Abercarn Councillor c.1906

[PassionPlay]

Hi Folks,

This is my first foray into the Welsh boards so be gentle with me 

I am hoping to track down a photograph of a chap who was quite a public figure in Abercarn so I hope it’s not totally impossible… the information I have is:

Thomas Griffiths, died in 1935
Involved with the South Wales Miners Union
Elected as Labour councillor for Abercarn in 1906
Local Magistrate in Abercarn
Member of the Ivorites

I believe that Abercarn is now part of Caerphilly; Caerphilly Council have been contacted but say they have no archive material from Abercarn.

Websites I have checked so far are:

http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/ 

www.gtj.org.uk

I have Googled various combinations of Thomas Griffiths/Abercarn/Ivorites.

If anyone can suggest any local resource I can try or maybe newspapers for the area or absolutely anything really, I would be grateful.

Steph.

ps Hope I'm in the right County 

Edit - pps - also picked up this little snippet about the union:
http://website.lineone.net/~coalmining/DictionaryA.htm
Abercarn Colliery Workers. A small Welsh union consisting of only 53 members. The A.C.W. existed for four years between 1889 and 1893. 72

[ore-dragon]

Hi PassionPlay,

I would suggest that you try the local newspapers.  There are a number of papers that you could try. The Methyr Express generally has pretty good coverage of the valleys and different editions covering different areas.  I have done a look up for someone else regarding Caerphilly Council and found lots of references to Council Meetings, a general profile from a series called "Men at the Wheel" and a specific council event that they had details of.

There is the South Wales Echo, which I have only viewed a couple of times for specific family events.  I do not know what the coverage would be like.

There is the Caerphilly Journal.  This was published in Pontypridd and seemed to be biaised towards that area, (even although it is a Caerphilly paper).

These papers are available at local history libraries, although availability and editions vary.  I have used Methyr Tydfil, Tredegar and Bargoed in the past to access the newspapers.

As the papers are not indexed, it is helpful to have a specific event or a reasonable date to research, otherwise it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

If you are not local, I am hoping to go to the library tomorrow (Wednesday) and I can have a quick look, if you can give me some details of a specific date.

There may be books available on the history of local mines / unions/ villages, but i don't know of anything specific.

Ore Dragon

[ozlady]

Try www.xkeys.freeserve.co.uk Lot's of info for your area.

[PassionPlay]

Ore Dragon - many thanks for those suggestions, at least I have a starting point.

I am not local I'm afraid - South East England!  I posted all the information I have except to say that he was the first Labour councillor apparently so I would have thought that was newsworthy.  It is far too vague to ask you to look up newspapers but I wonder of you could enquire about the books if you have time?  I might be able to request an inter-library loan if there is anything suitable.

I'll try the Council again for 'Men at the Wheel'.

Ozlady - thanks for the link, off to look at that now!

Thanks again to both of you.

Steph.

[ore-dragon]

Hi Steph,

The "Men at the Wheel" series was an article in the Methyr Express (it did have the odd woman at the wheel). All the information I obtained was via newspapers.

Ore Dragon

[PassionPlay]

Ah, sorry I misunderstood 

Actually the British Library may have copies, I hope to get up there in the summer sometime.

Thanks again, Steph.

[ore-dragon]

Hi Steph,

I had a look in Tredegar Library for suitable books.  There were plenty of books on Welsh Mining, too many to recomend a suitable one without spending some time looking through them all and I didn't have enough time today.

I did not have time look through the 1935 papers today, but I will keep it in mind for a future visit.

By the way I forgot to mention the South Wales Argos as a possible source of articles.  I do not have experience of this paper, but I believe it is more Monmouthshire based.

Ore Dragon

[denben]

Abercarn has been 'linked' to Caerphilly for only a couple of years after some local authority boundary changes so I don't think that they will be much help.

The Newport based 'South Wales Argus' is the newspaper you want.  Back issues for the period you are interested in are on microfilm at Newport reference library.

You might also find something at 'Gwent Records Office' (it's probably quicker to google it than me try to provide a link).  They are usually very helpful.

I'll be in the library some time next week and I'll have a look but it might be quicker if you can be a bit more precise with a date.

[PassionPlay]

Ore Dragon - thanks for keeping me in mind, perhaps I'll try contacting the library for suggestions, being so far away I can appear suitably helpless 

denben, thanks to you also for the info, I'll try Gwent Records Office.

Thanks to both for the South Wales Argus tip too 

I think the most likely event to be published is the council election in 1906, particularly as he was the first Labour councillor elected.  I'll try to find out when the elections took place.

Another thought I had this morning was the Labour Party - is there a party office in the area which I could contact?  (I'll google for that in the meantime).

Thanks again for your suggestions.

Steph.