c.100) in the Southern District, during the Half Year ended 31st December 1854", "Public Meeting at Newbridge, in Aid of the Widows and Orphans, and Dependent Relatives of the Deceased", "For the Benefit of the Cymmer Colliery Accident Fund. [3]:160[14] Insole contributed £500 (approximately equivalent to £47,100 in 2019) to the Cymer Widows' and Orphans' Fund, set up shortly after the disaster, and undertook to meet the cost of the thirty graves. No compensation was paid to the families of the miners concerned. This is the first book to examine in a systematic way the entrepreneurial society of the Welsh Valleys. Cymer Independent Chapel, Porth, Records c.1850-2004: Photocopies of newscuttings, graves list and plan for exhumation of bodies. Location. Published 2021-03-04. Rhondda Cynon Taff neighborhood is home to 240,000 people. Location. The valley of the Rhondda Fach is even more deeply entrenched, than the Rhondda Fawr, and except for the area between Maerdy and Ferndale, is steep sided with little valley floor development, as a consequence most of the post-medieval settlement of the area, apart from that at Maerdy and Ferndale is located on the valley side. Of particular concern are clusters in the lower Rhondda Valley, in particular in Tonypandy, Porth and Penygraig. A 16-year-old girl has died and several others are feared seriously injured after a knife attack at a Chinese takeaway in a rural Welsh village yesterday. The uplands by comparison have little or no settlement. [3], Mines Inspector Mackworth's report to the Secretary of State, 1855[15]:118–119, The dependents of the victims of the disaster had to rely on public charity and "the final humiliation" of seeking poor relief. [2][3][10], At the Glamorgan Spring Assizes held in Swansea in March 1857, the judge, His Lordship Baron Watson, made his own position clear in his pre-trial address to the grand jury. Several collieries were opened here in the middle part of the nineteenth century. c. As they made their way to their workplaces underground, there was an explosion of gas near the mine entrance which trapped the colliers already deeper in the mine. A rugby club in lower Rhondda and a club outing to Doncaster races - which involved stopping at a number of pubs - are thought to have contributed to … The mine manager, Jabez Thomas, and the mine's officials, Rowland Rowlands (overman), Morgan Rowlands (fireman), David Jones (fireman), and William Thomas (fireman), were charged with manslaughter for negligence causing the deaths of 114 men. The men's refusal to work under the new firemen, and Insole's insistence on exercising his "authority to dismiss or employ those whom I please, without consulting any body of men",[3]:133 led to a twenty-two week miners' strike. [8][3][7] Thirty-five widows, ninety-two children, and other dependent relatives were left with no immediate means of support. By that evening, 112 bodies had been recovered, another was brought up the next day, and a severely burnt collier died the following day. [3]:123, On Tuesday, 15 July 1856, 160 men and boys descended the Old Pit mine shaft to commence their 6:00 a.m. shift. This left the two river valleys of the Rhondda with narrow, steep-sided slopes which would dictate the layout of settlements from early to modern times. How has coronavirus been spreading? [11] At the trial, it was reported that the judge made clear he sided with the defendants and thought the matter should not have come to court.[12]. This relatively small area was … It is situated on the A4119 road half a mile from its junction with the A4058 road. After the explosion, mine owner James Harvey Insole and his officials were accused of "neglecting the commonest precautions for the safety of the men and the safe working of the colliery". The Cymmer Old Pit was worked by the Insole company until the mine closed in 1939. List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll, "X. The immediate cause of the explosion was defective mine ventilation and the use of naked flames underground. The New Song, "There's No Dearth of Kindness, "The South-Wales Colliers' Provident Society", "Monmouthshire and South Wales Provident Society of Miners", "Dreadful Explosion in the Rhondda Valley", Rhondda Coal, Cardiff Gold: The Insoles of Llandaff, Coal Owners and Shippers, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cymmer_Colliery_explosion&oldid=1000118668, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Defective mine ventilation and the use of naked flames underground, Jabez Thomas (mine manager), Rowland Rowlands (overman), Morgan Rowlands (fireman), David Jones (fireman), William Thomas (fireman), brother of John (18) and William (14), the three brothers and Thomas Lewis (30) lodged in the house of Lewis Powell who was unable to go to work that morning from having a day or two before accidentally hurt his arm, this poor little fellow was literally charred, the mother of this lad depended upon his labour for her support, brother of David (17), they kept their mother, a widow at Dinas, leaving a widow and several children all grown up, wife and four children depending upon him for support, his son William (12) died with him, leaving a widow and one child, his three sons William (16) Thos (13) David (10) also killed, a young orphan lad, inmate of the same house as Thomas Matthews (40) and Thomas Williams (40), kept his mother who is a widow, her husband having been killed at these works a short time ago. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 5,505. Also by the mid-1870s, the colliery management realised it was safer and cheaper to provide colliers with safety lamps. Report of the Working of the Coal Mines Inspection Act (13 & 14 Vict. One cluster is associated with a rugby club and a pub in the lower Rhondda valley, another is connected to a club outing to Doncaster, which Mr Gething said … The Cymmer community seethed with rancour and the bitter feelings lasted for many years. [3]:153, Among the small local communities no household was left untouched, almost all the working-age men and boys having perished. Insole, the mine owner, walked free from the inquest after claiming he took "no part in management"[9] of the mine. [3] Two-shaft mines were made compulsory by 1865. United Kingdom, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Mountain Ash, Phillip Street, Cf45 4bg. [3][5] Laments were published and, marking the first anniversary of the disaster, a song was published under the patronage of Mrs Insole of Ely Court (Insole's wife) in aid of the relief fund. [2]:2, The inquest determined that, apart from the collier who died later of burns, all the deaths were the result of "suffocation, caused by the post-explosion effects of afterdamp or methane poisoning". Earlier this week Mr Gething said the majority of cases in RCT were centred on the lower Rhondda Valley, and had been linked to people returning home from abroad or … The Cymmer Colliery explosion occurred in the early morning of 15 July 1856 at the Old Pit mine of the Cymmer Colliery near Porth (lower Rhondda Valley), Wales, operated by George Insole & Son. The colliers, the jury, the means of legal redress, are subject to the influence ... [of] the proprietor of the colliery. Factors contributing to the explosion included the rapid development of the mine to meet increased demand for coal, poor mine safety practices allowed by management despite official warnings, and deteriorating working relationships between miners and management. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury complied with the judge's directions to acquit the defendants. ... One group is linked to a rugby club and a pub in the lower Rhondda valley, another is linked to a club outing to the Doncaster races, which the minister said has stopped at a string of pubs along the way. Rhondda Valley. Mackworth's safety recommendations, sent to Insole in 1854 and including "that a qualified mining engineer and a sufficient number of competent subordinate officers and deputies should take complete charge of the machinery, ventilation, ways and works and watch over and provide for the safety of the workmen during the hours of labour",[3]:159 were passed in the Mines Act of 1872. In 1854, mine manager Jabez Thomas summarily dismissed two experienced firemen and appointed two others from outside the colliery. The Cymmer Colliery explosion occurred in the early morning of 15 July 1856 at the Old Pit mine of the Cymmer Colliery near Porth (lower Rhondda Valley), Wales, operated by George Insole & Son. George Insole and his son James Harvey Insole purchased the Cymmer Colliery in 1844. [3][16] However, local coal owners also combined to deny work to those colliers who had given evidence against the mine officials at the inquest and trial. A new chapel opened in 1908 but was sold in the 1960s and put to commercial uses. Cymmer is located in the lower Rhondda Valley about halfway between Treorchy and Pontypridd.It is situated on the A4119 road half a mile from its junction with the A4058 road.Neighbouring settlements are Penygraig, Trealaw, Tonypandy, Dinas Rhondda, Llwyncelyn and Porth.Cymmer comprises the villages of Trehafod, Trebanog, Britannia, Glynfach and Cymmer itself. "Round the Churches. James Insole took control of the business on his father's death in 1851. Their father was formerly a fireman at the colliery, but he and the other fireman apprehended danger. The landscape of the Rhondda was formed by glacial action during the last ice age, as slow-moving glaciers gouged out the deep valleys that exist today. wife and four children two of whom are grown up, his son Henry (13) also killed, leaving a widow and three children, his son William (12) also killed, leaving a widow and three small children, his two sons John (11) and Lazarus (10) also killed, leaving a widow and seven children, his son William (11) was clasped fast in his father's arms, wife and one child, his son Thomas (12) also killed, wife and one child, his son John (18) also killed, died the day after he was removed from the pit, This page was last edited on 13 January 2021, at 17:42. Evidence given at the inquest indicates William Thomas (19) and his brother (13) were probably closest to the source of the explosion. Thanks. The list below attempts to show a complete list of levels and collieries opened within the Rhondda. The mines may have closed, but their history can be explored. [3][5], Colliers (miners) relied on the colliery firemen's daily reports of gas hazards before entering the mine. Porth's shopping centre is based on Hannah Street, newly refurbished as part of the Lower Rhondda Fach Relief Road scheme, which will take through traffic away from Porth town centre. [2]:2 At the coroner's inquest into the deaths, Insole deflected responsibility onto his mine manager Jabez Thomas and the jury brought a charge of manslaughter against Thomas and the four other mine officials. Aberdare Swimming Pool and Brecon Mountain Railway are also within 20 mi (32 km). Twenty-nine witnesses were called. They found that many of the colliers had congregated in groups to die together as they ran out of air. While you're in town visiting Rhondda Valley, you can discover the sights and attractions within a couple miles of the area. After another gas explosion at the colliery in December 1856,[20] the single-shaft Cymmer Old Pit and New Pit mines were linked to create a safer and better ventilated two-shaft arrangement.