company and occupied mainly by men employed by that Company. Notices of eviction had been previously been given and ejectment warrants had been granted at Neath County Police Court. Most of the colliers had secured employment elsewhere in the Rhondda and Garw valleys. Those who remained in the village tried to find accommodation elsewhere, in properties which did not belong to the Colliery Company, but many had failed to do so. The 51 ejectment warrants affected some 200 people, but five or six families had been allowed to remain in their houses. “Men, women and children were hurrying about, each with some article of furniture. The schools, the coach- house at the Vicarage, a stable belonging to Jerusalem Independent Chapel, out-houses of farms, and neighbours’ houses were placed at the disposal of the tenants. Everything passed off peaceably, all who were evicted managing to find shelter for the present, although families are separated.”

 

May:

At E. J. Jones’s grocery shop, London House, Resolven, it was possible to buy “Avoncherra. The Tea of Teas. From the Finest Tea Gardens in the World. A Real Luxury.” It cost one shilling and sixpence for a 1lb packet, but it could also be bought in quarter- pound and half -pound packets.

David Morgan, a miners’ agent, together with a deputation of workmen from Resolven Colliery, had arranged an interview with the manager of Gelli Colliery with the purpose of bringing to an end the strike at Resolven which involved some 250 colliers and which had already lasted five months. The strike centred on the twenty per cent reduction in wages demanded by the employers, which was less than the standard rate being paid two years previously. Unfortunately, the interview did not end in a successful resolution.

The annual Whitsun march took place at Resolven on 22 May. About 850 adults and children from the various Sunday Schools took part, and they were headed by the Resolven Drum and Fife Band. “After parading through the place, they assembled on the Square, where the tune ‘St. Garmon’ was sung under the leadership of David Evans, and prayers were said by the Rev. D. C. Davies (Sardis English Baptist Chapel).”

On Sunday evening, 28 May 1893, a service was held at Jerusalem Chapel, led by its minister, Rev. D. G. Morgan, in connection with the tercentenary of the death of John Penry. (John Penry, 1563-1593, was a Puritan martyr who wrote treatises denouncing the Established Church and the lack of ‘saving knowledge’ in his native Wales. He joined the Separatists in 1592, and was executed in London in 1593.) Rev. Morgan took as his text: Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 1, verse 8, and spoke of the need for Christians to be effective witnesses for Christ.

June:

Employees of the Resolven Tin-plate Company won the second prize in the competition for ‘Horses and wagon or cart, to be driven as a pair or tandem’ at the Horse Show and Parade held in Neath.

A meeting of miners’ representatives on the Sliding-Scale Joint Committee was held at the Angel Hotel, Cardiff. One of the cases discussed was the strike at Resolven. Richard Jenkins, Watkin Evans, and  Griffith Jones reported that the colliers there had had been on strike for the last seven months as a result of the employers wanting a twenty per cent reduction in wages, in addition to the reductions warranted under the existing sliding-scale agreement. “(…) The Committee promised every possible assistance in obtaining a fair remuneration in all the cases referred to.”

At a meeting of the Highway Board, the District Surveyor submitted three schemes which had been received for the re-construction of Resolven Bridge.  The schemes, which varied according to the type of material to be used, cost respectively: £178; £202-12s-6d; and £298. “The Board, after considering the different plans, decided, on the motion of the Mayor, to submit the second scheme to Thomas Williams, Solicitor, and a committee consisting of the Surveyor and Messrs Powell and Shepherd were appointed to confer with him.”

July:

Tenders were invited by the Directors of the Great Western Railway for the ‘Erection of a New Passenger Station etc; at Resolven, Glamorganshire.’ Plans and specifications could be viewed, and forms of tender obtained, at the office of the Engineer, Neath Station, between the hours of ten a.m. and four p.m. The closing date for receipt of tenders was Tuesday, 18 July 1893.

David Evans, a native of Resolven and a graduate of the Tonic Sol-fa College, won first prize at the recent Penycae Eisteddfod in the competition for the best composition of a ‘Requiem’. There were eight competitors in total and the prize was £2-10s.

At a monthly meeting of the Neath Rural Sanitary Authority, a petition was read from the inhabitants of Resolven “(…) objecting to the supply of water which the Authority had determined on, and asking them to adopt instead a supply at Plas-y-Deri.” A discussion ensued, after which the Chairman thought it best if the committee members visited the place again before proceeding with the work.

The current proprietorship of the Lower Resolven Colliery Company, Melincwrt, was formally dissolved on 30 June 1893, as three members of the partnership were retiring.  All debts would be cleared by the remaining partners who would continue operating the business under the same name. As witnessed on 27 July 1893, the remaining partners were: Evan Harris, David Edwards, James Prees, W. H. Harris, D. W. Harris and L. D. Howells.

August:

D. Rhys Phillips, Resolven, (Beili Glas), won a prize of £3 at the National Eisteddfod held at Pontypridd for his composition: Tribannau Morgannwg.

At eleven o’clock on a Saturday night this month, a horse and cart driven by a collier named Ivor Jones of Resolven collided on the Cadoxton Road with another horse and cart belonging to Mr. Thomas, a grocer from Neath. The shafts of the former cart entered the breast of Mr. Thomas’s horse, killing it on the spot.

Two newspaper correspondents submitted their suggestions for the derivation of the place-name ‘Resolven’. The first, a certain P. Towyn Jones, suggested “(…) it has something to do with the Latin word ‘sol’, meaning ‘sun’”; whilst the second maintained“(…) it has something to do with ‘R asol wen’, meaning ‘the white mead’.”

“On Monday morning much excitement was caused at Resolven by the news that a number of strikers from Glyncorrwg were marching towards the village.” The men from Glyncorrwg marched to the Lower Resolven Colliery, Melincwrt, but found it idle: about 100 of the colliers employed there, having heard of the intention of the striking men from Glyncorrwg to visit them that morning, had not turned up for work. The Glyncorrwg strikers then proceeded to Resolven and assembled in the Square, from where the procession, now numbering some 400 people, proceeded to Pwllfaron Colliery three miles away. On reaching that colliery, the colliers there, numbering 200, stopped work and joined the strikers in their march. The Glyncorrwg men returned home, well-pleased with their day’s work. No disturbance of any kind had occurred.

September:

At the People’s Park, Pontypridd, a large crowd gathered to witness the contest for the heavyweight boxing championship of Wales between David St. John, of Resolven and Tom James, of Aberaman. Six hard rounds were fought with a victory for the Resolven man. David St. John, a native of Resolven, was 22 years old, 6ft 3ins tall, and weighed almost 14 stone. “He made his debut in London, about two years ago, where he had a trial at Bob Habbijam’s with O’Brian, from Cardiff. However he failed to satisfy his supporters, and as a consequence had to go back to Wales where he first fought Tom James, and experienced little difficulty in disposing of the Aberaman lad in four rounds in December 1892.”

 

 

October:

Work at Resolven Colliery, long suspended, was resumed for a few days with workers being brought in from outside the village, reviving the feeling of resentment in Resolven people. Additional police were drafted into the village, but no disturbance of any kind took place.

The following advertisement appeared: “Wanted, a Groom-Coachman; steady; single. State salary and reference. Dr. Prichard, Resolven.”

November: 

Jerusalem Chapel held its fourth annual eisteddfod on a Monday this month. The successful competitors were: Llewellyn Bowen, of Cilfrew, (baritone solo: ‘Y Morwr Llon’); William John Harris, of Aberaman, out of 27 competitors, (recitation: ‘Y Bont ar Dan’); Jane Davies, of Resolven, (contralto solo: ‘Ai Gwir, O! ai Gwir?); Llewellyn Bowen, of Cilfrew, and E. Bevan, of Aberdulais,  (duet: ‘Y Ddeilen ar y Lli’) ; James Clement, of Skewen, out of 20 competitors, (essay: ‘ Ffordd I Lwyddiant Gwirioneddol’); W. T. Davies and friends, of Resolven, (quartet); D. Morris, of Ferndale, (tenor solo ).

December:

Christmas was celebrated at St. David’s Church, Resolven, with a concert and sale of work. The latter was opened by J. Edwards Vaughan, J.P. and a substantial sum of money was raised for the Church Restoration Fund. The concert was held under the direction of George Smith, and there was also a ‘Fine art’ exhibition.

Martha Gibbs, a well-established Resolven resident who kept a sweet shop in the village “(…) visited Neath Market on a Wednesday as was her wont, and returned home by the four o’clock train, but died immediately on reaching her house.”

 

1894

January:

Committee members of the Resolven Reading Room met to organise an eisteddfod to raise money for its funds. The eisteddfod would be held on Good Friday at Resolven schoolroom, and there were to be ten items on the programme. The main prize of £1 would be awarded to the best choir, of not less than 25 voices, singing: ‘Aberystwyth’; and the second prize of ten shillings, donated  by the President, would be awarded  to the best children’s choir singing: ‘Sychu’r dagrau’. It was the only eisteddfod ever organised by the Reading Room.

February:

The following advertisement was placed in the newspapers: “Wanted. Working Housekeeper at once by Widower (collier): three children: Welsh preferred. Apply stating age, wages. T. M. Lewis, 1 Railway Terrace, Resolven.”

Members of the Ystrad Fox Hounds were requested to meet at Craig y Tyrrau, Resolven on Thursday 8 March at 10.30 a.m. for the start of their hunt.

Thomas Evans, a widower with no children and employed as an engineman, committed suicide at his lodgings in Company Street, Resolven. “Mrs. Jones, his landlady, saw nothing unusual in his conduct when she went to chapel. On returning she found on the table a letter from the unfortunate man, stating what he was going to do and where his body would be found. The deceased had been unwell for many months. He was a native of Glynneath, but had resided for the last few years in Resolven.”

March:

Rev. D. G. Morgan placed the following advertisement: “Infant Assistant Mistress required for Resolven schools. Salary £15. Apply in own handwriting, before March 21^st. with references and copies of testimonials.”

At the Neath County Police Court, W. G. Evans, a contractor from Resolven, was fined £1 and costs for being drunk when in charge of a horse on 28 February.

On a Saturday morning, Mark Watkins of Clyne Cottage, Resolven had gone shopping with his wife to Neath, returning home at about 11 a.m. Later that day, Watkins went missing and, after a search, he was found near Clyne Tin-works with his throat cut, but still alive. Dr. Pritchard was called and he stitched up the wound. Hopes were entertained of his recovery, but he later died at the Whitworth Arms Hotel, leaving a widow and two children.

In a county-wide survey relating to teaching through the medium of Welsh, it was found that at Resolven School the provisions of the code for teaching in Welsh had not been adopted, yet seven out of eight of the teachers employed there were capable of teaching in Welsh.

April:

A one-mile horse race took place on a Thursday morning this month on the main road in Resolven. The two horses racing were ‘Margam Boy’ (ridden by its owner, E. A. Clarke) and ‘Daisy’ (also ridden by its owner, G. Clarke). “The first-named gave the latter fifty yards start and the race was for £20 a-side. There was a large amount of betting on ‘Margam Boy’ who soon left ‘Daisy’ behind and won very easily by 120 yards. The time was: 3 minutes and 18 seconds.”

At the National Sporting Club in London on 23 April, a £150 prize was offered in the boxing contest between Dai St. John (Resolven) and John O’Brien (Cardiff). St. John was put down in both the second and third rounds, and the fight ended in the fifth round with O’Brien the winner.

A mass meeting of Resolven colliers was held at the village schoolroom to discuss the strike  which had been going on for eighteen months  and to try to persuade the ‘strangers’, (those colliers from other localities who had accepted work in Resolven Colliery), to leave. The vice-chairman of the meeting delivered a forceful verbal onslaught on Richard Cory, the employer of Resolven Colliery, maintaining that it was he who was ultimately responsible for the situation where “(…) miners, for maintaining their rights, were turned out of their homes and refused employment.” Meanwhile, the ‘strangers’ formed a committee of their own, making it a stipulation of their continuing employment that local colliers be allowed to resume work at the Resolven Pit.

 

In describing the Bill to disestablish the Church of England, the Rev. Moses Thomas, minister of Seion Chapel, Resolven, stated: “The Bill embodies a complete scheme, satisfactory in its main features; an honest and straightforward effort to deal with a very complex subject.” (It was not until 1920 that a disestablished Church in Wales was set up as a separate province within the Anglican communion.)

May:

Police were drafted into Resolven in the event of any possible disturbances between the striking Resolven colliers and the ‘imported’ colliers from Brynmawr who had failed to give notice that they were quitting. “Save a free fight between the Brynmawr men and the Resolven ‘natives’ there was no sensational incident.(…) It is said that the employers are determined not to yield to the overtures of the Resolven men, and that labour will be freely imported within the next few days. Several Rhondda men arrived in Resolven today.”

Several complimentary references were made in the Pottsville Evening Chronicle and in Drych about the musical talents of D. W. Herbert, formerly of Resolven but now of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in the United States. He was the current conductor of Pottsville’s Oratorio Society, a leading musical society in Pennsylvania.

On 4 May 1894, the strike which had begun in November 1892 at Resolven Colliery, owned by Cory Brothers Company Limited, came to an end, after a meeting in Cardiff lasting three hours between the owners and management (Clifford Cory, proprietor; M. White, general manager; and J. F. Lloyd, Resolven colliery manager) and a deputation selected by the colliers (Watkin Evans, John Lewis, Morgan Jones, and John Jones.) Resumption of colliery operations in the six-foot seam would mean that there would be ample work for both ‘strangers’ and ‘natives’ alike. “The news of the settlement, which was received at Resolven by telegraph on Saturday evening, affecting as it does about 250 workmen, produced unmistakable expressions of satisfaction.”

According to a list compiled under the ‘Coal Mines Regulation Act’, there were, by the end of 1894, 366 mines being worked in south Wales and 235 separate colliery owners.

On authorised leave from the British Army, Dai St. John of Resolven, was asked to be a ‘corner- man’ in a boxing match at Aberdare between David Rees and Thomas Robert Evans. Rees was knocked out of the ring and cracked his head on the stone floor. St. John tried to help Rees, but the latter died before medical assistance arrived. The coroner made out a warrant to commit to trial ten of those, including St. John, who had seemingly been implicated in the death. St. John was, however, later cleared of any wrongdoing.

June:

Emma Jenkins, a licensed victualler of Resolven, was charged with selling adulterated whiskey on 18 May. “Police Sergeant Williams stated that he had purchased a half-pint of whiskey at the Vaughan Arms, and Superintendent James Thomas produced the analyst’s certificate which showed that the whiskey was 40 degrees under proof. The defendant was fined £1 and costs.”

A certain C.H. of Resolven advertised: “A house to Let or Sell: 9 rooms, stable, coach-house, in a flourishing colliery district; would suit butcher; with or without 6 acres of land.”

David Evans of Resolven, a student at University College, Cardiff, was successful in his first examination towards the degree of Bachelor of Music which was awarded to external candidates by the University of Oxford.

The Directors of the Great Western Railway invited tenders for “(…) the Re-construction, in Iron and Steel, of the Bridge carrying the railway over the River Neath, near Resolven, Glamorganshire.” Tenders were to be received on, or before, Tuesday 17July.

July:

The owners of the Ton House, Resolven advertised for “(…) a Porter to carry parcels and to make himself generally useful; accustomed to gardening.”

 

August:

At court in Neath, (in front of W. H. Davies, Deputy Sheriff, and a jury), Mary Rees, wife of David Rees,  a collier of Railway Terrace, Resolven, presented her case for damages from Mary Evans, a widow, also of Resolven. Speaking in Welsh, she said that on 14 November 1893, Mary Evans had made the following statement about her to a third party: “I could keep my place as well as she if I received money from two husbands,” and a further statement on 27 February 1894: “I am jealous of her because she has two husbands and I haven’t one.” At the time these statements were made, Mary Rees kept a lodger at her house, and she was now claiming £100 in damages from Mary Evans. After deliberation, the jury awarded her damages of £10.

At Neath County Police Court, four Resolven colliers were charged with having assaulted William Williams, a ‘stranger’ collier on 28 July. Williams claimed that when he had got off the train at Resolven station, “(…) the defendants came around him when he was on the ground and brutally assaulted him by kicking him about the body.” David St. John and Police Constable Abraham came upon the scene and drove them off but, after St John and the constable had left, the assault was repeated at Railway Terrace and Williams became unconscious. Williams’ wife, son, and the Station Master all corroborated the story, and Dr. Pritchard and Dr. Lewis confirmed that Williams was suffering from an incomplete rupture and several bruises. The Bench imposed a £5 fine on each of the attackers, and its Chairman warned against the animosity of local colliers towards ‘strangers’.

Notice was given by the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies that the ‘Iestyn ap Gwrgan Friendly Society’ which held its meetings at the Vaughan Arms, Resolven, would be dissolved on 4 August 1894 on the grounds that the Society had ceased to exist.

At a meeting of the Neath Rural Sanitary Committee, D. Williams, the Poor Law Guardian for Resolven, stated that people in the village were complaining “(…) of the distance they were obliged to walk for their drinking water, and he moved that the Surveyor should make a full report of the cost, together with an estimate for bringing the water to the houses by extending the main pipe. The Clerk reported that, if it was brought to the houses, the tenants would to have to pay 6s 6d each year for the use of such water. F. J. Gibbins seconded the motion, and the Surveyor was ordered to bring a report up at the next meeting.”

Melincwrt Colliery, (Lower Resolven Colliery), was advertised for sale by auction which would be held on 21 August 1894 at the Royal Hotel, Swansea. The Colliery was described as: “Worked by Adit or Level and connected with the G. W. R. siding. The Taking comprises 120 acres or thereabouts of the well-known Seams of marketable Steam Coal called the ‘Wenallt’, the ‘Blaen-y-Cwm’ ( or ‘Wenallt Rider’), and the ‘Glyngwillim’  (or ‘Graigucha’), underlying the lands called Glyngwillim Uchaf, in the Parish of Llantwit -Juxta-Neath.”

At the Congregational mission-room, Clyne, the first meeting of the first School Board for Clyne was held. Rev. D. G. Morgan, Resolven, was appointed chairman and G. Smith, LLetydafydd, vice-chairman. Two members were to be added from Llantwit, which was a contributory parish to the Board, making the total number of seven members.

The plant and contents of the Lower Resolven Colliery were offered for sale by auction on 30 August. The sale comprised: “(…) 7 tons of pitwood; screen-tiplets; a shed and a men’s cabin; 60 trams of iron and wood; a rope 1,000 yards long and a rope 700 yard long; 30 rollers; bellows and an anvil; 2 miles of rails and 3 tons of new steel rails; 4 tons of timber; about 2,000 sleepers under the rails; 15 yards of wire; a cross-cut saw; and all the office furniture”.  The sale was, however, subsequently withdrawn.

Neath District Highway Board invited tenders for the “Re-Construction and Widening of the Canal Bridge carrying the District road over the Neath Canal, situate on the south side, and adjoining the main road from Neath to Glynneath.” Tenders were to be received by James Kempthorne, the Clerk to the Board, no later than 25 September 1894.

September:

At the Neath County Police Court, William Prichard, a collier living at 11 Seion Road, Resolven, summoned James Dromey and Thomas Halligan for an assault which took place on 3 September. Prichard said that he had been involved in a fight at the back of the Vaughan Arms, and that the defendants, who were spectators of the fight, later chased him and severely beat him up. The Clerk to the Court “(…) pointed out that quarrels were perpetually occurring between the ‘stranger’ and the ‘native’ colliers at Resolven. In this case, the position of affairs was reversed, a ‘stranger’ apparently being the aggressor.” (The ‘strangers’ were, of course, those colliers imported by the employers into the village from other localities to work during a period of strike.) Dromey and Halligan were each fined ten shillings and costs.

October:

Work at Clyne Tin- works, the property of the Resolven Tin-plate Company Limited, re-started on 8 October after a period of ten months. Two mills were already operational, and the remainder would be started up soon.

In line with the Local Government Act 1894, Parish Vestries were now being replaced by Parish Councils. Parish Councils would remain until 1974 when they were themselves replaced by Community Councils. The last of the Parish Vestries for Resolven was held at the village school-room this month. At the Vestry meeting, it was resolved that a Highway Rate, a Poor Rate of two shillings in the pound, and a special Sanitary Rate of ten pence in the pound, be set for the ensuing half-year until 25 March 1895. It was also decided that the Assistant Overseer in the village be paid ten pounds per annum for collecting the Sanitary Rates and that the village water-pipes be extended to the bottom of Railway Terrace, Cory Street, Company Street and to the middle of Lyon’s Row, and that a tap or stand- pipe be erected at the bottom of each street.

 

Agents on commission were sought by the Melincourt Brick and Tile Company Limited to sell in the Rhondda, Cardiff and other districts their ‘Buff Pressed Facing and Wire-cut Bricks’.

 

Tenders were invited by the Neath Rural Sanitary Authority for “Finding and Laying 557 yards, or thereabouts, of two- inch Galvanised Branch Water Mains and providing and fixing Four Pillar Taps in the village of Resolven.” Tenders were to be received by the Authority on, or before, 12 November.

 

Resolven school was closed on 12, 14 and 20 October because the “weather was very wet and stormy”, and it was also closed on 9 October because it had been allocated for use by members of Jerusalem Chapel.

 

November:

 

On the first Monday of this month, Jerusalem Chapel held its annual eisteddfod. The chairman was E. J. Jones, London House, Resolven and the adjudicators were Tom Richards, of Pontycymmer (Music), and Rev. J. Volander Jones, of Trecastle (Prose etc;). A new feature was the Marching competition and the Drum and Fife Band contest. Three bands entered for each: Resolven, Glyncorrwg and Trecynon. Resolven won the Marching competition, and the prize for playing ‘Harlech’ and the ‘Caerphilly March’ was shared between Resolven and Glyncorrwg.

 

The following announcement was made: “Resolven has a football team. It is rumoured that Dai St. John will play a game or two before going to the United States. Resolven are open to take on all comers.”(In context: Wrexham Association Football Club was formed in 1864, Aberaman in 1892, Ton- pentre in 1896, Merthyr Tydfil in 1909, Swansea and Newport in 1912. The Football Association of Wales was formed in 1876 and the Welsh Cup in 1877.)

 

An anonymous published letter from a Resolven resident, dated 26 November 1894, complained about the ineffectiveness of the gas and oil lamps which had recently been set up in the main streets of the village. “The lamps are a cost to the ratepayers and, providing they give us the light they should do, there is no cause for complaint; but when we have to pay the piper and get no tune then I, for one, want to know the reason the piper does not play. Now! you would-be parish councillors, here is a chance for you to gain the everlasting gratitude of your fellow-parishioners.”

 

December:

 

The Government School Inspector’s annual report of 3 December on Resolven Infants’ School stated: “Needlework, Slate Arithmetic and Reading are exceedingly good. Writing, Recitation and Object lessons are praiseworthy, and Drawing and Occupations receive due attention. Mental arithmetic in the second class might be better, and now that the elementary work is so thorough, Musical Drill might with advantage be introduced. Sweetest singing should be aimed at. The order and tone of the school are very satisfactory.”

 

Some more correspondents write in to the newspapers with their suggestions for the derivation and meaning of the place-name ‘Resolven’. One states that it is from ‘Re’, a corruption of ‘Rhiw’, ‘the brow of a hill’ and ‘Solven’, a compound of ‘Siol’, ‘a head’ and ‘Maen’, a stone. Another suggests ’Bre-soflen’, ‘the hill of a stubble’. Another, ‘Rhiw- sylfan’, ‘a place to gaze from’. Whilst yet another puts forward ‘Rhyd-solven’, meaning ‘the ford at Solven’.

 

The ‘Glamorgan Gazette’ could now be purchased at the house of D. J. Evans in Railway Terrace, Resolven.

 

The following advertisement appeared: “Wanted. Assistant Mistress for Resolven Schools. Salary £41. To commence duties 8 January 1895. Apply to Rev. D. G. Morgan.”

 

At the recent Merthyr Vale Dog Show, a Mr. Harris from Resolven exhibited a Welsh terrier which had been bred by him. The pup did not attract much attention and Mr. Harris sold it for £7 to a man from Haverfordwest, who, in turn, sold it to a young lady from North Wales for £20. “The pup then commenced a most successful career, for he won five ‘firsts’ and three ‘specials’ at the Birkenhead Dog Show. At the Crystal Palace Kennel Club Show, he won the championship, and a remarkable future was predicted for this puppy.” He was, at this stage, dubbed champion of champions, having beaten off rivals at Birmingham and Nottingham, and its owner, a Miss Parker, now turned down an offer of £275 to buy it.

 

The Guardians of the Neath Poor Law Union advertised for a Medical Officer and Public Vaccinator for the Second Central District, which included Resolven. The salary offered was £35 per year, and there was an additional payment of three shillings for every successful vaccination. The person appointed would be required to live in the district and to pay for, and provide, all medicines and appliances “(…) with the exception of cod liver oil, quinine and other expensive medicines.”

 

At a meeting of the Neath Rural Sanitary Authority, the surveyor reported that he had received several complaints about the inefficient manner in which the contractor employed to light the street lamps at Resolven carried out his work. The contractor, apparently, did not attend to his duties and the lamps were often lit after dark. The chairman of the meeting, A. S. Gardner, thought that the surveyor should visit Resolven and confront the contractor. If the latter defied him, he must be told that the Authority would require him to appear before them. This was agreed to.

 

The political and religious make-up of the members returned for Resolven Parish Council in the recent elections was shown to be as follows: 2 were church members, 7 were non-conformists, 2 were conservatives, and 5 were liberal.

 

On the last Saturday of this month, Police Constable Abraham arrested a man on suspicion of being implicated in a burglary committed on Christmas morning at Clun-y-castell/Glyncastle, Resolven, which was the home of J. F. Lloyd. The man apprehended was Alfred Whiting; he was 26 years old, and had been employed at the Resolven Brick Works for four or five months. He refused to disclose where he came from originally. The Police Constable discovered that Whiting had tried to sell some dress material which was thought to be among the items stolen from Glyncastle. The accused was taken to Neath in readiness for his appearance at Court.

 

A preliminary meeting was held on 4 December to elect members of the new Resolven Parish Council. Out of 49 candidates, 28 were elected as Councillors including the following: J. T. Lloyd, colliery manager, 133 votes; F. H. Beaman 127 votes; R. D. Pritchard, surgeon, 120 votes; Edward Jones, 113 votes; D. G. Morgan, 102 votes; J. Barclay, 99 votes; J. T. Williams, 92 votes; Evan Rees, 86 votes; William Thomas, 83 votes and Thomas Jones, 80 votes. At the first meeting of Resolven Parish Council held in the School on the evening of 31 December, all 28 Councillors were present and David G. Morgan was elected Chairman.

 

 

1895

January:

A meeting of the new Parish Council, as opposed to the former Parish Vestry, was held this month. Rev. D. G. Morgan was appointed chairman; J.F. Lloyd, vice-chairman; John Rees, an assistant colliery overseer, was appointed clerk; and Mr. Rees, of the Glamorganshire Bank, treasurer.

At the Neath County Police Court, Alfred Whiting, a labourer of Resolven, was charged with breaking into, and entering, Clun-y-castell/Glyncastle, the home of F. J. Lloyd, manager of Resolven colliery.  Police Constable Abraham gave evidence of chisel marks on the shutters and windows, and stated that he had taken casts of the footprints found in the vicinity and they  corresponded with those taken from Whiting’s boots. The magistrates, however, decided that the evidence was insufficient to justify the committal of the accused to the assizes and he was consequently discharged.

A Resolven newspaper correspondent wrote of the recent gradual improvement in the work situation in the village. He added that people were of the opinion that the number of strikes and lockouts had not been beneficial either to the colliers or to the colliery owners. Moreover, there was a general feeling of optimism on hearing that new machinery was being introduced into the colliery: “Clywn ddyweyd fod y Mri. Cory yn trefnu i helaethu eu gwaith yn fawr trwy wneyd ‘sidings’ a ‘crushers’ mawr i’w glo o rai o’r gwythienau.”

 

February:

At Resolven school-room, Councillor Wearne of Swansea gave an entertaining evening lecture entitled: ‘A scamper around the United States’, which was illustrated with ‘limelight views’. Councillor J. T. Williams, Resolven, presided, and there was a large number in the audience. The lecture and views included impressive glimpses of North American scenery, as well as interesting features of the Chicago World Fair. It concluded with some comic pictures “(…) which delighted the juvenile portion of the audience.” The proceeds of the event went to Sardis English Baptist Chapel.

The number of voters in the recent election for a representative from the Resolven division on the Glamorgan County Council was 2,004. The number had been 1,945 in 1894, and 1,410 in 1892.

At a meeting of the Clyne school board held at the Whitworth Hotel, a letter received from a Mr. Short, an agent of the Whitworth Mineral Estate, was read out. The contents of the letter revealed that a site for the new Clyne school had been offered at a cost of £7 per acre. The chairman of the Board, however, thought £5 per acre was quite sufficient, and the clerk was instructed to write to Mr. Short to that effect.

Tenders were invited by Neath Rural District Council for the construction in Resolven of an underground water- tank with a capacity to hold 18,000 gallons of water. Tenders were also invited for the laying of 1,774 yards of three- inch, cast- iron water pipes; 487 yards of two- inch, cast-iron water pipes; in addition to all the requisite valves and fittings. Tenders were to be received by 11 March.

March:

Benjamin Parson of Resolven was fined five shillings and costs for driving his vehicle at night without lamps.

Resolven Workingmen’s Club celebrated St.David’s Day with a ‘knife- and- fork’ tea at the Reading Room, and this was followed by entertainment provided by local talent.

At the Neath County Police Court, William Rees, a chemist from Swansea, was fined one shilling and costs for riding a bicycle on the footpath at Resolven.

The following advertisement was placed in the newspapers: “200 Apple Trees for sale, also a large quantity of Gooseberry and Currant Trees. Apply: David Evans, Stone Garden, Resolven.”

David Thomas, landlord of the Gored Hotel, Melincwrt, was summoned for committing a breach of the Welsh Sunday Closing Act by opening his premises on a Sunday for the sale of intoxicating liquor. Police Constable Abraham stated that a man named Fred Jones of Company Street, Resolven, and another named Cook from Landore, had come on Sunday 24 Februaury to the public house and paid for two bottles of Bass ale. The landlady of the Gored Hotel said in her defence that the men in question had stated that they were travellers and had come from Swansea; they had asked for refreshments and had paid her for two bottles of pale ale to consume elsewhere. The Bench was not deceived and it imposed a fine of ten shillings and costs on the accused.

At Neath County Police Court, Mary Hopkins of the Farmers’ Arms, Resolven, was charged with keeping a dangerous dog which had pounced on and bit Police Constable Abraham on the right leg. “The policeman did not think that the dog should be at large. It was a savage creature.” He stated, however, that he had been in uniform and that policemen were not always welcome visitors at a public house. The defendant was ordered to keep the dog under proper control and to pay the costs imposed by the court.

A ballot of south Wales miners’ was held in order to decide whether the present sliding-scale system for the automatic regulation of wages should be continued, or whether a Conciliation Board should be formed to which all matters relating to wages and trade disputes could be referred. Two hundred and fifty Resolven miners cast their votes: 219 voting in favour of remaining with the present system and 41 voting for setting up a Conciliation Board. The total vote cast in south Wales and Monmouthshire was considerably under 70,000, whereas the total number of miners in that area was reckoned to be about 100,000.

April:

At a meeting of the Resolven Parish Council held on 5 April, the following resolution was passed:  “That this Council protests very strongly against the absence of drinking water at Resolven for such a long period and calls on the Neath Rural District Council to make urgent efforts to revive the supply and that the attention of the Surveyor be called to the fact that the water pipes are exposed near the reservoir.”

The results of the election for the Resolven seat on the Glamorgan County Council were declared: Daniel Evans, of Abergwynfi, a Liberal candidate, was elected with 388 votes. Those not elected were: L. Howell, Aberavon, (Liberal), 357 votes; A. R. Thomas, Neath, (Liberal), 272 votes; and E. Law, Neath, (Independent), 194 Votes.

At a meeting of the Clyne School Board, a letter from the agent of the Whitworth Estate Mineral Company Limited was read out indicating the terms proposed for the site of the new Clyne School. The Board agreed to accept these terms. A letter was also read out from the Education Department of Glamorgan County Council which stated that the contribution payable by Llantwit parish should be three-tenths of the cost of the site and of the school. It was agreed that Llantwit should pay £30 and Clyne £20.

At Neath County Police Court, Thomas Davies, (alias Johnson, alias Rees), a haulier of Melincwrt, was charged with having, on 6 April, stolen a basket containing meat valued at seven shillings from Thomas Owens, a collier, of Yeo Street, Resolven. The wife of Thomas Owens said that “(…) two men began to fight in the compartment of the train in which she was travelling. She got out at Aberdulais, and entered another compartment, but she left the meat behind, and when Resolven was reached she went to look for it but it had disappeared.” A witness said that Davies had taken the basket saying it was his. Davies was committed to the Quarter Sessions for trial, bail being refused. There were four previous convictions held against him.

The annual meeting of Resolven Parish Council took place at the village school-room. Rev. D. G. Morgan was unanimously re-elected chairman; Councillor F. Lloyd, vice- chairman; and Thomas Davies and James Jones were appointed overseers of the poor.

May:

Resolven members of the Neath Homing Society were amongst many who were to have their first ‘fly’ of the season, when about fifty birds would be released at Ludlow, about 64 miles from home. “The present thick weather is not suitable for training purposes, and it is not anticipated that the birds will get home much inside two hours.”

At the Neath Borough Police Court, Mary Ann Williams of Yeo Street, Resolven, was charged with stealing a piece of Melton cloth, valued at seventeen shillings and nine pence, from the Great Western railway station, Neath, on 2 February. The cloth had been sent from wool merchants in London to a certain J. Thomas of Aberdare, but it had vanished at Neath where it had been taken off the train in order to be transferred to the incoming Vale of Neath train. Detective Harris of the Railway Police succeeded in tracing the parcel to Williams’ house in Resolven; she admitted the theft, but said she had pawned the cloth at Freedman’s in Swansea. “During the court case, the defendant, a respectable-looking woman, fainted, Detective Harris rushing to her and seizing her baby just as the mother’s grasp was loosening.” She was fined £1 and costs or, in default, three months in prison.

June:

The various Sunday schools in Resolven held their annual Whitsun march and tea. About 800 adults and children from Sardis, Bethania, Jerusalem and Seion chapels took part in the march. In the evening a ‘singing festival’ was held in Jerusalem chapel, with David Evans, of Resolven, as conductor.

At the Aberafan Dog and Bird Show, T. H. Harris from Resolven won the first prize in the Welsh terrier competition.

July:

J. Edwards-Vaughan, of Rheola, a candidate for a seat on the Mid Glamorgan division of the county council, addressed a crowded and enthusiastic meeting in Resolven schoolroom. He supported a forward-looking foreign and colonial policy; the opening- up of markets for trade; employers’ liability in accidents at work, with every employee, however, trying to make a better arrangement if he could; and old-age pensions and compensation for anyone forced to give up a trade. He opposed a compulsory Eight- Hours Bill, unless it could be proved that more than eight hours of work was injurious to health; and, finally, he fiercely opposed attempts to disestablish and disendow the Anglican Church. His wish not to “(…) catch votes by a side- wind or misrepresentation was loudly and vociferously cheered by the audience.”

At the fourth annual Glyn-Neath Sports, Joshua Reynolds, Resolven, won second prize on ‘Little Katie’ in the ‘one- mile trotting handicap for ponies not exceeding 13 hands high.’

September:

Glamorgan Local Government Committee had received a letter from Resolven Parish Council requesting “(…) the County Council to provide the parish with a water supply, and to charge the work to the Neath District Council, which body, it was alleged, had failed the parish of Resolven in this matter .” The Clerk of the Committee was instructed to call the attention of the Neath District Council to the complaint made by Resolven Parish Council.

On the first Friday of this month, Bill Samuel’s saloon in Neath was the venue for a six-round boxing contest between David St. John, Resolven, and Tom James, Aberaman. The stakes were £10 a-side. “St. John was not in nearly so good condition as his opponent. He forced the fighting at the outset, and landed some heavy blows on James’s stomach”, but the contest was declared a draw.

October:

The Parish Council, at a meeting held on 18 October, passed the following resolution: “That the Great Western Railway be asked to provide accommodation for passengers on the ‘up’ platform at Resolven railway station.”

J. T. Williams, Resolven, delivered an address at a meeting of the youth section attached to the South Wales and Monmouthshire Temperance Association.

The Government Inspector of Schools, in his report of 28 October on Resolven Infants’ School, stated: “The class on the gallery is almost too large for one teacher, and its necessarily-noisy lessons interfere somewhat with the work of the other classes. A classroom should, therefore, be a great boon to this department. The room is not sufficiently ventilated.”

November:

David Evans, Resolven, was successful in the final examination for the external degree of Bachelor of Music awarded by the University of Oxford, since University College, Cardiff, at which Evans was a student, was not yet empowered to award degrees in music. A local correspondent wrote: “He is the first student from University College, Cardiff to obtain the degree and the youngest Welshman who has ever obtained it, his age now being only 21. Three years ago he was working underground at Resolven, and fifteen months ago he went to Oxford for his preliminary examination. He has been successful at each examination the first time of asking.”

The Dan Davies Concert Party held a very successful evening event at Resolven. They were met at Resolven railway station by the Resolven Fife and Drum Band who escorted them to the concert venue. The hall was crowded to its utmost capacity, and “(…) the efforts of the choir were immensely appreciated, nearly every item on the programme being ‘encored’”.

At a meeting of the Board of Guardians held in Neath, Dr Pritchard, of Resolven, “(…) fully disproved certain statements made that a case of typhoid fever at Resolven had been neglected by him, and that, on the illness terminating fatally, the dead body had remained unburied for a week.” The matter was under continuing investigation.

December:

The Parish Council placed a request for extra lamps to be provided at Resolven: one for Pentwyn Cottages, one for Woodland Terrace and one for Jerusalem Road.

Month unknown:

Some 461 people were employed this year in the Cwm Pits and Levels at Resolven which were owned by Cory Brothers and Company, Cardiff.