Dear Barrie and all --
It's encouraging to read of all the positive steps you stalwart souls are taking to
preserve Blaenau Gwent history -- genealogical, architectural, cultural, social,
industrial, or whatever. I know from experience how hard it can be for a relatively small
number of volunteers to carry such efforts forward. Thank heavens your Heritage Officer
is on your side, which doesn't always seem to be the case elsewhere.
I remember my own utter disbelief at some theoretically enlightened people's reactions
to a historic preservation project I helped spearhead. A handful of us battled to save
what little remained of Officer's Row at a frontier army fort which, after it was
decommissioned, became the campus of the college I taught at in Idaho. Our town and
region had grown up there entirely because of the fort, so preserving some vestige seemed
self-evidently worthwhile. We proposed to turn the best remaining officer's home into
a combination faculty office space and local history center for the whole community,
including our town's great number of tourists, to enjoy. We finally got the state and
national historic preservation offices aboard and even received rehab funding from the
state legislature -- but some of our own key college administrators dragged their feet and
made comments like "Why save an old building which needs repairs when we could build
new offices on the same spot for le!
ss?" and "Who would come to a history center anyway? No one cares to read
those old records!" Oh my, I nearly had apoplexy. The project eventually went
through despite them, though because of budget cuts the history center itself ended up
much less ambitious than we had hoped.
That long-winded anecdote is just my way of saying MORE POWER TO you BG angels, and may
your efforts to preserve and pass on our collective memories meet with success! If we
lose our past, we lose our identities and might as well be robots.
After we return from the U.K. (we're also going to Herefordshire, Gloucestershire,
Yorkshire, Skye and Raasay, and Edinburgh on this particular 3 1/2-week research round,
though Monmouthshire/Blaenau Gwent is my #1 priority), I'd certainly be glad to
contribute some time at the keyboard for any Brynmawr area transcription project you may
need volunteers for. Since I don't speak Welsh I may not be of much use where
it's most needed -- but our favorite neighbors here on the island do. (They were
raised in Carmarthenshire and Monmouthshire respectively.) Maybe I could rope them into
helping me out if modest, surmountable language barriers arose! Do you have any projects
like that for overseas BG descendants like me? I know about FreeBMD, of course.
Thanks for all your information regarding contacts in and around Brynmawr. I hope to
follow up on them. I wish we had a week there in BG rather than just two days!
Best regards,
Judith
Whidbey Island, WA USA
======================================================================
From: bj <barrie(a)reverendvox.demon.co.uk>
To: jasylte(a)att.net
Cc: BlaenauGwent Maillist <BlaenauGwent-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Subject: Re: POWELL and NEWMAN, Brynmawr and Nantyglo 1840's-1860's
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 02:40:10 +0000 [View Source]
Hello Judith,
It is thanks to people like Sue Ball, Edwin Jones, Alan Williams and all
the volunteers who man the museum at Brynmawr and with recent grants
that have made Brynmawr into a Heritage site in the same way that John
Evans and others have done for Blaenavon. Sue Ball's father in law was
the great Fred Ball who wrote so much on Ebbw Vale's history. He
encouraged many school projects as well!
Blaenau Gwent Heritage officer, Frank Olding, has made all the
difference on BG council. He has learned the Welsh language and has a
passion, especially for Brynmawr (no bias intended of course). I
attended his talk at the Welsh school in Brynmawr last year on Crwys
Williams the minister of Rehoboth congregational chapel at Brynmawr. His
talk was both informative and humorous and interspersed with Crwys's own
poems.
(See
www.llgc.org.uk/lp/lp0236.htm)
County Records Office (CRO) at Cwmbran have extensive records of Clydach
Ironworks. On a good day you may find John Evans, the Blaenavon
historian (and much more!) perusing through the records and also other
experts such as David Woolven, etc. I find the staff at CRO very
helpful. Tony Hopkins (asst. archivist), David Rimmer (archivist), Dr
Eluned Davies (especially) and Colin.
I have a special link to Brynmawr myself. My great, great grandfather,
Lewis Cheese came from Hereford area around 1871 (his brother Denis
(miller) was in Clydach in 1861) Living with him was his grandson
William Montegue Evans (from Dowlais, Glamorgan) in 1891. Lewis married
his housekeeper Elizabeth Biddle (suspect Puddle) I have still a lot to
find about them. There are Cheese families in Brynmawr to this day
although they are related to Lewis Cheese from further generations back.
Although Reoboth is now extinct it's memory will always remain. Thanks
to 'Professor' Rodger Burchell the PR's were retrieved from the dank
depths of the chapel and eventually deposited at Cwmbran. I call Rodger
'professor' as he is probably one of the recent school of experts (still
in his forties!) who has a great understanding of Monmouthshire as a
whole. He is however going in for a 'doctorship' even as we speak!
Janet Karn, family history resource librarian at Blaenau Gwent libraries
(HQ- Tredegar library) has copies of the PR's. The entries are mainly in
Welsh, so will need translation of course. Any takers?
I am lucky to have inherited the chairmanship (for my sins!) of Ebbw
Vale branch of Gwent FHS from the likes of family and local historians
Rodger Burchell and Edwin Jones (author) of Brynmawr. Keith Thomas,
local historian and author, expert on Methodism in Blaenau Gwent and
still preaching, has just stood down as chairman of BG Heritage forum.
Keith has massive respect in the area, of course. He was at our meeting
at Bethel Wesleyan chapel last Thursday and gave me information on the
old Wesleyan burial ground at Ebbw Vale that I had transcribed from his
original notes. Are we worthy? Heh heh!
We can tap on many experts not only at Blaenau Gwent but the historical
county of Monmouthshire, which Blaenau Gwent was part. I see myself as a
medium who can call on these people and also as programme secretary find
it fascinating to be able to book these experts for talks, Dr Bill
Jones, Dr Madeleine Grey, John Evans, Roger Morgan (Rourkes Drift.
etc.), Keith Thomas and many, many more! I, apart from transcriptions,
can only applaud and accentuate the value of these experts who are
academic in their own fields of course!
Thanks to Marianne of Kirkby (Yorks.) we now have out of county/country
transcribers. Elsie Isaac from Bethlehem, P.A. has carried out a
historical transcription of Rhymney Parish (MON) marriages(1862-1876)for
Ebbw Vale branch courtesy of Bill Evan's (U.S.A) website for uploads.
Anyway, to get back to your needs! I will send you details of MI's in
full for Calvary and also details of all the Powell and Newman reference
at Brynmawr Municipal cemetery. Steve Brown is the current sexton at
Brynmawr and is very helpful. The plots for Newman and Powell families
may or may not have grave stones with monumental inscriptions, but if
Steve is at Brynmawr Municipal cemetery (normally is) he can give you
information to the location of the graves in the cemetery.
Will be pleased to meet up with you in May and hopefully 'Prof' Burchell
or even his notes will be available!
bye for now
Barrie Jones, Gwent